Analyzing key metrics using tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and Semrush is important to understanding your website’s current performance and identifying areas for improvement.
Google Analytics
Where Does My Traffic Come From?
Here you can identify the primary channels driving traffic to your website, such as organic search (via search engine), organic social (non-ad link form social sites), referral (email), or direct (typing in your URL) traffic. You can also see how many new and returning users visited your website for each traffic channel and what their average engagement time was with your website.
Which Web Pages on My Website Received the Most Visits?
From the “Reports” tab on the Main Page navigation, select “Business objectives” or “Life cycle.” From the “Understand web and/or app traffic” or “Engagement” dropdown menu (respectively), select “Pages and screens.” From this page, make sure “Page path and screen class” is selected from the dropdown menu in the second column of the table.
Use Customize report (pencil icon) in Report controls to add missing Metrics, found under Report Data, to the Report data table. See Customize detail reports.
In this report, you will be able to see which web pages were visited the most (Page path and screen class), how many views each had (Views), and the number of unique users who visited (Active Users). You will also be able to see the average engagement time on that web page by the users (Average engagement time per active user) and the rate at which your users were engaged (Engagement rate). Other metrics you may wish to add to the Report Data table are Sessions, Engaged sessions, Engagement rate, Bounce rate through Customize report (pencil icon).
Engagement & Engagement Rate
Engagement on your website is measured by Google Analytics’ Engaged sessions in three ways.
- Session duration: A session is considered an engagement if it lasts longer than 10 seconds.
- Page views: A session is considered an engagement if it includes at least two page views.
- Conversion event: A session that triggers a conversion event (Event count) (e.g., form submission, link click, purchase) is considered engaged. A conversion is a specific action that a user takes on your website that you’ve defined as valuable in Google Analytics.
To calculate the engagement rate, Google divides the number of engaged sessions by the total number of sessions.
For example: If you have 1000 total sessions and 500 of those sessions are engaged, the engagement rate would be: (500 engaged sessions / 1000 total sessions) * 100 = 50% engagement rate.
Inversely, the Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who don’t trigger an engagement with your website.
A high bounce rate can indicate that your content isn’t relevant, engaging, or user-friendly. In essence, it’s the inverse of engagement rate.
A low bounce rate (high engagement rate) suggests that visitors are finding your content valuable and staying on your website to explore further.
By analyzing these metrics, you can identify trends, top-performing or underperforming web pages, and uncover areas where user engagement may be lacking.
Google Search Console
Which Search Terms Are Directing Visitors to My Website?
From the primary navigation on the Google Search Console platform, select the “Performance” dropdown menu, then select “Search Results”. In the report table, select the “Queries” tab.
This report shows the keywords that people search for resulting in a click to your website. You will see the number of impressions (a metric that counts how many times a user has seen a link to your website in search results) and the number of clicks (how many of those impressions clicked on your website for the given keyword).
How Are My Different Web Pages Performing on Google Search?
From the primary navigation on the Google Search Console platform, select the “Performance” dropdown menu, then select “Search Results”. In the report table, select the “Pages” tab. In the Overview graph about the report table, select the “Average CTR”.
Like the queries tab, this report shows you the number of impressions each of your web pages has had in a selected time period and the number of those impressions that clicked on that web page.
You can also see your CTR (Click Through Rate) or the ratio of clicks to impressions of a web page, expressed as a percentage. A higher CTR means your web page is more relevant and engaging to your target audience, making them more likely to click on it.
What Devices Are Users Visiting My Website With?
From the primary navigation on the Google Search Console platform, select the “Performance” dropdown menu, then select “Search Results”. In the report table, select the “Devices” tab. In the Overview graph about the report table, select the “Average CTR”.
Want to know how users are accessing your website? This report provides insights into the device preferences of your audience. Google prioritizes mobile-friendly websites, so understanding how your website performs on different devices is crucial.
