User guide · full reference
The complete EBQ guide.
Start with the product reference for dashboard, keywords, pages, rank tracking, audits, and reports—real UI layouts with every column explained—then follow the numbered setup path for integrations, tracking, and publishing workflows.
Product reference
The following blocks use the same structure, labels, and table headers as the live app. Use them to see what each area shows; the text under each block explains every column and how to use it in your weekly workflow.
Dashboard
The first screen after you open a website. Top metrics summarize search demand and on-site traffic for the last 30 days, with a change label versus the previous 30 days. Below that, the action insight cards count open opportunities and link into Reports for the full row-level lists.
Clicks (30d)
12,480
+4.2% vs previous 30d
Impressions (30d)
284,900
-1.1% vs previous 30d
Users (30d)
38,200
+2.0% vs previous 30d
Sessions (30d)
44,100
0.0% vs previous 30d
- Clicks (30d)
- Clicks from search to your site in the selected country filter, rolling 30 days. Use the trend to confirm whether demand is moving in the right direction before you dig into pages.
- Impressions (30d)
- How often your pages appeared in search for queries in scope. Rising impressions with flat clicks can mean opportunity (CTR work); falling impressions can mean coverage or demand issues.
- Users (30d)
- Distinct visitors from your connected analytics, same window. Compare with clicks to see whether on-site experience and search demand move together.
- Sessions (30d)
- Visit sessions in analytics. Spikes or drops here that do not match search clicks can point to direct, referral, or campaign effects.
Traffic trend
Sessions and search clicks over time (chart in the app is interactive).
Top countries
Share of demand by country. Use the country control in the app to align the rest of the dashboard and reports with one market.
Seasonal peaks
Highlights upcoming seasonal demand for your topics so you can schedule content before the peak.
Quick wins
Short list of high-leverage changes detected from your data. Useful when you need one or two actions to ship this week.
Action insight cards
The row under the KPIs matches the “Action insights” strip in the app. Each card shows how many items fall into that category for the last 28 days (subject to your country filter). Click a card to open Reports → Insights on the matching tab.
Cannibalizations
14
Queries split across pages
Striking distance
27
Pos 5–20 with low CTR
Index fails w/ traffic
3
Non-PASS, still earning impressions
Content decay
8
Losing clicks 28d/28d
- Cannibalizations — multiple URLs earn clicks for the same query; consolidate or clarify intent.
- Striking distance — queries where you rank mid-page with meaningful impressions; small page upgrades often move these fastest.
- Index fails w/ traffic — indexing status is not fully passing while impressions still occur; fix coverage or blocking issues.
- Content decay — clicks declined versus the prior 28-day window while the page still shows demand.
Keywords workspace
Search performance by query from your connected search property. Filter by device and date range, narrow to a country, and switch between aggregated totals and daily breakdown.
| Keyword | Clicks | Impressions | CTR | Position | Volume | Value/mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| best seo tools tracked | 1,284 | 21,400 | 6.0% | 6.4 | 49,500 | $3,200 |
| saas seo guide | 218 | 5,100 | 4.3% | 14.2 | — | — |
- Keyword
- The query text. Badges can show cannibalized (multiple URLs earning clicks) or tracked (also in Rank tracking). Click through to the keyword detail page.
- Clicks / Impressions / CTR
- Demand and engagement for that query in your filters. CTR highlights snippet appeal versus peers on the same SERP.
- Position
- Average rank where your URL appeared. Color bands mirror the app (top 3, page one, striking distance, deeper).
- Volume
- Estimated monthly search volume for planning; optional trend hints may appear when data refreshes.
- Value/mo
- A directional dollar estimate of organic value for that keyword at your current visibility—useful for prioritization, not accounting.
Pages workspace
URL-level performance from search data plus indexing checks. Use the optional filter to focus on URLs that earn impressions while indexing status looks problematic.
| Page | Market | Clicks | Impressions | Avg CTR | Avg Position | Google Indexing Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| /blog/saas-seo-guide | en-US | 842 | 18,200 | 4.6% | 8.1 |
PASS
May 1, 2026 9:12 AM
|
- Page
- Canonical URL path. Open it for the full page detail view.
- Market
- Detected locale context for the URL where available—helpful when the same path serves multiple languages.
