Skip to main content
Back to Blog
·SEO Analytics Team·25 min read

GSC Countries Report: International Performance Analysis

GSC Countries Report: International Performance Analysis

GSC Countries Report: International Performance Analysis

Meta Description: Master Google Search Console's Countries report to uncover international SEO opportunities. Learn how to analyze geographic performance, identify expansion markets, diagnose targeting issues, and optimize for global visibility.

Target Keyword: Google Search Console countries report Last Updated: January 21, 2026


Introduction

You're getting traffic from Japan, France, and Brazil. But you never optimized for those markets. You never translated content. You never even thought about international SEO.

What's happening? And what should you do about it?

Most people check their Google Search Console Countries report once, see their home country at the top, and never look again. They're missing signals that could double their traffic.

The Countries report, part of our complete GSC guide, reveals:

  • Untapped markets where you're ranking but not converting impressions to clicks
  • Targeting problems where you're getting traffic from the wrong countries
  • Expansion opportunities where small optimizations unlock major growth
  • Competitive advantages where you're strong internationally while competitors focus locally
  • Technical issues with hreflang, international targeting, or geo-restrictions

Geographic performance isn't just about where your traffic comes from. It's about understanding why you're ranking where you are, and what opportunities that creates.

You'll learn how GSC determines country data, how to read the Countries report to identify opportunities vs problems, five patterns in geographic data that signal specific actions, and strategic decisions about when to expand vs when to restrict.


What Is the GSC Countries Report?

The Countries report shows site performance by country, segmented by Google's estimate of where users search from.

Access it:

  1. Open Google Search Console
  2. Navigate to Performance Report
  3. Scroll to the data table
  4. Click "Countries" tab (between Pages and Devices)

Learn more about filters and comparisons.

What you see: Countries where your site appeared in search results, sorted by total clicks, with four metrics:

  • Clicks: Users from that country who clicked your site
  • Impressions: Times your site appeared in search results in that country
  • CTR: Click-through rate (clicks ÷ impressions)
  • Position: Average ranking position for searches from that country

![Visual: Screenshot of Countries tab showing top countries with performance metrics]

This is Google's estimate of country, not precise geolocation. Based on:

  • IP address (primary signal)
  • Google domain used (google.com vs google.co.uk)
  • User's language settings
  • User's location history (if logged into Google account)

What it's NOT:

  • Where visitors are actually located (VPNs, travelers, proxies create noise)
  • Useful for precise targeting within countries (no city/region data)
  • Immediately actionable for local businesses serving single markets
  • A measure of where your content should rank—only where it does rank

Common mistake: Treating every country in your report as a market opportunity. Some countries appear because of VPNs, some because Google shows your content to English speakers abroad, and some because you have actual ranking opportunity.


How Google Determines Country Data

Understanding how GSC assigns country data helps you interpret what you're seeing accurately.

Primary Signal: IP Address Geolocation

Google looks up the IP address of the searcher and maps it to a country. This is accurate about 95% of the time for legitimate traffic.

When it's accurate:

  • Users searching from home or office networks
  • Mobile users on carrier networks
  • Users on public WiFi in their home country

When it's misleading:

  • VPN users (appears as VPN server country, not actual location)
  • Corporate networks with centralized gateways (employees worldwide appear from headquarters country)
  • Travelers using hotel or airport WiFi
  • Proxy users or privacy-focused browsers

Secondary Signal: Google Domain

Which Google property the user searches on influences country attribution:

  • google.com → Often US traffic, but also international users who prefer .com
  • google.co.uk → UK traffic (high confidence)
  • google.de → German traffic (high confidence)

The nuance: Users can use any Google domain from anywhere. A US user can search on google.co.jp. Country attribution prioritizes IP over domain, but domain influences impressions data.

