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Google Search Console (GSC) New! Branded and Non-Branded Queries + Annotation Filters | Marketing Talk with Favour Obasi-ike
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Google Search Console (GSC) New! Branded and Non-Branded Queries + Annotation Filters | Marketing Talk with Favour Obasi-Ike | Sign up for exclusive SEO insights.
This episode focuses on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and the new features within Google Search Console (GSC).
Favour discuss the recently introduced brand queries and annotations features in GSC, highlighting their importance for understanding both branded and non-branded search behavior.
The conversation also emphasizes the broader strategic use of GSC data, comparing it to a car's dashboard for website performance, and explores how this data can be leveraged to create valuable content, such as FAQ-based blog posts and multimedia assets, often with the aid of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools. A key theme is the shift from traditional keyword ranking to ranking for user experience and the interconnectedness of various digital tools in modern marketing strategy.
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As a content strategist, you live with a fundamental uncertainty. You create content you believe your audience needs, but a nagging question always remains: are you hitting the mark? It often feels like you’re operating with a blind spot, focusing on concepts while, as the experts say, "you don't even know the intention behind why they're asking or searching."
What if you could close that gap? What if your audience could tell you, explicitly, what they need you to create next?
That’s the paradigm shift happening right now inside Google Search Console (GSC). Long seen as a technical tool, recent updates are transforming GSC into a strategic command center. It’s no longer just for SEO specialists; it’s the dashboard for your entire content operation. These new developments are a game-changer, revealing direct intelligence from your audience that will change how you plan, create, and deliver content.
Here are the five truths these new GSC features reveal—and how they give you a powerful competitive edge.
1. Stop Driving Your Website Blind: The Dashboard Analogy
Managing a website without GSC is like driving a car without a dashboard. You’re moving, but you have no idea how fast you’re going or if you’re about to run out of fuel. GSC is that free, indispensable dashboard providing direct intelligence straight from Google. But the analogy runs deeper. As one strategist put it, driving isn’t passive: "when you're driving, you got to hit the gas, you got to... hit the brakes... when do you stop, when do you go, what do you tweak? Do you go to a pit stop?"
You wouldn't drive your car without looking at the dashboard. So you shouldn't have a website and drive traffic and do all the things we do without looking at GSC, right?
Your content strategy requires the same active management—knowing when to accelerate, when to pivot, and when to optimize. The new features make this "dashboard" more intuitive than ever, giving you the controls you need to navigate with precision.
2. The Goldmine in Your Search Queries: Branded vs. Non-Branded
The first game-changing update is the new "brand queries" filter. For the first time, GSC allows you to easily separate searches for your specific brand name (branded) from searches for the topics and solutions you offer (non-branded). This is the first step in a powerful new workflow: Discovery.
Think of your non-branded queries as raw, unfiltered intelligence from your potential audience. These aren't just keywords; they're direct expressions of need. Instead of an abstract concept, you see tangible examples like:
• “best practices for washing dishes”
• “best pet shampoo”
• “best Thanksgiving turkey meal”
When you see more non-branded than branded queries, it’s a powerful signal. It means you have access to a goldmine of raw material you can build content on to attract a wider audience that doesn't know your brand… yet. This isn't just data; it's a direct trigger for your next move.
3. From Keyword to "Keynote": Creating Content with Context
Once you've discovered this raw material, the next step is Development. This is where you transform an unstructured keyword into a strategic asset by adding structure and meaning. It's a progression: a raw keyword becomes a more defined keyphrase, which can be built into a keystone concept, and ultimately refined into a keynote.
What’s a keynote? Think about its real-world meaning: "when somebody sends you a note, it has context, right? It's supposed to mean something and it's supposed to say something specific." A keynote isn't just a search term; it’s that term fully developed into a structured piece of content that delivers a specific, meaningful answer.
This strategic asset can take many forms:
• Blogs
• Podcast episodes
• Articles
• Newsletters
• Videos/Reels
• eBooks
4. The Most Underrated SEO Tactic: Your New Secret Weapon
You’ve discovered the query and developed it into a keynote. Now it’s time for Execution. The single most effective format for executing on this strategy is one of the most powerful, yet underrated, SEO tactics in history: creating content around Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).
The rise of Large Language Models (LLMs) has fundamentally changed search behavior. People are asking full, conversational questions, and search engines are prioritizing direct, authoritative answers. A "one blog per FAQ" strategy is the perfect response. It’s a secret weapon that’s almost shockingly effective.
FAQ is the new awesome the most awesome ever. I I said that on purpose.
How awesome? By creating a single, targeted blog post for the long-tail question, "full roof replacement cost [city]," one site ranked number one on Google for that exact phrase in just 30 minutes. That's the power of directly answering a question your audience is already asking.
5. It's Not About New Features, It's About New Actions
The real purpose of these GSC updates isn't to give you more charts to observe; it's to prompt decisive action. Every non-branded query is a signal for what content to create next, feeding a powerful strategic loop that builds your authority over time.
This is where it all comes together in a professional content framework. As the source material notes, "That's why you have content pillars and you have content clusters." Your non-branded queries show you what clusters your audience needs, and your FAQ-style "keynotes" become the assets that build out those clusters around your core content pillars.
This data-driven approach empowers you to:
• Recreate outdated content with new, relevant insights.
• Repurpose core ideas into different formats to reach wider audiences.
• Re-evaluate which topics are truly resonating.
• Reemphasize your most valuable messages with fresh content.
Conclusion: What Does Your Dashboard Say?
Google Search Console is no longer just a reporting tool. It has evolved into an essential strategic partner that closes the gap between the content you produce and the value your audience is searching for. It’s your direct line to understanding intent, allowing you to move from guessing what people want to knowing what they need.
Now that you know how to read your website's dashboard, what's the first turn you're going to make?
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