SEO
Why Google Trusts Big Brands (But Not You)
![Why Google Trusts Big Brands (But Not You) Why Google Trusts Big Brands (But Not You)](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1723069568_Why-Google-Trusts-Big-Brands-But-Not-You.jpg)
As the web fills inexorably with AI slop, searchers and search engines are becoming more skeptical of content, brands, and publishers.
Thanks to generative AI, it’s the easiest it’s ever been to create, distribute, and find information. But thanks to the bravado of LLMs and the recklessness of many publishers, it’s fast becoming the hardest it’s ever been to tell the difference between genuine, good information and regurgitated, bad information.
This one-two punch is changing how Google and searchers alike filter information, choosing to distrust brands and publishers by default. We’re moving from a world where trust had to be lost, to one where it has to be earned.
As SEOs and marketers, our number one job is to escape the “default blocklist” and earn a spot on the allowlist.
With so much content on the internet—and so much of it AI-generated slop—it is too taxing for people or search engines to evaluate the veracity and trustworthiness of information on a case-by-case basis.
We know that Google wants to filter out AI slop.
In the past year, we’ve seen five core updates, three dedicated spam updates, and a huge emphasis on EEAT. As these updates are iterated on, indexing for new sites is incredibly slow—and arguably, more selective—with more pages caught in Crawled—currently not indexed purgatory.
But this is a hard problem to solve. AI content is not easy to detect. Some AI content is good and useful (like some human content is bad and useless). Google wants to avoid diluting its index with billions of pages of erroneous or repetitive content—but this bad content looks increasingly similar to good content.
This problem is so hard, in fact, that Google has hedged. Instead of evaluating the quality of each and every article, Google seems to have cut the Gordian knot, choosing instead to elevate big, trusted brands like Forbes, WebMD, TechRadar, or the BBC into many more SERPs.
After all, it’s far easier for Google to police a handful of huge content brands than many thousands of smaller ones. By promoting “trusted” brands—brands with some kind of track record and public accountability—into dominant positions in popular SERPs, Google can effectively innoculate many search experiences from the risk of AI slop.
(Worsening the problem of “Forbes slop” in the process, but Google seems to view it as the lesser of two evils.)
In a similar vein, UGC sites like Reddit and Quora have their own inbuilt quality control mechanisms—upvoting and downvoting—allowing Google to outsource the burden of moderation:
![Why Google Trusts Big Brands (But Not You) 1723069566 666 Why Google Trusts Big Brands But Not You](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1723069566_666_Why-Google-Trusts-Big-Brands-But-Not-You.png)
![Why Google Trusts Big Brands (But Not You) 1723069566 666 Why Google Trusts Big Brands But Not You](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1723069566_666_Why-Google-Trusts-Big-Brands-But-Not-You.png)
In response to the staggering quantity of content being created, Google seems to be adopting a “default blocklist” mindset, distrusting new information by default, while giving preference to a handful of trusted brands and publishers.
Newer, smaller publishers are default blocklisted; companies like Forbes and TechRadar, Reddit and Quora, have been elevated to allowlist status.
Hitting the “boost” button for big brands may be a temporary measure from Google while it improves its algorithms, but even so, I think this is reflective of a broader shift.
As Bernard Huang from Clearscope phrased it in a webinar we ran together:
“I think with the era of the internet and now infinite content, we’re moving towards a society where a lot of people are default blocklisting everything and I will choose to allowlist, you know the Superpath community or Ryan Law on Twitter… As a way to continue to get content that they deem to be high-signal or trustworthy, they’re turning towards communities and influencers.”
In the pre-AI era, brands were trusted by default. They had to actively violate trust to become blocklisted (publishing something untrustworthy, or making an obvious factual inaccuracy):
![Why Google Trusts Big Brands (But Not You) Why Google Trusts Big Brands But Not You](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Why-Google-Trusts-Big-Brands-But-Not-You.jpg)
![Why Google Trusts Big Brands (But Not You) Why Google Trusts Big Brands But Not You](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Why-Google-Trusts-Big-Brands-But-Not-You.jpg)
But today, with most brands racing to pump out AI slop, the safest stance is simply to assume that every new brand encountered is guilty of the same sin—until proven otherwise.
