Performance & engagement
The Google Search Console Performance & engagement page checks if slow pages, or pages that visitors leave fast, get fewer Google clicks.
The Performance & engagement page of the Google Search Console module checks if slow pages, or pages that people leave quickly, cost you Google clicks. It compares your Google rankings and clicks with real-visitor speed from RUM Monitoring and visitor behavior from Web Analytics. If slow pages lose clicks, fixing them pays twice.
Before you start
- Link a Google Search Console property to the domain. See Connect Google Search Console.
- For the Speed tab, install the RUM script. See RUM script.
- For the Engagement tab, install the Web Analytics script. See Web Analytics script.
- Select Google Search Console > Performance & engagement in the sidebar.
If neither script is installed, the page shows "Connect RUM Monitoring and Web Analytics to see what slow or ignored pages cost you". Speed data appears within a day of the first visits. Visitor numbers appear within minutes.
The Speed tab uses its own fixed windows, so it has no dock. On the Engagement tab, the dock has a date range (without compare).
Performance & engagement verdict
The verdict at the top sums up speed and engagement in one sentence. For example:
- "Speed is not costing you Google clicks" (95% or more of clicks land on pages that pass Core Web Vitals).
- "LCP is your weak spot", with the share of Google clicks on slow pages.
- "3 busy pages lose most Google visitors fast", with about how many clicks a month land on them.
- "Speed and engagement are not costing you searches".
A busy page is in the busier half of your pages by Google clicks. A busy page loses visitors when 70% or more of them leave without interacting. The Weak spot is the Core Web Vital with the most clicks on slow pages. The "?" icon of the verdict lists these rules.
Speed tab
The Speed tab shows if slow pages cost you Google clicks. It reads real-visitor speed from RUM Monitoring for the three Core Web Vitals:
| Vital | What it measures | Good | Poor |
|---|---|---|---|
| LCP | How long visitors wait until the main content shows up (Largest Contentful Paint) | 2.5 seconds or less | Over 4 seconds |
| INP | How quickly the page reacts to a tap or click (Interaction to Next Paint) | 200 milliseconds or less | Over 500 milliseconds |
| CLS | How much things jump around on the screen as the page loads (Cumulative Layout Shift) | 0.1 or less | Over 0.25 |
If RUM Monitoring has too little data, the tab shows "Not enough speed data yet". Fix the slow pages that also lose clicks first. See Core Web Vitals in RUM Monitoring.
Fast pages vs slow pages, like for like
This card compares fast pages with slow pages on the numbers that Google and your visitors produce. A fast page passes every measured Core Web Vital. A slow page has any vital at Needs improvement or Poor. Pages with nothing measured are left out. The card uses real visits from the last 90 days.
| Row | What it compares |
|---|---|
| Clicks for their position | CTR against the CTR your site gets at the same position, in points |
| Average position | Where the pages rank in Google. Lower is better |
| Impressions per page | How often Google showed a typical page of the group |
| Clicks per page | Google clicks of a typical page of the group |
| Google visitors who leave without interacting | From Web Analytics |
| Engaged time of Google visitors | From Web Analytics |
The Difference column is green when fast pages do better and red when slow pages do better. This is a comparison, not proof: fast and slow pages can also differ in topic, age and links. If a group has fewer than 10 pages, the card says "The comparison needs more pages".
When pages got faster
The When pages got faster card lists pages whose speed turned Good in the window and stayed Good the week after. Each page is compared over equal windows before and after that week, up to 28 days each side.
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Page | The page |
| Got faster | The vital that turned Good, for example "LCP 3.2 s → 2.1 s" |
| Clicks | Google clicks before and after |
| Vs similar pages | The change in clicks against similar pages of the same section and age |
| Position | Average position before and after |
| Engaged time | Engaged time of Google visitors before and after, from Web Analytics |
Vs similar pages strips out what moved the whole section, like a season or a Google update. The results show what came after, not the cause: other changes can move clicks too. If no page got faster, the card says "No page crossed into Good" in the window.
Core Web Vitals at a glance
Under the two cards, the Speed tab shows the tile Passing Core Web Vitals. It gives the share of Google clicks that land on pages that pass every measured vital. The share counts Google clicks, not pages. The tile shows "No speed data yet" when there is nothing to count.
