Search Console shows you the other side of the story. GA4 tells you what people do on your site. Search Console tells you what people searched for to find you — and how often they didn’t click even though they saw you.
That distinction matters. If you know people are searching for “handmade leather bags” and your page is appearing in results but nobody is clicking, that’s a fixable problem. Your page title or description probably needs work. Without Search Console, you’d never know the opportunity existed.
Before You Start
Connect your Google account first. Search Console uses the same Google connection as all other Squizzie integrations. If you haven’t set that up yet, start with the Google Integrations guide.
Enable the feature toggle. Go to Tracksies > Settings > Features, find the Squizzie tile, and make sure Google Search Console is toggled on.
You need a verified Search Console property. Your site must be verified in Google Search Console at search.google.com/search-console. If you haven’t done this yet, Google’s verification process usually takes a few minutes — you can verify via DNS record, HTML file upload, or through your domain registrar.
Setting Up
Once your Google account is connected and the feature is enabled:
- Go to Tracksies > Squizzie > Settings > Integrations
- In the Search Console section, click Load Sites
- Squizzie will fetch a list of all sites verified in your Search Console account
- Select your site from the dropdown
- Click Save
- Use the Test Connection button to confirm data is flowing
URL-Prefix vs Domain Properties
Search Console offers two types of properties, and you’ll see both in the dropdown if you have them:
- URL-prefix properties look like
https://www.example.com/. They only track one specific URL version of your site. - Domain properties look like
sc-domain:example.com. They track all URL variations — with and without www, http and https, all subdomains.
If you have a domain property, use that one. It gives you the complete picture. If you only have a URL-prefix property, that works fine too — just make sure it matches the version of your site that’s actually being indexed (check which URLs show up in your Google search results).
Available Metrics
Connecting Search Console adds these metrics to your reports:
- Total Clicks — How many times someone clicked through to your site from a Google search result
- Total Impressions — How many times your pages appeared in search results (whether or not anyone clicked)
- Average Click-Through Rate (CTR) — The percentage of impressions that resulted in a click
- Average Position — Your average ranking position across all queries
- Top Search Queries — The specific terms people searched to find you, with clicks, impressions, CTR, and position per query
- Top Pages — Which of your pages perform best in search, with the same metrics
- Queries by Device — How your search performance breaks down across desktop, mobile, and tablet
- Queries by Country — Where in the world your search traffic comes from
- Search Trends — Daily timeseries data for charting search performance over time
Understanding Your Search Data
What “Position” Means
Position is your average ranking in Google search results for a given query. Position 1 means you’re the first result. Position 10 means you’re at the bottom of page 1. Position 11 means you’ve slipped onto page 2.
This is an average, so a position of 4.5 means you’re sometimes third, sometimes fifth, depending on who’s searching, where they are, and what device they’re using.
What “Impressions” Means
An impression happens whenever your page appears in someone’s search results — even if they have to scroll down to see it, and even if they don’t click. High impressions with low clicks tells you that people are searching for your terms and Google is showing your page, but something about your listing isn’t compelling enough to earn the click.
Why CTR Matters
Click-through rate is the most actionable metric in Search Console. If your CTR is low for a query where you rank well, the problem is almost certainly your page title or meta description. People see your listing, read the title and snippet, and decide it’s not what they’re looking for — or another result looks more appealing.
This is one of the easiest wins in SEO: rewrite the title and description for pages with high impressions and low CTR. You don’t need to change anything about the page itself or build any links. Just make the listing more compelling.
Query Buckets
Squizzie automatically sorts your search queries into four buckets based on where you rank:
- Winners (Position 1-3, CTR 5%+) — You’re at the top and getting clicks. Protect these positions. Don’t make dramatic changes to pages that rank here.
- Almost There (Position 4-10) — You’re on page 1 but not at the top. Small improvements — better content, a few quality links, faster page speed — could push you into the top 3 where the real traffic is.
- Quick Wins (Position 11-20, 10+ impressions) — You’re on page 2 with proven search demand. These queries are the best candidates for SEO effort because moving from page 2 to page 1 typically doubles or triples your traffic for that term.
- Long Tail (Position 20+) — You’re ranking deep in the results. These are usually niche or long-tail queries. They might not be worth individual effort, but they add up — and they show you what topics Google associates with your site.
How to Use This Data
Find Content Gaps
Look at your top queries and ask: do I have a dedicated page for this search term? If people are finding your homepage when they search for “organic dog treats delivery Sydney,” maybe you need a landing page specifically about that.
Improve Titles and Descriptions
Sort your queries by impressions, then look at the ones with low CTR. These are your biggest missed opportunities. Google is already showing your pages — you just need to make the listing more clickable.
Discover What People Actually Search For
Your customers might not use the words you think they use. Search Console shows you the actual language people type into Google. This is invaluable for product descriptions, category names, blog topics, and ad copy.
Track SEO Progress
The search trends timeseries shows your overall search visibility over time. If you’re investing in SEO (content, technical improvements, link building), you should see impressions and clicks trending upward over weeks and months.
Cross-References with Other Data
Squizzie automatically looks for connections between your Search Console data and other data sources:
- GA4 cross-reference: If your total search clicks don’t align with your GA4 session count, Squizzie will flag the discrepancy. This can indicate tracking gaps, non-search traffic sources, or visitors who bounce before GA4 loads.
- PageSpeed cross-reference: If more than half your search impressions are from mobile devices, Squizzie will remind you to check your PageSpeed mobile performance score. Mobile speed directly impacts search rankings.
- Device distribution: If mobile impressions are high but mobile clicks are disproportionately low, Squizzie flags this as a possible mobile experience issue — your site might not be performing well on phones.
Data Freshness
Search Console data in Google’s own dashboard typically has a 2-3 day delay. Squizzie works within this same limitation — the most recent data available is usually from 2-3 days ago. This is normal and not something that can be worked around.
Squizzie caches your Search Console data for 4 hours to avoid excessive API calls. You don’t need to manage this — it refreshes automatically.
Common Questions
How is Search Console different from GA4?
GA4 shows what happens on your site (traffic, engagement, conversions). Search Console shows what happens before people reach your site (what they searched, where you ranked, whether they clicked). Together, they tell the full story.
Why don’t my Search Console clicks match my GA4 sessions?
They almost never match exactly. GA4 counts sessions from all sources (direct, social, email, paid ads, organic search). Search Console only counts clicks from Google search. Plus, some users click your search result but leave before GA4’s tracking script loads, so those visits show as clicks in Search Console but not sessions in GA4.
Can I see which products people search for?
Yes — if your product pages rank in Google, the queries and pages data will show you exactly which product pages are appearing in search results and which search terms trigger them.
Why does my position change from day to day?
Google’s rankings fluctuate naturally based on algorithm updates, competitor changes, personalisation, and location. Small daily changes (half a position up or down) are completely normal. Look at the trend over weeks, not individual days.
I just added my site to Search Console. Why is there no data?
Search Console starts collecting data from the moment your property is verified, but it doesn’t have historical data from before verification. Give it a few days to accumulate enough data for meaningful reports.
What if I have both a URL-prefix and domain property?
Use the domain property. It captures everything the URL-prefix property captures, plus additional URL variations you might be missing.