Search Console clicks in your MacBook notch

Notch Metrics2 min read

Search Console is where you find out whether yesterday's post landed. It is also a slow interface you load, filter, and close.

How do you watch Search Console without opening it?

Notch Metrics puts the four numbers in the MacBook notch. Collapsed, a thin strip. Hover the camera housing and it expands over whatever you were doing. Move away and it folds back.

What Search Console reports

Number What it is
Clicks Visits that started in Google Search
Impressions How often you appeared in results
CTR Clicks over impressions, across the window
Average position Where you sat, lower is better

The two to three day lag, which changes how you read all of them

Search Console data settles over roughly two to three days. The newest buckets read low until it does.

So a daily sparkline droops at the right-hand end, on every site, on every refresh. That droop is a reporting artefact and not a drop in traffic. Read the trend from the settled part of the window.

It also means the honest answer to "how did today go" is that you will find out on Thursday. Every metric page says so rather than letting the chart imply otherwise.

Average position reads backwards

Lower is better. A move from 12.4 to 8.1 is an improvement and the line goes down, which is the opposite of every other widget in the notch. It is formatted with one decimal and no compacting to make clear it is a rank rather than a count. Why that matters.

OAuth, and picking a site

Search Console connects over OAuth with read-only Webmasters scope. After approving, you pick which property to read, because most accounts have several. What the Search Console connector asks for.

Nothing is typed in. The token is encrypted on the server and never reaches your Mac. The connector is marked beta: it connects and returns figures, and the edges are still being worked on.

Alongside everything else

Traffic from Plausible and Google Analytics, revenue from Stripe, video from YouTube. Every source.

Apple silicon, macOS 14 and later. Seven days with no card, then $9 a month or $49 a year. Download Notch Metrics.

  • google-search-console
  • seo
  • mac

Read next

Questions

How do I see Search Console clicks on my Mac?
Install Notch Metrics, connect Google Search Console over OAuth, pick the property, and place the clicks widget in the MacBook notch. Hover the camera housing and the figure is there.
Why does my Search Console chart always dip at the end?
Because Search Console data settles over two to three days, so the newest buckets read low until it does. The droop is a reporting artefact rather than a drop in traffic, and it appears on every site on every refresh.
Why is lower better for average position?
Because it is a rank rather than a count. Position 8.1 is better than 12.4, so an improving line goes down. Notch Metrics formats it with one decimal and no compacting to make clear it is a rank.
What Google permissions does the Search Console connector ask for?
Read-only Webmasters scope, and nothing else. Search Console connects over OAuth, so nothing is typed in, and the resulting token is encrypted on the server rather than stored on your Mac.
Can I track more than one Search Console property?
Yes, as separate connections. The connector pauses after you authorise so you can pick which property to read, because most accounts have several.