In the era of information abundance, new content and brands will find themselves on the default blocklist, and allowlist status needs to be earned:
![Why Google Trusts Big Brands (But Not You) 1723069566 711 Why Google Trusts Big Brands But Not You](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1723069566_711_Why-Google-Trusts-Big-Brands-But-Not-You.jpg)
![Why Google Trusts Big Brands (But Not You) 1723069566 711 Why Google Trusts Big Brands But Not You](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1723069566_711_Why-Google-Trusts-Big-Brands-But-Not-You.jpg)
In the AI era, Google is turning to gatekeepers, trusted entities that can vouch for the credibility and authenticity of content. Faced with the same problem, individual searchers will too.
Our job is to become one of these trusted gatekeepers of information.
Newer, smaller brands today are starting from a trust deficit.
The de facto marketing playbook in the pre-AI era—simply publishing helpful content—is no longer enough to climb out of the trust deficit and move from blocklist to allowlist. The game has changed. The marketing strategies that allowed Forbes et al to build their brand moat won’t work for companies today.
New brands need to go beyond rote information sharing, and pair it with a clear demonstration of credibility.
They need to signal very clearly that thought and effort have been expended in the creation of content; show that they care about the outcome of what they publish (and are willing to suffer any consequences resulting from it); and make their motivations for creating content crystal clear.
That means:
- Be selective with what you publish. Don’t be a jack-of-all-trades; focus on topics where you possess credibility. Measure yourself as much by what you don’t publish as what you do.
- Create content that aligns with your business model. Coupon code and affiliate spam subdirectories are not helpful for earning the trust of skeptical searchers (or Google).
- Avoid “content sites”. Many of the sites hit hardest by the HCU were “content sites” that existed solely to monetize website traffic. Content will be more credible when it supports a real, tangible product.
- Make your motivations crystal clear. Make it obvious who you are, why (and how) you’ve created your content, and how you benefit.
- Add something unique and proprietary to everything you publish. This doesn’t have to be complicated: run simple experiments, invest greater effort than your competitors, and anchor everything in first-hand experience (I’ve written about this in detail here.)
- Get real people to author your content. Encourage them to show off their credentials through photographs, anecdotes, and author bios.
- Build personal brands. Turn your faceless company brand into something associated with real, breathing people.
- Use Google’s gatekeepers to your advantage. If Google is telling you that it really trusts Reddit content, well… maybe you should try distributing your content and ideas through Reddit?
- Become a gatekeeper for your audience. What would it mean to become a trusted gatekeeper for your audience? Limit what you share, carefully curate third-party content, and be willing to vouch for anything you publish.
Final thoughts
The blocklist is not a literal blocklist, but it is a useful mental model for understanding the impact of AI generation in search.
The internet has been poisoned by AI content; everything created henceforth lives under the shadow of suspicion. So accept that you are starting from a place of suspicion. How can you earn the trust of Google and searchers alike?
SEO
Google’s AI Now Chooses Your Local Ad Photos
![Google's AI Now Chooses Your Local Ad Photos Google's AI Now Chooses Your Local Ad Photos](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Googles-AI-Now-Chooses-Your-Local-Ad-Photos.jpeg)
Google has announced a new update to its Local Services Ads (LSA) platform, implementing an automated photo selection feature.
Ginny Marvin, Google Ads Liaison, revealed that the company will now choose photos from advertisers’ LSA profiles to display in their ads.
Local Services advertisers: Starting today, we’ll begin selecting photos from your LSA profile to show in your ads. Photos will be selected based on their likelihood to increase engagement with your ad.
Some things to note with this update:
•Adding photos to your Local…— AdsLiaison (@adsliaison) August 7, 2024
According to the announcement, this change is designed to increase ad engagement. The selection process will be based on an image’s perceived likelihood of improving user interaction with the advertisement.
Key Points of the Update:
- Photo inclusion may affect ad ranking
- Google recommends uploading 3-5 images to LSA profiles
- Photos should be high-quality, relevant, and original
- Not all ads will consistently include photos
Impact On Advertisers
This update introduces a new variable for Local Services advertisers to consider.
While Google suggests that adding photos could improve ad rankings, the actual impact remains to be seen.
Advertisers may need to reassess their visual content strategies in light of this change.
Photo Requirements & Recommendations
Google says photos must be high quality, relevant to the advertiser’s work, and original.
The company explicitly states that copied or stolen images are not permitted. Advertisers can manage their photos through the Profile and Budget page in their LSA dashboard.
