Sneha Jasrasaria Quick answer
Google Search Console is a free tool from Google that shows how your website performs in search: which searches show your pages, how many clicks you get, which pages are indexed and what technical problems exist. Verify your site, submit a sitemap and check the Performance and Pages reports monthly.
Key takeaways
- Search Console is free and comes straight from Google
- Performance shows real searches, clicks and positions
- Pages shows what is indexed and why some pages are not
- Use it to find pages close to page one
If you have a website, Google Search Console is the most useful free SEO tool you can use.
How to set it up
- Go to Google Search Console and add your site.
- Choose Domain property if you can (it covers all versions of your site).
- Verify ownership, usually with a DNS record from your domain provider, or a plugin on WordPress.
- Submit your sitemap, often yoursite.com/sitemap.xml or /wp-sitemap.xml.
The four reports that matter
1. Performance
Shows searches (queries), clicks, impressions, click-through rate and average position.
Useful checks:
- Which searches bring the most clicks?
- Which pages have many impressions but few clicks? Improve their titles.
- Which searches rank in positions 8 to 20? These are your quick wins.
2. Pages (indexing)
Shows which pages are indexed and why others are not. Common reasons include “Crawled, currently not indexed” (often thin content) and “Excluded by noindex” (check it is intended).
3. Core Web Vitals
Shows speed and stability problems from real users. See Core Web Vitals explained.
4. Links
Shows your top linked pages and which sites link to you.
A monthly 15-minute routine
- Performance: compare the last 28 days to the previous period.
- Note top five rising and falling pages.
- Find two pages in positions 8 to 20 and improve them.
- Check Pages for new errors.
Finding content ideas
Filter Performance by queries containing “how”, “what”, “cost” or “best”. These are questions people already ask about you. Turn them into posts using our blog post template.
Share access safely
Add your agency or developer as a user with the right permission level instead of sharing your Google password. Remove access when the work ends.
Pair it with Analytics
Search Console tells you how people find you. Google Analytics 4 tells you what they do after.