How to Use Search Console Reporting for News Websites

If you own or manage a news website, understanding how your content is being indexed and shown on Google Search and Google News can greatly affect your success. Google Search Console provides a variety of reports to help with this analysis, and in this article, we will explore how to use them effectively.

Meet the Google Search Tech Promoters

Before diving into the specifics of Search Console reporting, we would like to introduce ourselves. We are Daniel Waisberg and Cherry Prommawin, both Google Search Technology Promoters. In this role, we help website owners understand and optimize their use of Google Search and Search Console.

Search Console Reporting for News Websites

Search Console provides a wealth of information for website owners to understand how their content is being crawled, indexed, and shown on Google Search and Google News. It's important for news websites to understand how to use these reporting tools to analyze their search performance and utilize the data to improve their visibility. Let's explore the three main reporting sections available in Search Console:

Performance Reports

The most useful way to analyze your website's search performance is through the Performance Reports. Within this section, you will find three types of reports: Search, Discover, and News. Each report provides specific data about how your website is being shown on Google Search and Google News.

News Performance Report

For news websites, the News Performance Report is of particular interest. This report displays the Google News search results data and shows the performance of your website's content within this tab. To filter the data even more, you can use the Search Type filter to specify which tab you'd like to analyze, such as web, images, videos, or news.

Tips for Analyzing News Performance

Here are some tips for analyzing your website's news performance:

• Check if important pages on your website, such as the news category page or important articles from the past week, are appearing in the search results. If not, utilize the URL Inspection tool to see if the page has been indexed correctly and if it can be properly crawled.
• Make sure your website navigation allows for easy access to important pages, such as the news category page, and that relevant links are pointing to it.
• Identify queries related to your website that are consistently returning your website in search results. These can indicate areas where you have a strong audience and can help you create content for those specific topics.
• Create filters for specific target markets based on language and location to better understand what topics and pages are driving traffic in those areas. This information can help you make decisions about content creation and marketing.

Overall, understanding how to analyze and use the data provided by Search Console can benefit news website owners in creating content and improving their visibility on Google Search and Google News.

Using Data to Improve Your Website

When it comes to website optimization, analyzing data is an essential step to success. With so much information available to you, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. However, by breaking down your analysis into specific areas, you can focus on making meaningful changes to your website.

Analyzing Search Performance

One of the crucial areas to analyze is your website's search performance. By understanding the types of queries that bring traffic to your site, you can better optimize your content to attract the right audience. Additionally, if certain queries or pages have high views but low click-through rates (CTR), it may indicate that your search snippets need improvement.

To analyze search performance, follow these steps:

1. Don't create corresponding filters
2. Analyze the queries and pages that bring success
3. Clarify which pages are most suitable for your audience
4. Compare high and low CTR queries and pages
5. Use this information to adjust your content

Analyzing Google News

Google News is another platform worth analyzing. The data provided by Google News Platform and Google News App can show you how your content performs on those platforms. By exporting data from both and comparing the results, you can identify trends that could help you optimize your content for each platform.

To analyze Google News, follow these steps:

1. Analyze the data from both Google News Platform and Google News App
2. Compare results and identify trends
3. Use this information to adjust your content for each platform

Analyzing Google Discover

Google Discover is a platform that displays your website's content when users open a new tab on their browser. To access data about your website's performance on Google Discover, you can use the Google Discover Performance report. The report shows how users interact with your website within Google Discover and provides insights into the type of content that performs well.

To analyze Google Discover, follow these steps:

1. Use the Google Discover Performance Report to access data
2. Analyze how users interact with your website
3. Identify which types of content perform well
4. Use this information to adjust your content

Important Considerations

When analyzing performance data, the time frame of your analysis is crucial. As a news organization, it's essential to balance your performance with current events. Understanding what's happening in the news cycle can help you identify which types of content will perform well. Additionally, expanding your observation period can identify long-lasting content and popular news categories.

Using Search Console to Analyze News Content

When it comes to news content analysis, using Search Console is an effective method for gathering data and insights. Below are some tips for using Search Console to uncover valuable insights.

Identifying Evergreen Content and Main News Categories

By analyzing a longer time range in the "date" filter (such as 16 months), you can easily identify the evergreen content and main news categories on your website that have remained popular over time. On the other hand, if you narrow your view to a shorter time frame, you can more easily see the current hot topics and major breaking news stories.

Analyzing Traffic Patterns to Inform Content Strategies

By taking a closer look at the traffic patterns on your website, you can gain insights into seasonal trends, weekly and weekend variations, and other patterns. This information can then be used to inform your content strategies for the entire year. For example, if you notice a traffic spike during Martin Luther King Jr. Day every year, you can prepare relevant content in advance to cater to the increased demand during that time.

Utilizing Google Trends for Content Planning

Google Trends is a great tool for identifying search trends and planning content accordingly. By looking at the traffic peaks of different website categories over time, you can compare them with the observed number of days and identify the most relevant occasions. This information can then be used to create interesting and relevant content to cater to the increased demand during high traffic periods.

Staying Up-to-date with Latest Information

Using the "nearest date" filter in Search Console can help you stay up-to-date with the latest news and hot topics. With this filter, you can access partial data points that update several times a day, providing useful insights into popular news stories that are currently in progress, such as elections or championship matches.

These are just a few examples of how the Search Console can help you optimize your news content performance in Google search and news. For more information, check out the Google News Initiative website for additional courses and videos specifically designed to help news organizations. Additionally, explore Daniel's Search Console training series for more insights on utilizing Search Console data to achieve greater results.

With these tips, you can use Google to create high-quality news content that appeals to your target audience and improves your website's visibility and search performance.