Variable Photo Display
It’s important to note that photo inclusion in ads is not guaranteed. Google states that ad appearance will vary depending on user queries and other unspecified factors.
This variability may present challenges for advertisers seeking to control their ad presentation consistently.
As this feature rolls out, local service providers using Google’s advertising platform must monitor its effects on their ad performance and adjust their strategies accordingly.
How This Can Help You
This LSA update matters for digital marketers and local businesses.
It changes how visuals impact local service ads, potentially shaking up ad performance and user engagement.
What it means for LSA advertisers:
- Better visibility: Good photos could boost your ad placement.
- More clicks: Eye-catching visuals might up your CTR.
- Edge over competitors: Quick adapters could get ahead.
- Time-saver: No more manual image selection headaches.
What it means for marketers and agencies:
- New optimization angles: Fresh ways to tweak LSA campaigns.
- Added value for clients: Guide them on nailing their LSA imagery.
- Data insights: Track how this change impacts performance metrics.
Keep a close eye on your LSA performance and be ready to pivot. Savvy marketers can turn this update into a win for their local ad game.
Featured Image: Mamun sheikh K/Shutterstock
SEO
How Google Helps Users Find Products Faster
![How Google Helps Users Find Products Faster Kevin Indig's Growth Memo for SEJ](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/How-To-Cultivate-Focus-And-Execute-Better.png)
Shopping SERPs have been looking more like a feed than ranked results for a while now. In December, I wrote about the integration of Google’s shopping tab into the main results for shopping queries in e-commerce shifts. The result is a marketplace that looks more like Amazon than web search results.
SERP features and query refinements play a big role in this transition. They direct users from unrefined searches to finding products as quickly as possible, having an outsized impact on clicks and revenue.
In this deep dive, I analyzed +28,000 shopping SERPs to understand how query refinements work and how e-commerce sites can use them.
It’s a bit early for shopping season, but I’m writing a lot of e-commerce because most shops need some time to make changes on their site (especially the big ones). So, if you want a fruitful 2024, now is the time to get the work on the roadmap.
This piece builds on two analyses I’ve published previously:
1. Growth Memo
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What Are Query Refinements
Query Refinements are “pills” at the top of the search results that help users refine their search. In essence, query refinements are product filters.
First announced at Google Search On 2022, Google explained that refinements (and filters on desktop) follow real-time search trends (bolding mine):
Whole page shopping filters on Search are now dynamic and adapt based on real-time Search trends. So if you’re shopping for jeans, you might see filters for “wide leg” and “bootcut” because those are the popular denim styles right now — but those may change over time, depending on what’s trending.1
Examples of Query Refinements. (Image Credit: Kevin Indig)
The purpose of query refinements is to bring users from the “messy middle” to conversion as quickly as possible as they literally refine the query. When you click on a pill, Google sends users to another SERP, just like when users click the product filters on the left.
To understand how query refinements work and how e-commerce sites can use them to their advantage, I dug up some data.
How Query Refinements Work
I analyzed 28,286 shopping keywords (US, desktop) with seoClarity and found that query refinements:
- follow distinct patterns sites can use for keyword targeting.
- lead to search queries without search volume.
- trigger new AI Overviews on mobile.
Common Refinements
I analyzed which refinements come up most often in “position” one, two and three. Think about position one in this context as the first refinement from the left, which is the most visible.
Most refinements specify gender. The term “women” comes up most often in the top 3, but “men” comes up most often in the first refinement. 45% of query refinements mention one gender at least once, 61.4% if you include kids. It makes sense: before diving into product attributes like color or size, you want to make sure a product is “for you.”
![How Google Helps Users Find Products Faster 1723010162 731 How Google Helps Users Find Products Faster.webp](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1723010162_731_How-Google-Helps-Users-Find-Products-Faster.webp.webp)
The second most common group of refinements is location. Ten percent of the top three refinements include “nearby,” which is much more visible on mobile. Google shows maps by default on mobile devices, as mobile device users are more likely to be on the go.
The third group is attributes around queries that include “for” or “with”, where users try to specify use cases (9.8%), and the fourth is price (9% of refinements include the term “sale”).
Query refinements have a high overlap with product filters on desktops and often feature the first few filters as refinements. Product filters don’t exist on mobile, likely because users might expect the filter sidebar on desktop, but it doesn’t make sense on mobile.