Why This Matters for Interpretation

Scenario 1: You see 500 clicks from "Switzerland"

  • Could be 500 Swiss users → Opportunity
  • Could be employees at a Swiss corporation's VPN → Noise
  • Could be privacy-conscious users routing through Swiss servers → Noise

How to tell the difference: Look at the queries from that country. If they're in Swiss languages (German, French, Italian) or mention Swiss locations, likely real. If they're clearly your home market queries, likely VPN noise.

Scenario 2: You see impressions but no clicks from a country

  • Could be ranking low (position 15-20, visible but not compelling)
  • Could be wrong language (ranking in English in non-English country)
  • Could be international users preferring competitors
  • Could be technical issue (geo-blocking, slow server response)

We'll cover how to diagnose these scenarios next.

![Visual: Diagram showing how Google determines country from IP address, Google domain, language settings, and location history]


Reading the Countries Report: What to Look For

The Countries tab sorts by total clicks by default. This is useful for seeing your biggest markets, but it misses opportunities.

The Top Country (Your Primary Market)

What you should see:

  • Your target country at #1 by clicks
  • Strong CTR (ideally 3-7%, depending on industry)
  • Average position better than other countries (position 8-15 typical)

If your target country isn't #1:

  • Problem #1: Wrong international targeting settings (Settings → International Targeting)
  • Problem #2: Hreflang tags pointing to wrong region (technical SEO basics)
  • Problem #3: Server location causing ranking issues
  • Problem #4: Content is in wrong language or using wrong regional terms

Check Index Coverage report for international indexing issues and verify with competitive analysis.

Example: US-based business seeing Canada #1, US #2 → Check if Google thinks you're a Canadian site. Review international targeting settings.

Secondary Countries: Opportunities vs Noise

Sort by impressions (click the "Impressions" column header) to find countries where you're visible but not converting.

What to look for:

High Impressions, Low Clicks (Low CTR):

  • Position >10: You're ranking on page 2+. Opportunity if you can improve rankings.
  • Position 5-10: You're ranking page 1 but not compelling. Could be language mismatch, or strong competitors.
  • Position 1-5: You're ranking well but not getting clicks. Investigate queries—might be informational searches with zero-click answers.

Moderate Impressions, High CTR:

  • You're ranking well and converting. Small market but efficient.
  • Consider: Is there more volume potential with more content targeting this market?

Low Impressions, High CTR:

  • You rank well for a few specific queries.
  • Could indicate niche opportunity or brand search from that region.

![Visual: Screenshot showing Countries tab sorted by impressions, with annotations on different patterns]

Geographic Distribution Pattern

Pattern #1: Concentrated (80%+ from one country)

  • Normal for local businesses
  • Normal for single-language content sites
  • If you're global brand, this might indicate missed opportunity

Pattern #2: Distributed across many countries (10+ countries with 100+ clicks)

  • Normal for English-language content (English = global language)
  • Normal for international brands
  • If unintentional, might indicate lack of focus

Pattern #3: Unexpected strong secondary market

  • You're US-based, but UK is 30% of traffic
  • You're Australian, but Singapore drives 25% of traffic
  • This is your signal: Natural international opportunity exists

Pattern #4: Long tail of small countries (50+ countries with <10 clicks each)

  • Normal and mostly noise (VPNs, travelers, expats)
  • Don't optimize for these unless you see specific query opportunities
  • Focus on countries with 50+ clicks for strategic decisions

The Outlier Countries: What They Mean

You see traffic from countries you never expected:

If queries are in English from non-English countries:

  • Expats or international users searching in English
  • English is second language in that market (e.g., Netherlands, Scandinavia)
  • Educational or research traffic
  • Action: Usually don't optimize specifically, but note market demand

If queries are in local language:

  • You're accidentally ranking in a market (possibly translating your English content?)
  • Google showing your content to language speakers in different countries
  • Action: Investigate if this is opportunity or mistargeted traffic

If country is known VPN hub (Netherlands, Switzerland, British Virgin Islands):

  • Likely VPN traffic, not real market opportunity
  • If clicks are high, could be privacy-conscious segment of your real market
  • Action: Note but don't build strategy around it

![Visual: Map showing geographic distribution of clicks with color-coded intensity]


Five Geographic Patterns and What They Mean

These patterns in your Countries data signal specific opportunities or problems.

