Google Search Console (GSC) is a free service provided by Google that enables website owners, SEO professionals, and web developers to monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot their site’s presence in Google search results.
What Google Search Console Does
Google Search Console provides direct access to information that Google has about your site, allowing you to understand how Google sees your website and its performance in organic search. Here are the key aspects of what GSC does:Monitor Site Performance
GSC offers detailed reports on how your site performs in Google search results, including metrics such as impressions, clicks, click-through rates (CTR), and average position.Indexation and Crawling
It helps you monitor the indexing status of your website pages, identify any indexing issues, and ensure that Google can crawl and index your content correctly.Technical SEO and Health
GSC identifies and addresses technical SEO issues, such as manual actions, core web vitals, and other site health problems that could affect your site’s performance in search results.User Interaction and Behavior
The tool provides insights into how users interact with your site, including total clicks, impressions, average CTR, and average position, helping you refine your content strategy.Key Features and Functionality
Performance Reports
- Search Queries: Analyze the keywords and phrases (queries) that your site ranks for, along with their performance metrics.
- Page Positioning: See where each page of your site ranks for specific keywords and track changes after optimizations.
- User Interaction Metrics: View total clicks, impressions, average CTR, and average position to understand user behavior.
Indexing
- Site Coverage: Monitor which pages of your site are indexed and identify any indexing issues.
- Submit Pages for Indexing: Submit sitemaps and individual URLs to ensure they are indexed by Google.
Experience and Enhancements
- Core Web Vitals (CWV): Evaluate the user experience of your site based on metrics like loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability.
- Enhancements: Check for structured data issues and other enhancements that can improve your site’s appearance in search results.
Additional Features
- Links: View backlinks to your site and understand your link profile.
- Manual Actions: Check for any manual penalties or actions taken by Google against your site.
- Search Console Insights: Gain insights into how audiences are finding and engaging with your content, including the most searched queries and viral content.
Actions and Tools
- URL Inspection: Inspect URLs for indexing issues and request re-indexing if necessary.
- URL Removal: Remove URLs from the Google index if they are no longer relevant or should not be indexed.
- Sitemap Submission: Submit sitemaps to help Google understand the structure of your site.