What is Google Search Console?
Google Search Console is a free tool developed by Google to help website owners monitor, gauge, and improve their site’s search traffic and performance and identify any search-related issues. It is designed to give website owners a clear picture of how Google sees their site.
If you want a more in-depth understanding of this topic, check out the FAQ section below:
Question #1: Do I need to sign up for it for my website to appear in Google’s search results?
No, you do not need to sign up for Google Search Console for your website to appear in Google’s search results. Unless you specifically tell Google’s web crawlers to not index your website, they will. And if it has good SEO, it will show up on Google’s search results.
The main reason you would want to sign up is that, as we have seen earlier, it tells you exactly how Google sees your site. This means you will have a better understanding of what you need to do to improve its search performance.
Question #2: What can I do with Google Search Console?
You can do a lot of handy things using Google Search Console, including:
- Verify that Google can actually find and index your site
- Address indexing issues and then get your content re-indexed afterwards
- Set up alerts for spam, indexing, and other problems on your website
- See all the websites that link back to yours
- Address issues for mobile usability, AMP, and other Google Search features
- Viewing search traffic data such as:
- How often your website shows up in search
- What keywords and search queries cause your site to show up in search
- The click-through rate for those queries
Question #3: Is Google Search Console right for me?
Google Search Console is right for you if you satisfy the following conditions:
- You rely heavily on your online presence
- You want to boost your website’s organic traffic
- Your business relies heavily on the performance of your website
Let us take a look at each one in more detail:
First, it’s right for you if your (or your business’) success relies heavily on building a strong online presence because as we have seen in the previous section, you can use the tool to make sure that your website is actually showing up in search.
Second, it is also right for you if you want to drive more organic traffic to your website because it tells you exactly what search queries people use to get it to show up in search. All you have to do is build your content around these search queries and you will be able to sign up its chances of not only appearing but also ranking highly in search.
Finally, it is also a good idea to sign up for it if your business relies heavily on having a website that just works. Again, the tool can not only help you identify issues, but also troubleshoot them.
Question #4: Is it an SEO tool?
Yes, Google Search Console is an SEO tool—and one of the most powerful free options there is. While most other tools are just built around publicly available information on how the Google search algorithm works, it is actually owned by the same company that owns the algorithm. This means that it can give you the most accurate picture of how your site is performing and what you need to do to do better.
Question #5: Can I use other SEO tools with Google Search Console?
Absolutely! In fact, if you have the budget, you should use other SEO tools with Google Search Console because most popular SEO tools, such as Yoast, are designed to make optimising your website for search so much easier.
The idea is to use Google Search Console to figure out exactly what you have to do to boost your site’s search performance and then use your SEO tool of choice to implement the necessary changes.