New Google Webmaster Tools Features

[mborgelt]

I don't think anyone has shared this yet. GWT now shows Search Analytics which shows the queries your site is showing for and it allows you to sort by clicks, pages, countries, devices, search type and date. Looks like it is replacing the old "Search Queries" report.

 

[Phil Rozek]

Yeah, I was wondering why GWT seemed different when I went in there in the wee hours last night (or this morning, depending on your POV ).

Looks pretty robust, although the data seemed off - or at least didn't match up with the Analytics data I was looking at. May have been me, though.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Thanks Michael,

I think I scanned a post headline somewhere earlier today and meant to check it out.
But then the delivery/appt update hit and I got buried. So thanks for the reminder and for sharing here!

It's kinda late for eyeballs now so I'll try to remember to Tweet this in the AM.

 

[CodyBaird]

I also noticed that Google is marking when an update takes place. The image shows that there was an update on 4/21. Clicking on the learn more link will open another window with Google's explanation/definition of the mobile update.



It will be interesting to see if they continue to show updates. It would be more interesting if Google would show all updates including the recent update mentioned by Barry Schwartz here that Google hasn't acknowleged

 

[Linda Buquet]

Really interesting Cody. More features, more transparency, but still, of course, we can't see the full picture.

 

[Dave]

I had seen that change but haven't applied it yet. In my experience WMT for a local site is absurdly off. Its possibly purposefully deceptive.

Allow me to elaborate.

We have some smb's in which we've had different levels of visibility. Some has been extraordinary. We've had OneBoxes for phrases search phrases) or top of the PAC, or
organic above the PAC and top of the pac.

Plus in an infinite number of those locations we have ALWAYS run adwords. Extensively and Aggressively. Adwords positions have USUALLY been #1.

Besides the keyword phrases with great visibility we've clearly had LOTS of keyword phrases that show the PAC with less than that great visibility.

But in all cases we ran extensive 24/7 adwords, and with our most important keywords we were Virtually always #1. Virtually always.

All the adwords campaigns run on a regional logical basis. Usually they all capture keyword phrases with intent from other parts of the nation. By example if we were a kangaroo veterinarian or vet in Philadelphia, our ads for appropriate keyword searches without a geographical term would only run in the logical Philadelphia region. However if people anywhere in the nation would search on Philadelphia kangaroo veterinarian or vet...they would see the ads regardless if they were in LA or Chicago or anywhere.
(If they want to ship their "roos' to Philly, we'd treat them--.

In any case, what we discovered over many years and on a consistent basis....was for those keywords WHERE we had overwhelming dominant visibility with #1's in organic above the PAC, a #1 Pac and/or a one box...and those #1 ads.....we would get HUGE percentages of ALL the impressions per the regional adwords campaigns. 60, 70, maybe 80%. And these weren't name searches. They would be search phrases by industry type and the most logical geo(town or city names).

Those high percentages of all the impressions would be a total of the paid clicks and the organic/pac clicks. At most (or worst) those #1 adwords positions would comprise 20% or so of the total clicks. It was mostly organic/pac.

NOW TODAYS WMT DATA.

I never see ANYTHING like that. N.E.V.E.R. Can I emphasize it more????

For those phrases where we still have REALLY strong organic and maps/PAC visibility we NEVER see those kinds of Click through rates. I take the WMT data and add back the adwords clicks and it NEVER approximates what we used to see. Its dramatically lower.

I don't trust the WMT data. I think its purposefully low.

WE KNOW (google tells us) that WMT data is only a percentage of the whole.
WE DON'T KNOW what google is omitting. (google doesn't tell us).
As a regional or local business....total WMT data is for the WHOLE Country. That just isn't helpful.

In the above example I really only want to know who is searching for kangaroo veterinarians in and around Philadelphia...because frankly we learned from our leads when people in LA or Chicago or Denver would click on our site...they'd Virtually NEVER send their "roos" to Philly. They'd use a local Kangaroo Vet.

Anyway what I CONSISTENTLY see is that the aggregate of what WMT is telling me and what I get from Adwords is WAY WAY OFF AND FAR FAR LOWER THAN WHAT I used to get.

I think its lousy data. It consistently understates what I believe is occurring or what I knew was occurring when I had better data.

I just don't trust it.