# Content changes

The **Content changes** page of the Google Search Console module shows what Google did after you changed a page. Page Monitoring catches changes on the pages it watches. This page puts the Google clicks, CTR and position before and since each change next to similar pages that you did not change. Use it to learn which edits help and which edits cost you clicks.

## Before you start [#before-you-start]

- Link a Google Search Console property to the domain. See [Connect Google Search Console](/connect/search-console).
- Watch pages in Page Monitoring. Only watched pages are measured, because Page Monitoring catches the change. See [Page Monitoring overview](/page-monitoring/overview).
- Select **Google Search Console** > **Content changes** in the sidebar.

The page shows the changes caught in the last 90 days. If your plan keeps caught changes for a shorter time, the window is shorter. This page has no date range and no filters of its own.

### When Content changes has nothing to show [#when-content-changes-has-nothing-to-show]

- If Page Monitoring watches no pages, the page shows "See what Google did after you changed a page" with a **Watch pages** button.
- If no change was caught, the page shows "No changes caught in the last 90 days" and an **Open Page Monitoring** button.
- If your plan keeps caught changes for too few days, a note says that none can be measured. The note ends with "Paid plans keep 90 days to 12 months". The number of days depends on your plan. See [Plans and limits](/workspace/plans-and-limits#change-history-of-site-health-monitoring-and-page-monitoring).

## Content changes verdict [#content-changes-verdict]

When at least one change can be measured, the verdict says how search did after the changes. For example: "31 changes in the last 90 days. Search is up after 19 and down after 7". The line under it gives the rest, for example "5 held steady, 3 too early to tell and 2 left out."

A change counts as up or down when its clicks moved 10% or more against similar pages. The verdict shows what followed a change, not what caused it. If nothing can be measured yet, a note says "Changes caught in the last 90 days."

## Kinds of change tabs [#kinds-of-change-tabs]

The tabs filter the page by the kind of change. Each tab shows its count. A kind with no caught change has no tab.

| Tab | What changed |
|---|---|
| **All changes** | Every change |
| **Titles** | The page title |
| **Descriptions** | The meta description |
| **Headings** | The headings of the page |
| **Canonicals** | The canonical address |
| **Indexing tags** | The indexing tag, for example `noindex` |
| **Content** | The text of the page |

The tile under the tabs shows the count of the selected kind and the typical result, for example "Clicks +12% · CTR +0.4 pts". The typical result is the median of the measured changes, against similar pages. The tile can also say "None measured yet" or "Too few clicks to compare".

## Changes and what happened since [#changes-and-what-happened-since]

The **Changes and what happened since** table has one row per change.

| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| **Page** | The page that changed |
| **What changed** | The kinds of change, for example "Title, Content" |
| **Changed** | The day Page Monitoring caught the change |
| **Clicks** | Google clicks before and since, for example "1,234 → 1,500" |
| **CTR** | CTR before and since |
| **Position** | Average position before and since |
| **Vs similar** | The change in clicks against similar pages, in percent |

Click the link icon at the end of a row to open the change in Page Monitoring. If no change has results yet, the table says "Results appear once enough days have passed since a change to compare."

### Days compared [#days-compared]

The **Clicks** column compares the same number of days before and since each change, from 14 to 28 days. Content changes skips the day of the change, because Google counts its days in Pacific time. The newest two days of Google data are partial and never used.

A small content change is not counted. By default, a content change counts from 5% of the text or from 50 words.

### Vs similar pages [#vs-similar-pages]

**Vs similar** compares the page with pages that you did not change in the same weeks. Then a swing across the whole section does not count. Similar pages are in the same section of your site and about the same age. The age groups are under 30 days, 30 to 180 days and over 180 days.

If too few pages have the same age, Content changes uses the whole section. If you have no site sections, it then uses all pages. It needs at least 3 similar pages. With fewer, only the page itself is measured. If you have no site sections, pages are grouped by the first folder of their address. To get a closer match, click **Set your site sections** in the "?" icon, or set them on [Clusters](/google-search-console/clusters#site-sections-tab).

### Status chips [#status-chips]

Some rows show a chip in the **Vs similar** column instead of a figure:

- **Too early.** Too few days have passed since the change to compare. The hover shows, for example, "Days since the change: 6 of 14".
- **Later change.** A later change on the page ended the comparison.
- **Too few clicks.** The page had too few Google clicks before the change for a percentage to mean anything.
- **No data.** Google Search Console has no data for this page before the change.
- **Google update.** A Google update rolled out in the weeks compared, so the figures are not counted.

## Pages that lost clicks after a change [#pages-that-lost-clicks-after-a-change]

The **Pages that lost clicks after a change** card lists the changes after which clicks fell 10% or more against similar pages, with at least 10 clicks lost. The biggest loss is first. The subtitle gives the total, for example "About 420 clicks fewer than similar pages that were not changed."

The **Clicks lost** column shows about how many more clicks the page would have had if it had moved like similar pages. Review these edits and undo the ones that hurt. A change may only have come at the same time as the drop.

## Changes left out and watched pages [#changes-left-out-and-watched-pages]

At the bottom of the page, Content changes has two more cards.

- **Changes left out.** Changes that are listed above but not counted, because another change or a Google update fell in the same weeks. The **Why it is left out** column gives the reason.
- **Watched pages.** For example "18 of your top 25 pages watched" and "40 pages watched in all". Owners and admins can click **Watch more pages** to open Page Monitoring.

If the list is long, a note says "Only the newest changes are listed. The counts above include all of them."

## Troubleshooting [#troubleshooting]

### Why does Content changes show "Too early"? [#why-does-content-changes-show-too-early]

Content changes needs at least 14 days after a change to compare. Wait until enough days have passed.

### Why does Content changes show no changes? [#why-does-content-changes-show-no-changes]

If Page Monitoring watches no pages, watch your important pages first. If it watches pages but caught no change in the window, the page shows "No changes caught in the last 90 days".

### Why does a change show "Google update"? [#why-does-a-change-show-google-update]

A Google update rolled out in the weeks compared. The update can move clicks on its own, so the change is not counted.

### Why does a row show a dash in Vs similar? [#why-does-a-row-show-a-dash-in-vs-similar]

If there are fewer than three untouched pages of the same section, only the page itself is measured. Set your site sections to get more similar pages.

## Related [#related]

- [Page Monitoring overview](/page-monitoring/overview) - watch pages and catch their changes
- [Clusters](/google-search-console/clusters) - set your site sections
- [New pages](/google-search-console/new-pages) - how Google treats the pages you publish
- [Trends & Anomalies](/google-search-console/trends-and-anomalies) - unusual days and what changed around them
- [Plans and limits](/workspace/plans-and-limits#change-history-of-site-health-monitoring-and-page-monitoring) - how long your plan keeps caught changes