- Clicks / Impressions / Avg CTR / Avg Position
- Aggregates across queries for that URL in the configured lookback window (aligned with Settings → Reports).
- Google Indexing Status
- Latest verdict from indexing checks, time of check, and crawl timestamp when present. Use this to prioritize URLs that earn demand but are not in a healthy state.
Rank tracking
Keywords you chose for scheduled SERP checks, with your target URL, market, and overlay of search clicks where the query matches your property data.
| Keyword | Target | Market | Rank | Δ | Best | GSC (30d) | Volume | Value/mo | Last check | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
best seo tools
organic
SERP risk
|
example.com
https://example.com/tools
|
US en · mobile | #2 | ▲2 | #2 | GSC 1,284 clicks · avg #6 · 21k impr | 49,500/mo ↑ | $3,200 | 2 hours ago | ··· |
- Keyword
- Tracked phrase and search type. Tags can show Paused, Failed, SERP risk, lost feature, or your custom tags.
- Target
- Domain you track and the URL we last matched in the SERP—click out to verify the live result.
- Market
- Country, language, device, optional city—must match how you want to measure “position.”
- Rank / Δ / Best
- Latest position, movement since the prior check, and best position seen in the retention window.
- GSC (30d)
- When the query matches your property, we show clicks, average position, and impressions so rank changes always sit next to real traffic.
- Volume / Value/mo
- Planning volume and a directional value estimate at your current rank—use for prioritization.
- Last check / Actions
- Recency of the SERP capture and next scheduled run; actions include detail history, re-check, and edit targeting.
Custom page audit
Run a technical and content review for any URL on the selected site. You set the benchmark keyword for SERP and content sections—the flow does not guess it from search data.
← Back to pages
Custom page audit
Run an audit for any URL on the selected site and set the SERP benchmark keyword yourself.
Run audit
URLs must stay on the current site’s domain.
Page audit report layout
After a run completes, the audit detail view stacks the same sections in a fixed order. The miniature below mirrors the score strip and recommendation list styling from the app.
Audit · /pricing
Mobile · Score 78 · Target: "pricing software"
LCP
2.4s
CLS
0.02
INP
140ms
TBT
280ms
FCP
1.4s
TTFB
520ms
Prioritized fixes
- • Compress hero image stack
- • Add FAQ schema for benchmark keyword
- Summary — overall score, benchmark keyword, and device.
- Core Web Vitals & lab timings — field and lab signals with thresholds.
- On-page SEO — titles, meta, headings, canonical, schema, media, internal links.
- SERP snapshot — competitors and readability context for the benchmark term.
- Recommendations — ordered tasks; wire through to re-audit and URL refresh flows from the live screen.
Reports → Insights
Seven categories cover cannibalization, striking distance, indexing issues, decay, quick wins, technical debt versus demand, and backlink outcomes. Each tab shows the same kind of table you use for sprint planning.
Action lists · last 28 days
Cannibalizations
Columns: Query, Primary page, Pages (count), Clicks, Impr., At stake (rough upside if the query consolidated), Competing pages with click share. Use this to pick a keeper URL and merge or redirect the rest.
Striking distance
Columns: Query, Volume/mo, Position, Impressions, Clicks, CTR, Upside/mo. Prioritize rows with strong impressions and realistic rank movement.
Index fails w/ traffic
Columns: Page, Verdict, Coverage, Clicks (14d), Impr. (14d), Last crawl. Fix blocking or quality issues while demand is still visible.
Content decay
Columns: Page (may tag market-wide demand shrink), Clicks (28d), Prev 28d, Δ 28d, YoY when history exists, Verdict. Distinguishes ranking decay from indexing problems.
Quick wins
Columns: Keyword, Volume/mo, Comp., Current pos, Upside/mo, Action (deep-links into an audit). Use for net-new topics or weak positions with strong volume.
Audit vs traffic
Columns: Page, Mobile/Desktop scores, LCP/CLS (mobile), Impr. (28d), Clicks (28d). Surfaces URLs where experience scores are poor but demand is high.
Backlink impact
Columns: Target page, Links, Avg DA, Latest link, Pre clicks, Post clicks, Δ. Highlights targets where tracked links coincide with click lift.
