GSC Guide for Marketers, Advertisers and Website Owners
Google Analytics is an essential free tool for every website.
Google Search Console (GSC) is a free tool from Google that helps you monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot your website’s presence in Google Search results.
The better your site is optimized the more free traffic you’ll get. Use GSC data to help you achieve this.
Think of GSC as your website’s health dashboard and your direct line of communication with Google.
Why Your Business Needs It
- See exactly how people find your website on Google
- Understand which keywords bring visitors to your site
- Identify and fix website problems that could hurt your rankings
- Get alerts if Google has trouble accessing your site
- Submit new content for Google to index
- Monitor your website’s mobile performance
- Track your local and international search presence.
You need this to do well in Google search and get more free traffic.
To revisit the basics please see our intro article on GSC
How to Get Started – Accessing and Setting Up Google Search Console
Is GSC set up on your website?
Do you have Google Analytics set up? (another essential free tool)
If you have both, are they linked?
How to find out:
- While logged into your Google account, on the same browser click to GSC https://search.google.com/search-console
- For Analytics, click here https://analytics.google.com/
- Ask your website admin or developer if you aren’t sure if you have these tools
- If these tools are not set up, here’s how
- Go to search.google.com/search-console
- Click ‘Start Now’
- Sign in with your Google account
- Add your website (property) using one of two methods:
- Domain property (recommended
- URL-prefix property
- Or ask your admin or developer to set them up on your Google login. Ask for the 2 tools to be linked.
- We have an article on Google Analytics here
GSC Verification Methods
You’ll need to prove you own the website through one of these methods:- HTML file upload
- HTML tag
- DNS record
- Google Analytics code
- Google Tag Manager
- Domain name provider.
What GSC Offers – to Improve Your Website and Get More Free Traffic
Here are some of the most valuable insights from Google Search Console (GSC), focusing on what it tells you about how your site is performing and what Google thinks about it:- Search Performance Overview
- Your total clicks, impressions, average click-through rate (CTR), and average position in Google search results
- Trend lines showing if these metrics are improving or declining over time. This quickly tells you if your site’s overall search visibility is growing or needs attention.
- Query Performance Analysis
- Exactly what search terms are bringing people to your site
- Which queries have high impressions but low clicks (opportunity for page title/meta description optimization)
- Discovery of new keyword opportunities based on what Google already associates with your site
- Identification of keywords where you’re ranking on page 2-3 (positions 11-30) that could be pushed to page 1 with some optimization. There are 10 organic results per page.
- Page Performance Analysis
- Which pages get the most search traffic
- Pages that are losing or gaining traffic over time
- “Hidden gem” pages that rank well but get few clicks
- Pages that Google indexes but rarely shows in search results (potential quality issues).
- Technical Health Indicators
- Core Web Vitals report showing real-world loading performance
- Mobile usability issues that could hurt your rankings
- Index coverage showing how many pages Google can and wants to index
- Any manual actions or security issues Google has detected.
- Backlink Analysis
- Which external sites link to you the most
- What anchor text other sites use to link to you
- Changes in your backlink profile over time
- Potentially harmful backlinks that you might want to disavow
- Backlinks are considered to be a very important SEO factor because Google considers them to be votes in favor of your website.
- Rich Results Performance
- How your structured data is performing in search
- Which rich results your site is eligible for
- Error reports for your structured data implementation.
- Rich results are additional info that you can add to your site to help search engines understand more about your site and what’s on offer. They use a structured language and protocols to do this.
- Core Web Vitals Assessment
- Detailed loading, interactivity, and visual stability metrics
- Comparison of your site’s performance against competitors
- Specific pages that need performance improvements
- Mobile vs desktop performance differences.
These insights help you understand:
- If Google generally “likes” your site (shown through index coverage and rankings)
- What content resonates with your audience (through CTR and engagement metrics)
- Technical issues that might be holding you back
- Opportunities for improvement in both content and technical areas.
Key Features and Benefits
Performance Report- See how often your site appears in Google Search
- Learn which search terms bring people to your site
- Understand which pages get the most attention
- Track average position in search results
- Monitor clicks and impressions
- See data by country, device type, and search type.
- Check if specific pages are in Google’s index
- Request Google to crawl new or updated pages
- See how Google views your pages
- Identify technical problems with specific pages.
- Find pages Google can and can’t index
- Identify website errors
- See which pages are excluded from search
- Monitor indexing trends over time.
- Check if your pages work well on mobile devices
- Identify mobile usability problems
- Track mobile optimization improvements.
- Monitor your website’s loading performance
- Track user experience metrics
- Identify pages needing speed improvements.
Linking GSC with Google Analytics 4 (GA4)
Why Link Them?- Get more complete data about your website’s performance
- See the full journey from search to site behavior
- Make better-informed decisions about your content
- Understand user behavior after they click from search
- Access advanced reporting features.
- See search queries in GA4 reports
- Compare search performance with site behaviour
- Better understand your audience
- Create more detailed custom reports
- Make data-driven content decisions.
- Open GA4 Property
- Go to Admin → Property Settings
- Find Search Console linking section
- Click ‘Link’
- Select your Search Console property
- Follow the prompting steps
- Confirm the association.
Using the Data Effectively
Regular Monitoring Tasks- Check for significant traffic changes
- Monitor core web vitals
- Review mobile usability issues
- Check for crawl errors
- Track keyword performance
- Review top-performing pages
- Analyze keyword trends
- Check indexing status
- Monitor site improvements
- Plan content strategy based on data
Common Issues and Solutions
Indexing Problems- Submit sitemaps
- Use URL inspection tool
- Fix crawl errors
- Improve site structure
- Update robots.txt if needed
- Optimize slow-loading pages
- Fix mobile usability problems
- Improve core web vitals
- Address security issues
- Fix broken links
Pro Tips
- Set up email alerts for critical issues
- Regularly submit new content for indexing
- Monitor competitors’ keywords
- Track seasonal trends
- Use insights for content planning
- Keep documentation of major changes
Getting Help
- Use Google’s official documentation
- Join Search Console Help Community
- Watch Google’s YouTube tutorials
- Follow Google Search Central blog
- Attend Google webmaster conferences
- Submit your sitemap
- Set up email notifications
- Fix any existing errors
- Review current search performance
- Plan regular maintenance schedule
- Start monitoring key metrics