The Internet Marketing Driver

  • GSQi Home
  • About Glenn Gabe
  • SEO Services
    • Algorithm Update Recovery
    • Technical SEO Audits
    • Website Redesigns and Site Migrations
    • SEO Training
  • Blog
    • Web Stories
  • Contact GSQi

How To Identify A Mobile Rankings Demotion Using The New Search Analytics Report in Google Webmaster Tools

March 5, 2015 By Glenn Gabe 5 Comments

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
162 Shares

Search Impact Reporting in Google Webmaster Tools

{Update: The Search Impact report was renamed to “Search Analytics” during the beta. The screenshots below will show “Search Impact” when the new report in Google Webmaster Tools is labeled “Search Analytics”.}

April 21, 2015 is an important date. That’s the day when Google will begin using mobile friendliness as a ranking signal. There’s been a lot of talk about how that’s actually going to work, how much of an impact it will have, etc. Well, more and more information has been surfacing over the past few days about the changes.

For example, Gary Illyes spoke at SMX West heavily about the new mobile UX algo and provided some outstanding information. Jennifer Slegg wrote up a recap of that session, which I highly recommend reading. She provided some amazing nuggets of information, including information about mobile friendly techniques, how the algo will handle specific urls, if 4/21 is hard date for the rollout, if Google is building a mobile index (which they are), and more.

So, as 4/21 quickly approaches, many webmasters are working hard to get their sites in order from a mobile UX standpoint. As documented by John Mueller and Gary Illyes (and really Google itself), you can use any of the three options for providing a mobile-friendly version of your website. For example, you can use responsive design, dynamic delivery, or even a separate mobile site. I’ve seen all three techniques work well for clients, so the path you choose should be based on your own site and business. But definitely move quickly… April 21 will roll up quickly.

 

The *Current* Smartphone Rankings Demotion – A Glimpse Into the Future
Many people don’t realize this, but Google already has a smartphone rankings demotion in place for specific situations. For example, when there are faulty redirects from the desktop version of the content to the mobile version, or if there are other mobile-only errors.

I caught one of those situations in the wild and wrote a two-part case study about it. I first detailed the problems I saw on Electronista.com and then documented the improvements in rankings and traffic once the problems were fixed. Based on what Gary Illyes and John Mueller have both said about the mobile UX algo, it sounds like the new algorithm will work in a very similar fashion to the current smartphone rankings demotion. Therefore, I definitely recommend you review the two-part case study.

Checking For Faulty Mobile Redirects

For example, the current smartphone rankings demotion is on a url by url basis. Just because you have faulty redirects or mobile-only errors does not mean the entire domain should suffer (algorithmically). Also, the desktop urls are unaffected (which makes absolute sense). Also, and this is important, the algorithm is running in real-time and will impact urls during the normal crawling process.

That means urls can be demoted as Google comes across mobile problems, but the demotion can also be lifted as Google crawls the urls and notices that the problems are fixed. And that’s exactly what I saw with the smartphone rankings demotion situations I have helped with.

 

Checking Mobile Rankings and The (New) Search Analytics Report
Google is currently testing a new search queries report in Google Webmaster Tools (called the Search Analytics report). Note, the report used to be called “Search Impact”, but was changed during the alpha. I have been testing the new version of the Search Analytics reporting and it provides some great functionality beyond what the current Search Queries reporting provides. I plan to write more about that soon, but for now, let’s focus on the mobile friendliness algorithm rolling out on 4/21.

There are six dimensions you can segment your data by in the new Search Analytics reporting. One of those dimensions is “Devices”. Using this report, you can filter data by desktop, mobile, and tablet. See below:

The Devices Dimension in The Search Impact Reporting

But don’t get fooled by the simplicity of the default report. By combining dimensions, you can view some elaborate reports that tell you a lot in a short amount of time.

When working on a smartphone rankings demotion (the current algo in place), I had to identify queries where a site ranked well in the desktop results, and then jump to the search queries reporting using the “mobile” filter for search property. When doing this for a large amount of queries, it could easily get monotonous.

But the new Search Analytics report comes to the rescue and provides a nifty way to see side by side rankings when comparing desktop to mobile. Below, I’m going to show you how to quickly run this report to see a side by side comparison of clicks and average position by query. By doing so, you can quickly identify a smartphone rankings demotion. That’s for the current smartphone rankings demotion, and should work for the new mobile UX algo rolling out on 4/21/15. Let’s jump into the report.

 

How To Check Rankings By Device
First, if you’re not part of the alpha testing program, then you won’t be able to access the Search Analytics report. But don’t fear, I can only imagine that Google wants to roll it out prior to 4/21/15 (based on the device reporting I’m showing you in this post).

To access the reporting, click “Search Traffic” and then “Search Analytics” in the left-side menu:

Accessing The Search Impact Reporting in Google Webmaster Tools

The default view will show you clicks for the past 30 days. The first thing you need to do is click the “Queries” dimension. That will present all of the queries your site ranks for during the timeframe you selected.

