Search Console Reports: How to Read the Performance Tab

Search console reports show how your site does in Google Search: how often people see it, how often they click, and where it ranks. This guide covers the four numbers in the Performance report, the tabs, the limits, and a simple way to spot changes worth acting on.

1. What the report shows

   The Performance report is the main page for your search traffic in Search Console. It shows how your site does in Google Search results. You can see how traffic changes over time, where it comes from, and which searches show your site.

   By default, the report covers the past three months. You pick a date range, a metric and a way to group the data. Then you read the chart on top and the table below it.

   Every chart and table in it uses the same four numbers. The next section explains each one.

   Sources: Google Search Console Help, Performance report (Search)

2. The four numbers: clicks, impressions, CTR and position

   Google defines each number in its help pages. Here they are in plain words.

   Number	What it means
   Clicks	How often someone clicked a link from Google to your site
   Impressions	How often someone saw a link to your site on Google
   CTR	Click-through rate: clicks divided by impressions
   Position	Where your link sits in the results, where 1 is the top spot

   An impression is counted when your result is on the page of results a person opens. It does not matter if they scrolled down to it. But if someone only views page 1 and your result is on page 2, there is no impression.

   Position needs care. Google reports the topmost result from your site. If your site has results at positions 2, 4 and 6 for one search, the position is 2. Say a second search has results at 3, 5 and 9. That search counts as 3, and the average of the two searches is 2.5.

   Sources: Google Search Console Help, What are impressions, position, and clicks?; Google Search Console Help, Performance report (Search)

3. How the tabs group your data

   The table under the chart can be grouped in several ways. Each tab answers a different question.

   • Queries: the words people typed into Google before they saw your site.
   • Pages: the page that the result linked to.
   • Countries: where the search came from.
   • Devices: desktop, tablet or mobile.
   • Dates: your data by day.

   Dates use Pacific Time. The newest days can be preliminary, so numbers may shift a little after you first see them.

   Clicks, impressions and position go to the page that Google treats as the main version of a URL. If two addresses show the same page, the data is filed under one.

   Sources: Google Search Console Help, Performance report (Search); Google Search Console Help, What are impressions, position, and clicks?

4. Three limits to know before you trust a total

   The report is useful, but it is not a full record. Google lists these limits on its own help page.

   • The Queries tab shows up to 1,000 top queries. Google stores the top rows, not all of them.
   • Rare queries are hidden to protect the privacy of the person who searched. They are called anonymized queries.
   • The chart totals and the table totals can differ for this reason.

   So do not add up the rows and expect the chart number. Use the chart for the big picture. Use the table to look for patterns.

   You can also export the data. Values shown as a dash or a tilde in the report become zeros in the download. Keep that in mind if you work with the file in a spreadsheet.

   Sources: Google Search Console Help, Performance report (Search)

5. How to spot changes worth acting on

   Start with one question and one view. Do not read every number at once.

   1. Compare two date ranges. Use the compare option for this month against last month. Google also lets you compare two pages, two countries or two devices. You can compare in only one grouping, such as dates or countries, at a time.
   2. Look for high impressions with low CTR. Google suggests this check on its help page. A query with many impressions and few clicks can mean your title or snippet does not match what people want.
   3. Read the query list for surprises. If the words you expect are missing, the page may lack useful content for them. If odd words such as Viagra or casino show up, the site may have been hacked.
   4. Check position before you worry about clicks. If clicks fall and position holds, look at the title. If position falls, look at the page and the pages that now rank above it.

   Remember that position is an average. A small shift can come from new queries entering the data, not from a change on your page.

   Write down what you saw, what you changed and the date. A short note helps you judge the result later.

   Sources: Google Search Console Help, Performance report (Search); Google Search Console Help, What are impressions, position, and clicks?

6. A simple monthly routine

   Set aside 20 minutes each month. Open the report, set the date range to the past three months, and then work through this list.

   • Read the chart for clicks and impressions. Is the line going up, down or flat?
   • Open the Queries tab. Sort by impressions. Mark queries with many impressions and a low CTR.
   • Open the Pages tab. Sort by clicks. Note your top five pages.
   • Open the Devices and Countries tabs. Check that the split looks like your real audience.
   • Pick one page to improve. Rewrite its title or opening, then check back next month.

   Agencies that report on search results can follow the same steps for a client. Ask to see the date range, the filter and the tab behind any number in a report. That keeps the story honest and easy to repeat.

   Sources: Google Search Console Help, Performance report (Search)

7. Sources

   1. Google Search Console Help, Performance report (Search)
   2. Google Search Console Help, What are impressions, position, and clicks?

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