What are impressions?

When exactly one is counted

The rules, as Google documents them, are specific:

• Standard results. If your link is on the results page the user loaded, an impression is counted, even if it sat below the fold and was never scrolled into view.
• Later pages. A result on page two counts only when the user goes to page two.
• Carousels and expandable elements. Here the item generally has to be scrolled or expanded into view to count.
• Several links in one result. If your site appears twice for one query, the count depends on how you view the data, which is the next point.

Property totals versus page totals

Search Console aggregates in two ways, and the totals differ.

So the sum of impressions across pages is normally higher than the property total. Neither figure is wrong.

Another gap: some queries are withheld to protect user privacy. Their impressions are included in chart totals but not in the query table, so the rows never add up to the total.

Reading impressions with the other metrics

On their own, impressions say little. The combinations are what you act on.

• High impressions, low click-through rate, good position. People see you and choose something else. Review the title and description, or check whether an answer box satisfies the query without a click.
• High impressions, position 8 to 20. You are relevant but too far down. These queries are the best candidates for improving existing content.
• Impressions falling, position steady. Demand dropped, as with seasonal topics, or a search feature displaced organic results.
• Impressions rising, clicks flat. Often new rankings at low positions, or appearances for broader queries. It is early progress, not a problem.

Things that inflate or distort the number

• Position 80 counts the same as position 1. A page of impressions at the bottom of results is worth very little, so always read impressions next to average position.
• Image and other search types are reported separately. Use the search type filter.
• Automated rank checking by tools that load results pages can add impressions without real people behind them, which shows up as a rise at deep positions with no clicks.
• Features count. Appearing as a link inside a search feature generally registers an impression, with the position of the feature.

Putting it to work

A quick routine that pays off: in the Performance report, switch on all four metrics, filter to one page, sort queries by impressions, and look for queries where the page gets many impressions at positions 5 to 15 without covering the topic properly. Adding a section that answers those queries is often the cheapest improvement available. Then preview the page's title and description with our SERP snippet preview to make the listing worth clicking; the principles are in meta descriptions that earn clicks.