What counts as an impression
Google's help page What are impressions, position, and clicks? says an impression means a user has seen, or potentially seen, a link to the site. A result on the loaded page of results generally counts whether or not it was scrolled into view. Items inside a carousel or an expandable block usually have to be scrolled into view or expanded first. Results on a page of results the searcher never opened don't count.
How the total is added up matters too. In Search Console's chart, "if two results from the same site appear for one query, they count as a single impression in the chart total" (Performance report help). Grouped by page, each page counts its own appearance.
How it shows up in RankUpside
Impressions sit on each client's key figures, with the change against the four weeks before. Sample data: Copperline Gutters, a fictional business on a reserved .example domain. Page-one impressions on buyer searches rose from 9,235 to 11,507 in four weeks.
The report adds impressions up per page, so its totals run higher than Search Console's property view. The tile says "added up per page" so nobody compares the two numbers as if they were the same count.
The Healthy drop finding calls out impressions that fell while buyer clicks held: at least 200 impressions before, down by 40% or more, with buyer clicks at 90% or more of before. A client isn't alarmed by a drop that doesn't matter.
How to check it yourself
- Open Search Console › Performance and tick Impressions.
- Note the total for the date range, then open the Pages tab.
- Add up the page rows. When several pages show for the same searches, the page rows add up to more than the chart total.
Common mistakes
- Celebrating impressions from how-to posts while buyer clicks fall.
- Comparing a sum of page rows with the property total.
- Reading an impression as a view of the page. Nobody visited; the result was only on the page of results.