Pattern #1: High Impressions, Low Clicks in Target Market

What you see:

  • Position: 8-15 (page 1-2 boundary)
  • Impressions: 10,000+
  • Clicks: 200 (CTR <2%)

What it means: You're visible but not competitive. Either your content is ranking lower than you think (position 8-15 is borderline), or your titles/meta descriptions aren't compelling for that market. This creates content gap opportunities and shows areas where data tells you what to fix.

Filter drill-down:

  1. Click the country name to filter entire Performance Report
  2. Go to Queries tab (still filtered by that country)
  3. Identify which queries have high impressions, low clicks
  4. Check position for those queries

Action if position is 8-15:

  • Standard SEO improvement: Better content, more backlinks, technical optimization
  • Focus on queries where you're on the position 5-10 boundary (easiest to push to page 1 top)

Action if position is 1-5 but CTR still low:

  • Title/meta description optimization for that market
  • Check if competitors have richer SERP features (FAQ snippets, videos, etc.)
  • Consider cultural differences in what's compelling

Pattern #2: Strong Performance in Unexpected Market

What you see:

  • Position: 5-8 (solid page 1)
  • Impressions: 5,000+
  • Clicks: 500+ (CTR 8-10%)
  • Country: Not your target market

What it means: You've accidentally discovered product-market fit in another geography. This is your biggest untapped opportunity.

Filter drill-down:

  1. Filter by that country
  2. Check Queries: What are people searching?
  3. Check Pages: Which pages are resonating?

Strategic questions:

  • Is this market English-speaking or non-English?
  • Are queries commercial (buy, price, vs) or informational (how to, what is)?
  • Is competition weaker in this market?
  • Can you expand content/product to serve this market better?

Action options:

  • Light expansion: Optimize existing pages for this market (currency, examples, terminology)
  • Medium expansion: Create market-specific content pages (e.g., "Best X in Canada")
  • Heavy expansion: Translate site, implement hreflang, build market-specific subdomain or TLD

Real example: SaaS company sees 1,000 clicks/month from Canada (10% of total traffic) despite being US-focused. Investigation reveals Canadians searching for "X software in Canada" because US alternatives don't show pricing in CAD. Created Canadian pricing page → 2,500 clicks/month within 90 days.

Pattern #3: Low Performance in Target International Market

What you see:

  • You want to rank in UK
  • Position: 25+ (page 3+)
  • Impressions: 500 (barely visible)
  • Clicks: 5

What it means: You're not optimized for that market. Google doesn't see your site as relevant to that geography.

Why this happens:

  • Wrong international targeting settings (or none set)
  • No hreflang tags (if you have regional variations)
  • Content uses wrong regional language (color vs colour, apartment vs flat)
  • Backlinks are all from your home country
  • Server location creates latency in target market
  • Competitors in that market are much stronger

Filter drill-down:

  1. Filter by that country
  2. Check position for your target queries
  3. Do those queries even have impressions? If zero impressions, Google doesn't think your content is relevant to that query in that country.

Action:

  1. Settings check: GSC Settings → International Targeting (for URL prefix properties)
  2. Hreflang check: If you have market-specific versions of pages, implement hreflang
  3. Content localization: Use language and examples relevant to target market
  4. Link building: Acquire backlinks from target country domains
  5. Technical: Use CDN to improve server response time in target regions

Pattern #4: Declining Performance in Secondary Market

What you see:

  • Used to get 500 clicks/month from Germany
  • Now getting 200 clicks/month
  • Impressions dropped proportionally

What it means: Either competition increased in that market, or Google changed how it surfaces your content to that region, or your content became less relevant.

