Guide · February 18, 2019
Google Search Console Basics: Check Your Site Health
Google Search Console basics start with one idea: it is a free tool from Google that shows how your website looks to Google Search. You can see which searches bring visitors, which pages Google has stored, and which pages have problems. This guide shows you how to set it up and what to check first.
Google launched the tool under the name Webmaster Tools. On May 20, 2015, it renamed the tool Google Search Console. It said the new name fit the many kinds of people who use it, such as small business owners, marketers and developers, and not only webmasters.
Step one: prove the site is yours
Google will only show private data to the owner of a site. So you must verify ownership first. Sign in with a Google account, add your site address, and pick a way to prove you control it.
The common ways are simple. You can upload a small HTML file Google gives you to the top folder of your site. You can paste a meta tag into the head of your home page. You can add a record at your domain name provider. If you already use Google Analytics or Google Tag Manager on the site, you can use that code instead, with the same Google account.
Leave the proof in place after you finish. If you remove the file or tag, you can lose access. You can also add more than one owner, such as a staff member or a web agency.
Add each version of your address as its own site if you use both http and https, or with and without www. Pick the one visitors really see and watch that one first.
Two versions of the tool
In January 2018, Google began rolling out a beta of a new Search Console to all users. It runs next to the classic version, with links between the two in the menu bar. Google said it would move more classic features across during the year.
The beta had four reports. They were Search Performance, Index Coverage, AMP status and Job postings. This guide covers the first two, because every site owner can use them. AMP status matters only if you publish AMP pages. Job postings matter only if your site lists jobs.
Read the Performance report
The Performance report tells you how people find you. It shows four numbers. Clicks count the times people clicked from Google results to your site. Impressions count the times your site appeared in results. CTR, or click through rate, is clicks divided by impressions. Average position is where your top result usually ranked.
The report also lets you group the numbers. You can group by search query, by page, by country or by device. Start with queries. They show the words real people typed before they reached you. Those words often differ from the words you would pick.
The new report keeps 16 months of data. That lets you compare this season with the same season a year ago. This helps a lot for shops with busy and quiet months.
Look for pages with many impressions but few clicks. The title or description may not match what searchers want. Try a clearer title and check again in a few weeks. One caution: results change by place, time and device, so a search you run yourself may not match the report.
Read the Index Coverage report
Google can only show pages it has stored, a step called indexing. The Index Coverage report shows which of your pages are indexed, which have warnings, and why some are not indexed. It is the quickest health check for a site.
Open it and read the problem list from the top. Each problem shows the pages it affects. Click one to see example pages. Fix the biggest group first, since one cause often hits many pages.
Fix common errors
Three problems come up often. The first is a page not found, also called a 404. The page was deleted or the link has a typo. If the page moved, set up a permanent redirect, called a 301, to the new address. If the page is gone for good, a 404 can be fine.
The second is a server error, a code that starts with 5. Your server failed when Google asked for the page. Ask your host to check for outages or overload.
The third is a redirect error. A redirect chain can be too long, or loop back on itself. Make each old address point straight to its final page.
After you fix a problem, use the validate fix button in the report. This asks Google to look at the affected pages again. Then wait. Re-checks can take days, so do not press it over and over.
A simple weekly routine
You do not need hours for this. Once a week, open Index Coverage and look for new problems. Then open Performance and look at your top queries and pages. Write down anything that changed. Over a few months, these notes show what works on your site.
If you run the site for a business, share access with the person who edits the pages. Fixes happen faster when the person who sees the problem can act on it.
Sources
- Announcing Google Search Console - the new Webmaster Tools, Google Webmaster Central Blog, May 20, 2015.
- Introducing the new Search Console, Google Webmaster Central Blog, January 2018.
- Ownership verification, Performance report and Index Coverage Status report, Google Search Console Help.
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