Search Console like a pro

What is Google Search Console?

Google Search Console is a free tool provided by Google that allows website owners to monitor, maintain and troubleshoot their site's visibility in Google search results. Its main objective is to provide detailed information about a website's performance in terms of indexing, crawling, technical errors and SEO, helping to optimise its search presence.

How does Google Search Console work?

Main features of Google Search Console:

1. Performance Monitoring: Allows you to analyse key metrics such as clicks, impressions, CTR (click-through rate) and the average position of pages in search results.
2. Index CoverageProvides information on how many pages of the site have been indexed by Google and highlights indexing errors such as pages not found (404) or blocked pages.
3. Submitting Sitemaps: Facilitates the process of submitting XML sitemaps to Google, to ensure that all important pages are crawled and indexed correctly.
4. Links ReportBacklinks: Provides a detailed analysis of the links pointing to the site (backlinks), as well as the internal link structure of the site itself.
5. Improving the User ExperienceMobile usability: Evaluates mobile usability, detects issues related to the mobile experience and measures key metrics such as Core Web Vitals (LCP, FID, CLS).
6. Technical TroubleshootingIdentifies technical problems such as crawl errors, files blocked by robots.txt, and pages that do not meet Google's quality guidelines.
7. SecurityDetects potential security issues, such as malware or phishing attacks, and provides recommendations to correct them.
8. Manual Actions: Reports whether the site has been manually penalised by Google due to practices that violate its guidelines, such as the use of "black hat" SEO techniques.

Benefits of Google Search Console:

• Real-Time Monitoring: Allows you to get fresh data on how Google is interacting with your site.
• Improve SEOFacilitates the identification of technical and content issues that affect visibility in search results.
• Prompt Corrective ActionProvides alerts on critical issues that require immediate attention, such as penalties or malware.

Why use Google Search Console?

Although many people still prefer to buy products in physical shops, digital consumption continues to grow. In fact, a study by Kantar TNS revealed that the 94% of Latin Americans research online before making a purchase in physical shops (Thinkwithgoogle, 2019).

This means that people search the web for inspiration, compare prices and narrow down their choices before deciding what to buy. In fact, 8 out of 10 users become product "hunters", indicating that they search with a more defined purpose, already knowing what they want (Deloitte, 2018).

This shows the importance of optimising your website. If your site appears in Google search results when someone searches for products or services in your industry, you can attract more traffic and ultimately increase sales opportunities.

Google Search Console is a free tool that will help you improve your presence on Google. Here's why it's essential for any website owner or digital marketer:

1. Know how your website performs on Google

Google Search Console shows you how your site appears in Google search results. You can see how many clicks and how many times your site has appeared (impressions) in searches, as well as the average position it is in. This will help you understand which content is performing well and which needs improvement.

2. Detecting and Solving Indexing Problems

Sometimes, Google can't "see" all the pages on your site. With this tool, you can find problems that prevent your pages from being indexed (such as server errors or broken links) and fix them. This is essential for your site to be visible in search results.

3. Optimisation for Mobile Devices

Since many people use mobile phones to browse the internet, Google gives preference to sites that are optimised for mobile. Google Search Console will help you identify problems on your mobile site and fix them, improving your ranking on Google.

4. Improving SEO

The tool provides you with key data to improve SEO (search engine optimisation). For example, you can see which keywords bring the most visitors to your site, how your links are doing and how Google views your content. This will allow you to adjust your SEO strategy to attract more traffic.

5. Monitor the Security of your Site

Google Search Console will alert you to security issues, such as malware or hacking attempts. This way, you can take quick action to protect your site and your users.

6. Integration with Other Google Tools

Google Search Console integrates easily with other Google tools, such as Google Analytics o Google AdsThis allows you to have a more complete view of your site's performance and improve the management of your campaigns.

7. Continuous Updates

Google Search Console is constantly being updated, adding new features and tools to help you keep your site optimised according to the latest Google trends.

