WHAT IS GOOGLE SEARCH CONSOLE?

At Lillian Purge, we specialise in Local SEO Services and offer a beginner-friendly overview of What is Google Search Console? so you can understand the platform’s value for maintaining and growing your online visibility.

Google Search Console is a free tool from Google that helps website owners, marketers, and SEO professionals monitor how their site performs in Google Search results. It provides valuable insights into how Google views your website, which keywords drive visitors, and what technical issues might prevent your pages from appearing in search results.

Whether you manage a small business website or a large eCommerce store, Google Search Console (GSC) is essential for understanding your search performance and improving SEO visibility.

Why Google Search Console Exists

Google’s mission is to deliver the most relevant and useful information to users. For your website to appear in those results, Google must be able to crawl, index, and understand your pages. Search Console acts as the bridge between your website and Google, giving you clear information about how Googlebot interacts with your site and alerting you to problems that could affect ranking.

What Google Search Console Does

Google Search Console provides a wide range of features designed to help you measure, maintain, and troubleshoot your website’s search performance.

1. Performance Reports

One of the most useful parts of GSC is the Performance Report. It shows how often your site appears in search results, how many clicks you receive, and the average position of your pages. You can view data by queries, pages, countries, or devices, and filter it over custom date ranges.

Metrics include:

• Impressions: The number of times your page appeared in search results.

• Clicks: How many users clicked through to your site.

• CTR (Click-Through Rate): The percentage of impressions that turned into clicks.

• Average Position: The average ranking of your page for specific keywords.

Analysing these metrics helps you understand which keywords drive the most traffic, which pages perform best, and where optimisation is needed.

2. Index Coverage

This report tells you which pages Google has successfully indexed and which ones have issues. Errors may include pages blocked by robots.txt, excluded because of redirects, or marked as “noindex.” Keeping your index coverage healthy ensures Google can access and rank your content effectively.

3. URL Inspection Tool

This tool allows you to inspect a specific page and see how Google views it. You can check when it was last crawled, whether it’s indexed, and if any errors are present. It’s also used to request re-indexing after you update or fix a page, helping you speed up the visibility of your changes in search results.

4. Sitemaps

Submitting a sitemap through GSC helps Google find and index your pages more efficiently. A sitemap acts as a roadmap of your site structure, ensuring all important URLs are discoverable. It’s particularly useful for large sites, new websites, or those with complex navigation.

5. Mobile Usability

Mobile performance is critical for SEO. This section reports issues affecting user experience on mobile devices, such as text being too small, clickable elements being too close, or content wider than the screen. Since Google uses mobile-first indexing, resolving these issues helps protect your rankings.

6. Core Web Vitals

Core Web Vitals measure the loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability of your pages. GSC highlights where pages perform poorly so you can improve user experience and align with Google’s ranking criteria.

7. Security and Manual Actions

If Google detects security issues like malware or spam, or if your site violates its quality guidelines, you’ll receive a warning under this section. It’s essential to monitor this area regularly because unresolved issues can cause your site to drop out of search results entirely.

8. Links Report

The Links section shows which external websites link to your pages (backlinks) and which internal links you use across your own site. Backlinks are a major SEO ranking factor, and understanding them helps identify which sources drive authority to your domain.

Why Google Search Console is Important for SEO

Search Console is more than just a technical monitoring tool it’s a central part of every SEO strategy. It helps you identify both opportunities and problems that affect your visibility in Google Search.

Here’s how it supports SEO directly:

• Keyword optimisation: You can see which search queries your site appears for, allowing you to refine content for better targeting.

• Technical SEO: Detect crawl errors, broken pages, and indexing issues that prevent search engines from accessing your site.

• Content strategy: Measure which pages attract the most impressions and clicks to understand what your audience values most.

• Performance tracking: Monitor how your position changes over time for target keywords.

• User experience improvements: Fix mobile and Core Web Vitals issues to enhance engagement and retention.

Who Should Use Google Search Console

GSC is beneficial for anyone managing a website.

• Small business owners: To track local SEO visibility and ensure their business website is properly indexed.

• Digital marketers and SEO specialists: To analyse keyword performance, improve ranking signals, and fix site issues.

• Web developers: To identify technical barriers preventing Google from crawling or indexing the site.

• Content creators: To see how their articles perform and what topics attract organic clicks.

How to Set Up Google Search Console

Getting started with GSC is straightforward:

1. Visit Google Search Console and sign in with your Google account.

2. Add your website as a new property. You can verify it either by domain (which covers all URLs under the domain) or by URL prefix (for specific sections).

3. Verify ownership using one of Google’s methods, such as DNS verification, HTML tag, or Google Analytics.

4. Once verified, Google will start collecting data.

It usually takes a few days for data to appear, but you can begin submitting sitemaps and checking index coverage right away.

Common Issues Found in Google Search Console

Many businesses discover technical issues only after reviewing their Search Console data. Some common ones include:

• Pages blocked by robots.txt or canonical errors

• Mobile usability issues

• Duplicate title tags and meta descriptions

• Slow-loading pages flagged under Core Web Vitals

• Broken links or missing redirects

Regularly checking for and fixing these problems ensures your site stays healthy and continues to rank well.

How to Use GSC Insights to Improve SEO

1. Find low-hanging opportunities: Look for pages ranking between positions 8–20 and update their content to move them up the rankings.

2. Identify high-performing keywords: Focus on the search queries that bring in the most impressions but have room to improve CTR.

3. Fix technical errors quickly: The faster you resolve crawl or indexing issues, the better your site performs in search results.

4. Analyse seasonal trends: Use the date filters to compare traffic across months or years to understand how search behaviour changes.

