HOW TO USE GOOGLE SEARCH CONSOLE

At Lillian Purge, we specialise in Local SEO Services and have produced a practical walkthrough on How to Use Google Search Console to help you unlock insights, fix indexing issues and boost your SEO performance.

When I speak to business owners about understanding their website performance many of them tell me they have heard of Google Search Console but have no idea how to use it. In my opinion Search Console is one of the most powerful tools Google offers because it shows you exactly how your website appears in Google Search and how users interact with your pages before they even reach your site.

Google Search Console helps you uncover issues, monitor rankings, check search queries, measure click through rates and fix indexing problems. It gives you the truth about your SEO performance because it shows how Google sees your website not just how visitors behave after they arrive.

Below is a clear step by step guide that explains exactly how to use Google Search Console for your business.

Step 1: Set up your Google Search Console account

If you have never used Search Console before the first step is to set it up.

  1. Go to Google Search Console and sign in with your Google account.

  2. Click Add Property.

  3. Choose Domain if you want full reporting across all versions of your site (www, non www, http, https).

  4. Choose URL Prefix if you want to verify a single version such as https://www.yourwebsite.co.uk.

  5. Verify your ownership. The easiest method is using DNS verification, although HTML file upload and tag verification are also available.

  6. Once verified Google begins collecting data. It usually takes 24 to 48 hours for the first results to appear.

Once your property is verified you can begin exploring the reports.

Step 2: Understand the Search Performance Report

The Performance report is where most of the valuable SEO insights live. This is the report I check most often because it shows exactly how your website appears in Google Search.

Inside the Performance report you will see four key metrics.

Total clicks

How many times people clicked on your website from Google.

Total impressions

How many times your website appeared in search results even if users did not click.

Average click through rate (CTR)

The percentage of impressions that resulted in clicks. Low CTR can mean weak titles or descriptions.

Average position

Your average ranking position across all queries your pages appear for.

You can filter this report by:

  • queries

  • pages

  • countries

  • devices

  • date ranges

In my opinion this report is the closest thing to understanding how visible your business really is.

Step 3: See which keywords your website ranks for

The Queries tab in the Performance report shows the exact phrases people typed into Google before clicking your website.

This helps you answer important questions:

  • What keywords are driving traffic?

  • Are you appearing for the searches you want?

  • Are your impressions growing?

  • Are your rankings improving or dropping?

I always tell clients to sort queries by impressions. High impressions with low clicks usually mean your titles need improvement.

Step 4: Check which pages get the most search traffic

The Pages tab shows which of your pages receive the most clicks from Google. This helps you understand:

  • your strongest performing content

  • which pages Google trusts

  • which service pages need improvement

  • which blog posts are generating organic interest

If an important service page receives very few clicks or impressions, that page likely needs stronger SEO or better internal linking.

Step 5: Analyse click through rates (CTR)

CTR shows how persuasive your titles and meta descriptions are. A low CTR does not mean your ranking is bad. It often means your search snippet is not appealing enough.

To improve CTR:

  • rewrite your page titles to be clearer and more compelling

  • ensure your meta descriptions give a simple benefit or problem solution

  • include the location if you target local customers

In my opinion improving CTR is one of the fastest wins in SEO because you can increase traffic without improving rankings.

Step 6: Check your indexing status

Go to Indexing in the left menu. The Pages report shows:

  • how many URLs are indexed

  • which URLs Google has excluded

  • why certain pages are not indexed

Common reasons Google may exclude pages:

  • crawl budget limitations

  • duplicate content

  • redirects

  • noindex tags

  • thin content

If important pages show as “not indexed” that is a clear warning sign your SEO may be underperforming.

Whenever I help a business diagnose ranking issues this is one of the first places I look.

Step 7: Request indexing for new or updated pages

Search Console lets you manually request indexing when you publish something new or update a page.

  1. Go to the top bar

  2. Paste your URL into the inspection box

  3. Press enter

  4. If the page is not indexed click Request Indexing

Google will queue it for crawling. This does not guarantee instant indexing but it speeds up the process significantly.

This is especially useful when:

  • launching new service pages

  • adding location pages

  • updating important content

  • fixing SEO issues

If your site is slow to index content, I recommend using this often.

Step 8: Monitor mobile usability

Search Console includes mobile experience reporting. Google heavily prioritises mobile friendly websites, especially for local businesses.

Check for:

  • clickable elements too close together

  • text too small

  • content wider than the screen

  • slow loading speed

Any mobile usability errors should be fixed immediately because they can hurt your rankings.

Step 9: Review technical issues in the Page Experience and Core Web Vitals sections

Google evaluates user experience in three key areas:

  • loading speed

  • interactivity

  • visual stability

Search Console shows whether your pages pass or fail Core Web Vitals. If your site fails these tests it usually means slow performance, layout shifts or delayed loading.

For local businesses this is important because Core Web Vitals directly influence your visibility in competitive local searches.

Step 10: Check backlinks using the Links report

The Links section shows:

  • which websites link to you

  • which pages receive the most links

  • which anchor text is most common

Backlinks are one of the strongest ranking signals. When I check backlinks in Search Console I look for:

  • quality sites linking to your content

  • irrelevant or spammy links

  • opportunities to strengthen pages with weak backlink profiles

This report gives you a snapshot of your site’s authority.

Step 11: Use the URL inspection tool to diagnose SEO issues

The URL inspection tool allows you to see how Google views a specific page.

You can check:

  • if Google can crawl it

  • if it is indexed

  • what canonical URL Google chose

  • if mobile usability is acceptable

  • if structured data is detected

This tool is essential when you are troubleshooting ranking drops or indexing problems.

Step 12: Monitor coverage warnings and fix them quickly

Search Console will notify you of:

  • server errors

  • broken redirects

  • soft 404 pages

  • pages blocked by robots.txt

  • pages marked as noindex

In my opinion fixing these quickly preserves your overall site health and prevents ranking losses.

Step 13: Use performance comparison to measure SEO progress

Search Console allows you to compare:

  • this month vs last month

  • this year vs last year

  • mobile vs desktop

  • different countries

  • different queries or pages

This helps you see:

  • ranking improvements

  • seasonal patterns

  • whether your SEO work is paying off

  • whether new content is gaining traction

I do this for every client at least once a month.

Step 14: Use Search Console for content planning

One of the best ways to generate new content ideas is to look at:

  • queries you rank for in positions 8 to 20

  • queries where impressions are high but clicks are low

  • pages that show rising search demand

  • topics that Google already associates with your site

In my opinion this makes content planning data driven rather than random.

Step 15: Connect Search Console with Google Analytics

When you connect both tools you gain:

  • keyword data inside Analytics

  • landing page performance matched with search impressions

  • better SEO reporting

  • clearer understanding of behaviour after the click

This gives you a full picture from search query all the way through to conversion.

Bringing Everything Together

When I look at everything Google Search Console offers I genuinely believe it is one of the most powerful free tools available to any business that cares about SEO. It shows you exactly how Google sees your website and it tells you which keywords you appear for and how often people choose your site.

In my opinion if you want to grow your organic presence, improve your visibility in the local map pack or diagnose why your website is not getting enquiries, Search Console should be the first tool you learn properly. It gives you the truth behind your rankings and shows you what to fix and what to focus on next.

We have also written in depth articles on What is Google Search Console? and Do I Need Google Search Console? as well as our Google Search Console Hub to give you further guidance.