🔍 Google Search Console Guide

Master GSC to monitor and improve your search presence

💡 Why Use Search Console?

📊

Free Data

See exactly what Google sees

🔑

Keywords

Discover search queries

🐛

Find Issues

Fix indexing problems

📈

Track Progress

Monitor rankings over time

📋 Key Reports

📈 Performance

See clicks, impressions, CTR, and position for all your pages and queries. Filter by date, country, device, and more.

Clicks Impressions CTR Position

📄 Index Coverage

Check which pages are indexed, excluded, or have errors. Ensure Google can find all your important content.

Valid Errors Excluded Warnings

📱 Mobile Usability

Identify mobile-friendliness issues that may hurt rankings. Fix viewport, touch target, and text size problems.

Touch targets Viewport Text size

Core Web Vitals

Monitor LCP, FID/INP, and CLS scores. See which URLs need performance improvements.

LCP INP CLS

🔗 Links

See external links pointing to your site, top linking sites, and internal link structure.

External links Internal links Top sites

🏗️ Enhancements

Track structured data status for breadcrumbs, FAQ, products, and other rich result types.

Breadcrumbs FAQ Products

📊 Performance Report Deep Dive

Clicks Users who clicked
Impr. Times shown in SERPs
CTR Click-through rate
Pos. Average ranking

Filter By:

📅 Date Range 🔍 Query 📄 Page 🌍 Country 📱 Device 🔎 Search Type

📑 Indexing Tools

🔍

URL Inspection

Check any URL's index status, crawl info, and enhancement details. Request indexing for new pages.

🗺️

Sitemaps

Submit XML sitemaps to help Google discover your pages. Monitor sitemap status and errors.

🚫

Removals

Temporarily hide outdated content from search. Manage SafeSearch filtering issues.

⚠️ Common Issues & Fixes

Server Error (5xx)

Google couldn't access the page due to server issues.

✓ Check server logs, fix errors, request re-crawl

Not Found (404)

Page returns 404 but is in sitemap or has inbound links.

✓ Remove from sitemap or set up 301 redirect
⚠️

Blocked by robots.txt

Important page is blocked from crawling.

✓ Update robots.txt to allow crawling
⚠️

Duplicate without canonical

Multiple versions of same content without canonical tag.

✓ Add canonical tag to preferred version
⚠️

Soft 404

Page appears empty but returns 200 status.

✓ Return proper 404 or add content
⚠️

Mobile Usability Issues

Touch targets too close, text too small.

✓ Fix responsive design issues

🗺️ Submitting Sitemaps

1

Generate Sitemap

Create an XML sitemap with all important URLs. Use tools like Yoast, Screaming Frog, or sitemap generators.

2

Upload to Server

Place sitemap.xml in your root directory (e.g., https://example.com/sitemap.xml).

3

Submit in GSC

Go to Sitemaps → Enter sitemap URL → Submit. GSC will fetch and process your sitemap.

4

Monitor Status

Check for errors, warnings, and number of discovered/indexed URLs regularly.

🛠️ Other GSC Tools

🔗

Links Report

See who links to you, your top linked pages, and internal link distribution.

Core Web Vitals

Monitor page experience metrics for mobile and desktop.

🔒

Security Issues

Get alerts about hacking, malware, or deceptive content.

⚖️

Manual Actions

Check for Google penalties and submit reconsideration requests.

📊

Crawl Stats

See how Googlebot crawls your site, response times, and host status.

👥

User Management

Add team members with Owner, Full, or Restricted permissions.

📋 GSC Setup Checklist

Setup

Weekly Checks

Monthly Checks