Quick answer: Google Search Console is Google's free tool for website owners. It shows which searches your site appears for, how often people click, which pages Google has indexed (and why some are not), page experience problems and security issues. The six reports that matter most are Performance, Page indexing, URL Inspection, Sitemaps, Core Web Vitals and Manual actions. Fifteen minutes a month is enough for most small businesses.
Search Console vs Google Analytics
The two tools answer different questions. Google Analytics 4 shows what people do once they are on your website. Search Console shows what happens before they arrive: the searches you appeared for, your average position and whether people clicked.
Search Console only covers Google search. It does not include ads, social media or visits from AI assistants, and it is the only place you can see the actual search terms that brought people to your site.
How to set it up
- Go to Google Search Console and sign in with the Google account your business uses.
- Add a Domain property (for example
yourbusiness.com). It covers every version of the site: www and non-www, http and https, and all subdomains. - Verify ownership by adding the TXT record Google gives you to your domain's DNS settings. Your domain registrar or hosting company can help if you have never done this.
- Submit your XML sitemap (usually
/sitemap.xml) under Sitemaps. - Add anyone else who needs access under Settings → Users and permissions, rather than sharing your password.
Data starts collecting from the moment the property is verified, so set it up even if you will not look at it for a while.
The 6 reports that matter
1. Performance: what people searched for
This is the report you will use most. It shows four numbers: clicks, impressions (how often you appeared in results), average CTR (the share of impressions that became clicks) and average position.
Switch on all four, set the date range to the last three months and look at the Queries and Pages tabs. You will usually find:
- Searches you rank for that you never targeted, which are often ideas for new pages
- Pages with many impressions but few clicks, where a better title and meta description could win more visits
- Queries where you sit in positions 5 to 15, which are the easiest to improve
Use Compare to see this period against the previous one. The report keeps 16 months of data, which makes year-on-year comparisons possible.
2. Page indexing: which pages Google keeps
This report shows how many of your pages are indexed and lists the reasons others are not. Not every "not indexed" page is a problem. The ones to check are your important pages: services, products, location pages and key articles.
| Message | What it usually means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Crawled, currently not indexed | Google saw the page and chose not to include it | Improve the content, merge thin pages, add internal links |
| Discovered, currently not indexed | Google knows the page exists but has not crawled it yet | Link to it from important pages, check site speed |
| Excluded by "noindex" tag | The page asks not to be indexed | Fine if intended; remove the tag if not |
| Duplicate without user-selected canonical | Google sees near-identical pages | Set a canonical or merge the duplicates |
| Not found (404) | The page no longer exists | Redirect it if it had links or traffic |
| Page with redirect | The address redirects elsewhere | Normal after a redesign; update internal links |
3. URL Inspection: one page in detail
Paste any address from your site into the search bar at the top. You will see whether the page is indexed, when Google last crawled it, which canonical Google chose and whether it is mobile friendly. After you publish or update an important page, use Request indexing to ask Google to recrawl it sooner.
4. Sitemaps: tell Google what exists
Submit your sitemap once and check it occasionally. The status should say Success, and the number of discovered pages should roughly match the number of pages you want indexed. A sudden drop usually means a technical change on the site.
5. Core Web Vitals: real-world speed
This report groups your pages into Good, Needs improvement and Poor for mobile and desktop, based on data from real Chrome users. It needs a certain amount of traffic, so small sites may see "not enough data". Fix pages marked Poor on mobile first. Our guide to Core Web Vitals explains the three measures.
6. Manual actions and Security issues
Both should say No issues detected. A manual action means a Google reviewer found something against its spam policies; a security issue usually means the site was hacked. Either one can remove pages from search, so if you ever see a message here, deal with it the same day.
A 15-minute monthly routine
- Performance: compare the last 28 days with the previous period. Note total clicks and your top five pages.
- Queries in positions 5 to 15: pick one or two pages to improve this month.
- Low CTR pages: rewrite the title or description of one page with many impressions and few clicks.
- Page indexing: check that no important page has dropped out.
- Manual actions and Security issues: confirm both are clear.
Write the numbers in the same monthly report as your other website KPIs. Over a year, the trend tells you far more than any single month.
Common mistakes
- Setting up only a URL-prefix property and missing traffic to other versions of the site
- Panicking over every "not indexed" page, including ones that should never be indexed
- Requesting indexing for dozens of pages instead of fixing why they were not indexed
- Reading average position for the whole site, which mixes great and terrible rankings into one number
- Forgetting to check after a redesign, when redirects and indexing problems are most likely
Frequently asked questions
Is Google Search Console free?
Yes. It is free for any website owner who can verify the site.
How long does it take for data to appear?
Data usually starts showing within a few days of verification. Performance data runs a little behind real time, so the most recent day or two may be incomplete.
Why are my Search Console clicks different from Google Analytics?
They measure different things. Search Console counts clicks from Google search results; GA4 counts sessions on your site, can be blocked by consent settings and ad blockers, and attributes visits in its own way. Expect the numbers to be similar in trend, not identical.
Should I worry about pages that are not indexed?
Only if they are pages you want people to find. Tag pages, filtered pages, thank-you pages and old redirects are often correctly left out. Focus on your important pages and check our technical SEO checklist if they are missing.
Want someone to set up Search Console properly and turn the data into a clear list of fixes? See our SEO service, or start with a free audit.
