Google Search Console is a free, official tool that lets you learn how Google sees your site directly from Google itself. Analytics tells you "how many people came"; Search Console tells you "which keywords Google showed you for, how many clicks you got, and which pages have indexing issues." One does not replace the other; they are used together.
What is Search Console and why do you need it?
If you own a website, Search Console answers these three questions:
- Visibility: For which keywords, and at what position, am I shown?
- Health: How many of my pages are indexed, and why weren't the others?
- Issues: Is there a penalty such as a mobile usability, security, or manual action issue?
None of these can be determined by looking at your site's code or content; they can only be seen in Google's own data.
Property verification methods
When you go to search.google.com/search-console and add your domain, you are asked to prove that the site really belongs to you. There are five methods:
| Method | How it works | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| DNS TXT record | You add a TXT record at your domain provider | Entire domain — http/https, www/non-www, all subdomains |
| HTML file | You upload the provided file to the server root | Only that protocol+host |
| HTML tag | You add a meta tag inside <head> | Only that protocol+host |
| Google Analytics | Verifies through your already installed GA account | Only that protocol+host |
| Google Tag Manager | Verifies through your already installed GTM container | Only that protocol+host |
Which one should you choose? If possible, prefer the DNS TXT record. The other four
methods only cover the single address you verify (for example, only https://siteniz.com);
www or http variations must be verified separately. DNS TXT, on the other hand, verifies the entire
domain at once and permanently, with no file or code changes required on the server.
Submitting a sitemap
Once verification is complete, go to Sitemaps in the left menu and
enter the path to your site's sitemap file — usually just typing sitemap.xml
is enough, since the property address is already defined and Search Console completes the rest.
A sitemap tells Google, "here is the list of pages I want crawled." Submitting it does not guarantee indexing, but it speeds up the process and increases the chance that your newly published pages get noticed.
Reading the Performance report
The Performance report in the left menu is the screen you will use most. It offers four key metrics:
- Total clicks: How many times your results were clicked.
- Total impressions: How many times your results were listed on a search page.
- Average CTR: The rate at which impressions turn into clicks.
- Average position: The average ranking position of your results.
You can filter the table below using the Queries, Pages, Countries, and Devices tabs. The most effective use: in the Queries tab, sort by "Average position" and find keywords stuck between 11 and 20 (i.e., on page 2) but with high impressions — working on these usually delivers the fastest results.
Coverage (Pages) report and errors
The Pages report in the left menu shows whether the URLs on your site are indexed and, if not, why. Common statuses:
| Status | Meaning | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Indexed | The page can appear in searches | No action needed |
| Crawled, not indexed | Google looked but did not find it valuable enough | Strengthen the content or merge the page |
| Redirect error | The 301/302 chain is broken or looping | Reduce the redirect to a single step |
| Excluded by noindex tag | The page was blocked intentionally or by mistake | If intentional, no problem; otherwise remove the tag |
| Not found (404) | Something links to the page, but the page does not exist | Redirect it with a 301 to the relevant page |
Requesting indexing with URL Inspection
When you paste any URL into the search bar at the top, the URL Inspection tool opens. It shows you when Google last crawled that page, how it saw it, whether it is mobile-friendly, and which canonical it prefers. On a newly published or updated page, clicking the "Request Indexing" button can trigger Google to prioritize recrawling that page.
Use sparingly: This button can only be used a limited number of times per day and is not designed for bulk use. Instead of clicking it for every page on your site, use it only for critical new content or important updates; the sitemap already handles general crawling.
Weekly check routine
You don't need to open Search Console every day. This 15-minute routine once a week is enough:
- Check the Coverage report for any new increase in errors.
- In the Performance report, compare the last 7 days with the previous 7 days.
- Check for new queries with rising impressions but no rise in clicks (a title/description opportunity).
- Check the Mobile Usability and Core Web Vitals sections for any red warnings.
- Check your newly published pages one by one in URL Inspection.
Tracking Search Console regularly lets you see with data what works on your site and what doesn't, instead of guessing. If you have pages that already get impressions but no clicks, see our CTR improvement guide, and for general organic traffic work, check out our article on increasing organic traffic.