5. Enhance internal linking: Use the Links report to strengthen authority between important pages.

The Connection Between Google Search Console and Google Analytics

While Google Analytics focuses on user behaviour after a visitor reaches your site, Google Search Console focuses on how users find your site in the first place. Integrating the two tools provides a full picture of your SEO performance from search impressions to conversions.

Together, they help you answer questions like:

• Which search terms drive the most profitable traffic?

• How do search positions correlate with engagement or sales?

• Are there content pages attracting lots of impressions but few clicks?

This combined data helps you refine your content strategy and improve your ROI.

Expert Tips for Using Google Search Console Effectively

Google Search Console (GSC) is one of the most valuable tools for monitoring and improving your website’s SEO performance. It helps you understand how Google sees your site, track keyword rankings, and detect issues that may affect indexing and visibility. However, many businesses only use it occasionally instead of making it part of their regular optimisation routine. By using Search Console consistently and strategically, you can uncover opportunities, prevent errors, and strengthen your online presence. Here are several expert tips to help you get the most out of Google Search Console.

Check Your Reports Weekly to Stay Ahead of Issues

Search Console provides real-time insights into how your website is performing in search. Reviewing your reports weekly allows you to identify and fix issues before they affect your rankings. Start by looking at the Performance report, which shows clicks, impressions, click-through rate (CTR), and average position for your pages.

If you notice a sudden drop in clicks or impressions, investigate whether it coincides with technical errors, algorithm updates, or changes in your content. Check for spikes in coverage issues such as “Crawled currently not indexed” or “Server error (5xx).” These reports help you catch potential problems early, keeping your site healthy and visible. Regular reviews also allow you to spot growth opportunities, such as rising keywords or high-performing pages that could benefit from additional optimisation.

Use Annotations to Track SEO Changes

One of the most effective but underused strategies in SEO tracking is recording your updates. Use annotations in your analytics tools (or keep an external log) to track important SEO activities such as content refreshes, backlink additions, site migrations, or technical fixes.

When performance metrics fluctuate, having these records allows you to identify whether the change was caused by a specific action you took or by external factors like algorithm updates. For example, if your traffic spikes two weeks after optimising meta descriptions or adding new backlinks, you can attribute the growth to that effort. Tracking these details helps refine your strategy over time and provides a clear link between actions and outcomes.

Regularly Submit Updated Sitemaps

Your sitemap is a crucial file that guides Google’s crawlers through your site structure. Whenever you add new sections, categories, or products, update your sitemap and resubmit it through Search Console. This ensures Google is aware of your new content and can index it quickly.

To submit your sitemap, go to the “Sitemaps” section in Search Console, enter the URL of your updated file, and click “Submit.” It’s good practice to review your sitemap at least once a month to remove outdated URLs and ensure that it accurately reflects your live website.

For larger eCommerce or content-heavy sites, consider using dynamic sitemaps that automatically update whenever new pages are added. This saves time and reduces the risk of missing critical pages during indexing.

Set Up Email Alerts for Indexing or Security Problems

Google Search Console allows you to receive automatic email alerts for critical issues such as indexing errors, manual actions, or security warnings. Enabling these notifications means you’ll be the first to know if Google encounters a problem with your site.

For example, if your pages suddenly become unindexable due to a robots.txt error or if malware is detected, you’ll receive an immediate notification. Acting quickly on these alerts can prevent ranking losses and protect your website’s reputation. Make sure that notifications are sent to an actively monitored inbox, especially if multiple people manage your website.

Additionally, review the Security & Manual Actions section regularly to ensure your site hasn’t been flagged for violations such as spammy content, unnatural links, or policy breaches. These alerts are rare for reputable sites but can cause significant ranking issues if ignored.

Export Performance Data Monthly to Track Trends

While Search Console stores 16 months of performance data, exporting it monthly allows you to maintain long-term records and analyse trends over several years. Export data for metrics such as impressions, clicks, CTR, and average position, along with your top-performing pages and queries.

Tracking this information in spreadsheets or visual dashboards helps you identify seasonal fluctuations, emerging keywords, and long-term progress. For example, you might notice that certain products perform better during specific months or that your click-through rates improve after adjusting meta descriptions.

Use this exported data to compare performance before and after major website updates, advertising campaigns, or SEO initiatives. Over time, you’ll gain valuable insights into what consistently drives growth.

Analyse Query Reports for Keyword Opportunities

The Queries tab in the Performance report is a goldmine for discovering how users find your website. Review which search terms generate impressions but few clicks. These keywords indicate where you already have visibility but may need stronger titles or descriptions to attract clicks.

You can also identify related search queries that could inspire new content ideas. If you notice users frequently searching for specific phrases within your niche, consider creating dedicated pages or blog posts that target those topics.

By continuously reviewing and refining your keyword strategy, you can expand your reach and strengthen your rankings for both existing and new search terms.

Monitor Core Web Vitals and Mobile Usability

User experience is now a ranking factor, and Google evaluates this through Core Web Vitals. In Search Console, review the Experience report to track metrics such as page load speed, interactivity, and visual stability. Slow or unstable pages can harm both user engagement and rankings.

Similarly, check the Mobile Usability report to ensure your website is mobile-friendly. Since most searches now occur on mobile devices, fixing errors such as text that’s too small or elements that overlap is essential for maintaining strong visibility.

Conclusion

Google Search Console is one of the most powerful and accessible SEO tools available. It gives you the insights needed to diagnose problems, refine strategy, and measure progress. From understanding keyword performance to monitoring technical health, it provides everything you need to maintain strong search visibility.

Businesses that actively use GSC not only catch issues early but also uncover valuable opportunities to grow their organic reach and conversions.

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