Custom growth reports (email)
Scheduled emails for stakeholders: pick recipients, cadence, time zone, and which sections to include. Anomaly notifications can share the same recipient list when enabled.
Reports · schedule
Recipients
Cadence
Send time
Toggle sections so the email only contains blocks your team acts on—KPIs, insights highlights, rank movers, or backlinks, depending on what you configured in the live builder.
CMS plugin
WordPress plugin surfaces
The EBQ SEO plugin brings your workspace into the WordPress admin—same numbers and actions as the web app, sized for editors and site managers working inside the CMS.
EBQ Head Quarter
Main admin screen for workspace stats (typically visible to users who can manage site settings). Data matches what you see in EBQ in the browser. Use the horizontal sections to switch views:
EBQ Head Quarter
example.com · Connected workspace
Overview — snapshot KPIs. SEO Performance — trend-style charts. Keywords — query table from synced search data. Rank Tracker — tracked keywords (toolbar shortcut and post row action can open the add-keyword flow here). Pages / Index Status — URL coverage and indexing health. Insights — same categories as workspace insights. Redirects (AI), SERP Features, Benchmarks, Prospects, and Topical Authority extend planning when enabled for your site.
AI Writer
When your workspace includes AI Writer, a separate admin menu opens the long-form drafting experience so heavy writing work does not crowd the Head Quarter tabs.
Settings (under Head Quarter)
Connect or disconnect your site to EBQ with a guided step—no secrets to paste—clear cached responses, adjust title separators, run optional migrations from prior SEO setups, and view diagnostics. Once connected, Head Quarter, the dashboard widget, posts list column, and editor panel all draw from your workspace.
Block editor · EBQ SEO panel
Open EBQ SEO from the editor’s plugin sidebar list. The same panels also appear in the classic editor metabox area so you keep context whether the sidebar is pinned or not. Your workspace can turn individual tools on or off for this site—unused surfaces simply stay hidden.
Editor · EBQ SEO
Focus keyphrase, on-page scores, schema and social tabs, and a search-performance snapshot for the URL—aligned with what your workspace allows for this property.
Posts / Pages list · EBQ column
When enabled, a sortable EBQ column appears on supported post types (posts and pages by default). You always see on-page SEO and readability pills plus schema-type chips from your editor settings; after the site is linked to EBQ, rank and performance lines load in the background for all visible rows so long lists stay responsive.
| Title | Author | EBQ | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product launch recap | Alex |
72SEOGood
58Read.Needs work
Article
FAQPage
Hydrated rank · clicks · impressions…
|
Published |
- SEO / Read. pills
- Scores from the editor analysis—open the post once so the analyzer can store them. Labels map to Good / Needs work / Bad bands.
- Schema chips
- Shows which structured-data types are enabled for the URL in the Schema tab.
- Rank & performance strip
- After background sync, shows rank and search-performance context for that URL when your site is connected.
- Row action · Track keyphrase
- When a focus keyphrase is saved, an extra action can send it to Rank Tracker without leaving the list; if the quick action is unavailable, use Head Quarter instead.
Dashboard widget · EBQ SEO insights
When enabled, appears on the main WordPress dashboard after login: four insight counts that mirror your workspace priorities, plus a shortcut to open full reports.
Cannibalizations
14
Pages competing for the same query
Striking distance
27
Queries on positions 5–20
Index fails + traffic
3
Indexed: false, but still visible
Content decay
8
Pages losing organic clicks
Open full EBQ reports →
Toolbar shortcut
Editors see Track keyword in the top toolbar on both the public site and wp-admin—it jumps to Rank Tracker with the add-keyword flow so new terms can be queued from anywhere.
Feature availability
Workspace administrators can disable individual value-add features (HQ, dashboard widget, post column, chatbot, AI surfaces, live audit, redirects, etc.) without turning off core SEO output—sitemaps, meta tags, schema, and breadcrumbs stay active so discoverability is not silently removed.
Add your first website
Every signal in EBQ — clicks, ranks, audits, backlinks, alerts — is scoped to a website. Before anything else syncs, EBQ needs to know which property it should hold.
Websites · Add website
NewCanonical URL
Default country
Timezone
What you'll see
A live probe of robots.txt, sitemaps, and canonical configuration appears below the form.