![How Google Helps Users Find Products Faster 1723010162 330 How Google Helps Users Find Products Faster.webp](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1723010162_330_How-Google-Helps-Users-Find-Products-Faster.webp.webp)
The sorting and visibility of refinements are different on mobile and desktop. Due to the difference in bigger screen size, mobile search results show ~4 refinements on load, while desktop can show over 10.
Since query refinements are based on realtime searches, they also overlap heavily with autosuggest.
![How Google Helps Users Find Products Faster 1723010162 8 How Google Helps Users Find Products Faster.webp](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1723010162_8_How-Google-Helps-Users-Find-Products-Faster.webp.webp)
Interesting Findings
Three insights from the data surprised me:
First, Google keeps refinements strictly focused on product attributes but not user intents. I expected searchers to be interested in opinions and reviews on Reddit, but neither “Reddit” nor “reviews” came up as a refinement a single time.
Two, query refinements exactly match the query, meaning you won’t find synonyms or closely related terms in them. As a result, brands don’t appear in refinements, either.
Three, most query refinements don’t have search volume or a CPC. Only 10,696 / 27,262 keywords in the first refinement have search volume (median = 70), and only 6,514 / 27,262 keywords have a CPC. Since query refinements are based on search behavior, we can conclude that search volume and other keyword planner data are very limited metrics.
AI Overview Refinements
Of course, I came across AI Overviews (AIOs) in my research. For the queries I analyzed, mobile results returned AIOs but desktop doesn’t. An example is brown mascara.
![How Google Helps Users Find Products Faster 1723010162 585 How Google Helps Users Find Products Faster.webp](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1723010162_585_How-Google-Helps-Users-Find-Products-Faster.webp.webp)
![How Google Helps Users Find Products Faster 1723010162 848 How Google Helps Users Find Products Faster.webp](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1723010162_848_How-Google-Helps-Users-Find-Products-Faster.webp.webp)
You likely spotted the AIO tabs on the screenshot above, which appear independently of refinements and explain common product attributes.
![How Google Helps Users Find Products Faster 1723010162 145 How Google Helps Users Find Products Faster.webp](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1723010162_145_How-Google-Helps-Users-Find-Products-Faster.webp.webp)
Notice how the AIO provides additional guidance and information in tabs (see screenshot below).
![How Google Helps Users Find Products Faster 1723010162 953 How Google Helps Users Find Products Faster.webp](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1723010162_953_How-Google-Helps-Users-Find-Products-Faster.webp.webp)
At this point, it’s unclear whether citations in AIO tabs are good because they drive traffic to review articles or bad because they give the answer away.
![How Google Helps Users Find Products Faster 1723010162 776 How Google Helps Users Find Products Faster.webp](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1723010162_776_How-Google-Helps-Users-Find-Products-Faster.webp.webp)
For other queries, like “air compressor”, I was able to spot refinements in the AI Overview instead of above it. Clicking an AIO refinement leads to another search with the refinement in the query. For example, on the SERP for “air compressor”, one refinement is “for painting cars”. Clicking it leads to another SERP for the query “air compressor for painting cars” (with another AIO and tabs but no refinement). Notice that I was logged into the SGE beta, which means those features might not yet be live for every user.
![How Google Helps Users Find Products Faster 1723010162 160 How Google Helps Users Find Products Faster.webp](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1723010162_160_How-Google-Helps-Users-Find-Products-Faster.webp.webp)
5 Lessons
5 key lessons surfaced from my analysis of over 28,000 shopping queries:
- You should create specific product and category pages for men/women/kids when it matters for products (e.g. fashion).
- Mine query refinements and autosuggest to find relevant query variations for your keyword research (for example, seoClarity can do this).
- Monitor ranks by query refinement to drive your decisions around facetted indexing (like Nike or Target). Refinements showing different URLs are an indicator of building specific facets.
- You need to identify searcher interest beyond search volume. The fact that more than half of queries don’t have search volume, but query refinements are optimized for search behavior shows that you might miss a lot of opportunities by limiting yourself to queries that have search volume. Instead, leverage onsite search data, surveys and qualitative research to enhance keyword targeting.
- Monitor and compare clicks from desktop and mobile results to understand the impact of product filters (desktop) and AIOs (mobile).
SEO
SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites)
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites)](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975969_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.jpg)
Creating an SEO reporting dashboard is often an easier way to share your SEO performance results than a text-heavy SEO report. So, what’s the best way to create one?
