Google Search Console Guide: Monitor and Improve Your Search Performance

Google Search Console is the most underutilized free SEO tool available. It provides direct data from Google about how your site performs in search, what queries drive traffic, and what issues might be hurting your rankings.

Unlike third-party tools that estimate and sample data, GSC shows you exactly what Google sees. This guide covers how to set up GSC, interpret its reports, and use the data to improve your search performance.

What Is Google Search Console?

Google Search Console is a free service from Google that helps you monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot your site’s presence in Google Search results. It answers questions that no other tool can:

What queries are people using to find my site?
Which pages are indexed and which aren’t?
What technical issues might be hurting my rankings?
How is my site performing on mobile?
Who links to my site?

GSC vs Google Analytics

These tools complement each other but serve different purposes:

Google Search Console	Google Analytics 4
Search data before the click	User behavior after the click
Indexing and crawling status	Engagement and conversions
Technical SEO issues	Marketing attribution
Query-level search data	Session and user data
How Google sees your site	How users interact with your site

Use both. GSC tells you how people find you. GA4 tells you what they do after they arrive.

Setting Up Google Search Console

Property Types

GSC offers two property types:

Domain Property:

Covers all subdomains (www, blog, shop)
Covers all protocols (http, https)
Requires DNS verification
Recommended for most sites

URL Prefix Property:

Covers only the specific URL pattern
Easier verification options
Use if you can’t access DNS

For most sites, choose domain property. It captures all traffic regardless of subdomain or protocol.

Verification Methods

DNS Verification (Domain Property):

Add a TXT record to your DNS
Google provides the specific record value
Verification usually happens within minutes
Works with any registrar

Other Methods (URL Prefix):

HTML file upload: Upload a file to your root directory
HTML meta tag: Add a meta tag to your homepage
Google Analytics: If you have GA installed
Google Tag Manager: If you use GTM

Step-by-Step Setup

Go to search.google.com/search-console
Click “Add property”
Choose Domain or URL prefix
Complete verification
Submit your sitemap (yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml)
Wait 24-48 hours for initial data

Once verified, GSC begins collecting data. Historical data isn’t available retroactively, so set up GSC early, even if you don’t plan to use it immediately.

Performance Report

The Performance report is where most SEO value lives. It shows exactly what queries bring traffic and how your pages rank.

Key Metrics

Clicks: How many times users clicked through to your site from search results. This is actual traffic from Google.

Impressions: How many times your pages appeared in search results, whether clicked or not. High impressions with low clicks suggests your titles or descriptions need work.

CTR (Click-Through Rate): Clicks divided by impressions. A 3% CTR means 3 clicks per 100 impressions. CTR varies by position—position 1 has much higher CTR than position 10.

Average Position: Where your pages ranked on average. Position 1 is the top result. Position 11 is page 2. Note that this is an average across all queries and impressions.

Using Performance Data

Filter the data to find actionable insights:

By Query: What search terms drive traffic? Find queries where you rank positions 8-20 (close to page 1) and optimize those pages.

By Page: Which pages perform best? Double down on what works. Find pages with high impressions but low clicks—their titles may need improvement.

By Country: Where is your traffic coming from? Useful if you target specific geographies.

By Device: How does mobile compare to desktop? Mobile performance often differs significantly.

By Date: Compare date ranges to spot trends. Is traffic growing or declining?

Actionable Insights from Performance Data

Scenario	What It Means	Action
High impressions, low clicks	Ranking but not compelling	Improve title tags and meta descriptions
Position 11-20	Page 2, close to page 1	Optimize content, build internal links
Declining clicks	Losing rankings or seasonality	Investigate cause, update content
New queries appearing	Content gaining traction	Create more content on related topics
High CTR, low position	Compelling title, weak content	Improve content depth and quality

Exporting Data

GSC keeps 16 months of data. Export regularly for historical records:

Export to Google Sheets for easy analysis
Download CSV for spreadsheet work
Use the API for automated reporting

Index Coverage Report

The Index Coverage report shows which pages Google has indexed and which it hasn’t, along with reasons why.

Understanding Status Types

Valid: Pages that are indexed and can appear in search results. This is what you want.

Valid with Warnings: Indexed but Google flagged something. Usually not urgent but worth investigating.

Excluded: Not indexed. May or may not be intentional. Check the specific reasons.

Error: Problems preventing indexing. Fix these promptly.

Common Issues and Solutions

Crawled - currently not indexed: The page was crawled but Google decided not to index it. Usually indicates thin content, duplicate content, or low-quality pages. Solution: Improve content quality or consider whether the page should exist.

Discovered - currently not indexed: Google knows the page exists but hasn’t crawled it yet. Could be crawl budget issues or low priority. Solution: Add internal links, submit URL in GSC, wait.

Blocked by robots.txt: Your robots.txt file prevents crawling. Solution: Update robots.txt if the block is unintentional.

Excluded by noindex tag: Page has a noindex meta tag or header. Solution: Remove the tag if indexing is desired.

Duplicate, Google chose different canonical: Google found similar pages and picked a different one as the primary. Solution: Review your canonical tags, ensure they point where you intend.

Page with redirect: The URL redirects elsewhere. Not an error—just informational. Google indexes the redirect destination instead.

404 Not Found: Page doesn’t exist. Solution: Fix broken links, create the page, or accept the 404 if the page was intentionally removed.