What to do
Use the exact protocol and host registered in Search Console — trailing slashes and www matter for property matching.
Pitfall
Mismatched protocol (http vs https) or host (with vs without www) is the #1 reason search sync returns zero rows.
Connect search and analytics
In one authorization step you grant read access to your connected search and analytics properties, plus permission to request indexing when you use that workflow. Credentials are encrypted at rest and rotated automatically, and you can revoke access from the same screen.
EBQ would like to:
-
Read-only access to your connected analytics property
-
Read-only access to your verified search property
-
Permission to request indexing for URLs you choose
Why three permissions
Analytics for sessions and users, search property data for queries and positions, and indexing so you can request a URL refresh from audit workflows.
Token safety
Integration credentials stay on EBQ servers and are encrypted; short-lived access is rotated automatically.
Partial grants
If you decline part of the access, EBQ keeps working with reduced coverage. You can approve more later from the same screen.
Heads up
Use the same account that owns the search property and analytics view you want to connect. If the right sites do not appear in the picker after consent, you are usually signed in with a different account.
Track keywords and competitors
Live results pages are captured per device, country, language, and optional city. EBQ overlays search clicks for the same query when available so a rank gain is judged on traffic, not only position.
Keywords · example.com
Targeting · United States · Mobile
| Query | Pos | Δ 7d | Clicks 30d | SERP features |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| best seo tools | #2 | +2 | 1,284 |
PAA
Sitelinks
|
| saas seo guide | #7 | -1 | 218 |
PAA
Video
|
| keyword research tool | #11 | +4 | 94 |
AI overview
|
| rank tracker | #19 | 0 | 12 |
PAA
|
How to add keywords
- 1. Open Keywords. Click Add keywords.
- 2. Paste one per line, or upload a CSV with columns
query, country, device, language. - 3. Set the default targeting. Override per-row if you operate in multiple regions.
- 4. (Optional) Add up to three competitor domains. EBQ will record their position on every check.
- 5. First SERP capture starts within minutes. Subsequent captures run on your plan's interval.
Start with intent
20–40 high-intent terms beat 500 head terms. You can add more later — empty rows aren't penalized.
Re-check after publish
After shipping a content update, hit Re-check now to capture rank movement faster than the daily cycle.
SERP features matter
A #2 below an AI overview earns less than a #4 with sitelinks. EBQ flags the feature so the rank number isn't read in isolation.
Run a page audit
Audits combine Core Web Vitals, on-page SEO, and content review in a single pass and finish in under 60 seconds. After you ship a fix, request indexing for the URL without leaving the audit view.
Audit · /blog/saas-seo-guide
Mobile · Score 72 · Target: "saas seo guide"
LCP
2.8s
CLS
0.04
INP
180ms
TBT
410ms
FCP
1.6s
TTFB
720ms
Top recommendations
- Render-blocking CSS — split into critical + async (180KB)
- Image alt missing on 7 images
- Canonical tag missing
- Add 2 internal links from /pricing
Reading the score
90–100 · Good
Ship-ready. Re-audit after the next deploy to detect regressions.
60–89 · Needs work
Pick the top two recommendations from the prioritized list.
0–59 · Poor
Treat as a sprint goal. Often a CWV regression or schema break.
Pro tip
Always provide a target keyword. Without it the keyword-strategy review and topical-gap analysis are skipped, and you lose half the value of an audit.
The Page audit report layout section above matches the live audit detail screen—the same panels appear in the same order as the in-app Guide to this report link.
Import or track backlinks
EBQ verifies presence, anchor, and rel on every check, then measures the 28-day click delta on the target page so you can prove which links actually lifted traffic.
Backlinks · example.com
Verified · 28-day click delta
| Source → target | Anchor | Rel | DA | Δ clicks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| blog.partner.io → /pricing | best pricing for SEO | follow | 58 | +412 |
| news.example.org → /blog/saas-seo | SaaS SEO playbook | follow | 49 | +186 |
| forum.community.dev → /features | EBQ | ugc | 42 | +38 |
| low-quality.tld → /product/ai-writer | click here | nofollow | 14 | -22 |
Two ways to add
CSV upload
Columns: source_url, target_url, anchor. Anchor is optional — EBQ extracts it on first verify.
