Keywords Breakdown

What is it?

Keywords Breakdown shows every search query (keyword) that brought people to your site from Google, using Search Console data. A keyword is the words someone types into Google.

Why use it?

• To see how much traffic comes from people who already know your brand.
• To find keywords close to page one, or with a weak CTR.
• To see new and lost keywords.
• To find pages that compete with each other for the same keyword.

Before you start

• Connect Search Console. Otherwise you see Connect Search Console to see keyword data.
• For branded splits, save a pattern in Branded keywords.

How to use it

1. Open the tab

   In Advanced Analytics, click Keywords Breakdown.

2. Pick your dates

   Turn on Compare to unlock the change cards and the gainer and loser lists.

3. Read the coverage bar and KPI cards

   See how much of your traffic your keyword reports can explain.

4. Work through the lists

   Open Keyword Lists, then Keyword Cannibalization, then Keyword Explorer.

Understanding the screen

Coverage bar

X% of Search Console's N clicks come from N known keywords. The other N are (not set)… The legend shows Known keywords and (not set). See (not set) explained.

KPI cards

With Compare on, you also see:

Daily Trend

Switch between two views:

• Ranking keywords — lines All ranking, Top 10, Top 3.
• Clicks — lines Search Console total and Known keywords. The tooltip shows (not set): N.

Ranking Distribution

A one-day snapshot of the last day in your range. Buckets: 1-3, 4-5, 6-10, 11-20, 21-50, 51+. Use the All keywords / Branded / Non-branded dropdown to filter.

The distribution, Search Intent and Keyword Length tables share these columns: label, Keywords, Clicks, Share of clicks, Impressions, CTR, Avg. position.

Branded vs. Non-branded

Two cards with Keywords, Clicks, Impressions, CTR, Avg. position and X% of known clicks. See branded keyword.

Search Intent

Keyword Length and Click Concentration

• Keyword Length — 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5+ words.
• Click Concentration — the share of clicks from your Top 10 keywords, Top 100 keywords and Top 1,000 keywords.

Keyword Lists

Each list shows the top 50. Columns: Keyword, Clicks, Impressions, CTR, Position. The quick-win list adds Typical CTR and Missed clicks.

Lists that need Compare are disabled with the tooltip Turn on Compare to see this list.

Keyword Cannibalization

Cannibalization is when your own pages compete for one keyword. The header says N non-branded keywords have 2+ URLs each taking 10%+ of their impressions…

Columns: Keyword, Competing URLs, Clicks, Impressions, Split. Expand a row to see URL, Share of impressions, Clicks, Impressions, Avg. position.

Keyword Explorer

Search with Search keywords… and filter by type (All types / Branded / Non-branded), position (Any position to Position 51+), Any intent, length (Any length to 5+ words) and movement (Any movement / New / Lost / Rank improved / Rank declined). Click Clear to reset.

Columns: Keyword, Clicks, Δ Clicks, Impressions, Δ Impr., CTR, Position, Δ Position, Words, URLs. Hover on URLs: More than one URL ranked for this keyword.

Exports

Each keyword list and the cannibalization table have a download menu (Excel, CSV, PDF). In Explorer, Export all N (CSV) builds a file on the server with every matching keyword. See Exporting tables.

Example

For example, "seo audit tool" ranks at position 7 with 2,000 impressions and a 1% CTR. Your typical CTR at position 7 is 3%. 1% is under 70% of 3%, so it appears in Quick-win CTR. Improve the page title to win more clicks.

Tips

• Check Lost keywords after a site change, such as a redesign.
• Use the Ranking Distribution dropdown to look at Non-branded keywords alone.
• Note that this tab's position buckets differ from the Category Breakdown buckets.

Common issues