What Is Google Search Console?
Author: Domeny.ForSale editorial team Published
In brief: Google Search Console is a free Google tool that shows how a website performs in search and whether Google can read and index its pages. You can use it to check the queries leading to your website, clicks from search results and technical problems. Simply setting up an account does not improve rankings or guarantee indexing, but it helps you identify what needs fixing.
What is Google Search Console used for?
Search Console is designed for website owners, editors, marketers and people responsible for a website’s technical maintenance. You do not need to be a developer to check which content attracts users from Google. However, fixing some errors may require help from an administrator or the website’s developer.
The tool primarily answers three questions: whether Google knows about your pages, which queries it shows them for and whether there are obstacles preventing them from appearing. Indexing means analysing a page’s content and storing information about it in Google’s index, which the search engine uses to generate results.
Search Console is not a requirement for a website to appear in Google. The search engine can discover it on its own, for example through links from other websites. However, the tool provides access to diagnostic data that you cannot obtain simply by typing an address into the search engine.
What data and problems can you check?
Three areas are useful to start with: the performance report, the page indexing report and inspection of a specific URL, meaning a page’s address.
The performance report shows, among other things:
- Clicks — how many times users clicked a result leading to the website.
- Impressions — how many times a result from the website was displayed according to Google’s counting rules.
- CTR — the ratio of clicks to impressions, expressed as a percentage.
- Average position — the average position of the website’s highest-ranking result across the impressions included, rather than a fixed ranking position.
You can analyse the data by queries, pages, countries or devices. The query list is not a complete record of all searches: some data is omitted for privacy reasons. The reports are not real-time either.
The indexing report helps identify which addresses are in the index and which are not, along with the reasons Google provides. Not every excluded address indicates an error. A page that redirects to another page, or duplicate content, often should not be indexed separately.
URL inspection shows information about a specific page. You can also run a test of its current accessibility to Google. However, a successful test does not mean that the address will definitely be indexed or gain visibility.
Additional reports cover areas such as security, manual actions taken by Google for policy violations, and Core Web Vitals — metrics describing a page’s loading, responsiveness and visual stability. The availability of some reports depends on the website and the amount of data collected.
How do you add a website and verify access?
After signing in with a Google account, you add a property, meaning the website or range of addresses you want to monitor. There are two basic options:
| Option | What it covers | How you verify access |
|---|---|---|
| Domain | The entire domain, its subdomains, and both HTTP and HTTPS versions | Through a DNS record |
| URL prefix | Addresses starting with the specified prefix, e.g. https://example.com/ | Using one of the available methods, e.g. an HTML file or a tag on the page |
If you manage the entire domain and have access to its settings, the domain option usually simplifies monitoring. Verification involves adding the record specified by Google to DNS — the system that stores domain settings. You add the record with the provider managing your DNS, which is not always the company from which you bought the domain.
After verification, you can submit a sitemap, a file containing the addresses of pages intended for discovery by the search engine. Many content management systems generate this file automatically. A sitemap helps the search engine discover addresses, but does not force it to index them.
Do not remove the item used to verify ownership. Give colleagues access through the permission settings rather than sharing your account password. Check the official Search Console help for current verification methods and requirements, as the interface may change.
How can you use the data to make a specific decision?
Suppose you run a website for a renovation company. A page about painting apartments has many impressions but few clicks. This is not yet proof that its title is poor: the cause could be a low ranking, a mismatch with the query or the appearance of the search results.
Follow this short procedure:
- Select that page in the performance report and check the queries it appears for.
- Assess whether the content addresses the needs reflected in those queries, such as questions about the scope of work or a quote.
- Check whether the page title describes the service clearly and accurately reflects the content.
- After making changes, compare similar periods, taking seasonality and changes in average position into account.
If the page does not appear in the report at all, start by inspecting its URL and indexing status. Improving headings will not remove an accidental block on crawler access.
How does Search Console differ from Google Analytics?
Search Console primarily describes a website’s presence in Google: impressions, queries, clicks and indexing status. Google Analytics is mainly used to analyse user behaviour on the website, such as the pages viewed and actions taken.
Clicks in Search Console do not necessarily match the number of sessions in Analytics. The tools measure different events, and Analytics data is affected by factors including measurement configuration and user consent. Search Console does not require analytics code to be installed to collect its basic data.
To begin, verify your website and check one key address — the homepage, a service or product page, or an important article. Its indexing status and query data will help you choose your first task instead of changing the entire website based on assumptions.
See also: What Is a CDN?
Read also
