What Google Webmaster Tools can and cannot tell you | Lillian purge

What Google Webmaster Tools can and cannot tell you

From experience, Google Webmaster Tools, now known as Google Search Console, is one of the most misunderstood tools in SEO. I regularly work with business owners who check it daily, panic when numbers dip, celebrate when impressions spike, or assume it is telling them the full story about how their website is performing. In my opinion, this misunderstanding causes more stress and bad decisions than almost any other SEO tool.

Google Webmaster Tools is incredibly valuable, but it is also limited, delayed, sampled, and context-free. It shows signals, not certainty. It shows what Google is willing to show you, not everything Google knows. When you understand what it can tell you and what it absolutely cannot, it becomes one of the most useful diagnostic tools available. When you do not, it becomes a source of confusion and false conclusions.

This article explains what Google Webmaster Tools can and cannot tell you, how to read it properly, where people commonly misinterpret the data, and how to use it responsibly without letting it dictate emotional or strategic decisions. Everything here is based on hands-on SEO work, long-term performance analysis, and years of explaining Search Console to people who thought something was broken when it was not.

What Google Webmaster Tools actually is

The first thing I always clarify is what the tool is designed to do.

Google Webmaster Tools is not an analytics platform. It is not a ranking tracker. It is not a traffic forecasting tool. It is a communication interface between Google and your website.

From experience, its primary role is to show you how Google interacts with your site, not how users do. It tells you what Google has indexed, what it is encountering problems with, and a partial view of how your pages appear in search results.

In my opinion, treating it like a performance scoreboard is the root of most misunderstandings.

What the performance report really shows

The Performance report is the most used and most misread section.

It shows impressions, clicks, average position, and click-through rate based on Google search results. Importantly, this data is aggregated, delayed, and averaged.

From experience, people assume impressions mean interest, clicks mean success, and average position means ranking. None of these are strictly true without context.

Impressions simply mean your page was eligible to appear for a query. It does not mean it was seen, read, or considered.

Clicks show interaction, but not quality, intent, or outcome.

Average position is an average across all impressions, devices, locations, and variations. It is not where you rank for a specific keyword at a specific time.

What impressions can tell you

Impressions are useful when used correctly.

From experience, impressions help you understand visibility trends. If impressions are growing steadily over months, Google is expanding the range of queries it associates with your site.

This often happens before traffic increases, which is why impressions are an early indicator of SEO momentum.

Impressions can also show seasonal demand changes, content decay, or technical issues when viewed over time.

What impressions cannot tell you

Impressions do not tell you demand strength.

From experience, a drop in impressions does not always mean something is wrong. It may mean fewer people are searching for those terms due to seasonality or external events.

Impressions also do not tell you how competitive a query is, how visible you were on the page, or whether your result was buried below ads or features.

Assuming impressions equal opportunity leads to overreaction.

What clicks can tell you

Clicks tell you that your result was compelling enough to be selected.

From experience, changes in clicks often reflect changes in titles, descriptions, intent alignment, or SERP layout.

Clicks are useful for identifying which pages attract engagement and which ones underperform despite visibility.

When clicks rise faster than impressions, it often indicates improving relevance or messaging.

What clicks cannot tell you

Clicks do not tell you conversion value.

From experience, a page can generate many clicks and no enquiries, or few clicks and high-value leads.

Clicks do not indicate satisfaction. A user can click and immediately leave.

Clicks also do not tell you whether traffic was appropriate or misaligned.

Treating clicks as success without looking beyond them is a common mistake.

The truth about average position

Average position causes more confusion than almost any other metric.

From experience, people assume average position shows where they rank for a keyword. In reality, it is an average across every impression your page generated.

If your page appears at position 3 for one query and position 40 for another, the average might show as 21.5.

This does not mean you rank 21st for anything meaningful.

Average position is a trend indicator, not a ranking report.

Why average position fluctuates constantly

Average position is extremely sensitive.

From experience, small changes in query mix, location, device, or SERP features can shift the average dramatically without any actual ranking change.

Adding new content often lowers average position initially because it appears for new queries where it ranks lower.

This is a sign of growth, not decline, but many people misread it as failure.

What queries data can tell you

Query data shows the language Google associates with your pages.

From experience, this is one of the most valuable parts of Search Console when used properly.

It reveals how people phrase searches, what long-tail terms appear naturally, and how intent clusters form.

This data helps you refine content, improve clarity, and align messaging with real search behaviour.

What queries data cannot tell you

Query data is incomplete.

From experience, Google samples and anonymises queries, especially low-volume or sensitive ones. Many searches never appear at all.

You also cannot see individual user journeys or query sequences.

Query data shows patterns, not full conversations.

Page level performance insights

Page level data shows how individual URLs perform.

From experience, this is useful for spotting pages that are gaining visibility, losing relevance, or attracting unexpected queries.

It helps identify which content is being trusted more over time.

Page level trends matter more than single data points.

What page performance cannot explain

Page performance cannot explain why something changed.

From experience, Search Console does not tell you whether a ranking change was caused by competition, algorithm shifts, SERP changes, or demand variation.

It shows outcomes, not causes.

Assuming cause from Search Console alone leads to wrong fixes.

Indexing reports and what they really mean

The Indexing section causes unnecessary panic.

From experience, people see excluded pages or warnings and assume their site is broken.