Google Search Console is a must-have tool if you want to improve your site's visibility in Google search results. With its help, you can better understand how your site performs on Google, fix technical issues, optimise your content and make sure your website is safe and accessible to all users.

Google Search Console Tools and Reports

In today's digitalised world, measuring and analysing every aspect of a website is key to solving performance issues and improving the effectiveness of an online presence. Google Search Console not only identifies and fixes problems, but also collects valuable data on user behaviour and preferences, providing a competitive advantage to digital marketers and administrators.

Google Search Console is an essential tool for anyone looking to optimise their website and improve their search engine rankings. Through a set of reports and tools, it offers key insights that allow you to make strategic decisions to improve your site's performance. Here are some of the most important features that will help you optimise your website.

1. Performance ReportThis report gives you a detailed overview of how users reach your site from Google. It provides information on clicks, impressions, click-through rate (CTR) and average position in search results for different queries. It is a must-have tool to identify which search terms are performing well and which ones need optimisation.
2. Index CoverageThis report shows the indexing status of your website's pages, indicating whether there are any errors or warnings that are affecting the correct indexing of pages. It also details which pages have been excluded and offers suggestions for correcting problems, ensuring that the most relevant pages are indexed correctly.
3. URL inspectionWith this tool, you can check how Google is crawling and indexing a specific URL on your site. It is especially useful for diagnosing problems on individual pages, showing whether the URL is indexed, whether it has errors and how it is displaying in search results.
4. Mobile Usability ReportMobile Friendly: Given the growth of mobile traffic, this report is key to ensuring your site is mobile-friendly. It detects issues such as clickable elements that are too close together, text that is unreadable due to its size or content that doesn't fit the screen correctly, all of which can negatively affect the user experience.
5. SitemapsGoogle Search Console: Google Search Console allows you to submit and monitor your sitemaps, which makes it easier for Google to crawl your site structure and index your pages. This tool is particularly useful for large sites or sites with frequently updated content.
6. Messages and AlertsSearch Console notifies you of important issues affecting your site's performance, such as crawl errors, security issues or manual penalties. These alerts are crucial for maintaining site health and acting quickly on any critical issues.
7. Links ReportThis report provides information about the external links pointing to your site, the anchor texts used and the most linked pages. It is a valuable tool to evaluate your backlink profile and improve your inbound linking strategy.

Performance tracking in Google Search Console

Performance tracking in Google Search Console is a key feature that allows website owners and digital marketers to improve their visibility in search results. Thanks to this tool, it is possible to analyse the site's performance on Google, obtaining useful information that can be used to optimise SEO strategies and attract more visitors. Here is a simple explanation of how it works and the benefits it offers.

1. Organic traffic analysisGoogle Search Console shows you how many times people have clicked on your website from Google search results. It also tells you how many times your site has appeared in searches (impressions), the click-through rate (CTR), and the average position of your pages in search results. With this data, you will know which pages are performing well in attracting visitors and which pages need improvement.
2. Discovering effective keywordsWithin the performance report, you can see which keywords are bringing users to your site. This will help you identify the most successful searches, as well as new keywords that you could include in your content to attract more visitors.
3. Monitoring trends over timeGoogle Search Console also allows you to review your site's performance at different points in time. You can see how clicks, impressions and CTR change over weeks or months. This is useful to see if changes to your SEO strategy are working and to adjust your approach based on the trends you observe.
4. Comparison of time periodsAnother option is to compare your site's performance between different periods. For example, you can check how you did last month compared to this month. This function is ideal for analysing whether certain changes to the site have had a positive or negative impact.
5. Data filtering and segmentationThe tool allows you to filter results according to different criteria, such as the type of device visitors are using (mobile, computer, tablet), the type of search (images, videos, or web), and even the country of origin of the users. This will give you a clearer idea of how people interact with your site in different contexts, allowing you to adjust your content according to their needs.
6. Detection of opportunities and problemsPerformance tracking: Through performance tracking, it is easier to identify pages that are not performing well and find opportunities for improvement. This could mean adjusting metadata, optimising content for the right keywords or fixing technical issues that may be affecting your site's visibility on Google.

