Tracking Updated Article Performance

When you approve a draft in FreshRank, the plugin automatically begins tracking that article's performance for 30 days in the Analytics dashboard. This helps you measure the short-term impact of your content updates.

How Articles Get Added to Tracking

Articles are added to performance tracking the moment you click "Approve Draft".

Here's what happens behind the scenes:

1. FreshRank captures a "before" snapshot of the article's current performance:
   • Clicks
   • Impressions
   • CTR (click-through rate)
   • Position in search results
2. FreshRank marks the article for daily tracking for the next 30 days
3. Every day at 3:00 AM, FreshRank collects an "after" snapshot with fresh Google Search Console data
4. The dashboard shows you the before/after comparison with percentage changes

Understanding the Performance Table

The "Updated Articles Performance" section shows all your tracked articles.

Here's what each column means:

• Article: The title of your updated post.
• Updated: The date you approved the draft and published the changes.
• Days Tracked: How many days FreshRank has been collecting data since the update (maximum 30 days).
• Clicks Change: The difference in clicks compared to before your update. For example: ↑ +50 (25.0%): Gained 50 clicks (25% increase) ✅
• Position Change: The difference in your average search position. For example: ↑ 3.9 (5.2%): Moved up 3.9 positions (5.2% improvement) ✅

• CTR Change: The difference in click-through rate. For example: ↑ 1.5% (20.0%): CTR increased by 1.5 percentage points
• Impressions Change: The difference in how many times your article appeared in search results.

The 30-Day Tracking Window

Performance tracking runs for 30 days after you approve a draft, then stops automatically.

Why 30 days?

• SEO changes take time to show results (typically 2-4 weeks)
• 30 days provides enough data to see meaningful trends
• Limits API usage with Google Search Console

What happens after 30 days?

• Data collection stops
• The article remains visible in the performance table with its final 30-day results
• You can approve another draft for the same article to start a new 30-day tracking period

Approving Multiple Drafts for the Same Article

If you approve a second draft for an article that's already being tracked:

• Tracking resets: A new 30-day window begins
• New "before" snapshot: Captures current performance as the baseline
• Previous data remains: Old tracking data stays in the database but the dashboard shows the most recent comparison

Best practice: Wait until the first 30-day tracking period completes before approving another draft for the same article, so you can see the full impact of each update.

Why Articles Don't Appear in Tracking

If you approved a draft but don't see the article in the performance table, check:

1. Has it been 24 hours? The first "after" snapshot happens during the next 3:00 AM update
2. Does the article have search traffic? Articles with zero impressions won't appear
3. Is Google Search Console connected? Tracking requires active GSC integration
4. Is the article indexed? Recently published articles may not have GSC data yet

Common Questions

Q: Can I manually refresh the performance data? No. The system updates automatically every day at 3:00 AM. Manual refresh isn't currently available.

Q: What if I want to track articles I updated before using FreshRank? Performance tracking only works for drafts approved through FreshRank. There's no way to retroactively track previous updates.

Q: Why did my impressions drop drastically? Large impression drops (80%+) are often unrelated to your content changes. Check Google Search Console directly to see if there was a broader site issue, algorithm update, or seasonal trend.

Q: Can I export this performance data? Not currently. You can take screenshots of the performance table for your records.

Q: How do I stop tracking an article? You cannot manually stop tracking. All tracking automatically ends after 30 days.