Google Search Console is a free tool from Google that shows how your website appears in search results. It reports which queries bring up your pages, how often people click through, which pages have indexing problems and whether Google has detected any technical issues. Unlike Google Analytics, which measures what happens on your site, Search Console measures what happens in Google Search before anyone clicks.
At Gorilla Marketing, Search Console is the first thing we check for every SEO client. It provides data that no other tool can replicate, because it comes directly from Google. This guide covers setup, the reports that actually matter and how to turn the data into actions that improve search performance.
Setting Up Google Search Console
If Search Console is not yet connected to the site, setup takes a few minutes.
Navigate to search.google.com/search-console and sign in with a Google account. Click “Add property” and choose between two options.
Domain property covers the entire domain including all subdomains, protocols and paths. Verification requires adding a DNS TXT record through the domain registrar. This is the better option for most businesses because it captures all versions of the domain in one property.
URL prefix property covers only the specific URL pattern entered (for example, https://www.example.com). Verification is simpler, with multiple methods available: an HTML file upload, an HTML meta tag, Google Analytics tracking code or Google Tag Manager. The limitation is that it only covers that exact URL prefix, so http and https, or www and non-www, would need separate properties.
For most sites, the domain property is the right choice. The DNS verification step sounds technical but most domain registrars have clear instructions for adding TXT records, and Google provides the exact record to add.
After verification, data begins appearing within 24 to 48 hours. Search Console does not backfill historical data before the verification date, so the sooner a property is set up, the more data is available.
Adding a Sitemap
Once the property is verified, submit the XML sitemap. Navigate to Sitemaps in the left menu and enter the sitemap URL (usually /sitemap.xml or /sitemap_index.xml for WordPress sites using plugins like Yoast or RankMath).
Submitting a sitemap does not guarantee Google will crawl or index every page. It tells Google which pages exist and where to find them. Google still decides independently which pages are worth indexing based on content quality, authority and crawl budget.
The Performance Report
This is the most important report in Search Console. It shows how the site performs in Google Search results across four metrics.
Clicks are the number of times someone clicked through to the site from a search result. This is actual traffic data from Google, not estimated.
Impressions count how many times a page from the site appeared in search results, whether anyone clicked or not. High impressions with low clicks suggest the page is visible but not compelling enough to earn the click.
Click-through rate (CTR) is clicks divided by impressions. A page ranking in position three with a 2% CTR is underperforming relative to its position. The average CTR for position three is roughly 10 to 12%, so a 2% rate suggests the title tag or meta description needs work.
Average position is the average ranking for a query or page across all impressions. A page with an average position of 8.5 sits near the bottom of page one. This metric is useful for tracking ranking trends over time but should not be read as a fixed position, because rankings fluctuate constantly.
Filtering the Performance report
The raw Performance report covers the entire site. The value comes from filtering it.
Filter by query to see which search terms drive impressions and clicks. Look for queries with high impressions but low clicks: these represent visibility without engagement, often fixable with better title tags or meta descriptions.
Filter by page to see how a specific page performs across all queries. This reveals whether a page ranks for the intended keywords or is picking up unexpected queries.
Filter by country to understand geographic distribution. For businesses targeting specific markets, this shows whether search visibility aligns with the target audience.
Filter by device to compare mobile and desktop performance. Significant differences in CTR between devices often indicate mobile experience problems.
Compare date ranges to track progress. The previous 28 days compared to the 28 days before that shows short-term trends. Compare year over year for seasonal patterns.
Page Indexing Report
The Page Indexing report shows which pages Google has indexed and which it has not, along with the reasons.
Pages fall into two categories: indexed and not indexed. The not indexed pages include several subcategories that explain why.
Crawled, currently not indexed means Google found the page, looked at it and decided not to include it in the index. This usually indicates a content quality issue: the page is too thin, too similar to another page, or does not offer enough value to warrant indexing.
Discovered, not currently indexed means Google knows the page exists but has not crawled it yet. This can be a crawl budget issue on large sites or simply a queue delay.
Excluded by robots.txt means the site’s robots.txt file is blocking Google from accessing the page. Check whether this is intentional.
Duplicate without user-selected canonical means Google found duplicate versions of a page and chose a canonical itself, which may or may not be the version intended.
Not every page needs to be indexed. Paginated archive pages, tag pages, parameter URLs and utility pages often should not be in the index. The concern is when important pages, like service pages or key blog posts, appear in the not indexed categories.
URL Inspection Tool
The URL Inspection tool provides detailed information about how Google sees a specific page. Enter any URL from the site to see its current index status, the last crawl date, whether the page is eligible for rich results and any detected issues.
