Google Webmaster Tools

[Rolo Tomasi]

Please excuse my naivety but I'm new to all this.

I used googles keyword suggester tool to check the number of searches for a chosen keyword and this comes back with 40,000 local searches for July.

My site currently ranks on page 2, however according to webmaster tools the keyword only had 28 impressions last month. What does 'impressions' mean? I assumed that it was the number of times that term had been searched and my site was in the results but this would mean it had only been searched 28 times not 40,000.

Many thanks.

[MagnifyB]

My site currently ranks on page 2, however according to webmaster tools the keyword only had 28 impressions last month. What does 'impressions' mean?
Searches and impressions are different.
Searches is the number of times users type that particular keyword or key-phrase into Google
Impressions is the number of times your website has been been seen/shown to the users.
As your website is ranked on page 2 of a search query the likelihood of it being shown to a user is small. ( most users only look at page 1 before redefining their search query)
Sites in position 1 on page one get the lions share of traffic, the lower down the ranks a site is situated, the smaller a percentage of the volume of searches.

Hope that makes sense to you :)

[Rolo Tomasi]

Thanks for the response.

When you say 'the number of times shown' does that mean the number of times it has appeared on the results on someones screen? I have another term which, according to the keyword tool, was searched for 22,000 in July. I am on the first page of google however my 'impressions' are only 390.

I suppose what I am asking is the accuracy of the keyword tool. If there are 22,000 searches for a keyword and I average a 10% click through I would be willing to spend time ensuring I rank high however if there are only 400 searches I will focus my efforts elsewhere.

[RedEvo]

Is that phrase match impressions or broad match impressions? Also, being on page 1 won't bring lots of traffic for a search unless you are in the top 3 or 4. Most clicks go to position 1.

d

[Rolo Tomasi]

Is that phrase match impressions or broad match impressions? d

Sorry - dont know. I'm looking at the impressions column of google webmaster tools search queries. At the moment I'm trying to decide which keywords I should be concentrating on and how much time I should be spending.

In the previous example I am in position 2 for a phrase which had 22,000 local searches in July however I only had 390 impressions according to webmaster tools. Why didn't I have 22,000 impressions?

[RedEvo]

Are you sure you are not seeing personalised search results (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKuG2M6R4VM)? Are you sure those numbers aren't for broad match searches (change to phrase match results). The numbers are also misleading, remember it's an Adwords estimator.

d

[MagnifyB]

When you say 'the number of times shown' does that mean the number of times it has appeared on the results on someones screen?

Yes it does mean the number of times it appears on some-ones screen.

I have another term which, according to the keyword tool, was searched for 22,000 in July. I am on the first page of google however my 'impressions' are only 390. I suppose what I am asking is the accuracy of the keyword tool. If there are 22,000 searches for a keyword and I average a 10% click through I would be willing to spend time ensuring I rank high however if there are only 400 searches I will focus my efforts elsewhere.

In my mind it is accurate to a degree. What you also needs to look at are the search trends as don't forget it is taken over an average of 12 months ( some months can be greater than others depending if your keywords have any seasonal trend).

As for why the keyword you say you are one page 1 and shows 22k in July but you only have 390 - there can be several reasons but the most likely explanation is you are not ALWAYS on page 1. Try a keyword ranking tool that shows history and you will see how this can fluctuate especially if you are near the bottom of page one. Without seeing your website or knowing what the keywords are it's difficult to give a more defined reason.

As RedEvo says the top 3 to 4 get most of the traffic ( 80% of clickthrus) with the top spot taking at the majority. There have been made studies done on this that you can fine via the Internet but the percentages can vary from study to study.

For a 10% CTR I would say you need to be looking at position 3, very lowest position 4.

[Rolo Tomasi]

Thank you. I was looking at broad match results in the keyword estimator. When I change this to phrase match the 22,000 searches reduces to 6,600 and when I change it to exact there are only 590.