Filter drill-down:

  1. Filter by Germany
  2. Compare date range: Last 28 days vs previous 28 days
  3. Check which queries dropped
  4. Check if position dropped or impressions dropped

Action if impressions dropped:

  • Google is showing your content less to that market
  • Check if competitor published content targeting that region
  • Consider creating region-specific content

Action if impressions stayed but position dropped:

  • Standard ranking decline troubleshooting
  • Check if market-specific competitors emerged

Pattern #5: Multiple Countries, All Low Engagement

What you see:

  • 30+ countries listed
  • Each with 10-50 clicks
  • Queries appear to be your core topics but from all over
  • Mix of languages

What it means: Your content is generic enough to rank internationally, but not optimized for any specific market. You're getting scraps from many markets instead of dominating one.

Action:

  • Decision point: Do you want to be international or focused?
  • If focused: Optimize for your target country, potentially geo-restrict or use hreflang to signal preferred market
  • If international: Pick top 3-5 markets and create optimized content for each

![Visual: Table showing all 5 patterns with example metrics and recommended actions]


International SEO Audit Using Countries Report

Use the Countries report to audit your international presence, even if you're not actively pursuing international SEO.

Step 1: Identify Your Top 5 Countries by Clicks

These are your actual markets, whether you intended them or not.

Export your data:

  • Click the export icon (top right)
  • Export to Google Sheets or CSV
  • Sort by clicks descending

For each of top 5 countries, document:

  • Total clicks
  • Average CTR
  • Average position
  • Primary language(s) of that country

Step 2: Analyze Query Language Match

For each top country, filter by that country and check top queries.

Question: Are queries in the language your content is in?

Scenario A: Yes, queries match your content language

  • Example: Your site is in English, US queries are in English → Good fit
  • Example: Your site is in English, UK queries are in English → Good fit
  • Example: Your site is in Spanish, Mexico queries are in Spanish → Good fit

Scenario B: No, queries are in different language

  • Example: Your site is in English, queries from Japan are in Japanese
  • Implication: You're likely ranking for brand searches or very specific terms, not broad organic visibility
  • Action: Either translate content or accept this is not a real opportunity

Scenario C: Mix of languages

  • Example: Your site is in English, queries from Canada are 60% English, 40% French
  • Implication: You're capturing English-speaking Canadian market but missing French
  • Action: Consider creating French content if volume justifies it

Step 3: Compare Position Across Markets

Export data and compare average position for each country.

If your target country has worse position than secondary markets:

  • Red flag: Your site is being treated as more relevant to secondary markets
  • Check international targeting settings
  • Review if content uses regional terminology

If position is consistent across all markets:

  • Your content is globally relevant
  • Ranking factors are not geography-specific
  • Opportunity: Optimize for markets where you rank best

If position varies widely (position 5 in US, position 30 in UK):

  • Clear localization gap
  • UK competitors are outperforming you
  • Audit UK-specific ranking factors

Step 4: Find High-Opportunity Markets

Sort countries by impressions, filter for:

  • Impressions >1,000
  • Position between 8-15
  • CTR <3%

These are your "on the bubble" markets: You're visible but not converting. Small improvements could yield significant traffic.

For each opportunity market:

  1. Filter Performance Report by that country
  2. Identify top 10 queries by impressions
  3. Check which pages rank for those queries
  4. Audit those pages for localization opportunities

Step 5: Calculate Geographic Concentration

Add up clicks from your top country, divide by total clicks.

If >90% concentrated:

  • You have single-market site
  • International traffic is noise or small bonus
  • Don't invest heavily in international SEO unless changing strategy

If 60-80% concentrated:

  • You have primary market plus meaningful secondary market
  • Review secondary market for strategic expansion

If <50% concentrated:

![Visual: Flowchart showing international SEO audit decision tree based on Countries report data]


Advanced Filtering with Countries Data

Combine Countries filter with other Performance Report filters for deeper insights.

