What is Google Search Console?
Google Search Console is a free tool from Google that shows how your site performs in Google Search and reports problems that affect it. It is the only source of first-party data on which queries your pages appear for, how often they are clicked, and which of your URLs Google has indexed.
You add a site as a property and verify ownership. A Domain property covers all subdomains and both protocols and is verified with a DNS TXT record. A URL prefix property covers one exact address and supports more verification methods, such as an HTML file or meta tag.
How it works
The reports people use most:
- Performance: clicks, impressions, average click-through rate, and average position, filterable by query, page, country, device, and search appearance. Data covers the last 16 months.
- URL Inspection: the indexing status of a single URL, the canonical Google chose, the rendered HTML, and a button to request indexing.
- Pages (under Indexing): every known URL grouped as indexed or not indexed, with reasons.
- Sitemaps: where you submit your XML sitemap and see whether it was read.
- Core Web Vitals: field performance data grouped by URL pattern.
- Enhancements: structured data reports for eligible rich result types.
- Manual actions and Security issues: penalties and hacks.
- Links: top linked pages and linking sites.
Search Console is not an analytics tool. It shows what happens on Google's results page, not what visitors do after they land.
Example
A page's traffic drops. In Performance, filter to that page and compare the last 28 days to the previous period. If impressions held steady but clicks fell, the snippet or a new SERP feature is likely taking attention; test a new title. If impressions fell, check URL Inspection for indexing changes and the Queries tab for lost rankings.
In WordPress
Verification is the only part WordPress is involved in. With a Domain property you add the TXT record at your DNS host, and nothing changes on the site. For URL prefix properties, many SEO plugins provide a field for the verification meta tag. Once verified, submit the sitemap your plugin generates; Hydrogen SEO's submit your sitemap to Google guide walks through it, and find and fix 404s shows how to use the Pages report to find broken URLs.
Common mistakes
- Reading average position as a rank. It is averaged over every impression, including ones far down the page.
- Only verifying one version of the site with URL prefix properties, and missing data from
wwworhttp. - Panicking over "not indexed" counts that are mostly redirects and duplicates.
Common questions
Is Google Search Console free?
Yes. It is free for any site owner who can verify ownership.
What is the difference between Search Console and Google Analytics?
Search Console reports on search: queries, impressions, clicks, and indexing. Analytics reports on visitor behavior across all traffic sources once people are on your site.