Google Search Console : An Ultimate Guide

What is Google Search Console?

Google search console is a free service provided by Google which gives webmasters access to a number of tools and reports for optimizing their websites on Google search. It is an updated version of what was previously known as Google Webmaster tools.

What can you do with Google Search Console?

You can use Google search console to optimize your website for technical SEO, understand what Google knows about your website and view historical data about your website’s performance on Google.

You can find below a breakdown of all Google search console functions by area.

Getting started with Google Search Console for SEO

As previously stated, the major objective of Google Search Console is to assist webmasters in analysing and optimising their websites’ performance in Google search results.

It can be confusing for newcomers using Google Search Console, so to make things easier, follow the 7 steps below to get started.

Step 1: Add your website and verify it

To begin using Google Search Console, you must first create a free account and add and validate your website.

You’ll get access to all of Google’s search console’s tools and reports after doing so.

Follow the steps outlined in this manual: Google Search Console should be added to your website.

Step 2: Create an XML Sitemap and submit it

The next step is to generate an XML sitemap and submit it to Google once your website has been confirmed.

A sitemap is an XML file that identifies all of the pages on a website that Google should be aware of and track for changes. A sitemap contains a page’s URL as well as information about when it was created and last updated.

Google can still find and index your website without a sitemap. Using a sitemap makes their job easier, and it also gives you the opportunity to provide them with additional information about your URLs.

Step 3: Look for and correct any crawling and indexing issues

The next step is to look for any indexing mistakes. If a page or a group of pages has a problem and isn’t in the Google index, they won’t show up in any searches.

As a registered user, you will get notified by Google search console for any errors but since you are starting out now, it’s recommended to go through all the reports to find and fix any errors.

Step 4: Examine the system for any security flaws or manual operations.

The next step is to do a fast check to ensure that your website is not penalised by Google and that no security vulnerabilities have been detected.

To do so, go to SECURITY & MANUAL ACTIONS and look at both reports.

If there are problems, Google will provide more information on how to solve them.

Step 5: Compare the performance of your Google Search before and after a Google upgrade.

Google’s ranking algorithm is continually changing, and it’s natural that your website may be influenced positively or negatively by these adjustments at some point.

Using the comparison option of the “Search Results” report to see which of your pages were affected and for which search queries is one approach to find out.

You determine when a significant Google update occurred and compare your search performance seven days before and after the upgrade.

Google’s search engine Compare and contrast performance reports.

Before and after a Google update, use GSC’s Compare function.

You can utilise the available filters to see whether there have been any changes in ranking position by page or even by keyword.

Step 6: Identify and improve pages with a poor click-through rate (CTR) (Click Through Rate)

The “Search Results Report” is one of the reports you may utilise to improve the ranking position of your pages while also increasing traffic to your site.

You can use the Average Position and Average CTR filters in particular to identify pages on your website with low CTR.

The click-through rate of your search snippets is measured by CTR. This figure represents the percentage of people who see your search listing (Total Impressions) and subsequently click the snippet (Total Clicks) to get to your website via Google Search.

Anything less than 3% is considered a low Click Through Rate.

This will immediately increase the amount of traffic to your website and, over time, enhance your ranking positions.

When changing titles or descriptions, keep track of when the change was made so you can compare performance before and after the change.

Don’t jump to conclusions; instead, make the necessary modifications and wait a few weeks before reviewing the results.

Report on Core Web Vitals

This was previously known as the “Performance Report,” and it provided webmasters with information on their site’s loading speed, including rankings for “Slow,” “Moderate,” and “Fast.” However, Google has subsequently upgraded this section of Search Console to provide more detailed information on a few key user experience metrics.

For pages across the domain property, the report measures LCP, FID, and CLS. These metrics are intended to provide webmasters and marketers with information on how their site performs in important user experience categories. In recent years, Google has pushed user experience as a key component of site design, incorporating ranking elements into its algorithm to reflect this.

Here’s what these results indicate:

“Largest Content Paint” stands for “Largest Content Paint.” Its purpose is to determine how long it takes for meaningful content to appear on a web page.

The “First Input Delay,” or FID, is the time it takes for a user to engage with a page.

CLS stands for “Cumulative Layout Shift,” a measurement of how much the page layout shifts during loading.

This allows organisations to examine metrics related to the loading speed of their website’s pages. The performance data is based on Google’s collection of real-world usage data.

Report on Mobile Usability

The Mobile Usability report in Google Search Console provides detailed information about your site’s mobile friendliness and potential mobile concerns. It generates a list of any pages that exhibit issues when accessed on a mobile phone.

Any pages mentioned under the “Error” tab may have flaws that prevent them from being mobile friendly; the rest can be categorised as “Valid.” This enables marketers and businesses to examine their site’s design and mobile setups to ensure that their consumers have the greatest mobile experience possible.

Sites that are mobile-friendly have a better chance of ranking higher in Google’s mobile search results.

Use Search Analytics to optimize your content

Google search console has a number of reports for analyzing how your website is performing in Google search.

You can view the actual keywords that drive Google organic traffic to your site and your rankings in Google search.

The reports have 16 months of historical data and a number of filters that allows you to compare your performance between different periods, view data by country, device or even type of search results (rich snippets, amp results, etc.).

• View the search keywords that caused your sites to show up in Google results (SERPS)
• View the keywords that brought you traffic from Google.

• Examine the position in which your pages appeared in Google for specific queries.

• Compare your website’s performance on Google over time.

• View the number of impressions and clicks your pages received from Google.

• Examine the data by country or device.

• Sort the results by type.

Submit your material to Google and check for indexing issues

The index coverage report is another useful component of the search console. You can use this report to identify and correct any crawling and indexing problems.

You can examine how many pages you have in the Google index and why some of them aren’t included.

In the event of an issue, you can use the URL Inspection tool to troubleshoot and locate the source of the problem, rectify it, and have Google verify the fix.

• Submit a sitemap to Google and see how many pages have been scanned and indexed.

• Find and repair issues with Google indexing.

When there’s an issue with your website, you’ll be contacted.

You might receive notifications for security issues or Google manual penalties if you register your website with Google Search Console.

If your website is infected with malware, for example, you will receive a notification detailing the problem and suggestions for how to resolve it.

After you’ve made the adjustments, you can utilise the security issues report to notify Google that you’ve taken corrective action.

• Get warned when your website has a security issue (malware, etc.)

• Find out if your website has been hit with a Google manual penalty and request a reconsideration.

Use the URL Inspection tool to examine your pages

The URL inspection tool is one of the most popular features of the Google search dashboard. This tool can be used to examine a URL and troubleshoot any issues.

This tool is really simple to use; simply enter your URL and Google will tell you everything they know about the page.

• Locate and resolve issues with schema markup and structured data.
• Keep track of how well your rich snippets are performing and make adjustments as needed.
• Check which of your website’s pages are included in Google’s index.