Filter Combination #1: Country + Query Type

Filter setup:

  • Country = "United Kingdom"
  • Query containing "buy" OR "price" OR "vs"

What this shows: Commercial intent queries from specific market

Use case: Determine if international market has purchase intent or just informational browsing

Example insight: If UK shows 5,000 impressions for commercial queries but only 100 clicks, there's untapped commercial opportunity with better targeting.

Filter Combination #2: Country + Device

Filter setup:

  • Country = "India"
  • Device = "Mobile"

What this shows: Mobile-specific performance in market

Use case: In mobile-first markets (India, Southeast Asia, Africa), mobile performance is entire story

Example insight: Strong desktop position (5) but weak mobile position (15) in India → Mobile-specific optimization needed for that market

Filter Combination #3: Country + Page Type

Filter setup:

  • Country = "Canada"
  • Page containing "/blog/"

What this shows: How content marketing performs in specific market

Use case: Determine if blog content resonates or if market prefers commercial pages

Example insight: Blog pages have 5,000 impressions in Canada but product pages have 50 → Content is visible but not converting to product interest. Either wrong content topics or poor internal linking from content to product.

Filter Combination #4: Non-Target Country + High Position

Filter setup:

  • Country = [Any country that's NOT your target]
  • Position <5

What this shows: Where you accidentally rank very well internationally

Use case: Find unexpected strengths to double down on

Example insight: US company ranks position 2 in Australia for "project management software" but only position 8 in US → Less competition in Australia. Consider Australian market expansion.

Filter Combination #5: Country + Date Comparison

Filter setup:

  • Country = "Germany"
  • Compare: Last 3 months vs previous 3 months

What this shows: Trending performance changes in specific market

Use case: Detect market-specific algorithm changes or seasonal patterns

Example insight: Germany traffic dropped 40% but US traffic flat → Something changed specifically for German market (new competitor, algorithm update, seasonal pattern).

![Visual: Screenshot showing filter combinations with multiple filters applied simultaneously]


Strategic Decisions: Expand, Optimize, or Ignore?

Not every country in your report deserves attention. Here's how to decide.

Decision Framework

For each country with >100 clicks/month, ask:

Question 1: Do searches indicate real market demand?

  • Check query language
  • Check query commercial intent
  • Check if queries are brand searches (yours or generic product searches)

If queries are brand searches for your company: These are existing customers or awareness from other channels. Not new market opportunity.

If queries are generic product/service searches: Real organic opportunity.

When to EXPAND (invest in market-specific optimization)

Signals:

  • 500+ clicks/month (or 5%+ of total traffic)
  • Queries in local language or globally-used language
  • Position 5-12 (page 1, room for improvement)
  • CTR similar to your home market (proves content resonates)
  • Commercial queries present (not just informational)

Expansion tactics:

  • Create market-specific landing pages
  • Add regional pricing/availability information
  • Build backlinks from that country's domains
  • Implement hreflang if creating regional content variations
  • Localize content (use regional terminology, examples, case studies)

When to OPTIMIZE (improve existing visibility)

Signals:

  • 100-500 clicks/month
  • Position 8-15 (borderline page 1/2)
  • High impressions (2,000+) but low CTR
  • Same language as existing content

Optimization tactics:

  • Improve titles/meta descriptions for that market's context
  • Add regional keywords to existing content
  • Improve page speed from that region (CDN)
  • Build a few quality backlinks from that country

When to IGNORE (not worth effort)

Signals:

  • <50 clicks/month
  • Queries in language you don't support
  • Appears to be VPN traffic (check query patterns)
  • Position >20 (page 3+, would require major effort to rank)
  • No commercial intent in queries

Why ignore:

  • Limited traffic potential
  • High effort to move needle
  • Resources better spent on primary market or higher-opportunity markets

Exception: Don't ignore if this is a strategic market you're about to enter. Then treat as early signal and invest ahead of current traffic.

