> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://devs.surferseo.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Read the performance report

> See clicks, impressions, and position changes for your published posts inside WordPress.

The plugin reads your site's Search Console data through Surfer once a week and shows it under **Performance Report** in wp-admin. Before you start, you need:

* Search Console connected in Surfer, in the organization the site is connected to, with a property for the site's domain. See [Google Search Console](/integrations/google-search-console).
* The site connected to Surfer.
* A plan that includes the WordPress integration. See [Availability](/integrations/wordpress/setup#availability).

## Turn the report on

The connection happens in Surfer. The plugin's settings page only shows whether Surfer sees a property for the site.

**1. Open the plugin's settings page**

In the wp-admin sidebar, select **Surfer**.

**2. Find the Search Console row**

Find **Google Search Console integration**. It reads **Not connected with
Surfer** until Surfer sees a property for the site's domain.

**3. Start the connection**

If the row reads **Not connected with Surfer**, select **Add GSC account to
Surfer**. Surfer's Search Console settings open in a new tab.

**4. Connect the Google account in Surfer**

Connect the Google account in that tab, following [Google Search
Console](/integrations/google-search-console).

**5. Reload the plugin's settings page**

Reload the plugin's settings page. The row reads **Connected**, with **Edit
GSC integration inside Surfer** beside it. The row asks Surfer again every
time you open the page.

While the site is connected to Surfer but not to Search Console, wp-admin also shows the notice **Data-driven SEO optimization with Surfer and Google Search Console**. It offers the same connection. Make it from the plugin's settings page as above. **No, thanks** dismisses the notice.

## When the data arrives

The plugin schedules a collection every Monday.

* Each collection covers the previous Monday to Sunday.
* Your first report follows the first Monday collection after you connect.
* WordPress's scheduler runs the collection when the site receives a page visit.
* A quiet site can collect data later that day or later in the week.
* Until the first collection, the report shows a date range above an empty table.

For each published post that Search Console reports for the site, the plugin stores:

* Clicks, with the change against the previous week.
* Impressions, with the change against the previous week.
* Average position, with the change against the previous week.

The data has these boundaries:

* Global figures only, with no split by country, device, or query.
* No click-through rate.
* Up to 1,000 URLs per collection.
* Published content of any public post type. A URL that does not resolve to one is skipped.

The plugin requests totals for each page from Google. These can differ slightly from totals for the whole property in Search Console.

## Read the report

The report shows one week at a time. Open **Surfer → Performance Report** in wp-admin. The page is titled **Performance Reports**.

The date line **Date:** names the week the numbers cover, written as day-month-year. Under **Domain**, four tiles sum up the site. Each carries its change against the previous week:

| Tile | What it shows |
| - | - |
| **Total Impressions** | Impressions for the week across the collected posts. |
| **Total Clicks** | Clicks for the week across the collected posts. |
| **Drop in Position** | How many posts lost positions against last week. |
| **Increased in Position** | How many posts gained positions against last week. |

Under **Posts**, the table lists each post with **Position**, **Clicks**, and **Impressions**. It shows 20 posts per page and sorts by any of the three. Each number carries a change marker:

* An arrow up or down for a change, a dash for none.
* Red when the post did worse, meaning a higher position number or fewer clicks or impressions.
* No marker on a post with data from one week only.

Hover a number to see last week's value and the dates of both weeks.

A [Content Editor](/integrations/guidelines-panel) is the document Surfer builds around your target keywords, holding the guidelines and the Content Score. The last column holds one button per post, depending on whether the post has a Content Editor attached:

* **Optimize with Surfer** on a post with no Content Editor attached opens the same dialog as in the editor, described in [Write in WordPress](/integrations/wordpress/write).
* **Edit in Surfer** on a linked post opens its Content Editor in Surfer.

Above the table, **All posts**, **Drop in Position**, and **Increased in Position** filter the report.

* Each filter shows a count.
* A drop means the post's average position number increased from the previous week, such as from 8 to 12.
* An empty filter shows `No posts found for this criteria...`.

## Get the weekly email

Once Search Console is connected, the plugin can email a weekly summary to the site's administration email address. Before that, the **E-mail notifications** section of the plugin's settings page has no toggle and reads `You need to make GSC connection to be able to activate email notifications.`

**1. Open the plugin's settings page**

In the wp-admin sidebar, select **Surfer**.

**2. Turn the report on**

Under **E-mail notifications**, turn on **Send me a weekly report on my
site’s performance.**

**3. Save**

Select **Save changes**.

The setting is also listed in the settings table on [Set up the WordPress plugin](/integrations/wordpress/setup). While the email is off, the report screen shows a **Turn on a weekly report** button that leads to this setting.

![The E-mail notifications section of the plugin settings with the weekly report toggle turned on.](https://mintcdn.com/surfer-1a8fda11/4kbtukCU_qZDIZlN/images/integrations/wordpress/wordpress-performance-email-setting.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=4kbtukCU_qZDIZlN\&q=85\&s=e159626d1023888c98d4ec22218fb999)

The email arrives at most once a week, after a collection that returned data. Its subject is `Surfer Performance Report for domain: example.com`, with your own domain in place of the example. It opens with the week's totals for impressions and clicks and how many posts dropped or rose, then lists posts under two headings:

* **Dropped in ranking**: posts that ranked in the top 10 and lost positions, and pages that left Google's results.
* **Increased in ranking**: posts attached to a Content Editor that gained positions, and pages that entered Google's results.

**View this week’s report** in the email opens the report screen.

## Verify it is working

The menu item appears first. The first Monday fills the report.

1. In the wp-admin sidebar, **Performance Report** appears under **Surfer** on the page load after the row reads **Connected**.
2. After the first Monday, open **Surfer → Performance Report**. The tiles and the table show the previous week's numbers.

## Troubleshooting

The fixes for these symptoms live on the [troubleshooting page](/integrations/wordpress/troubleshooting).

* [The row stays **Not connected with Surfer** after you connect in Surfer](/integrations/wordpress/troubleshooting#the-search-console-row-stays-not-connected-with-surfer).
* [The report is empty after the first Monday](/integrations/wordpress/troubleshooting#the-report-is-empty).
* [The weekly email does not arrive](/integrations/wordpress/troubleshooting#the-weekly-email-does-not-arrive).


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