What is Google Search Console and What Does it Do?

What is Google Search Console?

Google Search Console is a free tool that helps site owners to monitor and improve the visibility of their websites on Google search engine result pages. Search console tools and reports help you measure your site’s Search traffic and performance, fix issues, and make your site shine in Google Search results.

What Does Google Search Console Do?

Most simply, it provides advice. Google wants to provide their users with the best search results possible. Google Search Console lets you know if your website’s content is indexed and provides a good user experience.

Google Console also lets you know why your content is not indexed or why it does not provide a good user experience. When the number one search engine in the world, provides you with advice. It’s worth listening to. At least if you want your website to be shared, for free, on their platform.

How Do I Set Up My Google Search Console Account?

This will be slightly different depending on your website, however, the first step is always the same: go to the Google Search Console page and sign up for an account.

The sign-up process puts you on rails to Google My Business and Google Search Console account creation. Once you have finished your account setup, it’s time to attach the account to your website. Adding the link to your website depends on many variables like which content management system you have used to build your website. For the big ones, like WordPress, there is typically a plugin solution like Google Site Kit to help you link your website to your account. Alternatively, just ask your web developer to get this set up for you!

How Do I Connect Google Search Console to my Website?

Once you get Search Console set up you’ll have to submit your sitemap for indexing. If you are using WordPress, you can use plugins like Rank Math or Yoast to create a sitemap.

Once your website has a sitemap, you can visit the Sitemaps page in Google Search Console to submit your sitemap for indexing. Alternatively, just ask your web developer to get this set up for you!

How Do I Use Google Search Console to Improve My Website?

There are quite a few different ways Google Search Console helps you Improve your website.

• Indexing: errors that prevent your website from being displayed on search
• Experience: design, accessibility and performance issues that provide a poor user experience
• Enhancements: enhancements tell you which website features have been detected on your website. These elements typically require the use of schema to be detected.
• Security & Manual Actions: Security is pretty straightforward, but manual action needs a bit of explaining. Google issues a manual action against a site when a human reviewer at Google has determined that pages on the site are not compliant with Google’s webmaster quality guidelines. This action is a typical response when a website attempts to game or manipulate search results. Be good, follow guidelines, and no black hat stuff – Google doesn’t like it.

How Do I Fix Google Search Console Errors?

This is not always so straightforward. If a page has issues, inspect the URL with the search bar at the top of the page in Search Console. Clicking on the errors will show you how the page appears and provide you with some idea of what needs to change. If you are hitting a wall, ask your developer for help. That’s what we’re here for! 🙂

For certain errors, like structure data (schema) issues, Google Search Console will highlight invalid code. In the case of this Parsing error: Missing ‘}’ or object member name error, we are told exactly what is missing and how to remedy the error.

Google Search Console has Logged an Error Incorrectly

Hey! It happens. Click “Validate Fix” and wait for the page to be indexed once again.

What Happens If An Error Cannot Be Fixed?

You will get errors for things like “Page with redirect”, but what does that really mean? Let’s say you had outdated content, which you deleted and redirected to an updated page. Search Console will report this redirect as an error, even though it is not. Don’t worry so much about these. Toggle the setting from All Known Pages to All Submitted Pages. These are the ones you need to be concerned about fixing.

For certain errors, you might also consider requesting a Removal. Click on Removals in Google Search Console to access this tool.

Be sure to No-Index pages that you don’t want to appear in search results or delete & redirect pages that you no longer wish to serve on the website.

Last Piece of Advice

Ask for help! Errors are a part of growth. The internet is never stationary. It can be tough to keep up with the pace of this change. A good developer goes a long way! Let’s have a chat if you need a hand with search indexing or resolving Search Console errors!