Google Search Console shows how your website performs in Google search
Setup takes around 15 minutes using your website platform’s built-in verification
The Performance report reveals which search terms actually bring people to your site
The Coverage report tells you whether Google can find and index your pages
A monthly check is enough for most businesses, and Google emails you if problems arise
You’ve built a website for your business. You’ve added your services, contact details, and maybe even started a blog.
But can Google actually find your website?
Without a way to check, you’re essentially guessing.
Your website might be invisible in search because of a technical problem you don’t even know exists.
Or perhaps Google is indexing your pages perfectly, but you’re missing opportunities because you can’t see which search terms people use to find businesses like yours.
Google Search Console solves this problem.
It’s a free tool from Google that shows you exactly how they see your website and what people search for when they find you. This guide explains what Google Search Console does and how to set it up.
Table of Contents
What Is Google Search Console?
Google Search Console is a free service from Google that helps you monitor and maintain your website’s presence in search. Think of it as your website’s health report from Google’s perspective.
The tool shows you which pages Google has found, whether any technical problems are blocking your visibility, and what search terms bring people to your site.
Unlike Google Analytics, which mostly focuses on what visitors do after they arrive, Search Console focuses on how people find you through Google in the first place.
Anyone with a website can use it, and you don’t need technical expertise or an advertising budget.
Why Google Search Console Matters for Your Business
See How Google Finds Your Website
One of the biggest advantages of Search Console is knowing whether Google can actually access your pages.
You might assume everything is working fine, but technical issues can often block Google from indexing your content without any visible warning on your website.
The Coverage report tells you exactly which pages Google has indexed and which ones have problems. Common issues include pages accidentally blocked by your robots.txt file, broken links returning error codes, or duplicate content confusing Google about which version to show.
Finding these problems early means you can fix them before they cost you potential customers who would have found you through search.
Understand What Brings Visitors to Your Site
Search Console reveals the actual search terms people type into Google before clicking through to your website. This information helps you understand how your customers think and what language they use.
You might discover that people find your accounting firm by searching “self assessment help near me” rather than “accountancy services”.
Or you might notice strong performance for keywords you hadn’t even considered targeting.
A plumber in Manchester might find that “emergency boiler repair” drives far more traffic than “plumbing services”, which changes how they should write their website content.
Either way, this data helps you create content and optimise pages for terms people actually use.
How to Set Up Google Search Console
Setting up Google Search Console takes about 15 minutes. First, go to search.google.com/search-console and sign in with a Google account. If you already use Gmail or Google Analytics, you can use the same account to keep everything connected.
When adding your website, you’ll see two options:
- Domain property
- URL prefix
Domain property is the preferred option as it covers your entire domain including all versions (www, non-www, http, https) in one place. It requires DNS verification, which can be more technical.
URL prefix tracks only the exact web address you enter. It’s simpler to set up and offers more verification options, making it the better choice for most small business websites.
If you choose URL prefix, enter your full website address including https:// exactly as it appears in your browser.
Verifying Your Website
Google needs to confirm you actually own the website before showing you any data. The easiest method depends on your website platform.
If you use WordPress with an SEO plugin like Yoast or RankMath, these plugins have built-in verification options.
Copy the HTML tag Google provides, paste it into the plugin’s webmaster tools section, and click verify. The whole process takes less than five minutes.
For other platforms like Wix or Squarespace, check their help documentation for “Google Search Console verification”. Most modern website builders have simplified this process with dedicated settings panels.
If neither option works, you can verify by adding a small HTML file to your website or updating your domain’s DNS records. These methods need a bit more technical knowledge, so you may want to ask your web developer or hosting provider for help.
The Key Reports To Check
Google Search Console contains many reports, but three deserve your regular attention. Focus on these rather than trying to understand everything at once.
Performance Report
The Performance report shows how your website appears in Google’s search listings. You’ll see four main numbers: total clicks, total impressions, average click-through rate, and average position.
Clicks tells you how many times someone visited your website from Google. Impressions shows how often your pages appeared in search listings, whether people clicked or not. Click-through rate is the percentage of impressions that resulted in clicks. Position indicates where your pages typically rank.
Scroll down to see which specific search terms and pages drive your traffic.
Look for pages with high impressions but low clicks. These represent opportunities where you rank well but your title or description isn’t compelling enough to earn the click. A quick rewrite of your page title or some additional content could make a real difference here.
