Understand the 28-day top-pages import

Learn how clicks, host matching, limits, and duplicates affect imports.

Last checked 21 August 2026

The top-pages import helps answer one setup question: which URLs generated the most Google web-search clicks recently and may be worth monitoring?

It does not copy your entire Search Console property, and it does not keep Monitored Pages synchronized after the import.

On first-run Sources, the same 28-day top-pages query can fill Suggested Pages after you connect Search Console. That detection does not create monitored pages until you add them. Import from GSC on Monitored Pages still creates pages immediately.

The date window

TechDash requests the previous 28 reported dates ending yesterday. The current date is excluded.

Search Console interprets Search Analytics dates in Pacific Time. Near a day boundary, the requested date labels can differ from what your local calendar suggests. Treat the range as 28 reported dates, not an exact rolling 672-hour period.

Google says Search Analytics data is typically available after two to three days. The newest dates may therefore be incomplete even though the range ends yesterday. Clicks across the wider period still determine the order.

Ranking and row limits

The import requests web-search results grouped by page and ordered by clicks from highest to lowest. How many top pages controls the maximum number of rows requested from Google.

The presets are 10, 25, 50, and 100. You can enter any whole number from 1 through 250. TechDash floors decimal values and clamps values outside that range.

The selected limit is not a guarantee that the same number of pages will be added. For example, if you request 25 rows and five are already monitored or belong to another host, TechDash can add at most 20 new pages.

Google's Search Analytics API is not a complete export. It prioritizes top rows and can omit data when results are grouped by page or query. An imported list can therefore differ from a manual export or from totals shown in Search Console.

Host and path handling

TechDash accepts a page when its hostname is the same as the TechDash website after removing a leading www.. For example, results from www.example.com can be accepted for example.com, and the reverse.

Other subdomains are not accepted. A result from shop.example.com is skipped for a TechDash website stored as www.example.com, even when both are covered by the same Domain property.

For an accepted result, TechDash keeps the path and any query string. It discards the fragment and creates the monitored page under the website origin already stored in TechDash. A Search Console result with a different protocol can therefore contribute its path without changing the website origin.

Imported and skipped results

An imported result means TechDash created a new monitored page with the standard defaults.

A skipped result can mean:

  • The hostname was outside the accepted www or non-www pair
  • Google returned an invalid URL
  • The same path and query were already monitored
  • Normal monitored-page validation rejected the new entry

TechDash combines these reasons into a skipped total rather than showing a separate reason for every URL.

If Google returns no rows, the app shows Search Console did not return any pages for that range. If rows are returned but none can be added, it shows No new pages to import. Those URLs are already monitored or are on another host.

Verify that the import worked

Use this short check after the import:

  1. Read the confirmation message. It reports how many pages were imported and, when relevant, how many were skipped.
  2. Return to Monitored Pages and confirm that the expected paths appear.
  3. Search or filter the list if the website has many monitored pages.
  4. Open one imported page and confirm its URL and default monitoring settings are suitable.

If the imported count is lower than requested, review the skipped conditions above. A result of zero does not automatically mean the connection failed. Google may have returned no rows, or every returned URL may already be monitored or belong to another host.

If expected pages are missing, confirm that they had Google web-search clicks during the requested period and that their hostname matches the TechDash website. Domain properties can contain several subdomains, but TechDash imports only the matching www or non-www host pair.

What the import does not do

The import does not:

  • Add future top pages automatically
  • Remove pages that later lose traffic
  • Change settings on pages already monitored
  • Import Search Analytics metrics into the Monitored Pages table
  • Request indexing or a live URL test

Run the import again when your content portfolio changes. Each run adds eligible new pages but does not alter pages that are already monitored. Review the resulting workload so monitoring remains focused on URLs that matter.

Sources

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