Manual entry
Paste up to 50 source URLs at once. Useful for tracking outreach campaigns as they land.
Status icons
live · anchor changed · removed
Click delta
Compares 28 days after first-seen against 28 days before, on the target page only.
Pro+ only
Competitor backlink prospecting surfaces sources linking to rivals but not to you.
Review the insight boards
Six pre-built reports combine synced search and analytics signals with audits and backlinks into a ranked action list. Each row links straight to the offending page so the next move is one click away.
Cannibalizations
14
Two pages competing for one query
Striking distance
27
Keywords at pos 5–20 with below-curve CTR
Content decay
8
90-day click decline beyond seasonality
Indexing fails
3
URLs earning impressions but not indexed
Audit vs traffic
11
High-traffic pages with poor audit scores
Backlink impact
9
Links with measurable lift on the target
How to triage
- 1. Open Striking distance first — these are the fastest wins (small content tweak, internal link, FAQ addition).
- 2. Then Cannibalization — usually a merge/redirect or canonical fix.
- 3. Indexing fails for pages that already earn impressions: validate canonical, then resubmit.
- 4. Content decay last — these are bigger rewrites and need a sprint allocation.
Tip
Most teams ship 1–3 wins from striking-distance in the first week. If you see fewer than 5 candidates total, your keyword set is too narrow — go back to step 3 and broaden.
For the dashboard insight row and what each card counts, see Dashboard and Action insight cards in the product reference at the top of this guide.
Schedule reports + turn on alerts
Reports and alerts share one recipient list per website. Reports run on a fixed cadence; alerts fire only when EBQ detects an unusual change against your recent baseline—so normal volatility does not spam your inbox.
Reports · New schedule
Recipients
Cadence
Time (website TZ)
Alert · example.com
AnomalySearch clicks dropped 74.9%
An unusual drop was detected on 2026-04-20.
- Search clicks212 vs typical 820
- Sessions480 vs typical 1,540
- Avg position14.2 vs typical 11.4
When alerts fire
EBQ compares recent daily totals to your rolling baseline and only notifies you when the drop is both material and unusual for that metric. Alerts are deduplicated so you do not get repeated noise for the same issue.
Reports and scheduled email
For the Insights tab (every column per category) and the custom growth report email builder, see Reports → Insights and Custom growth reports (email) in the product reference at the top of this guide.
Install the WordPress plugin
The EBQ SEO plugin adds HQ, the block-editor panel, the posts-list EBQ column, and the dashboard widget. Full layouts and column-by-column notes for each surface are in WordPress plugin at the top of this guide.
8.1 Plugin settings — connection, sync, and updates
Connection
- One-click Connect to EBQ using a short verification step—no secrets to copy.
- Live status badge (Connected / Reconnect needed / Revoked).
- Disconnect ends the link for this site in EBQ right away.
Sync controls
- Force-refresh sidebar data for the current post.
- Toggle posts list column on/off.
- Toggle dashboard widget on/off per user role.
Auto-updates
- The plugin checks EBQ for new releases on a routine schedule.
- Optional auto-install for security/patch releases.
- Manual update from Plugins at any time.
Permissions
- Sidebar visible to Editors+; widget configurable per role.
- Connect and disconnect require administrator access.
- Posts column respects post-type capabilities.
8.2 Install in four steps
- 1. In EBQ, open Settings → WordPress. Click Download plugin — you'll get the latest packaged ZIP.
- 2. In WordPress, go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin. Upload the ZIP, then activate.
- 3. In the WP plugin settings, click Connect to EBQ. You'll be redirected back to EBQ, pick the matching website, and approve.
- 4. Open any post — the EBQ panel appears in the block editor sidebar. The dashboard widget and posts-list column fill in shortly after.
8.3 Security model
Scoped to one site
Each plugin connection applies to a single website in your EBQ account. A compromised site-specific link could only reach that site’s data—not your other properties or full account.
Stored on your server
Connection credentials stay on your server. They are not embedded in public pages or exposed to visitors—only EBQ’s plugin uses them to fetch your workspace data.