The type of dashboard you create often depends on who you’re making it for—your own website, a small business, or an enterprise business.
In this article, I’ll explain the basics of SEO reporting dashboards and how to tailor them for your particular audience.
An SEO reporting dashboard is a visual interface that displays key performance indicators (KPIs) and other metrics that show a website’s SEO performance in search engines like Google. Its main job is to communicate SEO performance over time.
Here’s an example of what an SEO reporting dashboard looks like for Ahrefs.com.
Ahrefs’ Looker Studio Integration – Site Explorer Template
In the above example, we can see the results are positive because the line chart goes up, and the KPI comparisons are also mostly green, showing positive yearly growth.
This is the power of an effective SEO reporting dashboard—you can instantly communicate SEO performance at-a-glance.
The simple answer is anything you want. But it’s best to include SEO metrics that matter to the website you‘re reporting on.
This could include metrics like:
- Clicks
- Sessions
- Click-through-rate (CTR)
- Conversions
- Conversion rate (CR)
- Organic Traffic
- Average Position
- Referring domains
- And so on…
Let’s simplify this further.
At the most basic level, there are two core elements you should include in an SEO reporting dashboard:
- Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) – KPIs can be anything that is important to report on for your business and could include conversions, revenue, leads, orders, or any other SEO metrics
- Organic traffic performance chart – Tracking your traffic performance across the year
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) SEO Reporting Dashboard Illustration](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975966_466_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.png)
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) SEO Reporting Dashboard Illustration](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975966_466_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.png)
So, how can you create your very own SEO reporting dashboard?
One of the most popular methods is to use a tool called Google Looker Studio (GLS). Dashboard solutions like GLS integrate with many popular data sources for free out of the box, making them perfect for most websites looking to create an SEO reporting dashboard.
Here’s an example of the basic GLS connectors, with some useful ones for SEO highlighted.
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) Google Looker Studio Key Data Sources Screenshot](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.jpg)
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) Google Looker Studio Key Data Sources Screenshot](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.jpg)
Although GLS is great for small personal websites or small-medium businesses (SMBs), in my experience, enterprise businesses usually require more powerful alternatives, as they have more complex demands.
So, based on this, we can say there are three broad categories of websites you can build for:
- Small personal websites
- SMB websites
- Enterprise websites
Let’s explore these further.
Creating an SEO reporting dashboard for a small personal website is a good option if you want to monitor SEO performance but don’t want the hassle of logging into lots of different tools regularly.
This was the conclusion I came to when I wanted to monitor my portfolio of affiliate sites with the least amount of effort possible.
There was no way I was prepared to check every single site’s performance manually. So, I decided to create a mini SEO reporting dashboard in GLS that looked something like this:
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) Affiliate Dashboard Example With KPIs](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975966_23_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.jpg)
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) Affiliate Dashboard Example With KPIs](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975966_23_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.jpg)
This dashboard wasn’t visually impressive, but it was functional and displayed SEO performance at a glance.
It combined two data sources: Sessions from Google Analytics and clicks, impressions, and CTR from Google Search Console. Checking this data manually is possible, but it would be an inefficient use of time, especially across more than one website.
Having this setup meant I could:
- Spend more time improving the websites rather than obsessing over the details and not doing anything that improves performance
- Understand where to focus my efforts in the portfolio – I had many sites in the dashboard, so checking them all wasn’t feasible or efficient use of time
- Identify performance patterns between websites—for example, if there was a Google update, I could get a bird’s-eye view of performance across the website portfolio to see if there were any common performance drops or increases following the roll-out of the update
- View year-over-year (YoY) comparisons: green if they were positive and red if they were negative – this way, I could quickly scan many websites and understand whether SEO performance had increased or decreased for each website
- Able to check quickly – if you’ve used GLS before, you’ll know that the more charts and visualizations you add, the longer it can take to load the page
Even though I felt proud I’d created a minimal dashboard that saved time. I realized afterward that I’d re-created Ahrefs’ Webmaster Tools dashboard with a few added metrics—oh dear.
Sidenote.
The advantages of using AWT for personal websites are:
- It’s free if you are a webmaster
- It’s easy to set up if you have GSC access
- You can view both GSC data and Ahrefs data
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) Ahrefs' Performance Dashboard Screenshot](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975966_40_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.png)
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) Ahrefs' Performance Dashboard Screenshot](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975966_40_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.png)
So, when creating an SEO reporting dashboard for a small personal website, it’s best to consider what metrics you want to track before you start. This will help you determine the best solution for your reporting demands.