Using The Queries Dimension In The Search Impact Reporting

Next, click the filter dropdown underneath “Devices”, which should say “No filter” (since there isn’t a filter in place yet). Click the dropdown and the select “Compare devices”.

Filtering By Device In The Search Impact Reporting

Keep “Desktop VS. Mobile” as the selection and then click “Compare”.

Comparing By Device In The Search Impact Reporting

You should now see a comparison of clicks per query for both desktop and mobile. That’s great, but we need to know how the site ranks for each query across both desktop and mobile. To see that, click the checkbox for the “Avg. Position” metric.  This will add average position for each query to the report.

Adding The Average Position Metric In The Search Impact Reporting

To view more queries than the default ten, you can use the dropdown at the top of the report. For example, you can show up to 500 rows in the report in Google Webmaster Tools.

Now you can start checking rankings for queries across both desktop and mobile. Don’t expect them to be exactly the same for every query… But they should be close. For example, the first three listed below are very close (two are identical and one is off by just .1).

Comparing Average Position by Query In The Search Impact Reporting

In my experience, when you have a smartphone rankings demotion, there will be a clear difference. For example, some smartphone rankings will be 10+ positions lower (or even non-existent in certain situations). So, if you see rows like the following, then you might have a problem.

Identifying a Rankings Difference In The Search Impact Reporting

 

How To Identify Problems and Lift The Smartphone Rankings Demotion
If you find that there is a smartphone rankings demotion in place, then you should run to the “Mobile Usability” reporting in Google Webmaster Tools. Google will provide the problems it encountered while crawling your site. I highly recommend fixing those mobile usability issues asap.

Mobile Usability Reporting in Google Webmaster Tools

You can also use the mobile friendly test via the Google Developers site. That will also highlight problems on a url by url basis.
https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/

Using Google's Mobile Friendly Test

You can also check the crawl errors reporting in Google Webmaster Tools to see if there are smartphone errors or faulty redirects.

Smartphone Crawl Errors in Google Webmaster Tools

And you can crawl your site as Googlebot for Smartphones to check how your site is handling requests for the desktop pages (if you have mobile redirects in place). Doing so can surface problems sitting below the surface that are sometimes hard to pick up manually.

Crawl As Googlebot for Smartphones

 

Summary – The Search Analytics Report Can Make An Impact
We all knew that mobile UX would become a ranking signal at some point, but now we have a specific date from Google for the rollout (4/21/15). When the new mobile algo launches, many will be wondering if they have been impacted, if their website dropped in rankings, and which urls are causing problems. As I demonstrated above, the new Search Analytics reporting can help webmasters quickly identify problems by comparing the rankings across desktop and mobile (quickly and efficiently).

If you don’t have access to the Search Analytics reporting yet, don’t worry. Again, I believe Google is going to roll this out before the 4/21 deadline. That would make complete sense, since the “Devices” dimension could prove to be extremely helpful when a smartphone rankings demotion is in place. One thing is for sure. The changes rolling out on (or around) April 21 will be fascinating to analyze. Google said this change will have a “significant impact” on the smartphone search results. And that impact can translate into many lost visitors, conversions, and revenue. Good luck.

GG

 

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
162 Shares

Filed Under: google, seo, tools

Connect with Glenn Gabe today!

Latest Blog Posts

  • The Google May 2022 Broad Core Update – 5 micro-case studies that once again underscore the complexity of broad core algorithm updates
  • Amazing Search Experiments and New SERP Features In Google Land (2022 Edition)
  • Analysis of Google’s March 2022 Product Reviews Update (PRU) – Findings and observations from the affiliate front lines
  • How NewsGuard’s nutritional labels can help publishers avoid manual actions for medical content violations (Google News and Discover)
  • What Discover’s “More Recommendations”, Journeys in Chrome, and MUM mean for the future of Google Search
  • How to extend a multi-site indexing monitoring system to compare Google-selected and user-selected canonical urls (via the URL Inspection API and Analytics Edge)
  • Favi-gone: 5 Reasons Why Your Favicon Disappeared From The Google Search Results [Case Studies]
  • Google’s Broad Core Updates And The Difference Between Relevancy Adjustments, Intent Shifts, And Overall Site Quality Problems
  • Google’s December 2021 Product Reviews Update – Analysis and Findings Based On An Extended And Volatile Holiday Rollout
  • The Link Authority Gap – How To Compare The Most Authoritative Links Between Websites Using Majestic Solo Links, Semrush Backlink Gap, and ahrefs Link Intersect

Web Stories

  • Google’s December 2021 Product Reviews Update – Key Findings
  • Google’s April 2021 Product Reviews Update – Key Points For Site Owners and Affiliate Marketers
  • Google’s New Page Experience Signal
  • Google’s Disqus Indexing Bug
  • Learn more about Web Stories developed by Glenn Gabe

Archives

  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • GSQi Home
  • About Glenn Gabe
  • SEO Services
  • Blog
  • Contact GSQi
Copyright © 2022 G-Squared Interactive LLC. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy