What is Google Search Console? How to Set Up and Use It for SEO

You should become familiar with Google Search Console (GSC) if you run a website and are worried about how it is showing up on Google. It is one of the best—and totally free—resources provided by Google to help you monitor your site's performance, report issues and optimize for SEO. 

In this blog, we will cover:

- What Google Search Console is,
- Why it matters for SEO,
- How to set it up,
- Key features you should use,
- Best practices to get the most out of it 

Let’s dive in!

What Is Google Search Console?

Google Search Console(GSC) is a free product of Google, which means it is provided to you at no cost. GSC enables you to keep an eye on, manage, and troubleshoot the visibility of your website in Google search results. 

Put simply, it does the following:

- How your site appears on Google,
- What keywords people use to find you,
- Whether Google can crawl and index your pages,
- If there are any technical issues affecting your site,

Whether you’re a beginner blogger or an SEO pro, GSC gives you insights to optimize your site’s visibility.

Why Is Google Search Console Important for SEO?

Here’s how GSC helps improve your search engine rankings:

1. Understand What Keywords Drive Traffic

GSC shows which search queries (keywords) bring users to your site, along with the number of clicks, impressions, average position, and click-through rate (CTR).

2. Monitor Indexing Issues

Sometimes Google can’t access or properly index a page. GSC alerts you if there are problems like:

- Crawling errors,
- Broken pages (404s),
- Pages blocked by robots.txt,
- Duplicate content or canonical issues

3. Submit Sitemaps

You can upload your XML sitemap to GSC to help Google discover and crawl all the pages on your site.

4. Mobile Usability Reports

With mobile-first indexing, your site must be mobile-friendly. GSC reports issues like clickable elements being too close or text being too small.

5. Identify and Fix Security Issues

GSC alerts you about malware, spam, or hacked content, helping you protect your site and reputation.

6. Monitor Backlinks

You can see which other websites are linking to you — a key factor in SEO.

How to Set Up Google Search Console

Step 1: Go to https://search.google.com/search-console
Click the “Start Now” button and log in with your Google account.

Step 2: Add a Property (Your Website)

You’ll have two options:

1. Domain Property – Covers all subdomains and protocols (e.g., `https://www.example.com`, `http://example.com`, etc.)

2. URL Prefix – Specific to a single URL prefix (e.g., only `https://www.example.com`)

For best results, choose Domain Property.

Step 3: Verify Ownership

Google needs to confirm that you own the website. There are several verification methods:

- DNS Record (for Domain Property): In your domain registrar (e.g., Namecheap, GoDaddy), add a TXT record.

 - Upload HTML File: Put an HTML file into your root directory.

 - Meta Tag: Include a verification code in the `` section of your website.

- Google Analytics / Google Tag Manager: If you already use these tools, you can verify through them.

Once verified, you’ll start seeing data in your GSC account within a few days.

How to Use Google Search Console for SEO

Now that you’ve set it up, let’s explore the most useful features and how they help with SEO.

1. Performance Report

Find it under "Performance" > "Search Results".

Here you can see:

- Total clicks – How many people clicked your site from Google,
- Impressions – How many times your site appeared in search,
- Click-through rate (CTR) – Clicks divided by impressions,
- Average position – Your site’s average ranking for keywords,

SEO Tip: 

Sort by impressions to find keywords where you rank on page 2. These are easy wins! Optimize those pages to boost them to page 1.

2. URL Inspection Tool

This tool lets you:

- Check if a page is indexed,
- See when Google last crawled it.
- Request indexing for new or updated pages

SEO Tip: 

Always use this tool after publishing or updating a blog post to speed up indexing.

3. Coverage Report

Located under “Indexing” > “Pages”, this report shows:

- Valid pages

- Pages with warnings,
- Pages with errors (e.g., 404s, server errors),
- Excluded pages (e.g., those with noindex tags),

SEO Tip: 

Fix errors and warnings promptly to make sure all valuable pages are indexed and discoverable.

4. Sitemaps

Submit your sitemap under “Indexing” > “Sitemaps”.

Google uses your sitemap to:

- Discover new content,
- Understand your site structure,
- Prioritize crawling important pages,

SEO Tip: 

Use a plugin (like Yoast or Rank Math for WordPress) to automatically generate and update your sitemap.

5. Mobile Usability

Located under “Experience” > “Mobile Usability”, this report shows:

- Problems affecting users on mobile devices,
- Fixes needed for mobile-first indexing,

SEO Tip: 

Since most users are on mobile, fix any mobile usability issues ASAP to improve rankings and user experience.

6. Core Web Vitals

Found under “Experience”, this report shows how your pages perform in terms of speed and user experience.

It focuses on:

- LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) – Loading performance,
- FID (First Input Delay) – Interactivity,
- CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) – Visual stability,

SEO Tip: 

Use tools like [PageSpeed Insights](https://pagespeed.web.dev/) to improve your Core Web Vitals scores.

7. Links Report

Under “Links”, see:

- Top linking domains,
- Most linked pages,
- Internal linking structure,
SEO Tip: 

Identify high-authority backlinks and look for link-building opportunities from similar sites. Also, make sure your important pages have strong internal links.

8. Manual Actions & Security Issues

Google will notify you here if:

- You’ve been penalized (manual action),
- Your site has security threats like malware,

SEO Tip: 

Act immediately if you see alerts here. These issues can remove your site from search results.

Bonus: Connect GSC with Google Analytics

For deeper insights, link your Google Search Console to Google Analytics. This allows you to:

- See search queries directly inside GA,
- Track user behavior after landing on your site,
- Monitor organic traffic performance all in one place,

Final Thoughts

Google Search Console is a must-have tool for every website owner and SEO professional. It gives you direct insights into how Google views your site and provides data you can’t get anywhere else.

To recap:

- Set it up early, even if you're just starting.
- Use it regularly to monitor your site's health and performance,
- Fix errors quickly and optimize based on data

Best of all, it's completely free. So, if you’re serious about growing your organic traffic and improving your website's visibility, start using Google Search Console today