In short:
- If it’s just GSC and for your personal use, use AWT with GSC connected
- If you want to combine multiple data sources and share with others, then use GLS
If you need more detailed GA or GSC data, you can also visualize it quickly using GLS’ dedicated community templates. I used the GSC template below to provide detailed information on each site.
Here’s how you can set this up:
How to connect Google Search Console to Google Looker Studio
If you need more data from GSC or want to visualize performance, Google Looker Studio’s Search Console templates are your friend. A pre-built Google Looker Studio community template can get you up and running in a few minutes.
To do this, log into Google Looker Studio and connect to this template:
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) Selecting the GSC Report Template Screenshot](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975966_368_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.png)
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) Selecting the GSC Report Template Screenshot](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975966_368_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.png)
Then click on Use my own data and Replace data.
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) Use my Own Data Screenshot](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975966_655_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.png)
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) Use my Own Data Screenshot](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975966_655_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.png)
Then, select your site from the list.
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) Add Data to Report Screenshot](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975966_774_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.png)
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) Add Data to Report Screenshot](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975966_774_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.png)
Then select either Site Impression and web or URL Impression and web, depending on your preference. I am using URL Impression and web in this example.
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) Setting up GSC Template Screenshot](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975966_526_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.png)
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) Setting up GSC Template Screenshot](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975966_526_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.png)
Click Add at the bottom right-hand corner. You’ll then probably get a pop-up—click Add to report.
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) Add Data to Report Screenshot](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975966_137_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.png)
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) Add Data to Report Screenshot](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975966_137_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.png)
Once that’s added, you should get something that looks like this but with your website’s data showing.
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) GSC Dashboard Report Template Example](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975966_123_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.png)
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) GSC Dashboard Report Template Example](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975966_123_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.png)
And there you go—your very own GSC-flavored SEO reporting dashboard.
This dashboard reports on:
- Impressions
- Clicks
- CTR
- Top Landing Pages
- Top Queries
- Device performance
- Country performance
Of course, you can customize it to your requirements, but I usually find this a good starting point for visualizing basic GSC data.
How to connect Google Analytics (GA4) to GLS
Similar to this, you can create a dedicated GA4 SEO reporting dashboard by using a GLS community template.
To do this, log into GLS and connect to this template.
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) 1722975966 600 SEO Reporting Dashboards For 3 Different Types of Websites](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975966_600_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.png)
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) 1722975966 600 SEO Reporting Dashboards For 3 Different Types of Websites](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975966_600_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.png)
Once you’ve done that, you’ll get a template that looks something like this:
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) GA4 Dashboard Report Template Example](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975966_492_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.png)
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) GA4 Dashboard Report Template Example](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975966_492_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.png)
If GA4 reporting is important for your business, you’ll find a good selection of metrics to explore here. Again, you can customize or add new tabs to expand or reduce the report’s scope, depending on your website’s reporting requirements.
At its most basic level, most SMBs want to know whether their SEO campaign is moving positively.
If so, you only need to share the SEO performance chart and the year-over-year KPIs.
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) Main elements of SEO Reporting Dashboard Are KPIs YoY and Performance Chart](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975967_816_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.jpg)
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) Main elements of SEO Reporting Dashboard Are KPIs YoY and Performance Chart](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975967_816_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.jpg)
It’s straightforward to share this using Ahrefs’ Site Explorer Google Looker Studio integration.
Ahrefs’ SEO reporting dashboards
If you need more specific SEO data to report on, you might want to explore some of our other Ahrefs’ dashboards.
For example, our Site Audit dashboard is best for monitoring the technical SEO performance of any website.
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) Ahrefs' Site Audit GLS Template Screenshot](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975967_18_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.jpg)
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) Ahrefs' Site Audit GLS Template Screenshot](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975967_18_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.jpg)
This would be a useful SEO reporting dashboard for development teams to track whether site improvements have been successfully implemented.
Our Rank Tracker dashboard is best for monitoring keyword rankings in Google for any website.
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) Ahrefs' Rank Tracker Dashboard Screenshot](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975967_337_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.jpg)
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) Ahrefs' Rank Tracker Dashboard Screenshot](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975967_337_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.jpg)
The most obvious choice for an SEO reporting dashboard is the Rank Tracker template. As it reports on positions, SERP features, competitors, tags, traffic share, and other keyword metrics.
