Search Console is Google's free tool for seeing how your site appears in search. This guide shows how to verify your site and which reports to read first.
Google Search Console is a free service from Google that shows how your site appears in Google Search and whether Google can crawl and index it. To use it, add your site as a property and verify that you own it. Beginners should read the Performance report, the Page indexing report, the Sitemaps report and any messages first.
What Google Search Console is
Google Search Console is a free service from Google that helps you monitor, maintain and troubleshoot how your site appears in Google Search. It reports on the searches that show your pages, whether Google can crawl and index them, and the problems it has found. It also lets you ask Google to look at a page again after you fix it.
You do not need Search Console for Google to list your site. Google says it helps you understand and improve how Google sees the site. A Google account is all you need to start. The tool covers Google Search only. It does not report what visitors do after they arrive, and other search engines have their own tools for site owners.
Many owners leave Search Console to a developer or a marketer. Google's guidance says business owners should at least know it exists. It is also where Google reports problems with indexing, spam and security.
How to set up Google Search Console and verify your site
Adding your site means creating a property and proving that you control the site, because Search Console shows information that only owners should see. There are two kinds of property.
- A Domain property covers every version of your address, including http and https and all subdomains. It can be verified only with a DNS record at your domain name provider.
- A URL-prefix property covers one exact address, such as one https version with www. It can be verified in several ways.
| Verification method | What you need | Property type |
|---|---|---|
| DNS record | Access to the settings at your domain name provider | Domain, and also URL-prefix |
| HTML file upload | The ability to publish a file at the root of the site | URL-prefix |
| HTML tag | The ability to edit the source of the home page, which must be open to visitors who are not logged in | URL-prefix |
| Google Analytics | An existing tracking code on the site, for an account you can access | URL-prefix |
| Google Tag Manager | An existing Tag Manager snippet on the site | URL-prefix |
Choose a method you can complete without waiting for a developer. You can add a second method as a backup, because Google allows several at once. Leave the record or tag in place afterwards. Google says that if it cannot find the token on a later check, verification expires. If you cannot verify, ask a current owner to add you.
A DNS record can take a while to start working after you add it, so allow time before you try again. Google also notes that DNS verification is the most dependable choice if your site is down when you verify, because it checks your domain provider's records and not your web server.
One piece of practical advice: verify with an account that belongs to the business, not to one person's private address, and add agencies or freelancers as users. Google's help describes owners, users and permission levels, and this keeps access if a supplier changes.
Which Search Console reports to read first
Report names and menus change, so use this table as a map and check the current documentation if a label looks different.
| Report | What it tells you | Look at it when |
|---|---|---|
| Performance (Search results) | Which searches show your pages, how often, and how many clicks follow | Monthly, and after you change titles or content |
| Page indexing | Which pages Google has indexed, and why others are not | After a launch or redesign, or when a page is missing |
| URL Inspection | Google's view of one address | When an important page seems missing, and after you fix it |
| Sitemaps | Whether Google can read the sitemap you submitted | After you submit or change a sitemap |
| Manual actions and Security issues | Whether Google has flagged spam or hacking | When a message arrives, and when traffic falls sharply |
| Links | A sample of sites that link to you, and your most linked pages | When you work on internal links or earn mentions |
How to read the Performance report
The Performance report is where most beginners learn the most. It shows four measures. Clicks are visits from a Google result to your site. Impressions are the times your site appeared in a result. Click-through rate is clicks divided by impressions. Average position is the average position of your site's topmost result for the searches counted.
Group the data with the tabs above the table: queries, pages, countries, devices, search appearance or dates. A business that sells in several countries can use the Countries tab to see where impressions and clicks come from, and the Devices tab to see whether mobile and desktop differ. Changing the search type from web to image shows traffic from Google Images.
Some simple uses:
- Sort the Queries tab by impressions to see which searches already bring your site into view, and look for useful ones you have not written a page for.
- Sort the Pages tab by click-through rate, lowest first, to find pages that appear often and attract few clicks. Their titles and descriptions may need rewriting, and the guide to meta titles and descriptions explains how.
