To find missed keywords in Google Search Console, open the Performance report, set a three-month date range, and sort the Queries tab by impressions. Queries with many impressions, an average position between 8 and 20, and few clicks are searches where you already show up and could earn more visits with a better page.
Key takeaways
- Search Console reports the searches that already showed your site on Google, so it needs no estimates and no paid subscription.
- Start with queries that have plenty of impressions but few clicks. Each one points to a page to improve or a page to write.
- Search Console covers your website only. The searches that find your Business Profile are in a different report.
What Search Console shows that keyword tools do not
Keyword tools estimate how often a phrase is searched. Search Console counts what happened to your own site. Google’s Performance report help (read October 15, 2026) defines clicks as the number of times a user clicked your site from Google Search results, and impressions as how many times your site appeared there. Click-through rate (CTR) is clicks divided by impressions.
That makes it useful for local searches that keyword tools report as having little or no volume. A search for a service plus your suburb may show no volume in a keyword tool, yet appear in your report with a handful of impressions. Each of those impressions is a person who typed that phrase and saw your link.
Position needs one caution. Google’s definitions page (read October 15, 2026) says position is the topmost position your link held, averaged across queries, and that a link must get an impression for its position to be recorded. Because it is an average, treat position as a direction and check the live results yourself.
Set up the report
You need a Search Console property for your site. Google’s property help (read October 15, 2026) says data should begin to appear in a few days after you add it, so a brand-new property will be empty at first.
Open Performance, then Search results. Google’s help says the default view covers the past three months, and the newest data can be preliminary. Three months gives the report enough rows to be useful.
Find queries you almost rank for
Click the Queries tab and turn on all four metrics: clicks, impressions, CTR and average position. Sort by impressions, highest first. Then scan for rows where the position sits between 8 and 20. That range is a rule of thumb from my own work, not a Google figure, and it covers the bottom of page one and all of page two.
For a query in that range, check the existing page before you decide to write another. Use the table to decide which pages to review first.
| What you see | What it usually means | What to try |
|---|---|---|
| Many impressions, position 8 to 20, few clicks | The page is visible but sits low | Improve the page’s content and link to it from related pages |
| Many impressions, position 1 to 5, few clicks | People see you and pass | Rewrite the title and description to match the search |
| A phrase you never targeted, steady impressions | Google matched an existing page to a topic you did not plan for | Add a section or write a dedicated page |
| Impressions falling over time | Interest or your position is slipping | Compare date ranges and check the live results |
Start with the first row. Search the phrase yourself in a private window, read the pages ranked above yours, and list the specific information your page is missing.
Group queries with a regex filter
A regex filter lets you see every variation of a theme in one view. Google’s advanced filtering help (read October 15, 2026) says to click Add filter, choose Queries, then use Custom (regex) with “Matches regex”. It states that Search Console uses RE2 syntax, that matching is partial unless you use ^ or $, and that it is case-insensitive by default.
A plumber serving three towns could enter a pattern such as boca|delray|boynton to see which town names appear in queries and how many impressions each gets. The same filter works on the Pages dimension if you want only blog posts, using a pattern that matches your blog path.
If people search for a service you offer and you have no dedicated page for it, decide whether that service deserves one.
Check pages as well as queries
Switch to the Pages tab and sort by clicks. For each of your top pages, click it to add a page filter, then switch back to Queries. You are now looking at every phrase that brought that single page its impressions.
Review related queries and decide whether the existing page can answer them or whether they need separate pages. Also look for queries unrelated to the page’s purpose, which suggest the page needs a clearer focus.
When impressions are high and clicks are low
A page can hold a good position and still earn few clicks. Compare your title and description with the results around you, because the searcher chooses from that list in a second or two. If the title does not answer the question the query implies, rewrite it. If the page itself does not deliver on the query, expand it or send the visitor to a better page.
We wrote up one such case in January 2018, a client page with more than 50,000 monthly impressions and few clicks, and the full story is in our Google Search Console tips post.
Search Console’s menus have changed since 2018. The pattern holds, though: when impressions are high and clicks are low, read the result and the page as a searcher would. That post also covers more ways to find pages that rank but get few clicks.
Compare periods before you act
Record the page’s clicks and impressions before you change anything. Google’s help says you can edit the Date filter, choose Compare, and add two periods, and the table then shows a Difference column. For two date ranges, it suggests weekly or monthly granularity to reduce day-of-week effects.
Then compare a similar period afterward, and give the edit a few weeks before judging it.
Business Profile searches live elsewhere
Search Console reports on your website’s performance in Google Search. It does not report the searches that found your Business Profile. Google’s Business Profile performance help (read October 15, 2026) says the Searches metric shows the search terms people used to find your business, and that it updates at the start of each month.
Use that report for profile searches and Search Console for your site. Our guide to Google Business Profile problems covers what to do with the profile side.
What this method cannot do
Search Console can only report on queries where your site already appeared. It will not show a topic you have no page for, so you will still need to think about what customers ask.
New content takes time to rank. Our guide to what to expect from SEO explains why an improved page may take months to show movement.
When to hire help
Many owners can run this review alone. Hire help if you lack the time to write the pages it turns up, or if the site has technical problems that block new pages from ranking. Our SEO services start at a $1,000 to $1,600 monthly baseline, and every service is listed on the pricing page. Our guide to how much SEO costs for a small business sets out the ranges. I’ve done SEO since 2008, and we work from Boynton Beach, Florida.
FAQ
Is Google Search Console free?
It is a free Google service for monitoring how your site performs in Search, according to Google’s overview. You sign in with a Google account and add your site as a property. The Performance report this guide uses comes with it, and no paid tier is needed.
Should I use Search Console or a keyword tool?
Use both for different jobs. Search Console only lists searches that already showed your site, so it cannot suggest a topic you have never appeared for. A keyword tool can suggest those topics, and Search Console tells you which of them you are already close to winning.
What is a striking distance keyword?
It is a search where your page ranks just outside the spots that get most of the clicks, near the bottom of page one or on page two, and still draws impressions. Google does not publish a definition. The label describes a practical target: a page close enough that a better answer could lift it.
Can Search Console tell me what to write next?
Search Console shows what people searched for before they saw your site. Queries with no matching page and pages ranking for adjacent topics point to content worth creating. You still decide which queries matter to your business and which are worth the effort.
How often should I check Search Console?
Once a month is enough for most small sites, because the numbers move slowly and a single day tells you little. Compare each check with earlier months so you see direction, and write down the one page you will change before you close the report.
When should I stop doing this myself?
Stop when the review keeps producing good ideas and you cannot get them published, or when pages you improved still do not move after several months. If you cannot publish the improvements or diagnose why rankings stalled, ask for help with that specific problem.
Related reading
- What a monthly marketing report should include, and how to check it yourself
- How to track ChatGPT traffic in Google Analytics 4 and Search Console
- Local SEO, Google Ads and AI Search Statistics for 2026
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