That you're researching Google Search Console means one of two things:
One, you're new to website management and have heard it's an essential tool for monitoring your website’s performance. Two, you're already managing a website and want to take your SEO game to the next level.
Whichever it is, Google Search Console is a must-have for anyone serious about improving their site's presence on Google. It provides insights into how Google sees your site, identifies issues hindering performance, and uncovers opportunities to improve your search rankings.
In this guide, we'll walk you through the ins and outs of Google Search Console, its key features, and how to set it up.
Let’s get started.
Formerly known as Google Webmaster Tools, Search Console is a free tool by Google that allows users to monitor the performance of their websites and how they appear in search results.
Google Search Console helps webmasters achieve the following:
These are just some of the many features Google Search Console offers. We'll explore additional features in the following sections.
To get the most out of Google Search Console, you must understand some key metrics and terms you'll come across frequently.
While this isn't an exhaustive list, it covers the most important concepts you need to navigate the platform and make sense of the reports.
Impressions refer to the number of times your website's page or link appears in Google search results. It doesn’t mean someone clicked on it—just that it was shown to users in search. Total impressions indicate the overall number of times your site appeared in search results.
A straightforward metric: clicks count how many times users clicked on your site after seeing it in search results. Total clicks represent the cumulative number of clicks during a given period.
CTR is the percentage of users who clicked on your site after it appeared in search results. It’s calculated by dividing the number of clicks by the number of impressions, then multiplying by 100 to get a percentage. Average CTR refers to the average click-through rate across all search queries for your site.
This refers to the average rank where your website appears in Google search results for a particular query. For example, if your page shows up in the third position for one query and the seventh position for another, your average position will be calculated based on these numbers.
Indexing means that Google has added your web page to its database of websites (its “index”), making it eligible to appear in search results. If a page isn’t indexed, it won’t appear in Google Search.
Crawling is the process by which Google’s bots (often called “spiders” or “Googlebot”) visit and analyze your site’s content and links. This process helps Google discover new or updated content to include in its search results.
A sitemap is a file that lists all the important pages on your website, helping Google understand your site’s structure and content. You can submit a sitemap through GSC to ensure Google crawls and indexes the right pages.
If a website violates Google’s Search Spam Policies, it may be subject to penalties known as Manual Actions. These penalties can drastically reduce your site's rankings or even remove it from search results entirely.
A query refers to the keywords or phrases users type into Google to find your website. GSC shows you a list of search queries that led people to your site and how well your pages rank for those queries.
Rich results are enhanced listings in search results, often displaying additional information like images, reviews, or ratings, beyond the standard title and description. These enhanced results are usually enabled by structured data on your site.
Getting started with Google Search Console is easier than you think. Let’s set you up right away!
First things first, you’ll need a Google account. If you already have one, great!
Head over to the Google Search Console website. Since this is your first time, you’ll be prompted to add your website, which is referred to as a "property" in GSC.
You have two options for adding your property:
The Domain option is broader and often the better choice for comprehensive tracking. However, the URL Prefix option is beneficial if you want to focus on a specific section of your website. It’s also the only option you have if you don’t have access to your website's DNS settings.
To use Google Search Console, you need to verify that you own the site you’re adding. This ensures that only authorized users can access your website data. There are a few ways to do this so you can choose the method that works best for you:
DNS Verification: This is the only method available if you're adding a domain property to GSC. It involves adding a TXT or CNAME record to your domain's DNS configuration. You’ll need access to your domain registrar (such as GoDaddy or Namecheap) to paste the DNS record Google provides into your DNS settings.
HTML File Upload: Upload an HTML file to the root directory of your website.
HTML Tag: Add a meta tag to your site's homepage's <head> section.
Google Analytics: If you already have Google Analytics (GA) set up, you can use the existing tracking code to verify ownership. However, you’ll need “edit” permission in GA to use this option.
Once you've completed the steps for your chosen method, click “Verify.” Google will then confirm your ownership. DNS verification may take some time to reflect, so if you see an "Ownership Verification Failed" error, wait a few hours and try again.
A sitemap is a simple yet powerful tool that helps Google understand your website’s structure, like a roadmap that guides search engines to your important content.
While Google can crawl and find many of your pages without it, a sitemap makes this process easier and more efficient, especially if:
Follow these steps to submit a Sitemap in GSC:
Create Your Sitemap: Platforms like WordPress, Shopify, or Wix usually generate a sitemap automatically. If not, tools like Yoast SEO or XML Sitemap Generator can help you create one.
Use the Sitemaps Tool: In Google Search Console, find the “Sitemaps” option under the Indexing section on the left-hand menu.
Submit Your Sitemap: Enter the URL of your sitemap (e.g., `yourwebsite.com/sitemap.xml`) into the provided box, then click Submit.
Note that submitting your sitemap won't make Google index every page instantly. However, it ensures your important pages are found and indexed faster.
