After changing their privacy policy in 2011, Google Analytics began hiding much of their search term data, making it harder for site owners to determine which keywords are generating the most clicks for their websites. Google Webmaster Tools doesn’t display complete data either, but its more detailed reports are a good place to start if you want to better understand the search patterns for your site.

We recommend that you take some time to look over which search terms earn you the most clicks in Webmaster Tools. Having a strong grasp of what search terms are leading people to your site can show you where you’re currently having search engine optimization success, and where you need to do more work.

To access search query data, use the following steps:

1. Log in to your Webmaster Tools profile at https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools.
2. If you have access to the data for multiple websites in Webmaster Tools, you will need to select the desired website from the list.
3. Click “Search Traffic” in the left-hand column.
4. Click “Search Analytics.”

If you haven’t yet set up Webmaster Tools for your site, please follow our Google: Webmaster Tools Setup instructions on our Support Site.

Marketing Bites are short actionable tips to help you market your business. Each Bite contains a marketing idea and an easy to complete action. The Marketing Bite is emailed weekly to subscribers.