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Google Search Console

FigureGSC Feedback Loop

Why You Need It

Google Search Console (GSC) is the only place to get data directly from the source. Unlike third-party tools that estimate your rankings, GSC shows you exactly what Google sees.

It is essential for every website owner, regardless of size. Best of all, it is completely free.

Key Features

1. Performance Report

Shows you how your site performs in Google Search:

  • Clicks: How many people clicked through to your site.
  • Impressions: How many times your site appeared in search results.
  • CTR: Click-through rate — percentage of impressions that turned into clicks.
  • Average Position: Where you rank on average for each query.

You can filter this data by query, page, country, device, and date range. This is invaluable for understanding what keywords drive traffic.

2. URL Inspection Tool

Check the status of any specific URL on your site:

  • Is it indexed by Google?
  • When was it last crawled?
  • Is Google using the mobile or desktop version?
  • Are there any crawl or index errors?

You can also request indexing for new or updated pages directly from this tool.

3. Coverage (Indexing) Report

A complete overview of your site's index status:

  • Valid pages: Successfully indexed.
  • Valid with warnings: Indexed but with potential issues.
  • Excluded pages: Not indexed (by design or due to errors).
  • Errors: Pages that could not be indexed due to problems.

Common issues include redirect errors, 404s, noindex tags, and crawl anomalies.

4. Sitemaps

Submit your XML sitemap to help Google discover your pages. GSC shows:

  • When your sitemap was last read.
  • How many URLs were discovered.
  • How many of those URLs are indexed.

If there is a gap between discovered and indexed URLs, investigate the Coverage report.

5. Core Web Vitals

Google measures your page experience signals:

  • LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): Loading performance.
  • INP (Interaction to Next Paint): Interactivity.
  • CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): Visual stability.

Poor scores here can negatively impact rankings, especially on mobile.

6. Mobile Usability

Identifies pages with mobile usability issues like text too small, clickable elements too close together, or content wider than the screen.

7. Security & Manual Actions

Critical alerts about:

  • Security Issues: If your site is hacked or serving malware.
  • Manual Actions: If Google has penalized your site for violating guidelines.

Check this section regularly. A manual action can devastate your traffic.

Best Practices

Verify All Your Properties

Add both www and non-www versions, plus http and https. Better yet, use domain-level verification to cover everything.

Link to Google Analytics

Connect GSC to Google Analytics for deeper insights. You will see which queries lead to conversions, not just clicks.

Monitor Weekly

Make it a habit to check GSC weekly. Look for:

  • Sudden drops in clicks or impressions.
  • New crawl errors.
  • Changes in average position for key terms.

Fix Errors Promptly

When you see crawl errors or index issues, fix them quickly. The longer they persist, the more they can impact your site's overall health.

Limitations

GSC only shows data for the last 16 months and updates with a 2-3 day delay. For real-time monitoring, you will need additional tools. However, for SEO fundamentals, GSC is irreplaceable.