Introduction
Search Console is a tool that displays a website’s performance on Google.
It allows you to see which pages Google is indexing and identify any technical issues that may be affecting your website’s functionality.
To start, Google Search Console has no bearing on rankings.
A website without a search console can still have a ton of content that ranks highly.
Furthermore, Search Console and Google Analytics are not the same.
The Google Search Console is an incredibly useful tool for anyone involved in marketing, SEO, or running a business.
It’s fairly user-friendly, though, once you’ve had a chance to get to know it.
First things first, for those who are unfamiliar with Google Search Console, let’s define it.
Website owners, SEO experts, and marketing teams can use Google Search Console, a free tool that provides insights into site performance, user engagement, and problem identification.
Setting up a new Google Search Console property
The first screen you’ll see when you launch Google Search Console while logged into your Google account is one that displays your property type’s options for prefixing either a domain or URL.
To add a new property, use the Google Search Console menu.
Since the domain option includes all of your site’s pages and subdomains, you should usually choose it.
Nevertheless, you should make use of the URL prefix option if you wish to monitor the effectiveness of a particular area of your website, like a section with educational materials.
Select a domain property.
If you’re using the domain option, click Proceed after entering your URL into the box.
After that, a screen arrives with a TXT code that you need to enter into the DNS settings for your website.
To quickly return to this screen after finishing, use a different browser tab or window.
Instructions for using a DNS record to validate a domain are displayed on the Google Search Console screen.
You just need to click the Verify button shown above after copying the TXT record into your site’s DNS settings.
When your ownership has been confirmed, you should receive a notification.
That being said, don’t freak out if you receive a notification stating that your verification failed.
This is a very common problem because it takes some time for DNS changes to take effect.
Providing the URL prefix property
You can verify using an HTML file, HTML tag, domain name provider, Google Analytics, or Google Tag Manager if you choose to use the URL Prefix option.
The Google Search Console options list for confirming site ownership for a URL prefix property.
Regardless of which option you choose, clicking on it will provide you with instructions on how to proceed.
Google suggests using the HTML file option.
You might find it easier to use Tag Manager or Google Analytics if you already use them.
The procedure is basically the same as going through the domain property verification process if you select the domain name provider option.
The steps are almost the same as if you go with the domain property verification option.
Once your site is verified with Search Console, it will remain verified for as long as Google is able to validate your verification token, regardless of the method you choose for verification.
Don’t delete the HTML file or verification code that Google supplied from your website after you’ve finished this procedure.
In such a case, if you wish to keep using Google Search Console, you will have to re-verify your website.
Linking Google Analytics and the Search Console
The differences between Search Console and Google Analytics were briefly discussed earlier.
It might be a good idea to link these two accounts, even though they are separate programs.
After you do this, you will be able to view the queries and Google Organic Search Traffic reports in Analytics.
Using the additional reports in Analytics, you can customize the order of your metrics dimensions and the way your data is visualized, which is one of the advantages of connecting your accounts.
Use the seven distinct metrics in Analytics to further your data.
When you see the Google Analytics property for your website, select the Admin Gear button to link your accounts.
All data activities can be accessed.
After using Search Console to validate your website, you should consider who should have access to your Search Console account and what they can do while logged in.
Since a wide range of users frequently access Search Console properties, it’s critical to ensure that everyone who requires access can do their tasks while minimizing the possibility that unauthorized changes will be made.
Owners and users are Search Console’s two primary user categories.
Data in a Search Console property is fully under the owner’s control.
In addition to working with tools, viewing data, and adding and removing other users, they can also modify settings.
While a user with user-level access can view data, they are not granted the same freedoms as owners to add individuals or perform other actions.
Using the Search Console
So let’s get started looking at the information that Search Console offers.
When you access a Search Console property, the first screen you see is an overview screen where you can quickly review your key performance indicators, such as the total number of clicks from search results.
The number of indexed and non-indexed pages, potential issues with page experience, and a look at site enhancements based on structured data.
URL inspection
The next option under Overview is URL Inspection if we continue to navigate through the menu on the left side of the screen.
