How do I use Google Search Console?

Google Search Console shows you what happens before anyone reaches your website: which searches your pages appear for, how often people click, and which pages Google can’t find. Google Analytics starts counting after the click, so Search Console fills in the half of the picture most small business owners never see.

The tool looks technical, but a business owner only needs a handful of reports. The steps below cover setup, the four reports worth checking, and what to do with what you find.

What is Google Search Console, and is it free?

Google Search Console is a free Google service that reports how your website performs in Google Search and flags problems that stop pages from showing up. The only requirement is a Google account, according to Google’s getting started guide.

Your website does not need Search Console to appear on Google. Google’s own overview of Search Console says you don’t have to sign up to be included in search results. Signing up gives you the data and the warnings, which is the useful part.

How do I set up Google Search Console?

Setting up Search Console takes three steps: add your website as a property, prove you own the website, and submit a sitemap.

1. Add a property. Search Console offers two property types. A Domain property covers your whole domain, including every subdomain and both http and https versions. A URL-prefix property covers only addresses that start with the exact prefix you type, such as https://www.yoursite.com/. Google explains the difference in its guide to adding a property.
2. Verify ownership. A Domain property can only be verified with a DNS record, which you add at the company where you registered your domain. A URL-prefix property offers more options, such as uploading a file or connecting Google Analytics. If a web developer or agency already set up Search Console, ask them to add you as an owner instead of starting over.
3. Submit a sitemap. A sitemap is a file listing the pages you want Google to find. Most website builders and WordPress SEO plugins create one automatically. Paste the sitemap address into the Sitemaps report. Our guide to XML sitemaps explains how to find yours.

Pick the Domain property if you can edit your DNS settings. A Domain property catches traffic to every version of your site, so nothing is missed.

Which Search Console reports should a small business check first?

A small business owner gets most of the value of Search Console from four reports: Performance, Page indexing, URL Inspection and Core Web Vitals.

How do I find the searches that bring people to my site?

The Performance report lists the searches, called queries, that showed your pages in Google results, along with four numbers for each query.

Google’s Performance report documentation defines the four numbers this way:

• Clicks: how many times someone clicked through to your site from Google Search.
• Impressions: how many times your site appeared in search results.
• CTR (click-through rate): clicks divided by impressions.
• Average position: the average position of your highest result for that search.

The report shows the past three months by default. Click the Pages tab to see the same numbers for each page, or click any query to filter the whole report to that search.

Look for one pattern first: queries with lots of impressions and few clicks. A page that shows up often but rarely gets clicked usually needs a clearer page title and description. Our guides on writing title tags and writing meta descriptions walk through the fixes.

Why isn’t my page showing up on Google?

The Page indexing report tells you which pages Google has not added to its index and gives a reason for each one.

Common reasons include a “noindex” tag left on the page, a page that redirects somewhere else, a duplicate that Google decided not to show, or a page Google found but hasn’t crawled yet. Some of these are fine. A thank-you page or a redirected old address does not need to be indexed.

For one specific page, paste the address into the URL Inspection bar at the top of Search Console. The result shows whether the page is on Google, when Google last crawled the page, and any problem Google found. After fixing a problem, use the Request indexing button to ask Google to crawl the page again. Our checklist for pages Google won’t index covers the fixes in more detail.

How is Search Console different from Google Analytics?

Search Console measures what happens in Google Search before a visit, and Google Analytics measures what visitors do on your site after they arrive.

For example, Search Console might show that your page appeared 400 times for “emergency plumber near me” and got 12 clicks. Google Analytics then shows what those 12 visitors did next: which pages they read, and whether they called or filled out a form. You need both to know whether search traffic turns into customers. The two tools can be linked so the search data shows up inside Analytics.

diib connects to your Google Analytics account and turns the numbers into a short list of fixes, so you don’t have to read every report yourself. See diib’s plans for what each one includes.

How often should I check Search Console?

Once a month is enough for most small businesses, plus an extra check after any big change to your website.

A monthly review goes quickly if you follow the same routine: compare clicks with the previous period in the Performance report, scan the Page indexing report for new problems, and open any email Search Console sent you. Check right away after a redesign, a move to new hosting or a change of domain, because those changes are when pages go missing. Our guide to redesigning a website without losing rankings explains what to watch.

Search Console also includes a Core Web Vitals report for page speed. Our explainer on Core Web Vitals covers what the scores mean. To track keyword positions between monthly checks, diib’s Rank Guard scans your Google rankings and points out keywords where your site could rank higher.