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Google Search is where you manage the keywords your workspace cares about and watch how they rank in Google over time. Add a keyword, point it at a page, and Slate fetches its rank on the schedule you set — then lines that rank up against the clicks and impressions Search Console sees for the same query.

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Why it matters

Most keyword work lives in scattered spreadsheets. Google Search keeps your priority keywords, their owned pages, their ranks, and their search-console performance in one place — so the question “is this page winning the keyword we want it to win?” is one click away.

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Where to find it

In the Slate sidebar, open Insights → Google Search. The module has two top-level tabs:
  • Overview — a dashboard summarizing how your tracked keywords are performing.
  • Keywords — the full list of keywords with filters, search, and bulk actions.
Click any keyword in the list to open its detail drawer.

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Prerequisites

Connect these before you start so the columns populate correctly:
  • Google Search Console — required. Powers the clicks, impressions, CTR, and query data behind every keyword.
  • Semrush — recommended. Powers monthly search volume, keyword difficulty, and CPC.
Without GSC, Slate can still record ranks, but the traffic columns will be empty.

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Step 1: Add a keyword

You can add keywords one at a time or import a list from CSV.

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Add a single keyword

  1. On the Keywords tab, click Add Keywords > Add a single keyword (also available from the empty-state Overview).
  2. Enter the keyword text — for example, best crm for agencies.
  3. (Optional) Enter the Primary page URL — the page on your site that should rank for this keyword.
  4. (Optional) Set Intent (Informational, Commercial, Comparison, Transactional, Navigational) and Brand class (Branded, Non-brand, Competitor-branded, Mixed).
  5. Leave Track this keyword on, then choose:
    • Country (e.g., United States)
    • Device (Desktop, Mobile, Tablet)
    • Frequency (Daily or Weekly)
  6. Click Add & start tracking.
Slate creates the keyword and queues its first rank check.

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Import a list

Click Add Keywords > Import from CSV to upload a CSV or XLSX file. Follow the wizard to map your columns to Slate’s fields and apply the import.

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Step 2: Set up tracking

Each keyword can have one or more tracking targets. A tracking target is the combination of country, device, and frequency that Slate uses to fetch rank. If you turned tracking on when adding the keyword, Slate already created one. To add more (for example, to track the same keyword on Mobile in addition to Desktop), open the keyword detail drawer. You can also:
  • Pause a target to stop scheduled checks without deleting it.
  • Resume a paused target.
  • Run now to trigger an immediate rank check outside the schedule.

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Step 3: Read the Overview tab

The Overview tab summarizes the last 30 days for your tracked keywords: Use it as a daily check-in to spot what’s moving before drilling into individual keywords.

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Step 4: Use the Keywords tab

The Keywords tab is the working list. Three status filters at the top split your list:
  • Tracked — keywords with at least one active tracking target.
  • All Keywords — every keyword in the workspace.
  • Paused — keywords whose tracking targets are paused.
Filter further by intent, brand class, country, or search by keyword text.

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Columns

Select rows with the checkboxes to bulk delete, or use Export in the top-right to download the visible list as Excel or CSV.

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Step 5: Drill into a keyword

Click any row to open the keyword detail drawer. It has four tabs:

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Map a page

On the Connected tab, the Pages card lets you assign a primary page (the page you want to rank) and additional secondary pages. Mappings flow into the rank-attribution columns on the Keywords list.

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Approve or ignore GSC queries

Slate auto-matches Search Console queries to your keywords on a confidence score. The GSC queries card on the Connected tab lets you Approve good matches, Ignore off-target ones, or Reactivate an ignored match later. Approved queries feed the Clicks, Impressions, and CTR columns on the Keywords list.

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Use cases

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Catch a ranking drop the day it happens

Open the Overview tab. The Movement card surfaces keywords that lost positions. Click into one to see the SERP snapshot and rank history, and decide whether the drop is your problem or a Google volatility blip.

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Find quick-win refresh candidates

In the Keywords tab, filter to Tracked keywords and sort by Avg rank ascending. Keywords sitting at positions 8–15 with strong impressions are typical refresh wins — small content updates can push them onto page one.

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Audit which page owns each priority keyword

Open the Keywords tab and scan the Page column. Keywords without a mapped page, or with the wrong page mapped, show up immediately. Open the keyword detail and use the Pages card on the Connected tab to fix the mapping.

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Compare your rank against competitors

Open a keyword’s detail drawer and switch to Competition. The Top 10 and Top 20 breakdowns show which domains and page types currently win the SERP — useful when planning what to publish or refresh.

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Tips

  • Add a keyword without tracking when you’re researching. You can turn tracking on later from the keyword detail.
  • Use Run now on a tracking target after a major content update to capture the new rank without waiting for the next scheduled check.
  • The Country, Device, and Frequency picked at create time only apply to the first tracking target. Add more targets from the keyword detail to cover additional locations or devices.

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What’s next

  • Pages — see how each ranking page is performing across search, AI, and engagement.
  • Content Updates — log refreshes so you can attribute rank gains to specific updates.
  • LLM Search — connect a keyword to a tracked AI prompt so the same query is measured in both Google and AI engines.
  • Google Search Console integration — set up the source that powers clicks, impressions, and CTR.
  • Semrush integration — set up the source that powers volume, difficulty, and CPC.