- Compare the device and country tabs to see if a page does worse on mobile or in one market.
- Compare two date ranges, before and after a change, to judge the effect.
Treat position as an average and a trend, not a fixed rank. Google recommends watching trends in impressions and clicks more than position alone, and results vary with the searcher's time, place, device and history, so two people may not see the same order. The Pages tab lists web addresses, which are quicker to scan when a site has a clear structure. The guide to URL structure for SEO explains how to build one.
The Page indexing report and URL Inspection
The Page indexing report separates pages that are indexed from pages that are not, and lists a reason for each excluded group. An excluded page is not always a fault. A redirect, a duplicate or a deliberate noindex rule is often correct. Look for important pages in the not-indexed list. The Source column helps: Website means the cause is probably something you can fix, while Google means the decision is Google's.
The URL Inspection tool shows what Google knows about one address: whether it is on Google, when it was last crawled, whether indexing is allowed and which address Google treats as the canonical. Test Live URL checks the page as it is now. After you fix a problem, test again and use Request indexing, which tells Google the page has changed. Asking repeatedly for the same address does not make Google visit sooner, and you need to be an owner or full user to make the request.
Sitemaps, links and messages
In the Sitemaps report you submit the address of your sitemap and check its status. Success means Google fetched and read the file without errors. Has errors means some entries have problems. Couldn't fetch means Google could not retrieve the file at all. The guide to the XML sitemap and robots.txt explains what belongs in the file and what blocks Google from reading it.
The Links report shows a sample of the sites that link to yours, the wording of those links and your most linked pages. It also lists the pages your own site links to most. Google describes it as a sample, not a full list. The internal links table is a quick way to spot important pages that few of your own pages link to, and the guide to internal linking for SEO shows how to fix that.
Manual actions and Security issues matter less often but more urgently. A manual action means a human reviewer at Google decided that pages do not follow its spam policies. A security issue means Google found signs of hacking or harmful behaviour. Google says verified owners are emailed and shown a message in Search Console when these occur, so keep the contact address current.
A simple routine for beginners
Google says you do not need to sign in every day, because it emails you when it finds new issues. A monthly look, plus a look after any large change to the site, is a sensible routine.
- Open the Performance report and compare the latest period with the one before it.
- Check the Page indexing report for new problems on important pages.
- Read any messages.
- Choose one change to make, such as a title to rewrite or a page to link to, and record what you changed and when.
Search Console gives clues, not answers, and it covers Google only. If the data raises questions you cannot settle alone, the search engine optimisation service page describes the help Liftup provides.
Questions and answers
What is Google Search Console?
Google Search Console is a free service from Google that helps you monitor, maintain and troubleshoot how your site appears in Google Search. It shows which searches display your pages, whether Google can crawl and index them, and any problems it has found.
How do I verify my site in Google Search Console?
Add your site as a property, then prove ownership. A Domain property needs a DNS record at your domain name provider. A URL-prefix property can also use an HTML file, an HTML tag, a Google Analytics tag or a Tag Manager snippet. Leave the verification in place afterwards.
Which reports should a beginner look at first?
Start with the Performance report to see which searches show your site, the Page indexing report to see which pages Google has indexed, the Sitemaps report to confirm Google can read your sitemap, and any messages. Add the URL Inspection tool when one page seems to be missing.
Is Google Search Console free?
Yes. Google describes it as a free service, and a Google account is the only requirement to start.
Do I need Search Console for my site to appear on Google?
No. Google says you do not have to sign up to be included in search results. Search Console helps you understand how Google sees your site and fix problems, but it does not decide if your pages are listed.
Does Search Console show data from other search engines?
No. It reports on Google Search only. Other search engines offer their own tools for site owners, so check each one's current documentation.
What should I do if verification fails?
Check the method against its requirements. An HTML tag must be on a home page that is open to logged-out visitors, and an HTML file must be reachable at the root of the site without a redirect. DNS records can take a while to appear. If none of that helps, ask a current owner to add you.