There have been several significant improvements made to Google’s Webmaster Tools over this past week. One feature that has been added is the ability to link your Google Analytics data to your Webmaster Tools account. This enables a webmaster to view analytics for their sites without having to switch between Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools.
It may only be a convenience issue, but for those business owners who manage their own sites, time is always an issue – hopefully this will make life a little easier. What may be of more interest to users of Webmaster Tools is the increased data available on search queries used to find their pages.
In the past, Webmaster Tools only displayed results for the top 100 queries. The data was also fairly restricted showing only average search positions, the number of impressions, and the number of click-throughs. You can now see all search queries related to your pages, although you are still restricted to viewing 100 queries at any one time.
What webmasters may find interesting is the statistical appearance of their search queries in mobile searches. You may be surprised to find how often your pages do appear in search results, and how those listings are clicked on. Is your web site optimized for mobile? If not, you may find click-throughs increasing and that traffic from mobile searches interact a little more often.
Analytics are an important tool for all webmasters. By regularly checking your search positions, the number of times your pages appear in search results, and the click-through rate, you can gain a fair indication as to whether or not your online marketing is having any effect on organic search results.