This would be useful for sharing with SMBs that want to know more about SEO rankings and the specific performance of their keywords.
With so much SEO data available here, this usually covers most of an SMB’s reporting demands. And if you have any other custom data you can usually include it through Google Sheets on a custom dashboard.
Sidenote.
The advantage of using these dashboard templates is that they come from a trusted source—Ahrefs—and are fast to set up. You can also easily white-label them by replacing the logo, making them a simple, cost-effective dashboard solution for SEO consultants and SEO agencies.
Brand vs. non-brand traffic split
So far, we’ve explained the basics of using Ahrefs’ dashboards for SEO reporting, but sometimes, SMBs want something more specific. One area where they often request this is brand vs. non-brand traffic.
Growing businesses want to build their brands. Monitoring whether they are driving enough brand traffic is part of understanding whether they are doing this or not.
Although you can fiddle around with regex in GLS to get the brand/non-brand split for clicks and impressions, it’s often faster to use or modify an existing SEO reporting template.
Here’s a clean-looking GLS template created by John Reinesch that does exactly that.
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) Brand vs Non Brand Clicks Template Example](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975967_133_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.png)
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) Brand vs Non Brand Clicks Template Example](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975967_133_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.png)
This template clearly shows brand vs. non-brand data over time using GSC data. If the SMB you’re working with wants to monitor brand activity closely, a separate brand and non-brand dashboard like the above could be a good option.
Tip
Unlike SMBs and personal websites, enterprise businesses face three specific SEO reporting challenges due to the scale and complexity of their operations and business.
First, we’ll consider what the most common SEO reporting challenges are, and then what tools you can use for creating an enterprise SEO reporting dashboard.
Common enterprise reporting challenges
- Vast amounts of data – Often, multiple data sources, multiple territories
- Complex segmentation demands – Customer type segmentation, behavioral segmentation, geographical segmentation
- Cross-team collaboration demands – For example, the C-suite should be able to understand whether SEO is providing a good ROI, development teams need to know where to focus their efforts, marketing heads need to know which channel to assign more budget to
Let’s explore these challenges in more detail.
Vast amounts of data
With GLS generally considered the de facto solution for dashboard SEO reporting for SMBs and small websites, it’s easy to assume you could roll out the same solution for enterprise businesses. However, this is not always possible.
At the enterprise level, the first major hurdle is data size. While many SMBs primarily focus on a single territory as their primary source of organic traffic, enterprise businesses are often multi-territory, which instantly increases the amount of number crunching required.
One of my former enterprise clients wanted an SEO reporting dashboard that displayed SEO performance data and other marketing data for the top 25 territories—it was critical for their business as a flight operator.
While this level of data may be possible to visualize with GLS, it’s often not practical across the entire enterprise website.
Added to this is the vast amount of data sources required to report on. Although enterprise businesses may have certain platforms they rely upon for core metrics, they will be interested in getting a second opinion from other data sources, which puts additional pressure on a reporting platform solution.
Complex data segmentation demands
Data segmentation at enterprise level is usually where things get complicated. At its most basic level, customer segmentation can be achieved by geographic region, but often, segmentation for enterprise businesses goes deeper into defining, analyzing, and recording consumer behaviors.
For example, performance analysis can be divided into different geographic regions, product categories, or business segments. An enterprise company I worked with wanted to understand the behavior of new and existing customers, so this formed a central part of their SEO reporting.
Advanced visualization of data segments helps communicate a story to other teams and senior stakeholders. This story could be used as part of a business case to secure more investment in SEO. So, the visualization, as well as the data, needs to be compelling.
My previous client wanted to understand the impact of the weather on certain product categories, and to break this down by the different types of customers they had defined. We used this visualization to get increased investment in SEO for certain parts of the website that needed improvement.
Cross-team collaboration demands
Enterprise companies work with multiple stakeholders in different teams, both internally and externally. Therefore, reporting platforms must be able to accommodate data sharing between many different teams.
- Different teams value different metrics, so the dashboard needs to reflect all of these different reporting demands
- Different teams must be able to understand the data that’s presented
- Dashboards in enterprise companies serve as a benchmark for performance, although they may be accompanied by a static report, the dashboards are often used to tell a story about a website’s performance in between times
What tools to use
Based on my experience of working with enterprise businesses, I’ve seen there are two tools often used to create SEO reporting dashboards at the enterprise level: Power BI and Tableau
Power BI
Power BI is a Microsoft tool for creating interactive dashboards from different data sources. It’s also useful for creating SEO reporting dashboards.