The tool also allows requesting indexing for a specific URL. After publishing a new page or making significant updates to an existing one, requesting indexing prompts Google to recrawl the page. This does not guarantee immediate indexing, but it moves the page to the front of the crawl queue.
The “View crawled page” option shows the HTML that Google actually retrieved, which is useful for diagnosing JavaScript rendering issues. If the rendered page does not match what appears in a browser, content may be invisible to Google.
Core Web Vitals Report
The Core Web Vitals report groups pages by their performance against Google’s three user experience metrics: Largest Contentful Paint (loading speed), Interaction to Next Paint (responsiveness) and Cumulative Layout Shift (visual stability).
Pages are categorised as Good, Needs Improvement or Poor based on real user data. The report groups similar pages together, so a problem affecting one page template typically shows as affecting multiple URLs.
Core Web Vitals are a confirmed ranking factor, though a relatively minor one compared to content relevance and authority. Fixing pages in the Poor category is worth doing for both user experience and any marginal ranking benefit. The report links each issue group to PageSpeed Insights for specific diagnostic data.
Links Report
The Links report shows two things: which external sites link to yours (backlinks) and how your own internal linking is structured.
External links shows the top linked pages, the domains linking most frequently and the anchor text used. This is useful for understanding which content attracts links naturally and for identifying potentially harmful links from spammy domains.
Internal links shows which pages receive the most internal links and which receive the fewest. Pages with very few internal links are harder for both Google and users to find. If an important page has minimal internal links, the site architecture may need adjustment.
The backlink data in Search Console is not as detailed as dedicated tools like Ahrefs or Majestic, but it comes directly from Google and captures links that third-party tools sometimes miss.
Manual Actions and Security Issues
The Manual Actions report shows whether Google has applied any penalties to the site. Manual actions are rare and typically result from deliberate policy violations: link schemes, thin content at scale, cloaking or user-generated spam. If a manual action appears, it requires specific remediation followed by a reconsideration request.
The Security Issues report flags detected malware, hacked content or deceptive pages. These are urgent: Google may show warnings to users attempting to visit the site, which destroys trust and traffic simultaneously.
Both reports showing “No issues detected” is the normal state. Check them periodically rather than expecting to find problems.
Enhancements Reports
Search Console reports on structured data types detected on the site. If the site uses schema markup for FAQs, breadcrumbs, products, reviews, events or other types, the Enhancements section shows validation results and any errors.
Valid markup means Google can potentially use the structured data to display rich results, like star ratings, FAQ dropdowns or event details in search results. Errors or warnings indicate markup problems that should be corrected.
These reports only appear for structured data types that Google detects on the site. If none appear, the site either has no structured data or is using types that Search Console does not specifically report on.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Ignoring the “not indexed” pages. Some are fine to leave unindexed. But if important commercial pages or key blog posts are not indexed, that represents invisible content. Review the not indexed list specifically for pages that should be ranking.
Obsessing over average position. Position data is averaged across all impressions and fluctuates constantly. A page moving from position 12 to position 9 matters. A page fluctuating between 6 and 8 week to week is normal noise.
Not connecting Search Console to GA4. The integration sends query and click data into Google Analytics, allowing it to be combined with on-site behaviour data. Without the connection, the two platforms operate in isolation. Our guide to GA4 for SEO covers this setup.
Only checking monthly. Search Console data is most useful when checked regularly. A weekly review of the Performance report and a monthly review of indexing and Core Web Vitals catches problems before they compound.
Using Search Console Data to Improve SEO
The reports are useful. The decisions they lead to are what matters.
Low CTR on high-impression queries. The page is visible but not getting clicked. Rewrite the title tag and meta description. Make them more specific, more compelling and better matched to what the searcher wants.
Important pages not indexed. Check for thin content, duplicate content, canonical issues or crawl blocks. If the content is genuine and unique, the most common fix is improving its quality and internal linking until Google considers it worth indexing.
Declining clicks on a specific page. Compare the queries driving that page now versus three months ago. If the queries have changed, the ranking environment may have shifted. If the queries are the same but positions have dropped, the page may need updating or the competition has improved.
Mobile performance significantly worse than desktop. Check the page on a real mobile device. Load time, layout shifts and touch target sizes are the usual culprits. The Core Web Vitals report will flag the specific issues.
Search Console is one piece of the measurement picture. Combined with analytics tracking and rank monitoring tools, it provides the foundation for data-driven SEO decisions.
Gorilla Marketing’s SEO services include Search Console analysis, technical SEO auditing and ongoing performance monitoring. Get in touch if you want help turning Search Console data into actionable improvements.