There are two user roles in Google Search Console: Owners and Users. Each role comes with different levels of access and control.
This is the highest level of access. Owners have full control over the property in GSC. They can add or remove users, access all data, and make significant changes like submitting sitemaps or handling security alerts.
There are two types of owners:
Users have more limited access compared to owners. There are two main types of users:
Owner roles are ideal for website administrators, business owners, or anyone overseeing the site’s SEO, technical health, and user management. They need full access to make major changes and add new users.
Full user roles should be granted to SEO specialists, digital marketers, or web developers who need to monitor performance and make minor adjustments without the authority to change settings.
Restricted users are ideal for team members who need to monitor site performance but shouldn’t have access to critical tools or settings.
To keep your website safe, you need to pay attention to who and what roles you assign to people in GSC. Make sure individuals only get the access they need for their responsibilities.
Assigning user roles in GSC is straightforward. Follow these three steps to get it done:
Step 1: In your GSC dashboard, scroll down the navigation sidebar and click on Settings at the bottom.
Step 2: Under the Settings section, select Users and Permissions.
Step 3: Click the blue Add User button in the top-right corner. A pop-up will appear where you can enter the new user’s email address.
Step 4: After entering the email, select the user’s role: Owner, Full, or Restricted, depending on the level of access you want to give.
Step 5: Click Add. The user will get immediate access to your property’s GSC dashboard.
Now, let’s get into more detail about how Google Search Console does what it says it does and the features responsible for it.
Think of a performance report as a progress report card for your website on Google Search. It shows you how often your site appears in search results, how many people click on your site, and which keywords or search terms they use to find you. This information helps you figure out what’s working well and what needs improvement.
The key metrics in the performance report are:
The performance report also provides insights about your audience. You can see data on:
The data on search queries is especially valuable because it reveals what users are actually searching for. If specific keywords attract many visitors to your site, you can create more content around those topics. This can increase traffic as your content aligns more with users' interests.
If your website has data from Discover and Google News, you can access the reports from the Performance section. However, these options will not appear if you don't have any data for them.
The Page indexing report shows whether or not individual pages on your website are included in Google’s index.
Being in the index means Google recognizes your page and can display it in search results. Pages that are not indexed won’t appear in search results, leading to missed opportunities for visibility.
The report also flags any issues preventing Google from indexing specific pages so you can address them promptly.
Each error can be clicked for more detailed information. For example, selecting the "Not Found (404)" error will display the exact pages returning 404 errors. Clicking on individual pages opens the URL inspection tool, which provides further insights into what needs to be fixed on each page.
The URL inspection tool gives you a detailed report about specific URLs (or web pages) on your website. When you inspect a URL, the tool shows whether the page is indexed, if there are any technical issues, and how it appears in Google’s search results.
You can find the URL inspection tool at the top of every page in GSC or by clicking "URL Inspection" in the navigation sidebar.
Here’s how the URL Inspection tool works:
The sitemaps report provides an overview of all the sitemaps you've submitted to Google Search Console. It helps you monitor how well Google is crawling and indexing your website.
To access it, click “Sitemaps” on the navigation sidebar. You will see a list of all the sitemaps you've submitted. For most websites, it’s just one main sitemap, but larger sites may have several different sections (like product pages or blog posts).
The report also shows the sitemap status, the last crawl date, and the number of pages Google found.
Click on a sitemap to view more details.
Select "See Page Indexing" to view reports on the indexed and non-indexed pages.
Scroll down the page to check for errors, click on them to identify the issues, and fix the affected pages.
The Page Experience Report gives insights into how user-friendly your website is based on key metrics Google uses to assess overall user experience. These include factors like loading speed, ease of interaction, and mobile-friendliness.
Google values user experience and factors it into search rankings. If your website offers a great experience, it could help improve your position in search results.
The report covers two major elements Google considers part of a good page experience, which are:
If the report shows "No data" for Core Web Vitals, it means there isn’t enough recent data for any URL on your site. You don’t need to take any action—just wait for more user traffic to generate the necessary data.
If the report shows data like the image above, you can click on any of the three elements to view more details and identify any issues.
Clicking on "Mobile" or "Desktop" takes you to the detailed Core Web Vitals report, showing the number of pages that are poor or need improvement.
Scroll down to see the issues affecting your URLs.
Click on the entries to see the specific pages with issues. After fixing the problem, click "Validate Fix" to confirm.
You can also access this information by selecting "Core Web Vitals" from the left menu of your GSC dashboard. This brings up performance graphs for both mobile and desktop.
Clicking "Open Report" will take you to the report page that displays issues affecting your URLs.
The HTTPS report is straightforward. You can access it by clicking on the HTTP element in the Page Experience report or selecting HTTPS from the navigation sidebar. Both will take you to the same page that shows any issues with your website’s HTTPS connection.
