How to Read Your Google Numbers and Make One Change a Month

Before you start

You need the free tools set up first: Search Console, Analytics with your key events marked, and Clarity. Here's that setup.

Then block one hour a month. Our recommendation: do it after the 5th. Your Google profile's search terms update at the start of each month, and Google says "It might take up to 5 days to show up." (Google Business Profile help)

1. Search Console: the searches that find you (20 minutes)

Open Performance. It shows your clicks, impressions, click rate (CTR) and average position, and you can sort it by search, page, device and date. The default view covers the last 3 months. (Search Console help)

Look for two lists:

• Lots of impressions, few clicks. People see you and pick someone else. Rewrite that page's title and description so they match the search. Here's how to write them.
• Average position 8 to 20. You're close to the top of page one. Make that page better: answer the question fully, add detail, a real photo and the questions people ask.

Showing up in Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode counts here too. Google reports it in the same Performance report, under the "Web" search type. (Google Search Central)

2. Search Console: pages Google left out (5 minutes)

Open Page indexing. Not every page will be in Google, and that's normal. Only check that your important pages are there: your home page and your service pages.

A few rules from Google's help page:

• Pages marked "Crawled - currently not indexed" "may or may not be indexed in the future."
• A removed page showing as a 404 is fine. If a page moved, redirect the old address to the new one with a 301.

(Search Console help)

Fixed a page? Use URL Inspection, then Request indexing. But "Submitting a request does not guarantee that the page will appear in the Google Index," and "There is a daily limit to how many index requests you can submit." (Search Console help) Our recommendation: only request pages you've really changed.

3. Analytics: which pages bring leads (15 minutes)

Look at your key events: the calls, forms and bookings you marked. This part is our recommendation.

• Which pages and sources bring leads? Do more of that. Link to those pages from your home page.
• Which busy pages bring few leads? Make the top of the page clearer, and make the call or book button easier to find.

4. Clarity: where people get stuck (10 minutes)

Clarity flags rage clicks and dead clicks: people tapping something that doesn't respond. It also flags quick backs and excessive scrolling. (Clarity docs)

Our recommendation: open your busiest page and watch three to five recordings. You'll often spot the problem in a few minutes. Something looks like a button but isn't, or the button is too far down.

5. Your Google profile: what people do (10 minutes)

"Go to your Business Profile," then "Click Performance," pick a time period and "Click Apply." On a phone, open the Maps app, "tap Business," then next to Performance, "tap See more." (Google Business Profile help)

What you'll see, in Google's words:

• Searches: "The search terms people used to find your business."
• Calls: "The number of times a customer clicked on the call button on your Business Profile."
• Website clicks: "The number of times people clicked on the website link on your Business Profile."
• Directions: "How many people asked for directions to your business."

Two things to know. "Only metrics that apply to your business appear." And if you run Google Ads, the numbers include them: "Performance data includes views, searches, and actions from both organic search results and Google Ads." (Google Business Profile help)

Our recommendation: read the search terms. Use the exact words people typed in your posts and on your pages. Post views are now in your profile too. More on that here.

6. Pick one change

You'll find more than you can fix. Good. Pick one or two. If you change ten things at once, you won't know which one worked.

Our order of priority:

1. Anything broken. A key page missing from Google, a dead button, a form that doesn't send.
2. Pages ranking 8 to 20. They're closest to paying off.
3. Low click rates. A better title and description is a quick job.
4. Busy pages with few leads. Make the next step obvious.

7. Write it down

Keep a simple log. One line per change:

• The date
• The page
• What you changed
• The number to watch (clicks for one search, say, or calls)

Next month, check that same number first. Give changes time: after you request indexing, "Indexing can take up to a week or two." (Search Console help) Judge a change after a month, not a day.

Without the log, you'll never know which change worked. With it, a year of small fixes turns into a list of what works for your business.

Drop 08 has this hour as a one-page table: what to look at, what to look for and what to change.