Use Custom Reports when the standard dashboards don't answer the exact question you're trying to answer. This view lets you filter search and item behavior by threshold conditions, then export the results to support stakeholder decisions.
Note: Site Search analytics tables and graphs update once per hour.
Prerequisite: Review the Get Started articles before using this article, especially the analytics workflow and the guidance on cookies and session interpretation.
When to Use This Report
Use Custom Reports for targeted questions such as:
- Which high-volume searches have low click-through rates.
- Which items have high impressions but low clicks.
- Which latency outliers overlap with weak engagement.
- Which results you should export for recurring review meetings.
How to Configure and Analyze
Open Analytics > Custom Reports, then set the date range first.
- Choose the report type: Searches for query performance or Items for content performance.
- For Searches, use filters such as search count, hits, click count, average click position, click-through rate, and latency.
- For Items, use filters such as impression count, click count, and item click-through rate.
- Use the (+) control to combine filters and narrow the results.
- Sort the results, drill into details, and export a CSV for cross-team tracking.
Tip: Save one consistent filter recipe for each recurring question so you can compare results more reliably over time.
How to Validate Impact in Analytics
Use the same filter recipe before and after a change:
- Compare the number of records that meet your failure criteria.
- Compare the top problem queries or items and their metric changes.
- Confirm the trend direction in the core analytics pages, not just in exports.
If a report leads to a tuning decision, record the decision date and re-run the report during the next comparable period.
Review Schedule: Review this analysis on a regular cadence, such as weekly for active programs and monthly for stable programs. Keep a short change log with the date, owner, target query or feature, and expected outcome. Use the same scope and date ranges each cycle so you can connect metric changes to specific edits.
When to Ask Your Developer or Web Team
Ask your developer or web team when you need deeper detail on UI behavior, metric definitions, or optional feature scope beyond the marketer workflow covered here. Use Custom Reports as the main deeper-reference article.