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How to find striking-distance keywords in Google Search Console

Queries ranking in positions 4 to 20 with real impressions are your cheapest SEO wins. How to find them in Search Console and decide which to work on first.

RankPane Team5 min read
On this page
  1. Why positions 4 to 20
  2. Step 1: Get the data out of Search Console
  3. Step 2: Filter to striking distance
  4. Step 3: Prioritise
  5. Step 4: Improve the page
  6. Step 5: Measure the result
  7. Don’t forget Bing
  8. Shortcut
  9. Summary

The fastest way to grow organic traffic is usually not a new article. It is a page that already ranks just below where clicks happen. Moving a query from position 9 to position 3 can multiply its clicks, and Google has already decided the page is relevant.

These queries are called striking-distance keywords: queries where your site ranks roughly between position 4 and 20, with enough impressions to matter. This guide shows how to find them in Google Search Console, how to prioritise them, and what to change on the page.

Why positions 4 to 20

Click-through rate falls steeply as you move down the results page. The top three results take most clicks for a typical query. Positions 4 to 10 are on page one but get far fewer clicks, and page two gets very few at all.

That makes this range special:

  • Positions 4 to 10: you are already on page one. Moving into the top three is mostly about relevance and presentation.
  • Positions 11 to 20: you are close. A focused improvement can move you onto page one, where clicks start.
  • Beyond 20: the page probably does not match the query well enough. That is usually a new-content problem, not an optimisation one.

Impressions matter as much as position. A query at position 6 with 30 impressions a month is not worth your afternoon. A query at position 12 with 20,000 impressions is.

Step 1: Get the data out of Search Console

Search Console’s interface does not have a filter for position, so the easiest route is to look at the table and then export it.

  1. Open Performance → Search results.
  2. Set the date range to the last 3 months. Positions jump around day to day, and a longer window gives steadier averages.
  3. Turn on Total impressions, Average CTR and Average position at the top of the report.
  4. In the table, open the Queries tab.
  5. Click Export and choose Google Sheets or CSV.

The interface table shows up to 1,000 rows. That is enough for most sites. Larger sites can use the Search Console API or Looker Studio to get more.

Step 2: Filter to striking distance

In your spreadsheet:

  1. Keep rows where Position is between 4 and 20.
  2. Remove rows with fewer impressions than a threshold that makes sense for your site. For a small site, 100 impressions over 3 months is a reasonable start; for a large one, use 1,000 or more.
  3. Remove brand queries (your product or company name). You already rank for those, and they behave differently.
  4. Sort by Impressions, highest first.

What is left is your opportunity list.

Step 3: Prioritise

Not every row deserves work. For each of the top 20 or so, check three things:

  • Intent fit. Does the query match what the page offers? A query like “free SEO checklist template” landing on a product pricing page is a mismatch. That may call for a new page, not an edit.
  • Business value. Would a visitor arriving from this query be likely to sign up, buy or come back? A slightly smaller query that matches your product is often worth more than a large generic one.
  • Which page ranks. Click the query in Search Console, then open the Pages tab. If two or more of your pages share the impressions, they may be competing with each other. Consolidating them into one stronger page often helps more than improving either one.

A simple score helps you decide: impressions × how well the query fits the page × value of the visit. Even a rough 1–3 rating per factor is enough to order the list.

Step 4: Improve the page

For each query you pick, open the ranking page and look at it the way a searcher would.

  1. Answer the query directly. If the page ranks for “how to compare GSC and Plausible data” but only mentions it in passing, add a section that answers it plainly, with the query’s wording in the heading.
  2. Match the title to the query. The title tag is the strongest on-page signal you control and it is also what people see in the results. Include the main query naturally and make the benefit clear.
  3. Rewrite the meta description. It does not affect ranking directly, but a clearer description can raise CTR, which is the whole point of moving up.
  4. Add internal links. Link to the page from related, well-performing pages on your site, using anchor text close to the query. This is one of the most underused levers.
  5. Check freshness and accuracy. Update outdated screenshots, numbers and years. For queries that include a year, keep the page genuinely current.

Make one round of changes per page and leave it alone for a few weeks. Rankings take time to settle, and changing everything at once makes it impossible to know what worked.

Step 5: Measure the result

After three to four weeks, compare the query’s average position, impressions and clicks for the period after the change with the period before. Also check Plausible for visits to that landing page from Google, to confirm that better rankings turned into real visits rather than just clicks.

Keep a list of what you changed and when. Over time you will learn which kinds of changes work on your site.

Don’t forget Bing

Bing Webmaster Tools has its own Search Performance report with queries, pages and average position. The same method applies. Because Bing ranks pages differently, a query that is stuck at position 12 on Google might already be at 4 on Bing. That is a strong hint that the page is relevant, and that the gap on Google is about competition or presentation rather than fit.

Shortcut

RankPane builds this list automatically on iPhone. Its Queries screen shows queries in positions 4 to 20 sorted by impressions, separates brand from non-brand clicks, and flags pages whose impressions grow while CTR falls, using data from both Search Console and Bing. You can then do Step 4 with the list already in front of you.

Summary

  • Striking-distance keywords rank in positions 4 to 20 with meaningful impressions.
  • Export the Queries table with 3 months of data, then filter by position and impressions.
  • Prioritise by intent fit, business value and whether several of your pages compete.
  • Improve the existing page: answer the query, tune the title and description, add internal links.
  • Wait three to four weeks, then compare positions, clicks and actual visits.

Sources

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