Google Search Console is an essential tool for any website owner looking to get the most out of their website. With it, you can identify and resolve indexing issues, receive detailed information about your website’s performance in Google search results, and understand more about how Google views your website.
In this article, we’ll show you how to set up and use Google Search Console to get the most out of your website.
Step 1: Create Your Google Search Console Account
Before you can begin using Google Search Console, you’ll need to create a Google account. If you already have a Google account, you can use that. If not, you can create a new one here.
Once you have a Google account, head to the Google Search Console page and click “Add a Property.” On the next page, enter the URL for your website and click “Add.”
Step 2: Verify Your Website
Once you’ve added your website, you’ll need to verify that it’s actually yours. You can do this by uploading an HTML file to your website or by adding a meta tag to your site’s home page.
After you’ve completed the verification process, you’ll be ready to start using Google Search Console.
Step 3: Check Your Index Status
Google Search Console tracks how many of your website’s pages have been indexed by Google. To view this information, click on “Index” in the left-hand sidebar.
Here, you can view the total number of pages indexed along with their status. If any pages are blocked by robots.txt or noindex tags, you’ll see that information here.
Step 4: View Your Performance
Google Search Console also provides detailed information about how your website is performing in Google search results. To view this information, click on “Performance” in the left-hand sidebar.
On this page, you can view the number of impressions, clicks, and average click-through rate for your website’s search results. You can also view the queries that are driving traffic to your website and the pages that are receiving the most impressions.
Step 5: Submit Your Sitemap
A sitemap is a file that lists all of the pages on your website. It’s important to submit your sitemap to Google Search Console so that Google knows about all of your website’s pages.
To submit your sitemap, click on “Sitemaps” in the left-hand sidebar and then click “Add/Test Sitemap.” On the next page, enter the URL of your sitemap and then click “Submit.”
Step 6: Monitor Your Links
Google Search Console also provides information about the links to your website. To view this information, click on “Links” in the left-hand sidebar.
Here, you can view the total number of links to your website along with the top-linking sites. You can also view any broken links and any links that are marked as “no-follow.”
Step 7: Submit a URL Removal Request
If you find any outdated or incorrect information about your website in Google’s search results, you can submit a URL removal request to Google. To do this, click on “Remove URLs” in the left-hand sidebar and then click “Temporarily Hide.”
On the next page, enter the URL of the page you want to remove and then click “Submit Request.” Note that this process can take several weeks to complete.
Step 8: Troubleshoot Indexing Issues
If you’re having trouble getting your website indexed by Google, you can use Google Search Console to troubleshoot the issue. To do this, click on “Coverage” in the left-hand sidebar.
On this page, you can view any indexing errors and warnings that Google has detected. If you see any errors, you can click on them to view more information and get help resolving the issue.
Conclusion
Google Search Console is an invaluable tool for any website owner. With it, you can identify and resolve indexing issues, understand more about how Google views your website, and get detailed information about your website’s performance in Google search results.
By following the steps outlined above, you can set up and use Google Search Console to get the most out of your website.
