Google Search Console: A Must-Have for SEO Professionals

AI-Generated Image — Bob Cristello

Google Search Console (GSC) is an indispensable tool for any SEO professional. It provides a wealth of data directly from Google, allowing you to monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot your website’s presence in Google Search results. In this guide, we’ll delve into the various facets of GSC, explaining how to harness its power to improve your site’s performance and SEO strategy.

What is Google Search Console?

Google Search Console, formerly known as Google Webmaster Tools, is a free service provided by Google. It enables site owners to understand how their site is performing in search, diagnose issues, and receive alerts about problems on their site. Key features of GSC include:

• Performance Reports: Track impressions, clicks, and ranking positions.
• Index Coverage Reports: See which pages are indexed and which have issues.
• URL Inspection Tool: Check specific URLs for indexing and crawling errors.
• Core Web Vitals: Monitor page experience metrics.
• Sitemap Submission: Ensure all your important pages are indexed.
• Disavow Tool: Manage URLs and specific links identified as toxic in third-party tools such as SEM Rush.
• Manual and Security actions: Google Search Console critical alerts that highlight significant violations and threats to your site’s compliance and safety, requiring immediate attention to maintain your site’s integrity and visibility in search results.

Getting Started with Google Search Console

To begin using GSC, you need a Google account and the ability to verify your website’s ownership. Verification can be done via various methods, including adding a DNS record, uploading an HTML file, or using Google Tag Manager.

Verifying Site Ownership

Domain Verification: This method verifies all subdomains and URLs under your domain.

• Add a TXT or CNAME record to your DNS settings.
• Copy the provided verification code into the appropriate field in your DNS configuration.
• Save the changes and click ‘Verify’ in GSC.

URL Prefix Verification: This method verifies specific URL paths.

• Upload an HTML file, add an HTML tag, use Google Analytics or Google Tag Manager, or update your DNS settings.

Submitting a Sitemap

A sitemap is a file that helps search engines understand the structure of your website. Submitting a sitemap to GSC ensures Google can efficiently crawl and index your site.

1. Navigate to the Sitemaps section in GSC.
2. Enter the URL of your sitemap (e.g., https://www.yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml).
3. Click ‘Submit’.

Managing Users and Permissions

GSC allows you to control access to your site’s data and functionality. There are three levels of access:

1. Owner: Full control over all settings and data.
2. Full User: Access to most data and settings, but cannot add/remove users.
3. Restricted User: View-only access to data.

Using GSC for SEO

GSC offers numerous tools and reports that are invaluable for SEO. Here are five key ways to use GSC to enhance your SEO efforts:

1. Measuring Site Performance

The Performance report provides insights into how your site is performing in Google Search. You can see metrics like total clicks, impressions, average click-through rate (CTR), and average position. This data helps you understand which queries bring traffic to your site and identify opportunities for improvement.

2. Identifying “Striking Distance” Keywords

Striking distance keywords are those that rank just outside the top positions (typically positions 5–15). These keywords present opportunities for optimization to push them into higher rankings. In GSC:

1. Go to the Performance report.
2. Enable the Average Position metric.
3. Sort queries by position to identify those in the striking distance range.

3. Requesting Faster Indexation of New Pages

For urgent content updates or new pages, you can request Google to index them faster using the URL Inspection tool. Enter the URL, click ‘Request Indexing’, and Google will prioritize it for crawling.

4. Bulk Data Export

GSC data is limited to 16 months. To retain long-term data for analysis, export your GSC data to BigQuery. This allows for extensive historical data storage and advanced analytics.

5. Integration with Other SEO Tools

Integrating GSC with tools like Semrush, Ahrefs, Screaming Frog, and Google Analytics enhances your SEO analysis. These integrations provide deeper insights into site performance, content opportunities, and backlink profiles.

Troubleshooting with GSC

GSC is essential for diagnosing and fixing issues that affect your site’s search performance.

Crawling Issues

The Crawl Stats report shows how often Googlebot crawls your site and any issues encountered. Regularly monitoring this report helps ensure your site is accessible and properly crawled.