In reality, many excluded pages are intentional, duplicates, redirects, or parameter variations that Google correctly ignores.

Indexing reports show how Google categorises URLs, not whether your site is healthy overall.

What indexing errors actually matter

Some errors do matter.

From experience, genuine errors include pages blocked unintentionally, important pages not indexed, or widespread server issues.

These issues tend to affect core pages, not edge cases.

The key is understanding impact, not reacting to volume.

What indexing reports cannot prioritise for you

Search Console does not tell you which errors matter most.

From experience, it lists issues without context or business impact.

Ten errors on low-value URLs may matter less than one error on a key page.

Human judgement is required.

Coverage reports are not SEO to-do lists

Many people treat coverage reports as task lists.

From experience, this leads to fixing things that do not need fixing while ignoring strategic issues.

Search Console highlights technical states, not optimisation priorities.

SEO decisions should be based on user impact, not just tool alerts.

Core Web Vitals and real-world performance

Core Web Vitals show performance data.

From experience, they reflect aggregated user experience over time, not lab tests.

They are useful for identifying systemic issues such as slow loading or layout shifts.

However, they are not precise diagnostics.

What Core Web Vitals can tell you

They can show whether users experience friction.

From experience, improvements here can support SEO indirectly by improving engagement and reducing abandonment.

They are particularly relevant for mobile users.

What Core Web Vitals cannot tell you

They do not tell you conversion impact.

From experience, perfect scores do not guarantee better rankings or leads.

They also lag behind changes, sometimes by weeks.

Optimising blindly for scores can distract from content quality.

Manual actions and security issues

Manual actions are serious but rare.

From experience, if you have one, Google tells you clearly.

Security issues such as hacking also appear explicitly.

These are the few areas where Search Console is definitive.

What Search Console does not show at all

This is critical.

Search Console does not show competitor data, algorithm updates, SERP layout changes, personalisation effects, or true rankings.

It does not show user satisfaction, conversion quality, or commercial outcomes.

It does not explain intent mismatches or brand perception.

It shows signals, not strategy.

Why people misdiagnose SEO issues using Search Console

From experience, people see numbers change and assume something broke.

SEO performance is influenced by demand, competition, behaviour, and context.

Search Console shows the symptom, not the cause.

Misdiagnosis leads to unnecessary changes.

How seasonality distorts Search Console data

Seasonality affects impressions and clicks heavily.

From experience, people panic when numbers drop in quiet seasons.

Comparing month to month without seasonal context produces false alarms.

Year-over-year comparisons are far more meaningful.

Why short-term data is unreliable

Search Console data is delayed and averaged.

From experience, daily or weekly changes are often noise.

SEO decisions based on short-term movement usually make things worse.

Long-term trends matter more.

The danger of obsessing over small drops

Small drops happen constantly.

From experience, reacting to every dip leads to constant tinkering and instability.

SEO needs time to settle.

Search Console should inform strategy, not dictate panic.

Using Search Console for diagnostics not validation

Search Console is best used diagnostically.

From experience, it helps confirm whether Google can access your site, whether pages are indexed, and whether visibility is expanding.

It should not be used to validate feelings or justify fear.

Data without interpretation is meaningless.

Combining Search Console with other tools

Search Console works best with context.

From experience, pairing it with analytics, CRM data, enquiry logs, and market knowledge produces insight.

Search Console alone cannot tell the full story.

SEO is multi-dimensional.

How AI search changes the role of Search Console

AI-driven search reduces transparency.

From experience, AI answers do not always generate clicks or impressions in traditional ways.

Search Console may show declining clicks while influence remains.

Understanding this shift prevents misinterpretation.

Why Search Console is intentionally limited

Google does not reveal everything intentionally.

From experience, Search Console shows enough to help webmasters maintain quality but not enough to reverse engineer the algorithm.

Expecting complete transparency leads to frustration.

Understanding its purpose leads to clarity.

What Search Console is excellent at

It is excellent at showing trends, identifying access issues, and revealing how Google interprets your content broadly.

From experience, it is invaluable for spotting growth early and detecting serious problems.

Used correctly, it builds confidence.

What Search Console is terrible at

It is terrible at explaining causes, predicting outcomes, and validating individual changes.

From experience, using it as a success meter creates anxiety.

It is a tool, not a judge.

How to read Search Console calmly

The best approach is calm observation.

From experience, review data monthly, not daily.

Look for patterns, not spikes.

Ask what changed in the real world, not just in the tool.

Teaching teams to interpret data responsibly

Teams often misuse data.

From experience, educating stakeholders on what Search Console can and cannot show prevents overreaction.

Clear expectations reduce unnecessary work.

When to take action based on Search Console

Take action when there is sustained decline, clear technical errors, or obvious misalignment.

From experience, ignore noise.

SEO rewards patience.

Final reflections from experience

From experience, Google Webmaster Tools is one of the most valuable SEO tools available when it is understood properly, and one of the most damaging when it is misunderstood.

In my opinion, the key is remembering that it shows signals, not certainty.

It can tell you how Google is interacting with your site, where visibility is expanding or contracting, and whether technical access exists.

It cannot tell you why a ranking changed, whether traffic was valuable, or whether your business is succeeding.

When you use Search Console as a compass rather than a verdict, it becomes empowering rather than stressful.

Good SEO decisions come from combining Search Console insights with human judgement, market understanding, and long-term thinking, and that is where its real value lies.