The Action plan
What the Action plan looks for, how it sorts changes into Now, Next and Later, and how to work it.
The Action plan is a short list of changes to make to your site, built from your Search Console data. Each action names one page or one query, says what looks wrong, and suggests a next move.
It is deliberately small. Work the few actions in Now, and leave the rest until you get to them.
What it looks for
After each import we analyse your data and look for six kinds of problem. Each action carries a label that says which kind it is.
| Label | What it finds | Estimated gain |
|---|---|---|
| Snippet / CTR | A page that ranks well but gets fewer clicks than its position usually earns | The clicks a stronger title and description could win |
| Ranking | A query and page close to the top of the results, where a small climb brings real clicks | The clicks a higher position could bring |
| Traffic decline | A page that is losing clicks it used to get | The clicks it lost |
| Competing pages | A query where two or more of your pages show up and split the clicks | A small share of the query's impressions |
| Weak coverage | A search people make often, where your page sits too far down for anyone to click | A small share of the query's impressions |
| Page health | One of your busiest pages whose health score is low | Part of the page's clicks |
Each kind needs enough data behind it before it is listed, so a page or query with only a handful of impressions does not get an action.
Traffic decline needs 56 days of history, so it only appears on plans that keep at least that much. It only covers pages that still appear in search: a page that dropped out altogether is not listed. See How long your data is kept.
Every action shows the evidence behind it, so you can check our reasoning before you change anything.
Now, Next and Later
Actions are sorted by priority (see Reading an action), then split into three queues:
- Now: the few strongest actions, or the ones you are working on.
- Next: the ones to pick up once your current work is done.
- Later: everything else, kept out of your way.
The queues cover the whole team, across all of its sites, not each site separately.
The plan re-sorts the queues every time it refreshes, so a strong new action can go straight into Now.
Move an action yourself
Use the queue menu on an action to move it to Now, Next or Later. An action you move stays where you put it: the automatic sorting fills the remaining places around it.
Start work moves an action to In progress and puts it in Now.
Filters
Filter the list by site, by queue, or by status:
- Actionable: Open and In progress together. This is the default.
- Open: found, not started yet.
- In progress: you pressed Start work.
- Awaiting review: you marked it implemented and the review is not due yet.
- Reviewed: the outcome review has run.
- Dismissed: you said it was not useful.
When the plan updates
The plan refreshes on its own after each import, and every morning after the daily import.
Refresh evidence rebuilds the list straight away from the latest analysis we already hold. It does not fetch new data from Search Console.
Next: Reading an action and Working an action.
Sign in or join the early access list to see exactly how this is worked out.