Hobo SC: Google Search Console in Google Sheets

Current Status: BETA TESTING Hobo SC

If you are an SEO or web developer or are an SEO manager who manages a lot of sites in Search Console and prefers to work in spreadsheets, this is for you. 

Using Hobo SC you can quickly:

1. Manage reporting on multiple Search Console accounts.
2. Access Google APIs.
3. Create and run your own reports.
4. Analyse and store as much data as limits permit.
5. Analyse winner and loser reports for URLs.
6. Track and monitor rankings.
7. Perform an SEO audit.
8. Most importantly for later, start to gather Client project data in a central Spreadsheet.
9. Set up scheduling, regular email reports and email traffic alerts (not in Beta versions).

… and all in Google Sheets, which turns out, to be an incredibly cost-effective way to perform a quality audit on any website, without the need for other expensive tools.

You can get Hobo SC now.

Here’s an example of some of the reports rolling out in Hobo SC (Search Console in Google Sheets) beta testing.

Domain Traffic Traffic Trend Report

A quick overview of domain performance using click data from Search Console mapped to algorithm updates.

Winners & Losers Report

A quick overview of URL performance through algorithm updates using click data from Search Console mapped to algorithm updates.

…and there are a lot more.

This is just a taste of the data while I beta-test the system.

Useful link

• Your Google Cloud Dashboard.

How to set up Search Console Api

Set up a new project in the Google Cloud console using a Personal Gmail account and free API allowance.

This is more than enough to generate these reports!

NOTE: This post presumes you have not set up any projects in Google Cloud.

First – Set up a project in Google Cloud to access your free Search Console Api data.

Just follow these step-by-step instructions and we can complete it in minutes.

Step 1-3

1. Go to your Google Cloud Console to create a new project:
2. Name the project to “Api Access”. This will be your API script at Google’s end, using your own credentials. Naming it “Api Access” will help you follow these notes. (See image below)
3. Hit the “CREATE” button. (See image below)

Step 4-6

• Select “SELECT PROJECT” in the notifications. (See image below)

• Ensure the “Project name” is the same as the account you are viewing. (See image below)

• Select “APIs & Services” and in the submenu, select “Enabled APIs and services”. (See image below)

Step 7

• Select “Enable APIs and Services”.

Step 8

• Type “Search Console API” into the search bar and hit enter or return on your keypad.

Step 9

• Select the Google Search Console API.

Step 10

• Select “ENABLE” to enable the Search Console API.

Step 11

• Go to your Cloud Dashboard Welcome screen – follow this link – https://console.cloud.google.com/welcome.

Step 12

• You should be in the “Api Access” project in the cloud console. ENSURE YOU ARE. Copy the “Project number” for your “Api Access” Project and take note of it for later.

Note if you need to access your Cloud Dashboard at any time to get this information, you can select Cloud Overview > Dashboard from the menu or Google Cloud Dashboard.

Congratulations! You have now created your project in Google Cloud and have activated the Search Console API.

You also now have the Google Cloud “Project number” copied to your clipboard. 

We need this project number later in the setup.

We have a few more steps to complete the full installation with Hobo SC.

Make a copy of Hobo SC in Google Sheets

Step 13

• Go to the copy of the Hobo SC URL that was SHARED WITH YOU by Hobo. This is the central document I update. You have lifetime access to this central document to make a copy of at any time.

Step 14

• Select “Make a copy” from the File menu in Google Sheets.

Step 15

• Select “Make A Copy”.

Step 16

In YOUR new copy of Hobo SC, Select “Apps Script” from the “Extensions” menu.

Step 17

In the Editor that comes up, Select Project Settings (the little cog-wheel icon)

Step 18

In Project Settings, change the project number to the number you copied and pasted from Step 12 earlier in this process.

Step 19

Select the Set project button.

Step 20

This message will appear in RED – “In order to change your project, you will need to configure the OAuth consent screen. Configure your OAuth Consent details”. CLICK the link to Configure your “OAuth Consent details”.

Steps 21

• Select the “CONFIGURE CONSENT SCREEN” button.

Steps 22-23

• In the OAuth consent screen, select “EXTERNAL” from the options.
• Click the CREATE button.

Steps 24-27

• Name the app name in “App name”. Keep things consistent with the Google Cloud project name for simplicity’s sake later on.
• Add your email to the “user support email”
• Add your email again to the developer contact info
• Click the “SAVE AND CONTINUE” button.

Steps 28-29

• Select ADD OR REMOVE SCOPES button. 
• Add “webmaster” to the search box in the menu filter

Steps 30

• Select /auth/webmasters

Steps 31-32

• ENSURE you CHECK THE TICK BOX for the Google Search Console API.
• Click the “UPDATE” button.

Step 33

• In Test Users, we can skip, so click “SAVE AND CONTINUE”.

Step 34

• In SUMMARY, click BACK TO DASHBOARD button

Step 35

• In OAuth consent screen, click “PUBLISH APP” button

Step 36

• Go back to your APPs Script to finish to set the project that we started in Step 20. Click the “SET PROJECT” button to finish the installation. Once you set the project the scripts should be ready to run.

That should be you set up and good to go.

How to Update to the latest version of Hobo SC during the beta testing

Note this is a simpler process, as you already now should have an API Access project setup and initialised. We just need to connect your new copy of Hobo SC to your Api Access project.

Step 1

In step 12 previously we took a note of the project number for your API ACCESS project in Google Cloud. Note this as we will need it.

Step 2

• Go to the copy of the Hobo SC URL that was SHARED WITH YOU by Hobo. This is the Central Master Document I update. You have lifetime access to this central document to make a copy of at any time. 
• Always use the latest version of Hobo SC (use the Master Document link you were sent and check the version number. If the doc has a newer version than yours it is best to make a new copy, use that and (input your cloud project number for Api Access project in your new spreadsheet app script). You took these steps before in the original process in Step 13.

Step 3

• Select “Make a copy” from the File menu in Google Sheets.

Step 4

• Select “Make A Copy”.

Step 5

In YOUR new copy of Hobo SC, Select “Apps Script” from the “Extensions” menu.

Step 6

In the Editor that comes up, Select Project Settings (the little cog-wheel icon)

Step 7

In Project Settings, change the project number to the number you copied and pasted from Step 12 earlier in this process.

Step 8

Select the Set project button.

Upgrade Complete

That should be your upgrade complete and you should be able to run reports using your new version of the sheet.

Register your interest for the Hobo SC (Search Console) for Google Sheets Presale.

The Hobo SC (Search Console) for Google Sheets is a complete SEO Auditing suite directly in Google Sheets.

Expected Launch-Date – June 2024

Current Status: BETA TESTING