After this you'll be able to use Search Console to pick which page gets your next hour of work, before you order another batch of blog posts.
Why it matters
Ordering another batch of posts and hoping one hits isn't a plan. It's a raffle. Often a page you already have is showing up in Google while hardly anyone clicks, or it's slowly fading. Those are two different problems, and more new posts don't fix either one.
The steps
- Open Search Console. It's Google's free report on how your site shows up in search. Go to Performance, then Search results, and check that the search type says Web.
- Compare two equal stretches of time. In the date filter, pick Compare, like the last three months against the three months before. Turn on Clicks and Impressions. Impressions just means how often a page showed up.
- Open the Pages tab and look for two patterns. Pages showing up a lot more while clicks stay flat. And pages fading, showing up less than before.
- Read the searches, then the page. Click a page, then the Queries tab, to see what people typed when it showed up. Then open the page on your phone and read it like the person who typed that search. Does it answer them near the top?
- Then assign the work. If the page doesn't answer the search, it needs a clearer answer. If the searches are about something you don't cover at all, you might need a new page. If it's fine, leave it alone.
- Write down what you changed and when. Then compare again later, the same way.
Neither pattern is the whole story. It's a clue, not a diagnosis from Dr. Google. That's why you read the searches and the page before anyone writes a word.
Copy this
Fill this in for each page before you assign anything:
NEXT HOUR OF SEO WORK Dates: ________ vs ________ (same length) Search type: Web Page: ______________ Showed up (impressions): before ____ after ____ Clicks: before ____ after ____ [ ] Showing up more, hardly any clicks [ ] Fading (showing up less) [ ] Neither Top searches it shows up for: ______________ Does the page answer them near the top? Yes / Partly / No Assignment: [ ] Clearer answer on this page [ ] New page for a topic we don't cover: ______________ [ ] Leave it. Check again on: ______________
Example (made up)
Harbor Plumbing has a water heater replacement page. Comparing the last three months with the three before, it showed up 6,500 times, up from 2,000. Clicks stayed flat at about 40.
The searches: "water heater replacement cost" and "how long does a water heater last." The page opens with two paragraphs of company history and doesn't mention cost until the very bottom.
The assignment: a plain answer near the top about what changes the price, plus a short section on how long heaters last. No new posts. Meanwhile their drain tips page is fading. Different problem, so it goes on the list for its own look.
Mistakes to avoid
- Comparing uneven stretches of time. A month against a week tells you nothing.
- Treating one number as the diagnosis. It's a clue. Read the searches and the page.
- Assigning a writer before anyone reads the page. You might pay for an answer the page already has, just buried.
- Rewriting a page that's working because one number dipped. Look at the searches first.
I'd rather fix the page that's almost doing the job than buy more raffle tickets.