Here’s an example of a third-party SEO reporting dashboard created in Power BI.
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) Power Bi SEO Dashboard Report Example](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975967_567_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.jpg)
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) Power Bi SEO Dashboard Report Example](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975967_567_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.jpg)
By Coupler.io: Get the template here.
Power BI’s insights and rich visualization options help inform decision-making for enterprise businesses.
Here are the pros and cons of Power BI:
Pros
- Ability to connect to various data sources like Google Analytics, Search Console, rank tracking tools
- Powerful data visualization capabilities
- Easy sharing and collaboration features to distribute reports/dashboards
- Affordable pricing compared to some BI tools
- Good integration with Microsoft ecosystem (Excel, Azure, etc.)
Cons
- Limited native SEO data connectors may require additional tools or custom data prep
- A steep learning curve, especially for advanced analysis Performance, can degrade with very large datasets or complex visualizations
- The dashboard interface can appear cluttered or overwhelming for some users
- Time-consuming to process and transform data for optimal reporting
Tableau
I used Tableau with two different enterprise clients and found that, if set up properly, it’s one of the most powerful dashboarding tools for SEO dashboard reporting.
It’s a great choice if you work with an enterprise business that covers multiple territories, as I did a few years ago.
Here’s the overview page from an SEO reporting dashboard that reports over 20 territories.
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) Tableau Dashboard SEO Report Example](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975967_978_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.jpg)
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) Tableau Dashboard SEO Report Example](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975967_978_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.jpg)
It may look simple, but the data behind this was pulled from multiple sources, and it was just one of many parts of the dashboard.
If you’re thinking of using Tableau, here’s my opinion on its pros and cons:
Pros
- Powerful data visualization capabilities
- Range of integrations like Google Analytics and Google Sheets
- The drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to analyze and visualize SEO data without coding
- Collaboration features allow teams to share and distribute reports/dashboards easily
- Tableau Server or Tableau Online enables secure sharing and deployment within the enterprise
- Useful for multiple territory reporting – I’ve personally tested it with 20+ territories
Cons
- A steep learning curve for advanced analysis and calculations
- Limited native SEO data connectors may require additional tools or custom data prep
- Customization of visualizations can be limited compared to custom solutions
As both of these solutions don’t always cover everything you need, as an enterprise SEO, you may need more SEO-specific tools to provide extra details about their website’s performance—like Ahrefs.
Combining tools
Although Tableau and Power BI are powerful dashboard reporting tools, they can often be less SEO-specific—especially if they’ve been built internally by the enterprise business.
Combining tools can help enhance your SEO reporting by providing a second opinion. I preferred this option when working with enterprise brands because it allowed me to gain insights from multiple sources rather than relying on one platform as a single source of truth.
The clients I worked with had access to Tableau and platforms like GA360 and Adobe Analytics, but to make sense of it all, I often returned to SEO tools like Ahrefs to get a more detailed SEO perspective.
Here’s an example of what a custom reporting solution could look like at its most basic level. You can use this to supplement your existing SEO reporting dashboard.
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) Popular Data Sources and Popular Data Destinations Illustration](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975967_561_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.png)
![SEO Reporting Dashboards (For 3 Different Types of Websites) Popular Data Sources and Popular Data Destinations Illustration](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1722975967_561_SEO-Reporting-Dashboards-For-3-Different-Types-of-Websites.png)
Creating a dashboard like this allows you to compare and contrast first and third-party data and add any other data you have.
- First-party data – Like Google Search Console and Google Analytics
- 3rd-party data – Like Ahrefs or another SEO tool
- Custom data – Like Google Sheets or any other database
Tip
Final thoughts
Creating an SEO reporting dashboard is a good investment for businesses that want to track their SEO performance, automate SEO reporting, and identify areas for improvement in their SEO campaign.
However, creating a dashboard isn’t always easy if you don’t have any experience building one. That’s why Ahrefs’ Looker Studio Integration is the perfect starting point for most businesses. With just a few clicks, you can have a fully functioning SEO reporting dashboard without the headache of designing and building one from scratch.
Got questions? Let me know on LinkedIn.
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