What is Google Search Console?
Google Search Console is a free tool from Google that helps you understand how your website appears in Google Search.
It can show you which searches are bringing people to your website, how often your pages appear in search results and which pages Google has indexed. It can also highlight problems that could stop your pages from appearing in search.
For a small business, it’s a useful way to see how your website is performing in Google and spot potential issues without needing specialist SEO tools.
Google Search Console and Google Analytics serve different purposes. Search Console focuses on what happens in Google Search, while Google Analytics can show you what visitors do after they arrive on your website.
Why should you use Google Search Console?
If your website helps you attract customers, Google Search Console can give you useful insights into how people find you through Google.
For example, you can use it to:
☐ See how often your website appears in Google Search
☐ Find out which searches are bringing people to your website
☐ See which pages are getting clicks from search results
☐ Check whether Google has indexed your important pages
☐ Find potential problems that could affect your visibility in search
☐ See which websites link to your pages
☐ Check for security issues or manual actions from Google
You don’t need to check Search Console every day or understand every report. For most small businesses, checking the key reports periodically is enough to spot changes and identify areas worth investigating.
See also: Local SEO in 10 – How Do I Get My Business Found Online?
How to set up Google Search Console
To get started, you’ll need a Google account and access to the website or domain you want to monitor.
Add your website
Sign in to Google Search Console and add your website as a property. You can choose between a Domain property and a URL-prefix property.
A Domain property covers your entire domain, including different protocols and subdomains. For example, adding example.com can cover both https://example.com and https://www.example.com, as well as any subdomains.
A URL-prefix property covers URLs that begin with a specific address, such as https://example.com/.
For most businesses, a Domain property is a good choice if you have access to your domain’s DNS settings.
Verify your website
Google needs to verify that you own or manage the website before it can show you its data.
The verification method depends on the type of property you add. Domain properties are verified through your domain’s DNS settings, while URL-prefix properties offer several verification methods, including adding an HTML file or meta tag to your website.
If your domain is registered with 123 Reg, you can add the required DNS record through your 123 Reg control panel.
Submit your sitemap
Once you’ve verified your website, you can submit your XML sitemap through Search Console. A sitemap gives Google a list of URLs that you want it to discover and can help Google understand the structure of your website.
Submitting a sitemap doesn’t guarantee that every URL will appear in Google Search, but it can help Google discover your important pages.
If your website uses a CMS such as WordPress, your sitemap may already have been created for you. You can usually find it at an address such as example.com/sitemap.xml or through your SEO plugin.
After setting up Search Console, it can take some time for enough data to appear. Once your website has started collecting data, you can use Search Console to see how people are finding you and check that Google can access your important pages.
How to use Google Search Console
You don’t need to use every feature in Search Console to get value from it. For a small business, there are a few areas worth checking regularly.
Check your Google Search performance
The Performance report shows how your website is performing in Google Search. Among other things, you can see how many clicks your pages received, how often they appeared in search results and which searches triggered those appearances.
The main metrics are:
☐ Clicks: How many times someone clicked a result for your website
☐ Impressions: How many times a page from your website appeared in search results
☐ Click-through rate (CTR): The percentage of impressions that resulted in a click
☐ Average position: The average position of your website’s results for the searches recorded
You can also break this data down by search query, page, country and device.
This can reveal useful opportunities. For example, a page that receives lots of impressions but relatively few clicks could be worth reviewing. You might find that its title or description could better match what people are searching for.
Check that your pages are being indexed
For your pages to appear in Google’s organic search results, Google needs to be able to discover and index them.
The Page Indexing report shows which pages Google has indexed and which it hasn’t. If an important page isn’t indexed, the report can help you investigate why.
You can also use URL Inspection to check an individual page. Enter a URL and Search Console can show information about Google’s ability to access and index it.
Check for problems
Search Console can also help you identify issues that could affect your website in Google Search.
For example, the Page Indexing report may highlight pages that Google couldn’t index. Search Console also has reports for Core Web Vitals, manual actions and security issues.
You don’t need to understand every technical issue yourself. If Search Console flags a problem with an important page, it’s worth investigating or asking whoever manages your website to take a closer look.
Check your links
The Links report shows some of the websites that link to your site, as well as the pages on your own website that receive the most links.
Links from other websites can help Google discover your content and can be a useful signal of your site’s authority. However, you don’t need to worry about every low-quality or unfamiliar website that happens to link to you.
For a small business, the report can be particularly useful for understanding which of your pages attract links and discovering websites that already mention your business.
For more, check out: The A–Z Guide to Essential SEO Terms
How often should you check Google Search Console?
You don’t need to spend hours in Google Search Console every week. For most small businesses, checking it around once a month is a good starting point.
When you check it, look at:
☐ Your clicks and impressions in the Performance report
☐ The searches and pages bringing people to your website
☐ Your indexed pages and any unexpected indexing issues
☐ Core Web Vitals and other important issues
☐ Any messages about manual actions or security problems
It’s also worth checking Search Console when you launch a new website, publish important new pages or make significant changes to your site.
Google Search Console: the essentials
Google Search Console doesn’t need to be complicated. For a small business, its main purpose is to help you understand how your website is appearing in Google and identify anything that might prevent important pages from being found.
Start by setting up your website, verifying ownership and submitting your sitemap. Then use the Performance and Page Indexing reports to keep an eye on how your site is performing and whether Google can find your important pages.
You don’t need to become an SEO expert to make use of the information Search Console provides. A little regular monitoring can help you spot opportunities, catch problems and make more informed decisions about your website.
See also: Google Business Profile – Get Found Locally, on Maps and in Search