Verified connect flow
Connecting runs through a short, signed verification step so stray links cannot complete pairing. Someone without access to your site admin cannot bind your install to another workspace.
Instant revoke
Choose Disconnect in either your site admin or EBQ. The link stops working immediately on the next request.
Metric glossary
Quick definitions for the metrics you'll see across EBQ. Open the table for the source and exact window.
| Metric | Source | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| Clicks | Search sync | Times people clicked your listing in search results in the selected scope. |
| Impressions | Search sync | Times your URL was shown for queries in scope. |
| CTR | Search sync | Share of impressions that resulted in a click. |
| Avg position | Search sync | Average rank where your URL appeared for queries in scope. |
| Sessions | Analytics sync | Visit sessions from your connected analytics property. |
| Users | Analytics sync | Distinct visitors from your connected analytics property. |
| LCP | Lab / field | Largest Contentful Paint — when the main content renders. |
| CLS | Lab / field | Cumulative Layout Shift — visual stability. |
| INP | Lab / field | Interaction to Next Paint — input responsiveness. |
| TBT | Lab | Total Blocking Time — main-thread blocking from scripts. |
| FCP | Lab / field | First Contentful Paint — first paint of text or image. |
| TTFB | Lab / field | Time To First Byte — server response latency. |
| Δ clicks (28d) | EBQ | Backlink view: change in target-page clicks around when the link was first seen. |
| Anomaly signal | EBQ | Indicates how far a daily metric sits from its usual range for your site (used for alerts). |
Troubleshooting
The handful of issues that account for almost every support ticket — and the fastest way to resolve each.
Search sync returns zero rows ⌄
Likely cause: Property mismatch — the URL prefix for your connected search property must exactly match the canonical URL in EBQ (protocol, host, trailing slash).
Fix: Open Settings → Integrations, click Reselect property, and pick the correct prefix. Force a sync from the same screen.
Analytics property dropdown is empty after consent ⌄
Likely cause: The signed-in account does not have access to the analytics view you need, or the wrong account was used.
Fix: Sign out of the provider, sign back in with the account that owns the property, then reconnect from Settings → Integrations.
Audit fails with "fetch blocked" ⌄
Likely cause: robots.txt or an edge firewall / bot challenge is blocking the EBQ audit fetch.
Fix: Allow EBQAuditBot in robots.txt and whitelist the EBQ IP range listed in Settings → Audit access.
URL resubmit returns "permission denied" ⌄
Likely cause: Indexing permission was not granted, or the search property is not verified for the connected account.
Fix: Re-run the connection flow from Settings → Integrations and confirm indexing permission is enabled. Verify site ownership for the search property if needed.
Backlink shows "removed" but the link is live ⌄
Likely cause: The source page renders the link via client-side script, which the default verifier does not execute.
Fix: In Backlinks → Edit, switch the verifier to the enhanced mode that loads the page the way a visitor would. It may use a small per-link credit on your plan.
No anomaly alerts despite a clear drop ⌄
Likely cause: The site may still be building a baseline window, or the change did not meet the anomaly thresholds.
Fix: Check Reports → Alerts for the last evaluation. Alerts strengthen as more history accumulates.
FAQ
How often does data refresh? ⌄
Can I add multiple websites? ⌄
Is my account data shared externally? ⌄
How accurate are the ranks? ⌄
Can I export raw data? ⌄
What happens if I disconnect integrations? ⌄
Do you support team access? ⌄
A repeatable weekly rhythm
Once setup is done, the loop is what produces compounding gains. Most teams run this in 30–45 minutes a week.
- Mon · 5 min Open the dashboard. Read the action insights panel and yesterday's anomaly alerts (if any).
- Mon · 10 min Triage striking-distance and cannibalization. Pick 1–3 actions with one-click ticket export.
- Tue–Thu Ship fixes. Re-audit each page and request indexing from the audit view when you publish.
- Thu · 5 min Check new backlinks landed this week — verify and check the 28-day click delta on the target page.
- Fri · 10 min Read the scheduled weekly report. Note YoY direction and which actions actually moved the needle.
- Fri · 5 min Update the rolling SEO log with what shipped and the result. Builds a reviewable history.
Ready to run the loop on your data?
Connect your first website and complete the eight steps in under twenty minutes.