What is Google Search Console?
Google Search Console (GSC) is a free tool provided by Google that shows you how your website performs in Google Search. It gives you data about which keywords bring people to your site, which pages rank, and any technical issues that might be holding your site back.
I use Google Search Console every week for my own website and for every client I work with. It is the most valuable free SEO tool available. Many business owners do not even know it exists — which means many are missing out on easy wins.
How to Set Up Google Search Console
- Go to search.google.com/search-console
- Sign in with your Google account
- Click "Add Property" and enter your website URL
- Verify your ownership by adding a small piece of code to your website or using your Google Analytics account
- Submit your sitemap (usually yourwebsite.com/sitemap.xml)
After verification, it takes a few days for data to start appearing. But once it does, you will have a goldmine of information about your website.
Key Features of Google Search Console
1. Performance Report — Your SEO Dashboard
The Performance Report is the most important section. It shows you:
- Total Clicks — How many times people clicked on your website from Google
- Total Impressions — How many times your website appeared in search results
- Average CTR — What percentage of people who saw your site actually clicked
- Average Position — Your average ranking position for all keywords
You can also see which specific keywords people use to find your site, which pages get the most traffic, which countries your visitors come from, and whether they use mobile or desktop.
2. Finding Quick Win Keywords
This is one of my favourite tricks. In the Performance Report, filter your keywords by position between 4 and 15. These are keywords where your website is close to page one but not quite there yet.
These keywords already have some momentum. By improving the page that targets each keyword — updating content, adding more detail, improving the title — you can often push it onto page one and see an immediate traffic increase.
3. URL Inspection Tool
The URL Inspection tool lets you check the status of any page on your website. You can see if Google has indexed it, when it was last crawled, and whether there are any issues. If you publish a new page and want Google to index it quickly, you can request indexing directly from this tool.
4. Coverage Report — Finding and Fixing Errors
The Coverage Report shows which pages Google has indexed and which pages have errors. Common errors include:
- 404 Not Found — Pages that no longer exist. Fix by redirecting old URLs to relevant new pages.
- Redirect Errors — Broken redirects that confuse Google
- Soft 404s — Pages that look like errors even though they return a 200 status
Fixing these errors helps Google crawl and index your website more efficiently.
5. Core Web Vitals Report
Core Web Vitals are Google performance metrics that measure your website loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability. Poor Core Web Vitals can hurt your rankings. The GSC report shows which pages pass or fail and gives you URLs to work on.
6. Mobile Usability Report
This report shows pages that have issues on mobile devices. Since Google uses mobile-first indexing, mobile issues directly affect your rankings. Common mobile issues include text that is too small to read and clickable elements that are too close together.
7. Links Report
The Links Report shows which external websites link to your website and which of your pages get the most internal links. This helps you understand your backlink profile and identify which pages have the most authority.
How to Use GSC Data to Grow Traffic
Identify Your Top Performing Pages
In the Performance Report, sort by clicks to see your top pages. These are your strongest pages. Look at what makes them successful and apply the same approach to other pages.
Find Pages with High Impressions but Low CTR
If a page appears in Google results many times but few people click on it, your title tag or meta description is probably not compelling enough. Rewrite them to be more specific and interesting. Even a small CTR improvement can bring significantly more traffic.
Track Your Progress Over Time
Use the date filter in GSC to compare your current performance with previous months. Are clicks and impressions growing? Are new keywords appearing? This data tells you if your SEO efforts are working.
Make Google Search Console a Weekly Habit
I check Google Search Console every Monday morning. I look at the previous week data, check for any new errors, and identify pages I can improve. It takes about 20 minutes but the insights are incredibly valuable.
If you have not set up Google Search Console yet, do it today. It is free and the data it provides is something no paid tool can replace.
Need help interpreting your GSC data and turning it into a traffic growth plan? Book a free consultation with me and I will walk you through your website data and show you exactly what to fix first.