The "Test Market" Approach

If you're unsure about a market's potential:

  1. Choose one mid-sized opportunity market (200-500 clicks, position 8-12)
  2. Create 3-5 market-specific pages over 1-2 months
  3. Build 5-10 quality backlinks from that country
  4. Measure after 3 months: Did clicks increase 50%+?

If yes: This market responds well to optimization. Consider broader expansion.

If no: Market is saturated or your product/content isn't strong fit. Focus elsewhere.

![Visual: Decision tree flowchart for expand vs optimize vs ignore]


Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Mistake #1: Chasing Every Country in Your Report

The problem: You see 40 countries listed and think you should optimize for all of them.

Why it's wrong: Most countries with <50 clicks are noise, VPNs, or one-off visitors. Spreading effort across too many markets means you master none.

The fix: Focus on top 3-5 markets that represent 90%+ of your traffic. Ignore the long tail unless you have dedicated international expansion team.

Mistake #2: Assuming Country = Language

The problem: You see traffic from Switzerland and assume you need to translate to Swiss (there is no "Swiss" language).

Why it's wrong: Switzerland has German, French, Italian, and Romansh speakers. Country data doesn't tell you which language segment you're reaching.

The fix: Filter by country, then check queries to see which language(s) people are searching in. Optimize for the language, not the country.

Mistake #3: Ignoring Position When Evaluating Markets

The problem: You see 1,000 impressions from France and think it's an opportunity.

Why it's wrong: If your position is 30, those 1,000 impressions are from page 3-4. Minimal traffic potential unless you can improve 20+ positions.

The fix: Always check position alongside impressions. Opportunities are impressions + position 5-15 (close enough to improve).

Mistake #4: Not Checking Query Intent by Country

The problem: You see 5,000 impressions from India and plan content expansion there.

Why it's wrong: When you check queries, they're all informational "what is X" or "how does X work", not commercial. No buying intent.

The fix: Filter by country, check top queries. If they're all informational, ask: Is this learning traffic or purchase-consideration traffic? Only expand if intent matches your goal.

Mistake #5: Treating Impressions as Demand Validation

The problem: "We have 10,000 impressions from Germany, clearly there's demand."

Why it's wrong: Impressions mean your content appeared in search results. Doesn't mean it's relevant or that users wanted to click. You might rank for tangential queries.

The fix: Check CTR. If impressions are high but CTR is <1%, you're showing up for wrong queries or users don't find your result relevant.

Mistake #6: Not Accounting for Market Maturity

The problem: You rank position 5 in Indonesia but position 15 in US and think Indonesia is better opportunity.

Why it's wrong: Lower competition in Indonesia made it easier to rank, but search volume might be 10x lower. Position 15 in massive US market might drive more traffic than position 5 in small market.

The fix: Compare total impressions (proxy for market size) alongside position. Sometimes position 15 in big market > position 5 in small market.


Real-World Examples

Example 1: SaaS Company Discovers Canadian Market

Situation:

  • US-based project management SaaS
  • 80% traffic from US
  • Noticed 15% traffic from Canada (growing)
  • Never targeted Canada specifically

Countries Report showed:

  • Canada: 3,000 clicks/month, position 6.5, CTR 4.2%
  • Top queries: "project management software Canada", "best PM tool for Canadian teams"

Investigation revealed:

  • Canadians wanted pricing in CAD
  • Competitors didn't show Canadian pricing clearly
  • FAQ questions about "does it work in Canada" (it's software, of course it does, but users were uncertain)

Action taken:

  • Created "Project Management Software for Canadian Teams" page
  • Added CAD pricing display
  • Added "Ships to Canada" (for their physical product tier) and "Canadian data residency" messaging
  • Built 10 backlinks from Canadian business blogs

Result after 4 months:

  • Canadian traffic: 3,000 → 7,000 clicks/month
  • Position improved: 6.5 → 3.8
  • Conversion rate increased (addressed specific concerns)
  • Return on effort: ~50 hours of work for 4,000 clicks/month increase