Indexation Issues

Pages not indexed by Google cannot rank. Use the Index Coverage report to identify and fix pages with indexing issues. The URL Inspection tool helps diagnose specific URL problems.

Performance Issues

Core Web Vitals (CWV) in GSC measure user experience metrics like Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), Interaction to Next Paint (INP), and Largest Contentful Paint (LCP). Improving these metrics can enhance both user experience and search rankings.

Understanding the Google Search Console Disavow Tool

The Google Search Console Disavow Tool is a powerful feature designed to help webmasters maintain a healthy backlink profile. This tool allows you to tell Google to ignore certain links pointing to your site, particularly if you believe these links are harmful or spammy. Here’s a brief overview of how to use the Disavow Tool effectively:

Why Use the Disavow Tool?

Backlinks are crucial for SEO, but not all links are beneficial. Low-quality or spammy backlinks can negatively impact your site’s ranking and reputation. The Disavow Tool helps mitigate this risk by allowing you to disassociate from such links.

When to Use the Disavow Tool

Use the Disavow Tool if:

• You have a significant number of spammy, artificial, or low-quality links pointing to your site.
• You’ve received a manual action from Google for unnatural links.
• You’ve identified a pattern of negative SEO attacks targeting your site.

How to Use the Disavow Tool

1. Identify Harmful Links: Use tools like Google Search Console, Ahrefs, or SEMrush to identify toxic backlinks.
2. Create a Disavow File: Compile a list of URLs or domains you want to disavow. The file should be in plain text format (.txt), listing one URL or domain per line.
3. Submit the File to Google:

• Go to the Disavow Tool page.
• Select your property.
• Upload your disavow file.

Best Practices

• Manual Review: Before disavowing, try to manually review and remove bad links by contacting webmasters.
• Precision: Only disavow links that are undoubtedly harmful. Incorrect use of the tool can hurt your site’s SEO.
• Regular Updates: Periodically review your backlink profile and update your disavow file as necessary.

By understanding and utilizing the Disavow Tool, you can protect your site from harmful backlinks and maintain a healthy SEO strategy.

Security Issues in Google Search Console

In Google Search Console, the Security Issues section is crucial for maintaining your website’s safety and reputation. This section reports problems detected by Google Safe Browsing, a service that identifies URLs containing malware or phishing content. If Google flags any security issues on your site, they will appear here. These issues can include malware, deceptive pages, harmful downloads, and uncommon downloads.

Addressing security issues promptly is essential. Ignoring them can damage your site’s reputation and lead to a drop in search rankings. Google provides detailed reports to help you understand the problem’s nature and how to resolve it effectively.

Manual Actions in Google Search Console

Manual Actions are interventions by Google’s team, indicating that a live reviewer has found your site in violation of Google’s webmaster quality guidelines. If your site is subject to manual action, parts or all of your site might be excluded from Google search results.

Manual actions are typically taken for significant issues such as:

• User-generated spam
• Structured data problems
• Unnatural links to or from your site
• Thin content with little value
• Cloaking or sneaky redirects
• Pure spam
• Cloaked images
• Hidden text and keyword stuffing

When a manual action is applied, Google aims to provide clear communication about the issue and offers steps to fix it. Resolving these issues is crucial to restore your site’s visibility in search results and maintain compliance with Google’s guidelines.

Conclusion

Google Search Console is a cornerstone of effective SEO. By leveraging its features, you can gain valuable insights into your site’s performance, diagnose issues, and optimize your strategy. Integrate GSC into your daily workflow to ensure your site remains healthy, accessible, and competitive in search rankings.

Key Takeaways

• GSC provides crucial data for monitoring and improving your site’s SEO performance.
• Verification and sitemap submission are fundamental steps to getting started with GSC.
• Performance reports and striking distance keywords help identify optimization opportunities.
• Troubleshooting tools in GSC help diagnose and fix crawling, indexation, and performance issues.
• Integrating GSC with other SEO tools enhances your analytical capabilities.

Harness the power of Google Search Console to elevate your SEO efforts and drive your site’s success in the digital landscape.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are based on the author’s research and experience using Google Search Console. Individual experiences may vary.

By Bob Cristello,
Digital Architect, PKWARE