Enhancement reports in Google Search Console are designed to help you optimize specific features on your website. These reports provide insights into how well elements like structured data, breadcrumbs, or review snippets are functioning and whether they align with Google’s best practices.
Each report focuses on different enhancements that can improve your site’s performance in search results. For instance, if you’ve implemented structured data for products or FAQs, the reports will let you know if everything is set up correctly or if there are any errors. If issues are detected, the report will point them out and offer suggestions for fixing them.
The most common reports include:
To view any of these reports, simply click on the relevant feature under the “Enhancements” section in the navigation sidebar.
Keep in mind, your website doesn’t need to have all these features, and having them doesn’t make one site superior to another. The enhancements available depend on the nature of your site and the structured data you've submitted.
The links report in Google Search Console is a valuable tool for understanding how other sites link to your site and how your site links internally.
The report is divided into four sections, each providing different insights.
1. Top Linked Pages (External links): This shows which pages on your website have the most backlinks from other sites. When you select "Links" from the sidebar, this is the first report you’ll see.
Click "More" to see a complete list of pages with external links, including the number of links and websites linking to them.
You can also click on each entry to see the specific websites linking to them and the number of links from each site.
2. Top Linking Sites: This report shows which domains link to your site the most, helping you spot potential partners or spammy sites.
Click "More" under "Top Linking Sites" to view a full list of these websites and the number of links pointing to your pages.
Select any website to see more information.
This brings you to a page where you can see which of your web pages are linked and how many links each page has.
3. Top Linked Pages (Internal Links): Displays which pages on your site have the most internal links. It helps you ensure important pages are well-linked and easily accessible.
Next to the Top Linked Pages (External Links) section, you'll find the Internal Links report. Click "More" to view a full list of target pages and the number of internal links pointing to them.
Select any page of interest to see a detailed report.
This will show all the web pages linking to that specific page.
4. Top Linking Text: Shows the most common anchor text used in links to your site. This gives an insight into how other sites describe your content.
Click "More" under the Top Linking Text overview to view a complete list of all anchor texts pointing to your site.
Use the pagination at the bottom to navigate through the full list of anchor texts.
Google Search Console includes two critical reports that alert you to serious problems that could affect your site’s ranking or even cause it to be removed from search results: the security issues report and the manual actions report.
These reports act as a warning system, notifying you of security threats or manual penalties from Google. Addressing these issues quickly helps protect your site, keep it safe for users, and maintain your visibility in search results.
Security issues report flags potential threats like hacking, malware, or other vulnerabilities that could harm your website or visitors. Google continuously scans for suspicious activity, and any detected risks will appear here.
You can access this report by selecting "Security Issues" from the sidebar.
Unlike security issues, manual actions report deal with violations of Google’s spam policies. Google may manually penalize a site for practices like spamming or using unnatural links, which can significantly lower your search rankings.
To check if your site has been penalized, click "Manual Actions" in the sidebar.
Common reasons for manual actions include:
The Crawl stats report provides detailed insights into how often Googlebot visits your site, how many pages it crawls, and how much data it downloads. It also flags any issues, like slow response times or failed attempts to access pages.
To access it, head to the settings section of Google Search Console and click "Open Report."
Once inside, you’ll see key details, such as:
Total Crawl Requests: This shows how many times Googlebot has visited your site within a certain period.
Total Download Size: This tells you how much data Googlebot downloaded, including HTML, images, and other resources.
Average Response Time: This measures how quickly your server responds to Googlebot’s requests.
Crawl Requests by Response Type: Here, Google labels each crawl attempt with a status code, so you can see how many pages were crawled successfully versus those that had errors.
Crawl Requests by File Type: This breakdown shows what types of files Googlebot is crawling—HTML pages, images, CSS, etc.
Crawl Requests by Purpose: This section explains why Googlebot is crawling your site—whether it’s discovering new pages or rechecking old ones.
Crawl Requests by Googlebot Type: This section shows which versions of Googlebot are crawling your site. For example, it tells you how much focus is on loading page resources, crawling for mobile, images, or desktop.
Every other month, website owners and administrators get an email with a quick overview of their website’s performance on Google Search. This email is sent to your registered address and includes a link to view the full report in your Google Search Console dashboard.
The monthly report includes four sections:
Other times you might get an email from Google Search Console are when it detects issues on your site or when your site reaches a traffic milestone. You may also receive an email confirming the status of a fix after you’ve resolved an issue.
Google Search Console empowers you to make informed decisions about your website. The various tools and reports it offers can truly be a game changer for your online presence.
Regularly using its features allows you to monitor your site's health, identify issues, and ensure your website remains in great shape. This proactive approach can lead to better performance in search results, more traffic, and improved user engagement.
Just like regular check-ups are essential for maintaining good health, keeping an eye on your website with Google Search Console is vital for achieving the best results.