Index Coverage Best Practices

Check the report weekly for new issues
Prioritize errors over warnings
Understand that some exclusions are normal (pagination, filters, etc.)
Don’t panic if excluded count is high—focus on what should be indexed

URL Inspection Tool

The URL Inspection tool lets you check the status of specific pages. Enter any URL from your property to see:

Whether the page is indexed
When it was last crawled
The canonical URL Google selected
Mobile usability status
Any structured data detected

Using URL Inspection

Enter the URL in the search bar at the top of GSC
Wait for the inspection to complete
Review the index status
Check for any issues flagged
Request indexing if needed

Requesting Indexing

For new or updated pages, you can request that Google recrawl the page:

Inspect the URL
Click “Request Indexing”
Wait for confirmation

Limitations:

Limited number of requests per day
Doesn’t guarantee immediate indexing
Don’t abuse for all pages—let natural crawling work

Use request indexing for important new content or recently updated pages. Don’t use it for minor changes or as a routine practice.

Sitemaps

Sitemaps help Google discover your pages. While not strictly required (Google can find pages through crawling), sitemaps accelerate discovery and provide useful signals.

Submitting Your Sitemap

Generate a sitemap (most CMS platforms do this automatically)
Go to Sitemaps in GSC
Enter the sitemap URL (usually /sitemap.xml)
Click Submit
Monitor for errors

Sitemap Best Practices

Keep individual sitemaps under 50,000 URLs
Use sitemap index files for larger sites
Include only canonical URLs
Don’t include noindex pages
Update automatically when content changes
Submit image and video sitemaps if relevant

Sitemap Errors

If GSC shows sitemap errors:

Couldn’t fetch: Check that the URL is accessible
Invalid format: Validate your sitemap XML
URLs not allowed: Ensure URLs match your property

Core Web Vitals Report

The Core Web Vitals report shows real-user performance data for your pages across three metrics:

LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): How fast the main content loads

Good: ≤2.5 seconds
Needs Improvement: 2.5-4 seconds
Poor: >4 seconds

INP (Interaction to Next Paint): How responsive the page is to user interaction

Good: ≤200 milliseconds
Needs Improvement: 200-500 milliseconds
Poor: >500 milliseconds

CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): How much the layout shifts unexpectedly

Good: ≤0.1
Needs Improvement: 0.1-0.25
Poor: >0.25

Using the CWV Report

The report groups URLs with similar issues. Click into each group to see:

Sample URLs affected
The specific metric failing
Trends over time

Focus on pages with “Poor” status first. These affect both user experience and search rankings.

Field Data vs Lab Data

GSC shows field data—real measurements from actual users. This is what Google uses for ranking signals. Lab data (from Lighthouse or PageSpeed Insights) is simulated and useful for debugging but doesn’t directly affect rankings.

Mobile Usability Report

The Mobile Usability report flags pages with mobile experience issues:

Text too small to read: Font size needs increasing
Clickable elements too close together: Buttons or links need more spacing
Content wider than screen: Viewport issues
Viewport not configured: Missing or incorrect viewport meta tag

With mobile-first indexing, mobile usability directly impacts rankings. Fix issues flagged in this report.

Manual Actions and Security Issues

Manual Actions

Manual actions are penalties applied by Google’s human reviewers when sites violate guidelines. Common causes:

Unnatural links (buying or selling links)
Thin content with little value
Cloaking or sneaky redirects
Spammy structured data

Check this report regularly. If you have a manual action:

Understand the specific violation
Fix the issue thoroughly
Document your fixes
Submit a reconsideration request
Wait for review (can take weeks)

Security Issues

Security issues indicate your site may be compromised:

Hacked content
Malware
Phishing

Fix security issues immediately. They affect user safety and will hurt rankings until resolved.

Links Report

The Links report shows:

External links: Sites linking to you, with counts Top linked pages: Your pages with most external links Top linking sites: Domains that link to you most Top linking text: Anchor text used in links to your site

Internal links: How your pages link to each other

Using Links Data

Identify your most linked pages (leverage this authority)
Find sites that link to you (potential for more links)
Spot spammy links (consider disavow if concerning)
Analyze internal link distribution (spread authority effectively)

Weekly GSC Workflow

Establish a regular routine to catch issues early:

Weekly Tasks (15-20 minutes)

Performance check: Look for significant changes in clicks, impressions, or position
Index coverage scan: Check for new errors
Security and manual actions: Verify both are clear

Monthly Tasks (30-60 minutes)

Deep performance analysis: Dig into query and page data
Full index coverage review: Address all outstanding issues
Links report review: Note any changes
Export data: Save for historical records

As-Needed Tasks

Submit new sitemaps after major site changes
Request indexing for important new or updated pages
Investigate sudden ranking or traffic drops
Fix Core Web Vitals issues flagged

Advanced GSC Techniques

Regex Filtering

The Performance report supports regex (regular expression) filtering. Use it to:

Separate brand queries from non-brand
Group queries by topic
Filter specific URL patterns

Example: Filter queries NOT containing your brand name to see non-branded organic traffic.

Comparing Date Ranges

Compare periods to identify trends:

This month vs last month
This quarter vs same quarter last year
Before and after a site change

Look for pages that improved or declined significantly.

API Access

For automated reporting and deeper analysis, use the Search Console API:

Build custom dashboards
Track historical data beyond 16 months
Combine with other data sources
Automate regular exports

Key Takeaways

Google Search Console provides free, accurate data directly from Google. No other tool offers this level of insight into how Google sees and ranks your site.

Remember:

Set up GSC early—data doesn’t backfill
Check Performance report for ranking opportunities
Monitor Index Coverage for technical issues
Use URL Inspection for specific page debugging
Submit sitemaps to accelerate discovery
Fix Core Web Vitals issues affecting rankings
Establish a regular review routine

The data is there. The insights are actionable. The tool is free. Use it.