Google Keyword Problem

Have you noticed “Keywords Unavailable” in your StatCounter reports?

Unfortunately, this is due to a decision by Google to withhold this keyword information.

Since 2011 Google has been steadily expanding its policy of withholding keyword data for organic search. This means that website owners and professionals have limited access to the keywords used to find their sites. While we at StatCounter can’t undo what Google has done, we have added a new feature to our service to maximize and streamline access to available keyword data.

We have integrated Google Webmaster Tools (GWT) keyword data into our reporting. This means that you, our members, can have efficient, streamlined access to all available keyword data.

You can read more about it in our press release here.

How to link your StatCounter account with GWT

To integrate your GWT data into your StatCounter account, here is what you need to do:

  • Log in to your StatCounter account
  • Click the “Wrench Icon” beside your project name.
  • gwt-wrench3

  • Click “Import GWT Data”.
  • import-gwt

  • Finally, follow the steps outlined on the page to link StatCounter with your GWT account.
  • import-gwt-page2


New Keyword Analysis Options

After you have completed the steps above, the Keyword Analysis Stat will now have 4 new options as outlined below:

gwt6

1. StatCounter Only

This is the usual Keyword Analysis stat.

gwt2

2. Google Webmaster

This shows the GWT keyword data only. Note that the stats are presented in the familar StatCounter style.

3. Comparison

This shows the GWT keyword data alongside the StatCounter data. You can look at each keyword and compare direct StatCounter data with indirect data collected from GWT.

4. Merged

The ‘Merged’ option includes the standard StatCounter data but redistributes the Google portion of the ‘Keywords Unavailable’ data according to the spread of keywords in the Google Webmaster Tools dataset.

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Email reports will automatically include this merged data.


New Stat: GWT Data

Finally there is an entirely new stat called GWT Data which is based solely on the GWT keyword data. It shows you the clicks, impressions and positions of your keywords.

gwt4

You can click the drill down link beside each result to see how individual keywords have performed over time. See a sample graph below.

gwt5


We hope this new addition to your stats is useful. Please share your thoughts, comments, questions and suggestions below.

196 Comments

  1. Great idea, but I’m repeatedly getting the “import failed” error as well. And YES, I’ve added the user to my WMT account.

    1. It seems I added the new user to the www version of the site. Adding the user to the non-www version corrected the problem. Import successful!

      1. The domain you enter on StatCounter must exactly match the domain in your GWT account.

  2. This Webmaster Tool integration is sure a good step forward. What I have found with a forum whom I advise from time to time though is that we can never figure out, really which post in which thread were actually the reason a certain keyword (or search phrase rather) led to a page impression (i.e. the result being shown in Googles SERPs at a certain position) and then ultimately led to a click-through. So even with all the integration available we are groping in the dark and that is because Google will not or cannot provide the exact “landing page” that went with a) an impression and b) a click on that page. Of course, obviously the downloadable CSV files of the search queries would explode in size and be probably hundreds of megabytes in a high-traffic site so that what I am driving at may not be feasible really.

  3. I was wondering how to deal with google keyword problem. This issue was mostly seen when the user was logged in. Thank you for introducing this feature.

  4. Says that import.xxxxxxxx@statcounter.com is already taken.

    1. Hi Jane,

      That’s very odd. You just need to add the user. We already have the import user registered. If you’re still having trouble can you contact support so we can help troubleshoot this issue with you.

  5. Excellent work! Thanks a lot for this new feature. working without any error 🙂

  6. seems can’t do multiple versions of the site at once, it www vs non-www, but doing the urls separatly it has worked and seems to be running just fine.

    1. Your StatCounter project must be linked to one website in your GWT account. It can’t be linked to more than one.

  7. Eh,

    Additionally, I don’t get any new options when I go to keyword analysis.

    Thanks though…. it’s a bust for me so far.

    1. You will only get the new options if the import from GWT is successful. If you need any assistance please contact us.

  8. didn’t work, already set up in WMT with the www and non-www version of my site, added the SC email address to both, and when hitting import, says…

    Some Projects Couldn’t be Imported

  9. Amazing, thank you so much guys

  10. This is awesome 🙂 Good job, Statcounter 🙂

    I tried it for one site and it worked a treat. Now I just have to understand what I’m seeing 🙂

  11. I fixed my problem. Helps if you read the instructions properly.

    Make sure you do this in WMT not in Analytics! 😉

  12. Forgot to mention for those who are having issues with it not working – check to see if you need the www or not. On my subdomains I do not, on the main domain, I did. After correcting that, it worked perfectly.

    1. Thanks for the feedback. The domain you enter must *exactly* match the domain in your GWT account.

  13. It’s not working for me. It just keeps saying “Import Failed
    Has import.zxczxczxc@statcounter.com been added as a user in your Google Webmaster Tool account?”

    YES. I HAVE added that email as a user in my GWT account.

    Any advice?

  14. Nice. Followed the instructions and had the Google keyword data imported and viewable almost straight away.

  15. Many thanks for this – a useful addition to the Statcounter tool! 🙂

  16. it is so useful for us and we will know better keyword of our site.

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