Last week, Google launched a new Google Webmaster Tools report: Search Analytics, which replaces the former Search Queries report. The data in the new report is more accurate and allows a better analysis of your data due to filter options.
The Search Analytics Report
To look at the new report, go to Search Traffic > Search Analytics in Google Webmaster Tools. The Search Analytics report provides the following filter options:
Queries
Pages
Countries
Devices
Search Type (Web, Image or Video)
Dates
Use Case 1: Mobile Report
Filter by Devices > Mobile to analyze how the Google mobile update impacted your visibility since April 21st 2015.
Use Case 2: Report by Country
You can compare the impressions of two countries for specific search queries (e.g. your brand name). To do this, set the required filters for Queries and Countries.
Differences from the Old Search Queries Report
The data in the new Search Analytics report is calculated differently compared to the old Search Queries report. Because of this, the old Search Queries report will still be available during the next three months. When you open your Search Analytics report, you will find a link to the old Search Queries report.
These are the most important differences between the two reports:
The old report counted an impression for every single page of a website that is displayed in the search results. The new report only counts one impression per website.
The new report only counts clicks on image results if the user clicks on the expanded image or on the “visit page” link. The old report counted every click on an image.
The old report attributed the same impressions and clicks to multiple hosts of a domain (e.g. example.com and www.example.com), leading to double counting. The new report attributes the data to only one host.
Do you have questions about Google Webmaster tools, measuring your SEO performance or other search engine optimization topics? Feel free to contact me!
Update (29.5.2015): Google Webmaster Tools has a new name: Google Search Console. The functionalities are still the same.