You can use this link to see whether Google is indexing a particular page on your website.
If you run this test, the desired outcome should be something like the screenshot below, where you see a green check mark and a message informing you that your URL is on Google.
This simply indicates that Google can display the URL in search results; it does not imply that it is ranking for any keywords.
The live URL is not available, but Google’s most recent crawl of the page provides the data for URL inspection reports.
Pressing the Request Indexing button will cause Google to crawl a page that you have recently made changes to once more.
Just keep in mind that you can only ask for indexing for 15–20 URLs in a 24-hour period, so make sure to only submit one request for indexing per URL each day.
Re-indexing your page could take some time, so making several requests for the same URL in one day won’t make it happen more quickly.
Performance search results
You can learn a lot about how well your website is performing on Google through the Search Results report.
You can see average positions in search results, the number of clicks your pages receive from search results, and the impressions your pages receive.
You can also view data about particular pages or page categories, the devices people use to search, and the countries from which your search traffic originates.
Examining which pages receive rich search results is another way to use the search appearance filter.
A variety of rich results, such as videos, merchant listings, event listings, review snippets, and job postings, may be included in the Search Appearance filter for your website.
A category for pages that adhere to Google’s guidelines for a positive page experience may also be visible in the Search Appearance filter, although the majority of results it displays are determined by structured data on your website.
Indexing pages
You can see how many pages are indexed, how many aren’t, and the reasons behind their non-indexation.
Pages that aren’t indexed are extremely common on websites, and having unindexed pages isn’t always a bad thing.
According to Google, duplicate or alternative versions of pages should not be indexed; only canonical pages should be.
Pages that have been redirected to an alternate URL will appear as not indexed.
It’s still worthwhile to investigate any noticeable decreases in the number of pages being indexed to see if there are any issues that can be fixed.
Look for problems where the website is mentioned as the source to find out why pages aren’t being indexed.
This indicates that the issue is not with Google but rather with the website itself.
To inform Google that you have resolved an issue on your website, just click on the reason you addressed it and request that Google validate your solution.
Sitemap
Sitemaps are submissions that provide web crawlers and search engines with information about the types of content available on your website and how it is structured.
Metadata can contain information about your website, including images and video content, as well as how frequently your site is updated.
By providing them with the information they need to perform their duties more effectively, you are facilitating Google’s work by submitting your sitemap to the Google Search Console.
It is not required, and not submitting a sitemap will not result in any penalties for your website.
But if your website is new and doesn’t yet have a lot of backlinks, or if you have a very large website, it’s a good idea to submit one.
Removal URL
The Search Console’s Removals option can be useful if you need to quickly take a page from your website out of Google search results. The goal is not to remove a page from search results.
Removing a page from search results only lasts for approximately six months. In order to make the removal permanent, you’ll need to take additional actions.
This tool provides website owners with just enough time to either update the page’s content or take action to permanently remove it.
Not to mention, Google provides a list of situations in which you shouldn’t use the removal tool.
To request that a URL be removed from the search results, simply choose Removals from the menu on the left and click the New Request button.
Then, you can choose to temporarily delete a URL or delete the cached URL.
If you select the option to temporarily remove the URL, it will clear the URL’s cache and search snippet, as well as remove it from search results for approximately half a year.
When the Clear Cached URL option is selected, the cached version and snippet will be removed from the search results until the site is crawled again.
Page experience
The Experience section of Search Console focuses on technical elements that can impact how users interact with a website, like your primary web vitals, mobile device problems, and HTTPS usage.
If you notice that issues have been identified in the page experience overview, you can click on the problem type to find out more information and the URLs that are affected.
In the screencap below, selecting the Core Web Vitals box would direct me to a report outlining the precise kinds of core web vitals that require attention.
I could then click on a specific issue to see which URLs had the problem.
Enhancements
Product listings, event listings, corporate logos, and other types of information can all be made to look better in search results on a website by using structured data.
If your website uses structured data in any way, the Enhancements report can help you ensure that it has been applied correctly.
The types of schema that are being used on your site will determine which options are displayed to you in Search Console’s Enhancements section.
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