Google Search Console provides direct insight into how Google sees your website. No other tool offers this level of access to indexing status, search performance data, and technical health information directly from Google’s systems.
Every site serious about SEO needs Search Console configured and monitored. The data it provides guides technical fixes, content strategy, and performance optimization. Without it, you’re making decisions based on incomplete information while your competitors access the full picture.
Setting Up Search Console
Property setup begins with verifying site ownership. Google offers multiple verification methods to accommodate different technical situations.
DNS verification adds a TXT record to your domain’s DNS configuration. This method verifies the entire domain at once, including all subdomains and protocols.
HTML file upload places a specific file in your site’s root directory. This works well for sites where you control hosting but not DNS.
HTML tag adds a meta tag to your homepage’s head section. Quick and easy for sites with CMS access.
Google Analytics leverages existing GA tracking code for verification if the same Google account manages both.
Google Tag Manager works similarly, using existing GTM container code for verification.
Domain properties versus URL-prefix properties matter for comprehensive data. Domain properties (verified via DNS) aggregate data across www and non-www versions, HTTP and HTTPS, and all subdomains. URL-prefix properties capture data only for the specific protocol and subdomain configured.
| Property Type | Data Scope | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Domain property | All protocols and subdomains | Most sites |
| URL-prefix | Specific protocol and subdomain only | Sites needing segmented data |
Nashville businesses should set up domain-level properties to capture complete data regardless of how users access their sites.
Performance Report
The Performance report reveals how your site appears in search results and how users interact with those appearances.
Queries shows which searches triggered impressions for your pages. This data reveals actual user search behavior rather than hypothetical keyword research projections. Examine queries to understand what users seek and how well your pages satisfy their needs.
Pages shows which URLs received impressions and clicks. Identify top performers and underperformers. Pages receiving impressions but few clicks may have title or description issues. Pages receiving clicks but limited impressions may have ranking potential worth developing.
Countries segments data geographically. Local businesses can verify traffic comes from target regions. International sites can assess performance across markets.
Devices separates mobile, desktop, and tablet performance. Mobile experience directly impacts rankings. Performance discrepancies between devices indicate optimization opportunities.
Search appearance filters by result types: regular results, rich results, videos, and other special features. Understanding which appearances drive your traffic helps prioritize schema implementation and content optimization.
Key metrics in Performance reports:
Total clicks indicates actual traffic from search results. This is the most directly valuable metric.
Total impressions shows how often your pages appeared. High impressions with low clicks indicates poor snippet appeal or position.
Average CTR (click-through rate) measures the ratio of clicks to impressions. Position strongly influences CTR, so evaluate this metric considering your rankings.
Average position indicates typical ranking, though averages across diverse queries can be misleading. Filter by specific queries or pages for meaningful position data.
Index Coverage Report
The Index Coverage report reveals which pages Google has indexed and which face problems preventing indexing.
Valid pages are indexed and eligible to appear in search results. Not all valid pages will rank well, but they’re at least in the running.
Valid with warnings are indexed but have issues worth investigating. These pages function but may have suboptimal configurations.
Excluded pages were discovered but not indexed for various reasons. Some exclusions are intentional (pages you blocked or marked noindex). Others indicate problems needing attention (duplicate content, crawl errors, redirect issues).
Error pages have problems preventing indexing that typically require fixes.
Common issues appearing in coverage reports:
| Status | Meaning | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Crawled – currently not indexed | Google saw but chose not to index | Improve content quality |
| Discovered – currently not indexed | URL known but not yet crawled | Wait or improve internal linking |
| Duplicate without canonical | Multiple URLs, Google chose another | Verify canonical configuration |
| Excluded by noindex | noindex directive respected | Intentional or remove noindex |
| Blocked by robots.txt | Robots.txt prevents crawling | Intentional or update robots.txt |
| Server error (5xx) | Server failed during crawl | Fix server issues |
| Redirect error | Redirect chain/loop problems | Fix redirect configuration |
URL Inspection Tool
URL Inspection examines individual pages in detail. It shows how Google last crawled and indexed a specific URL and can test live pages against current content.
Use URL Inspection to diagnose individual page issues. If a page isn’t ranking as expected or appears missing from search, inspection reveals whether Google has indexed it, what content Google saw, and what issues might affect indexing.
Live test crawls the current page version, showing rendering results and any issues detected. This helps verify fixes before waiting for Google to recrawl naturally.
Request indexing asks Google to recrawl a specific URL. Useful after making significant changes to get pages reassessed quickly rather than waiting for natural recrawl schedules.
Inspection reveals canonical URL selection. If Google chose a different canonical than you specified, inspection shows which URL Google considers canonical and why. This helps diagnose canonical tag issues.
Sitemaps Report
The Sitemaps report manages your XML sitemap submissions and shows processing status.
Submit sitemaps through this interface to help Google discover your content. While Google finds most pages through crawling, sitemaps ensure important pages don’t get missed and communicate update frequencies.
Sitemap status shows whether submitted sitemaps processed successfully, how many URLs they contain, and how many were indexed. Large gaps between submitted URLs and indexed URLs indicate content quality or technical issues with those pages.
Errors in sitemap processing appear here. Common issues include invalid XML formatting, URLs returning errors, and blocked URLs in sitemaps.
Core Web Vitals Report
The Core Web Vitals report shows page experience metrics based on real user data from the Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX).
Pages are categorized as Good, Needs Improvement, or Poor for each metric: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), Interaction to Next Paint (INP), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS).
The report groups pages with similar characteristics, so fixing issues on one URL often improves an entire group. Click into page groups to see example URLs and understand what they have in common.
Field data in this report reflects actual user experience, making it more meaningful than lab tests for SEO purposes. However, field data requires sufficient traffic volume. Pages without enough Chrome user data won’t appear in the report.
Links Report
The Links report shows internal and external linking data.
External links lists sites linking to you and which pages they link to. This provides Google’s view of your backlink profile. The data differs from third-party tools because it shows what Google actually sees rather than what independent crawlers found.
Internal links shows how your pages link to each other. Pages with few internal links may not receive appropriate crawl attention or link equity. Pages with excessive internal links might be diluting signals.
Top linking sites identifies your most frequent linkers. Useful for relationship management and identifying potential issues with unwanted links.
Top linking text shows anchor text used in external links pointing to your site. Unnaturally concentrated exact-match anchor text can indicate manipulation issues worth investigating.
Security and Manual Actions
The Security & Manual Actions section requires regular monitoring.
Manual actions lists any penalties applied by human reviewers. This section should ideally always be empty. Any entries require immediate attention and resolution through the reconsideration request process.
Security issues alerts you to detected malware, hacked content, or other security problems affecting your site. Security issues can impact rankings and display warnings to users. Address security issues urgently.
Settings and Users
Settings manage property configuration and user access.
Users and permissions control who can access your Search Console property and what they can do. Owner access provides full control. Full user access allows viewing all data and some configuration. Restricted user access limits data visibility.
Grant appropriate access levels to team members and agencies. Avoid sharing owner credentials; add users with appropriate permission levels instead.
Change of address helps with site migrations by notifying Google when you move to a new domain. This feature facilitates signal transfer during domain changes.
Removals allows temporary removal of URLs from search results while you implement permanent solutions. Use carefully as removals are temporary measures, not permanent fixes.
Search Console provides foundation data for nearly every SEO decision. Investing time in understanding its reports and establishing regular review processes pays dividends through better-informed optimization choices and faster problem detection.
Sources
- Google Search Console Help Center
https://support.google.com/webmasters
- Google Search Central: Search Console Training
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/monitor-debug
- Google Search Central: Verify Your Site Ownership