Google search console (GSC) is one of the best free SEO tools. Search console tools and reports can be used to improve the performance of websites on Google Search. This is a complete guide that will help you to understand what Google search console is and the features that you can use.
What is Google Search Console?
Do you want to know what search queries, or keywords, users are typing into Google to find your website? What type of keywords is driving the most traffic to your website? What keywords should you optimize to improve the quantity and quality of traffic to your website? Google Search Console is a free tool from Google that helps you monitor and maintain your website’s presence in Google’s search results.
To begin using Google Search Console first you need to add and verify your website. To begin using Google Search Console, you must add and verify your website. To verify your website, there are four easiest ways:
- HTML file: Upload an HTML file to the root directory of the website.
- HTML tag: Add a simple meta tag to the site’s <head> section.
- Google Analytics/Google Tag Manager: Use Google Analytics/ Google Tag Manager Account
- Domain Name Provider: Add a TXT record to your domain’s DNS configuration
Google Search Console Features
Going through the Google Search Console functions enables you to understand all the possibilities of this free tool. Let’s take each of the Google Search Console features, and see exactly what we can do with it, to improve the website’s rankings on SERPs.
Performance Report
In this section, you can see detailed performance data like total impressions, total clicks, average CTR, and average position of your website. This report allows website owners to see how well-covered their site is in the Google index. You can easily know which queries send clicks to your site and the rankings of web pages from those queries. Use the Performance report to improve organic traffic, monitor your rankings, and identify pages that need optimization.
URL Inspection
This tool gives you all data related to a particular URL. You can enter the URL and press the Fetch button to see if it connects redirects, or encounters errors. You will see the results in three sections: The first section will show you the status of the entered URL that can or cannot appear in the Search Results. In the second, Coverage section, you will see details about the last crawl. The last, Enhancements section will show you mobile usability issues along with your structured data details.
Index Coverage Report
The Indexing report shows the Google crawling and indexing status of all URLs. It categorizes URLs by three different statuses: Indexed pages since the last update, excluded pages that Google isn’t indexing, and errors that Google’s crawlers experienced when trying to index pages.
Mobile Usability Report
The mobile usability report gives you information about the issues your users may face while accessing and using your website via mobile devices. It provides broad information about mobile friendliness and potential mobile issues on your site. This allows businesses to review their site’s design and mobile configurations to make sure that their site gives the best user experience on mobile.
Links Report
Google Search Console has a link report that shows useful insights and the top linked pages for both internal and external links. In this report, you can see links to your site and watch for suspicious links. You can also see the most popular anchor text for your links.
Sitemap
Sitemaps are formatted lists of all your website pages. It is used for submitting a site’s list of total pages so that Google crawlers can more quickly, and more easily crawl them. It is an essential part of every SEO strategy and the Google Search Console as well. A website will be indexed without a sitemap, but if you use a sitemap it will tell the search engines what your website is and where it can be found.
The Google Search Console is one of the most useful and powerful tools that you have access to online for free. We hope this guide gave you some good tips on using Google Search Console more effectively to grow your site. Contact Swayam Infotech to get more information about the Google Search Console reports. Our SEO experts can help you optimize your site for better search presence and better online growth.
