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External data sources

Understand how Oncrawl integrates external data, through connectors, for comprehensive data analysis.

Updated over 7 months ago

What is the difference between a connected app and a data source?

The way Oncrawl handles connectors ensures that anyone who wishes to share their own dataset from a third-party service can define the exact scope they wish to retrieve and integrate it within a project. This third-party service is a connected app, such as an external analytics platform.

This allows the person who owns the data to define the scope of a data source once, assign it to a project, and share it with any collaborators while preventing any sensitive data leaks. The set of data from the connected app that can be shared and used in Oncrawl is the data source.

Oncrawl connectors offer the following advantages:

  • Precise control over subsets of data that comes from external services: Any data owner can scope a data source with properties and views and then share it with their collaborators with access to Oncrawl for SEO purposes.

  • Collaboration within Oncrawl: Users with the right access and permissions can use a data source shared by others within a project.

How does the connector design work? An example

First of all, Connect to Oncrawl with an external tool (in our case: Adobe Analytics)

Go to your user account.

Navigate into Connected apps, then click on Adobe Analytics (OAuth).

Define a unique Adobe label. This is the name of your connection between Oncrawl and Adobe. You might want to call it "Oncrawl x Adobe".

Then, enter your Adobe Analytics credentials so that Oncrawl can access your third party service data subset.

Set up a data source by using the connection you've created

Once the previous step has been completed, go on the Projects page, select the project to which you would like to connect the data source, and click on Add data sources.

Then, go into the Adobe Analytics tab and click on Add a new source.

Select the connected app you previously set up.

Define a scope for your data source by selecting Select all OR by doing a manual selection.

Finally, enter a data source name. This is the name you will see in your crawl profile, or anywhere else you use this data source in Oncrawl.

Your data source is ready to be used in this project.

Using a data source in a project

From the project screen, click on Set up a new crawl.

Then, scroll down to the Analysis block and tick the checkbox for the connector you wish to set up (in our example: Adobe Analytics).

Select the data source previously defined. Then, select one of the report suites that the owner chose to include in this data source.

Your data source is now available in the project and ready to be used in a crawl.

๐Ÿ’ก Note: This process can also be accessed from the project page by clicking on on Add data sources.

Remove, edit and rename a data source

Our connector redesign provides enhanced flexibility for editing or removing a current data source. If you encounter the case where some data sources were created by a consultant or a colleague who no longer has access to your Oncrawl project, these actions aim to help you adjust your settings accordingly.

Remove a data-source

Navigate to the Add a data source section, then click on the specific connector tab (in our example Adobe Analytics).

Note: You cannot delete a data source that is being used by a crawl profile. If you click on Show usage, you can see that the crawl profile named default uses your data source test adobe Oauth. This button is useful and can inform you whether or not you are allowed to delete a data source.

Now, click on the dot component, then click on the Delete button.

A message will inform you that a crawl profile currently relies on test Adobe Oauth and you need to change it before deleting the data source.

If you want to continue the deletion process, all you have to do is head to your crawl settings: Either by adding a new data source of your own or selecting another data source available in the crawl profile.

Option A

Option B

Then, save your operation.

Go back into the Add data sources screen, then to the connector tab, then click on Delete.

As you may notice, none of the crawl profiles use your data source, so you are now free to delete test adobe Oauth

Data source has been removed.

Edit a data source

To proceed, you need to go to the Add data sources screen, click on the dots component.

Then, you are free to replace the data in this data source by selecting a current connection or by creating a new one with your own credentials.

Rename a data source

This is the same operation as before, but you need to click on the Rename button.

What data is shared with Oncrawl?

Type of data

Oncrawl receives data from a data source regarding the URLs within the scope of your crawl. This can include information such as:

Analytics data sources:

  • Number of visits from organic sources to that URL

Google Search Console

  • Number of times the URL was shown in Google search results (impressions)

  • Number of clicks on the URL from Google search results

  • Queries (keywords) for which a URL appeared in search results

Quantity and dates of data

Oncrawl recovers this information for the period of days you define for a given crawl profile, or 45 days if you've left the default Cross-analysis range.

This period is always calculated as the most recent days of data available. For most connectors, this might include a delay.

For example:

  • Google Analytics does not provide data for the current day. If today is January 10th and I set a Cross-analysis range of 7 days, I'll get the seven most recent days of data provided by Google Analytics: January 3rd through January 9th.

  • Google Search Console generally has a delay of 2-3 days. If today is January 10th and I set a Cross-analysis range of 7 days, I'll get the seven most recent days of data provided by Google Search Console, probably: January 1st through January 7th.

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