I’m in Las Vegas this week, and one of the things I’m going to be talking about is site migration. If you’re going to be moving your site, or even if you’ll be doing some major changes, it’s important that you have a way to measure the changes your move makes in terms of your Google ranking.
One particular client I had found that her impressions had dropped by around 100,000, and she wasn’t sure exactly what had dropped. There’s only one way to avoid this, and that involves the Google Search Console, or GSC.
When your traffic drops, it means that Google isn’t ranking certain keywords as highly as they used to. The question is which ones?
You can find this data on Search Analytics in the Google Search Console. The key is to export this data before you make any changes to your site. The data is a rolling compilation of the last 90 days, so it’s important that you capture the freshest example.
Having that information in your possession right before a site migration gives you the best comparison, showing you exactly what the results of the move are. If something changes radically on your site, you can compare your current numbers to the ones generated before the move, pinpointing exactly which phrases are no longer ranking for you.
The best way to capture this data is to simply export it to a Google doc. You’ll find the top 1000 phrases your site is ranking for, including a lot of junk phrases, but you’ll also see exactly where you rank on any keyword phrases you’re targeting. Getting this data before making a major change is key; a two-minute task that can save you hours of headaches later.
For more information, visit the StewArt website.
Jim Stewart is a leading expert in search engine optimisation. His business StewArt Media has worked with clients including Mars, M2 and the City of Melbourne.
Jim Stewart is a leading expert in search engine optimisation. His business StewArt Media has worked with clients including Mars, M2 and the City of Melbourne.
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