Connecting Google Search Console

Connecting Google Search Console adds a Google Search Terms card to the Revenue First Analytics dashboard with the keywords that bring visitors from Google, their clicks, impressions, CTR and position, plus an estimated revenue per keyword based on your organic conversion rate. Setup needs an OAuth client from Google Cloud Console; after that the plugin reads only your own search data, and no visitor data is sent to Google.

What does the integration show?

Once connected, the Google Search Terms card appears on the dashboard next to the Traffic Sources card, for the same date range you have selected in the toolbar. It lists the top keywords by clicks, with a bar showing each keyword’s share of clicks and, where the plugin can estimate it, an approximate revenue in green. The card shows five keywords; click View all to expand the list (up to 50 keywords).

Click a keyword to open the Search term details window with six numbers: Position, Impressions, Clicks, CTR, Est. Conversions and Est. Revenue. The first four come straight from Search Console. The estimates are the plugin’s own: the conversion rate and average order value of your Organic search channel for the selected period, multiplied by the keyword’s clicks. Google does not know which keyword led to which order, so treat them as a ranking by likely value, not as attributed revenue. The real organic revenue is in the Channel tab, see Channels, Referrers and Campaigns Report.

The card is hidden when Google returns no keywords for the range, for example on a brand new site or when the selected range lies entirely within the last three days (see the data delay note below).

Before you start

Your site must be a verified property in Google Search Console under the Google account you will authorize with, you need access to Google Cloud Console with that account to create a free OAuth client, and you need a WordPress administrator account, because the connection is made from Settings.

Create the OAuth client in Google Cloud Console

The plugin shows these steps in the Set up Google Search Console window, together with the exact redirect URI for your site. The redirect URI is your admin URL followed by admin.php?page=wpgens-rfa&gsc_callback=1, for example https://example.com/wp-admin/admin.php?page=wpgens-rfa&gsc_callback=1. Copy it from the window rather than typing it.

1. Go to Google Cloud Console.
2. Create a new project or select an existing one.
3. Enable the Google Search Console API.
4. Go to Credentials and create an OAuth 2.0 Client ID. If Google asks you to configure the OAuth consent screen first, do that and add your own Google account as a test user.
5. Select Web application as the application type.
6. Add the redirect URI from the plugin window as an Authorized redirect URI.
7. Copy the Client ID (ending in .apps.googleusercontent.com) and the Client Secret (starting with GOCSPX-).

Connect the plugin

1. Open Rev Analytics, click the Settings gear icon in the top bar and scroll to the Google Search Console card.
2. Click Set up Google Search Console. Paste the Client ID and Client Secret and click Save & Connect.
3. You are sent to Google. Sign in with the account that owns the Search Console property and allow read-only access to Search Console data. The plugin asks only for the webmasters.readonly scope.
4. Google sends you back to the dashboard. The card now shows a green dot, Connected, and Site: followed by the property the plugin selected.

If you saved credentials earlier but did not finish authorizing, the card shows a Connect Google Search Console button instead, with a Wrong credentials? Reconfigure link under it. The authorization link is valid for 10 minutes; after that, click the button again.

Which property is selected?

You do not pick a property by hand. After authorization the plugin lists the verified properties of the Google account and stores the one that matches your site’s home URL (with or without www, http or https). If none matches, it stores the first verified property in the list, which may be a different site. Always check the Site: line after connecting. If it is wrong, verify the correct property in Search Console, click Disconnect and connect again.

What data flows between your site and Google?

Your server makes OAuth-authenticated requests to accounts.google.com, oauth2.googleapis.com and www.googleapis.com to exchange and refresh tokens and to read keyword rows for your property. Nothing about your visitors, orders or revenue is sent to Google; the estimates are computed on your server. Tokens, client ID and client secret are stored in your WordPress options, and the secret is masked in Settings after saving. For the complete list of third-party services, see Cookies, Data Stored and Data Retention.

Reconnecting, reconfiguring and disconnecting

• Token refresh is automatic. Access tokens expire after about an hour; the plugin refreshes one when it is within five minutes of expiring, and once more if Google rejects it. You do not need to re-authorize on a schedule.
• If a refresh fails (for example after you revoked the app’s access in your Google account), the plugin drops the stored tokens and the card goes back to Connect Google Search Console. Click it to authorize again with the same credentials.
• Reconfigure reopens the setup window so you can enter a different Client ID and Secret.
• Disconnect removes the tokens, the stored property and the Client ID and Secret, so you start from scratch. It does not revoke anything on Google’s side; do that in your Google account’s third-party access settings if you want.

Common errors and what they mean

For other dashboard questions, including how date ranges work, see Dashboard Overview: Metrics, Chart and Date Ranges.