By comparing clicks, impressions, and CTR (Click Through Rate) for desktop, mobile, and tablet devices, you can identify potential areas for improvement. A significantly higher CTR on desktop may indicate a need to optimize your website for mobile devices.
Are My Web Pages Indexed by Google?
From the primary navigation on the Google Search Console platform, select the “Indexing” dropdown menu, then select “Pages”. Select the “View data about indexed pages” button under the Pages bar graph.
In this report, you can check to see if your web pages are currently being discovered by Google. The dropdown list at the top of the page lists All known pages, All submitted pages, and All unsubmitted pages only. If a sitemap is available on your website, you can Filter by Sitemaps. If Google has indexed your webpage, then it is visible in search results. If they have not indexed the page, then it is not visible in search results.
Why Web Pages Aren’t Indexed
Several errors can cause your web page not to be indexed by Google. Use the “Why pages aren’t indexed” section to discover why your web pages are not indexed.
From the primary navigation on the Google Search Console platform, select the “Indexing” dropdown menu, then select “Pages”. View the “Why pages aren’t indexed” section under the first section.
If you have any questions about particular web pages not being indexed, submit a web support ticket a general help.
Submit a Web Page for Indexing
For recently published content on your website and you want Google to index it quickly, you can submit your URL to request indexing.
From the primary navigation on the Google Search Console platform, select “URL Inspection”. The Search field in the header receives focus and reads “Inspect any URL in [domain]“. Add the URL of the website and select Enter.
The information provided on this web page will indicate if the “URL is not on Google” or “URL is on Google“. If the web page is not indexed or if there is new content on the web page, select “Request Indexing”.
Do My Web Pages Have Any Core User Experience Issues on the Web That Need to Be Addressed?
From the primary navigation on the Google Search Console platform, select the “Experience” dropdown menu, then select “Core Web Vitals”.
By understanding these metrics, you can identify opportunities to improve your website’s search engine performance and user experience.
If you have questions about a specific UR, submit a web support ticket a general help.
Semrush
Semrush is a paid platform that has a wide range of tools that will allow you to get a comprehensive view of your website’s performance online.
Semrush is not a Google platform. It won’t have as accurate information as Google has on your website’s search performance and traffic. Some key features of Semrush make it easier to identify opportunities to optimize your website. Some key questions that Semrush could answer for you are:
How Optimized is My Content?
Select “On Page SEO Checker” located in the left-hand menu under the “On Page and Tech SEO” section. Choose an existing project or create a new one.
Well-optimized content is built on a foundation of factors that contribute to a positive user experience. These include relevant internal links, informative and readable text, and properly structured headings, meta descriptions, and page titles that incorporate the target keyword.
The “On Page SEO Checker” audits your content against these criteria, providing actionable recommendations for enhancing its Search Engine Optimization (SEO)-friendliness. This tool effectively pinpoints areas of under-optimization that might otherwise be overlooked. It goes beyond basic keyword analysis to provide a holistic view of content quality, including factors like text length, readability, semantic relevance, and even potential technical issues that could impact search engine crawling and indexing.
Are There Issues With My Website I Am Unaware of Which Are Causing a Poor User Experience?
Select “Site Audit” located in the left-hand menu under the “On Page and Tech SEO” section. Choose an existing project or create a new one. Navigate to the “Issues” tab, where you can filter results by “Errors,” “Warnings,” and “Notices.”
Semrush’s Site Audit tool acts as a comprehensive health check for your website, crawling it like a search engine to uncover technical and on-page SEO problems that could be hindering its performance. The “Issues” tab is where the tool presents its findings, categorizing them into three severity levels:
- Errors: These are the most critical issues that can significantly impact your website’s visibility and user experience. Examples include broken links (404 errors), crawl errors (preventing search engines from accessing pages), duplicate content, and issues with your robots.txt file (which instructs search engines on which parts of your website to crawl). Addressing errors should be your top priority.