Coverage Report
The Coverage report reveals the indexing status of your pages. Green means indexed and appearing in search. Red indicates errors preventing indexing. Yellow shows warnings worth investigating. Grey indicates pages excluded from indexing, often intentionally.
Don’t panic if you see excluded pages.
Some exclusions are normal, like admin pages or duplicate versions of content. Focus on errors first, then investigate any excluded pages that should be appearing in search.
Core Web Vitals
Google measures three aspects of user experience:
- how quickly your main content loads
- how responsive your page is to interaction
- and whether content shifts around while loading
These factors influence your search rankings and are summarised in the Core Web Vitals report.
If this report shows problems, your website may be loading slowly or providing a poor experience on mobile devices. While fixing these issues can require technical work, knowing they exist is the first step.
Many problems will trace back to large images or budget hosting that struggles under load.
How Often Should You Check Google Search Console?
You don’t need to log into Search Console each day.
For most small business websites, a monthly review works well. Spend 15 to 20 minutes looking at your Performance trends, checking for new Coverage errors, and reviewing any Core Web Vitals issues.
Google will email you if something urgent happens, like a security problem or a sudden spike in crawl errors. Make sure these email notifications are enabled in your Search Console settings so problems don’t go unnoticed.
Beyond monthly checks, visit Search Console whenever you make significant changes to your website. After adding new pages or redesigning sections, use the URL Inspection tool to request indexing and confirm Google can access your updated content.
Taking Action on What You Learn
Google Search Console is one part of a broader approach to making your website work harder for your business.
Understanding how Google sees your site helps you make better choices about content, structure, and technical improvements.
The real value comes from acting on what you find. If certain pages get lots of impressions but few clicks, improve their titles and descriptions to make them more attractive to searchers.
If the Coverage report shows errors, fix them. If Core Web Vitals flags speed problems, talk to your hosting provider or compress those oversized images.
If the data reveals issues you’re not sure how to fix, or if you want help turning these insights into an SEO strategy, our SEO services can help. We work with UK small businesses to improve their visibility in search and attract more of the right customers.
Start by setting up your Search Console account today. Even if you do nothing else, having access to this data puts you ahead of businesses still guessing about their online visibility.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, Google Search Console is completely free. Google provides this tool to help website owners improve their sites, which ultimately benefits everyone using search. There are no premium tiers or hidden costs.
Google Search Console shows how people find your website through Google, including which keywords they use and whether Google can index your pages. Google Analytics tracks what visitors do after they arrive. Both tools work together to give you a complete picture.
Read more: A Helpful Guide to Google Analytics for Small Business Owners
No, you can understand the basic reports without technical expertise. The Performance and Coverage reports use plain language that anyone can follow. Some advanced features may need technical knowledge, but the essential insights are accessible to everyone.
After verification, you’ll typically see initial data within 24 to 48 hours. However, meaningful performance data builds over time. Allow two to four weeks before drawing conclusions from your reports.
Yes, you can add up to 1,000 properties to a single Google account. Each website requires separate verification, but you can manage them all from one dashboard. This is useful if you run multiple business websites.
Submitting an XML sitemap helps Google discover all your important pages more quickly. Most SEO plugins for WordPress generate sitemaps automatically. Submit yours through the Sitemaps section of Search Console to speed up discovery of new content.
Pages might be excluded for several reasons: they may be blocked by your robots.txt file, have noindex tags, be considered duplicate content, or return error codes. Check the Coverage report for specific reasons and address any unintentional exclusions.
Start by clicking on the error to understand what it means. Google provides documentation for each error type. Common issues like broken pages or blocked resources often have simple fixes. For complex technical errors, consider consulting a web developer.
Search Console reveals which keywords already bring traffic to your site, helping you identify content opportunities. It also highlights technical issues that may be hurting your rankings. This data helps shape your SEO strategy with real information rather than guesswork.
The URL Inspection tool lets you check how Google sees a specific page on your website. You can see if the page is indexed, when Google last crawled it, and whether any issues exist. You can also request indexing for new or updated pages.
Indexing is when Google adds your web pages to its database so they can appear in search results. Before a page can show up when someone searches, Google needs to find it, read it, and store it in its index. If a page isn’t indexed, it won’t appear in Google no matter how good the content is.