Example 2: Publisher Finds European Opportunity

Situation:

  • US personal finance blog
  • Created content about credit cards, budgeting, investing
  • Saw growing traffic from UK, Germany, Netherlands

Countries Report showed:

  • UK: 2,000 clicks/month, position 8.2
  • Germany: 800 clicks/month, position 12.4
  • Netherlands: 500 clicks/month, position 9.1

Investigation revealed:

  • UK queries were in English, highly relevant
  • Germany queries were mix of English and German (English speakers searching in Germany)
  • Netherlands queries almost all in English (Dutch have high English proficiency)

Action taken:

  • Created UK-specific versions of top 20 articles
  • Changed examples from US to UK context (401k → pension, Roth IRA → ISA)
  • Built backlinks from UK finance sites
  • Did NOT translate to German (audience was English speakers)

Result after 6 months:

  • UK traffic: 2,000 → 5,500 clicks/month
  • Position improved: 8.2 → 4.5
  • Germany traffic stayed flat (accepted it wasn't true opportunity)
  • Return on effort: Created 20 articles, 6-8 hours each = 120-160 hours for 3,500 clicks/month increase

Example 3: E-commerce Site Fixes Targeting Problem

Situation:

  • UK-based e-commerce selling garden supplies
  • Ships only to UK
  • Noticed significant traffic from US (20% of total)

Countries Report showed:

  • US: 5,000 clicks/month, position 7.5, CTR 2.8%
  • UK: 8,000 clicks/month, position 5.2, CTR 5.5%

Problem identified:

  • US visitors couldn't purchase (shipping restricted)
  • Wasted server resources and created bad UX
  • Diluting UK relevance signals to Google

Action taken:

  • Implemented hreflang tags pointing UK users to .co.uk version
  • Added "Ships to UK only" prominently on US-viewed pages
  • Set international targeting in GSC to "UK"
  • Created separate US version of site (blog content only, no shop) to capture informational traffic without creating purchase frustration

Result after 3 months:

  • UK traffic: 8,000 → 11,000 clicks/month (Google recognized stronger UK focus)
  • UK position improved: 5.2 → 4.1
  • US traffic decreased to 2,000 clicks/month (expected, accepted)
  • Bounce rate decreased 15% (fewer frustrated US visitors)

Conclusion & Next Steps

The Countries report becomes a strategic tool when you know how to read it.

Key takeaways:

  • Country data shows where you rank, not where you should invest
  • High impressions + position 5-15 + low CTR = best opportunities
  • Ignore most countries (noise, VPNs, one-offs)
  • Focus beats breadth: Master 3 markets rather than dabble in 10
  • Check query language and intent before expanding
  • Position context matters more than raw traffic numbers

Your next steps:

  1. Export Countries data (last 3 months)
  2. Identify top 3 countries by clicks
  3. For each, filter Performance Report and check:
    • Top 10 queries (language and intent)
    • Average position
    • CTR compared to home market
  4. Find your "on the bubble" opportunity:
    • Country with 500+ impressions
    • Position 8-15
    • CTR <3%
  5. Decide: Expand, Optimize, or Ignore using the framework above
  6. Test one market with localized content and measure results after 90 days

Common questions:

"My position is consistent across all countries." Your content is globally generic. If you want to dominate specific markets, localize.

"I rank better in other countries than my target country." Less competition in those markets, or your content resonates better with their search patterns. Investigate language use, content angle, or weaker competitors.

"Should I create separate domains for different countries?" Only if committing to multi-market strategy with localized content, local teams, and significant investment. For most, subdirectories or subdomains with hreflang tags suffice.

Related guides:

Ready to analyze device-specific performance? Learn about [GSC Device Segmentation and Mobile vs Desktop Analysis] to complete your geographic and device performance picture.


Additional Resources:


This post is part of the Google Search Console Mastery series. Start with The Complete Guide to Google Search Console Analysis for the comprehensive overview.