- Warnings: Warnings indicate less severe problems that, while not as critical as errors, can still negatively affect your SEO and user experience. Examples include missing meta descriptions, slow page load speeds, and incorrect use of heading tags. Resolving warnings is important for optimizing your website’s overall health.
- Notices: Notices highlight areas for potential improvement but are not necessarily problems. They might suggest opportunities to optimize image sizes, use more internal links, or improve the use of keywords. While not urgent, addressing notices can further enhance your website’s SEO.
Who is Backlinking to My Website and Should I Disavow Their Link?
Select “Backlink Audit” located in the left-hand menu under the “Link Building” section. Choose an existing project or create a new one. Navigate to the “Audit” tab, where you can filter the “Toxicity Score” by “Toxic,” “Potentially Toxic,” and “Non-Toxic.”
The Backlink Audit tool analyzes all the websites linking to your website, providing valuable insights into your backlink profile. The tool categorizes potentially problematic backlinks into three levels of toxicity:
- Toxic: These represent the most harmful backlinks that could negatively impact your website’s search rankings. These often come from spammy websites, link farms, or websites with irrelevant content. Examples include links from websites with high toxicity scores (Semrush metric), websites penalized by Google, or websites with known link-selling practices. These links should be prioritized for removal or disavowal.
- Potentially Toxic: These indicate backlinks that require closer inspection. They might come from websites with lower, but still concerning, toxicity scores, websites with thin content, or websites with a high ratio of outbound links. While not as immediately damaging as toxic links, these links can still pose a risk to your SEO.
- Non-Toxic: These are backlinks that are generally considered safe and may even be beneficial for your SEO. They typically come from reputable websites with relevant content and a good track record.
If the Backlink Audit reveals a significant number of “Toxic” or “Potentially Toxic” links, especially from spammy or low-quality websites, you may need to disavow these links. Disavowing tells Google to disregard specific backlinks when evaluating your website.
Disavow Links with Google Search Console
Here’s how to disavow links using Semrush combined with Google’s Disavow Tool:
This is an advanced feature and should only be used with caution.
Step 1: Analyze Your links
Use Semrush’s Backlink Audit tool to view all websites linking to your website. This tool will show you the source URL, the linked-to URL, and the anchor text.
Semrush provides two helpful metrics:
- Authority Score: This indicates the website’s overall strength and reputation.
- Toxicity Score: This score (specific to Semrush) helps you identify potentially harmful links.
Hover over each column heading for more information about these metrics.
Focus on links with high toxicity scores, but consider relevance too. Don’t disavow a valuable link just because of a high score. Carefully review each link before making a decision.
Step 2: Select Links to Disavow
Click the “Disavow” button for each link you want to remove. Choose to disavow the entire domain (if the entire website is low quality) or just the specific URL. Disavow the URL for better control over the links you reject. Select multiple links for disavowal by checking their boxes and clicking the “Disavow” button at the top.
Step 3: Create a Disavow File
Once you’ve chosen the links to disavow, navigate to the “Disavow” tab. Click the green “Export to TXT” button. This creates a plain text file listing the domains or URLs to disavow.
Step 4: Upload the Disavow File to Google Search Console
Go to Search Console: Disavow Links and select your property. Make sure your property is set up as a URL property, not a domain property. Google Search Console doesn’t allow disavow lists for domain properties.
If your property already has a disavow list, choose “Replace”. Otherwise, click “Upload disavow list”.
Upload the .txt file you created from Semrush.
Step 5: Update Semrush’s Backlink Audit
Once uploaded, you can return to Semrush and select “Yes, I uploaded the file”. Semrush should update your backlink profile and provide a new overall toxicity score found in the “Overview” tab of the Backlink Audit tool.
Disavowing links can be complex. Use this guide as a starting point, but always research best practices before taking action. Only disavow links you are certain are harmful.
While Semrush doesn’t have direct access to Google’s internal data, it offers a powerful suite of tools that can help you look at your website’s health and identify commonly overlooked areas for improvement.
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