Digital marketing is constantly changing, from viral trends to algorithms results, and a big part of staying current involves keeping an open mind to new tools that emerge on the scene.
With that being said, we were very excited to test out HubSpot’s new integration with Google Search Console. As always, this HubSpot integration serves as a useful tool for keeping information all in one place and cuts down on disparate data.
In our previous article, we talked about how we implemented the Google Search Console plugin in our own HubSpot account. Now, it’s time to break down our experience with the plugin.
As we mentioned in our last GSC post, it’s important to give the integration some time to collect data after setting it up. We waited 3 weeks for the integration to keep running before reviewing the information provided through GSC directly in HubSpot.
After using the integration for a while now, we also have some feelings about what features we loved and what we thought could use some improvements.
Rich search query information is the shining star of all the features you get from the HubSpot–GSC integration.
Without the plugin, HubSpot can provide a general idea of the visits to an accounts’ website and how those visiting users behaved. Under the “web pages” tab on HubSpot, it’s possible to see the time users spend on a given page, the traffic source, and the bounce rate.
The Google Search Console plugin, however, allows us to dig deeper into analytics from an SEO perspective. Some of the most powerful data you can access includes a look into what search queries users had before going to a specific link on your website. This information provides valuable insights on the behavior of your users, ultimately opening more doors to analyze the success of your SEO efforts.
Having this information in HubSpot can be a complete game-changer, both for businesses who already use GSC on a regular basis, and those who have not yet utilized GSC as a common tool.
The main goal of the GSC integration is to bring the information that Google Search Console provides from your website directly into your HubSpot account. This means one less tab open once you are logged into your HS account. With the GSC plugin installed, you can check the clicks, impressions, and click-through rate of your pages, along with the search queries that brought you those visits:
With HubSpot’s 1000+ integrations on the marketplace, this is one of the free options. It’s hard to pass up a freebie, especially when it brings with it valuable data from a platform like Google Search Console.
With HubSpot constantly rolling out new features, tools, and products, there is always room for development on the platform. In the future, we’d like to see a few positive additions to the GSC plugin that may optimize the tool for even better usage. Though none of them are deal-breaking, we did compile a shortlist of some of the current limitations to anticipate with the tool.
Some may feel that the navigation is not the most intuitive of all HubSpot tools. Once you get it, however, it’s easy to make sense of.
The following pointers will help you quickly get your bearings with how to locate and utilize the plugin.
1. In order to get to your GSC information, hover over the Marketing tab, then choose SEO:
2. Once there, select Analyze:
3. Scroll down to Pages, then click on a URL to see its GSC Search Queries information:
After those few steps, you’ll have access to the trove of data provided by the tool.
It’s important to keep in mind that while this tool does pull in a great deal of valuable data from Google Search Console, it is not a comprehensive display of the Google dashboard. Rather, this plugin integrates what many may consider the most helpful and pertinent details from GSC into your HubSpot account.
If you ever need to dig deeper into some of the information displayed from GSC in HubSpot, it’s a good idea to head over to your GSC account for a detailed look.
Ultimately, the GSC plugin is a huge time saver and a great way to access insightful SEO data directly within HubSpot. However, we definitely recommend venturing back to your GSC account every once in a while to keep tabs on the additional information that may be accessed there, especially if you are ever considering making large changes to your SEO strategy. There is value in being thorough and not leaning solely on one tool as the source to inform your strategy.
Overall, we’re making great use of HubSpot’s Google Search Console Integration, and we hope you can too! With the tool being so new, we have high hopes for potential developments in the future. Read more, including a how-to guide on setting up the integration, here.
As always, we’d love to hear your experience with this HubSpot feature. Drop a comment or reach out to us directly if you have any thoughts or questions on the HubSpot GSC plugin!
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