Where your Google clicks land, by speed
The chart Where your Google clicks land, by speed has one bar per Core Web Vital. Each bar is all your Google clicks, split by the rating of the page they land on: Good, Needs improvement, Poor or Not measured. Not measured means too few real visits to rate, and it never counts as Good. Click a segment to list those pages in the table below.
How each rating does in Google
The table How each rating does in Google compares pages rated Good, Needs improvement and Poor for one vital at a time. Use the LCP, INP and CLS pills to change the vital. The columns are Rating, Pages, Share of Google clicks, Average position and CTR. A rating with fewer than 10 pages is not compared.
Pages by Google clicks and speed
The table Pages by Google clicks and speed lists pages that have both Google and real-visitor speed data, busiest first. Use All pages or Needs work to switch. Needs work lists pages with a vital that is not Good.
The columns are Page, Clicks, Position, LCP, INP and CLS. Pages that load slowly (over 4 seconds) also get an Estimated gain. This is about how many more clicks a month the page would earn if it ranked like fast pages. It is an upper limit, not a promise. Speed is one ranking signal among many.
Engagement tab
The Engagement tab shows if pages that people leave quickly cost you Google clicks. It reads visitor behavior from Web Analytics for visitors who came from Google. Those pages may not answer what visitors came for. If Web Analytics has too little data, the tab shows "Not enough visitor data yet".
The tile Pages losing visitors counts the pages in the busier half by Google clicks where 70% or more of visitors leave without interacting.
Busy pages where visitors do not engage
This table lists busy pages that lose most visitors straight away. Improve these pages first. Owners and admins can watch a page in Page Monitoring from the row.
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Page | The landing page on your site |
| Clicks | Clicks from Google to this page in the period |
| Bounce | Visits that left without interacting: no clicks, no scrolling past 25% |
| Time on page | Average seconds visitors actively spend on the page. Idle time does not count |
| Engagement | The engagement score from 0 to 100 |
The engagement score adds five parts. A low bounce rate gives up to 25 points, active time 25 points and scroll depth 20 points. Pages per visit give up to 15 points and conversions 15 points. Green means 10 or more above your typical page. Red means 10 or more below. Without purchase tracking, the conversion points go to the other four parts.
Clicks versus visitor engagement
The chart Clicks versus visitor engagement shows each page as a dot. Google clicks compared with your other pages run across. Visitor engagement (0 to 100) runs up. Lines at your middle page split the chart into four groups, each with about a quarter of your pages:
- Busy, visitors stay: many Google clicks and engaged visitors.
- Busy, visitors leave: many Google clicks, but less engagement than your middle page. These pages need work.
- Quiet, visitors stay: the few visitors stay, but Google sends little traffic.
- Quiet, visitors leave: few clicks and low engagement.
What changed since the period before
The card What changed since lists pages that moved between the four groups since the period before. Use Moved down and Moved up to switch. The columns are Page, Group (before and now), Engagement and Clicks. A move is judged against your other pages, so a page can gain clicks and still move down when the rest gained more.
Troubleshooting
Why does the Speed tab say "Not enough speed data yet"?
RUM Monitoring needs real visitors to load your pages. If the RUM script is not installed, install it. If you installed it recently, wait about a day. See RUM script.
Why does the Engagement tab say "Not enough visitor data yet"?
Web Analytics needs real visitors from Google. If the Web Analytics script is not installed, install it. See Web Analytics script.
Why does a page show "Not measured" for a vital?
The page had too few real visits to rate that vital. INP needs a tap or click to measure. Not measured never counts as Good.
Do fast pages always rank better?
No. The page compares fast and slow pages, but they can also differ in topic, age and links. Speed is one ranking signal among many.
Related
- RUM Monitoring overview - real-visitor speed of your pages
- Engagement - visitor behavior in Web Analytics
- Performance & Reliability - if slow or broken pages cost you visitors
- Metrics and thresholds - the Core Web Vitals limits
- Overview - the Google Search Console KPIs
Internationalization
The Google Search Console Internationalization page shows if searchers abroad land on a page in their language, which markets grow and where rankings drift.
Data Quality
The Google Search Console Data Quality page shows sitemap pages with no impressions, indexing conflicts, trust checks, hidden queries and data coverage.
