A laptop displaying the Google Search Console interface

Google Search Console (GSC) is a free tool that helps you monitor your website’s performance in search results, identify technical issues, and optimize for better rankings. 

This guide will walk you through the key steps:

  • Setting Up Your Account
    We’ll guide you through the simple process of adding your website to GSC and verifying ownership.
  • Exploring Key Features
    Discover the power of GSC’s reports, including performance data, URL inspection tools, index coverage reports, and Core Web Vitals analysis.
  • Optimizing for Success
    Learn how to leverage the insights gained from GSC to refine your SEO strategy, improve user experience, and achieve top search rankings.

Step 1: Create and Verify Your Google Search Console Account

  1. Sign in to GSC
    Go to the Google Search Console website and sign in using your Google account.
  2. Add Your Website
    Choose between the Domain Property (covers all subdomains and protocols) or URL Prefix Property (specific to one URL version).
  3. Verify Ownership using one of these methods
  • DNS Verification: Add a TXT record to your domain’s DNS settings.
  • HTML Tag: Copy the meta tag provided by GSC and paste it into the <head> section of your homepage.
  • Google Analytics or Tag Manager: If already installed, these can be used for verification.
  1. Submit a Sitemap
    Navigate to the “Sitemaps” section, enter your sitemap URL (e.g., https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml), and click “Submit.”

Step 2: Explore Key Features

  1. Performance Report
  • Access data on clicks, impressions, CTR, and average position for your site.
  • Filter by queries, pages, countries, or devices to identify trends.
  1. URL Inspection Tool
  • Check how Google indexes specific URLs and fix issues like errors or missing rich results.
  1. Index Coverage Report
  • Review which pages are indexed or excluded and address errors like 404s or crawl issues.
  1. Core Web Vitals
  • Analyze metrics like page speed and interactivity to improve user experience.

Step 3: Optimize Regularly

  • Use insights from GSC to refine your SEO strategy by focusing on high-performing keywords, fixing technical issues, and improving underperforming pages

To find out more