Webmasters losing their sanity over not knowing the keyword searches that led to their site finally have some respite.
Web analytics provider StatCounter says it has a work around for Google’s maddening practice of obscuring key search terms for website owners. Instead of telling webmasters the top keywords searches that led to their site, Google’s displays the dreaded “not provided” label instead for most web analytics platforms. Google’s stated purpose for this is to make keyword searches more secure.
However, Google does provide more information if you use its own analytics and site optimization tools. And that’s how StatCounter is combating the practice – by going straight to the source.
By integrating with Google’s own Webmaster Tools (GWT,) StatCounter is combining its own analytics reports with those generated by GWT to give webmasters a more accurate picture when it comes to top keyword searches.
Previously, in order to do this, webmasters had to separately access GWT, download the data, manually merge with other keyword reports and attempt to analyze the combined information. Now, all of that can be done in a single move.
“Time precious website owners only have to link their StatCounter account with GWT once and then they can leave the reporting to us.” says Aodhan Cullen, CEO of StatCounter. “Professional search marketers can rely on our streamlined reporting to remove the burden of accessing separate data sources and laboriously compiling reports for each of their clients.”
As a result of the integration, users will have access to standalone GWT stats, which shows the top 2,000 search queries that drove traffic for the previous 90 days, as well as merged stats from StatCounter, displayed in one reporting interface.
StatCounter has outlined a step-by-step guide to linking to GWT in a blog post here.
