Game-Changing Ways to Use the Google Search Console API - MozCon 2021

In this deck I showed off a number of ways to get the most out of the Google Search Console API by learning how to pipeline it using an ETL tool like https://jepto.com and to then visualize it with Google Data Studio.

I talk about a lot of the key benefits of this approach including:
- This approach makes data studio a super fast tool.
- You can segment and classify your data (we do this with customizable top, middle and bottom of the funnel terms at https://branch.tools).
- Position bucketing. It's super easy to segment your query data to find low hanging fruit opportunities.
- See your data segmented by URL structure
- Keyword Cannibalization
- Keyword Expansion
- Trending Queries

Transcript

1. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner Game-Changing Ways to Use the Google Search Console API Noah Learner Product Director, Two Octobers @noahlearner
2. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner The Hubble Ultra Deep Field This is what 10,000 galaxies looks like.
3. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner
4. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner 100 meters away
5. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner Using the API is like unleashing the power of Hubble.
6. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner GSC UI
7. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner GSC API
8. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner
9. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner 1,000 rows?
10. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner The API delivers 25x the data.
11. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner 1 dimension at a time?
12. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner Google Search Console’s performance tab is painful.
13. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner It’s also slow and tedious to work with.
14. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner How’s this for context?
15. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner 25x the data is pretty cool, where’s the money?
16. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner HOW MUCH IS HIDDEN? Clicks x Conv Rate x AOV
17. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner 7k Clicks x Conv Rate x AOV
18. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner 1% Clicks x Conv Rate x AOV
19. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner $570 Clicks x Conv Rate x AOV
20. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner $40k = ~2% of revenue is hidden
21. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner That is 1 of 285 brands on the site.
22. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner HIDDEN BOF TERMS $380k
23. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner The API offers an astonishing amount of data.
24. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner Create UIs that match your workflows.
25. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner Build multiple layers of filters to get to answers. AND FAST
26. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner Context!
27. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner GIMME GIMME GIMME!!!
28. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner How can I get this rolling?
29. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner BigQuery Data Studio GSC API The System
30. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner Gathering the Data
31. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner Build your own or use an ETL tool:
32. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner Getting the data into BQ. $10 - $$$$ / month / client
33. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner BigQuery costs between $0.02 - $0.25 / client / month
34. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner DATA STUDIO IS FREE
35. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner What are the Advantages?
36. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner HOLY MOLY it’s fast.
37. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner Segment your data by creating filters like this
38. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner Learn about calculated fields + case statements
39. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner BE PATIENT.
40. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner Position Bucketing THIS IS $$$
41. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner
42. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner Branded Terms
43. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner Folder Structure
44. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner Product Brands
45. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner We saw huge demand for queries including “For Sale”
46. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner REVENUE UP 116% over 2020
47. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner Layered filtering takes us from large data to actionable insights
48. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner
49. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner The magic
50. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner Enter a head term to show relevant queries and URLS.
51. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner
52. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner Click a search term to find a target page to optimize
53. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner
54. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner We can see: the page to optimize
55. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner
56. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner We can see: cannibalization issues
57. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner We can see: internal linking opportunities
58. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner Perform serp analysis to understand search intent.
59. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner Keep your page that aligns with the intent you see in the serps.
60. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner 301 redirect / deoptimize the other pages.
61. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner
62. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner We can see content expansion opportunities
63. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner Initial 317K 15K Step 1 25.6K 1.3K Step 2 1 5 Terms URLs
64. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner We can see low hanging fruit opportunities
65. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner Striking Distance
66. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner FAQs anyone? Content expansion?
67. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner
68. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner Take it a step further with conditional formatting.
69. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner
70. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner
71. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner Process the data in BigQuery for even more $$$.
72. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner Trending Queries = $$$
73. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner
74. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner You can then create change columns that are sortable in GDS.
75. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner
76. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner What have we learned?
77. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner The GSC API is the new table stakes.
78. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner The combo of API + BQ + GDS is crazy powerful.
79. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner You’ll build better content that ranks and converts.
80. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner Leave no data behind!
81. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner noah@twooctobers.com @noahlearner USEFUL LINKS How to Build a Google Search Console Data Pipeline: http://bit.ly/gscPipeline Getting All Your Search Data: https://bit.ly/3fcGzC9 Building Case Statements https://support.google.com/datastudi o/answer/7020724
82. noah@twooctobers @noahlearner Game-Changing Ways to Use the Google Search Console API Noah Learner Product Director, Two Octobers @noahlearner