Performance tracking in Google Search Console is an essential tool that allows you to analyse and improve your website's visibility on Google. Using the data it provides, you can optimise your content and adjust your SEO strategy to get better search engine results and increase your online traffic.

URL inspection in Google Search Console

The URL inspection tool in Google Search Console is very useful for anyone who wants to make sure that their web pages appear correctly in Google's search results. With this feature, you can see how Google is crawling and indexing a specific URL on your site, and detect potential issues affecting its visibility. Here's how it works, in a simple and practical way:

1. Check if a page is indexedOne of the most important things you can do with this tool is to check if Google has indexed a page. Indexing is the process in which Google includes a page in its list of search results. If an important page is not indexed, it will not appear when people search for it. This function allows you to make sure that all your key pages are visible to users.
2. See when it was last trackedThe tool shows you the last time Google checked a page for updates. This is useful to know if the changes you made recently have already been detected by Google. If Google has not yet re-crawled the page, the changes may not be reflected in the search results.
3. Identifying crawling or indexing problemsIf a page is not being indexed correctly, the tool will tell you if there is a problem. For example, the page may be blocked by a file called "robots.txt" or there may be redirection or server errors. By identifying these problems, you will be able to correct them so that your page is indexed correctly.
4. See how Google sees your pageSometimes what users see and what Google "sees" on a page can be different, especially if your site uses JavaScript or other elements that don't always load in the same way. The URL inspection tool shows you how Google interprets your page, which helps you make sure that all important content is being displayed correctly.
5. Review structured data and metadataYou can also see information about the structured data and metadata of the page, such as the title and description that appear in search results. These elements are essential for people to click on your page when they see it in Google, so it is important that they are optimised correctly.
6. Request that Google re-index the pageIf you have made important changes to a page or if it has not yet been indexed, you can ask Google to check it again using this tool. This is useful to speed up the indexing process and ensure that changes are quickly reflected in search results.

Google Search Console's URL inspection tool is essential for ensuring that every page on your website is set up correctly to appear in Google. It allows you to identify and fix issues that may be affecting your site's visibility, and helps you optimise your content to improve its performance in search results. It's a simple but powerful tool to improve your website's online presence.

Google Search Console Coverage Reports

Coverage reports in Google Search Console are an essential tool to ensure that your website is being crawled and indexed correctly by Google. These reports help you identify issues that may be affecting your site's visibility in search results, and guide you in fixing these issues. If you own a website or work in digital marketing, understanding these reports is key to improving your SEO strategy. Here I explain clearly how to use them:

1. What is the Coverage Report?
   The coverage report in Google Search Console classifies your site's pages into different categories according to their indexing status. These categories include:
   • Valid: Pages that have been indexed correctly.
   • Valid with caveats: Pages indexed, but with some problems that could affect their performance.
   • Errors: Pages that have problems that prevent them from being indexed.
   • Excluded: Pages that have not been indexed for specific reasons.
     Understanding which category each page falls into will help you identify problems and areas for improvement.
2. Identification of Indexing Errors
   One of the most important benefits of this report is that it helps you detect errors that prevent Google from indexing your pages. Some common errors include:
   • 404 Errors (page not found)When a page no longer exists.
   • Server errors (5xx)Technical problems that prevent Google from accessing a page.
   • Pages blocked by robots.txtIf you have inadvertently blocked pages that should be visible.
   • Incorrect redirectsWhen redirections do not work as they should.
     Correcting these errors is vital for your important pages to appear in search results.
3. Pages with Warnings
   Valid pages with warnings" are pages that Google has indexed, but that have certain issues that may be hurting their performance in search results. Although these pages are being crawled, it is important to review the warnings and correct any issues that may be affecting their visibility.
4. Excluded pages
   Pages in the "excluded" category have not been indexed by Google, either because they have duplicate content, redirects, or have been marked as non-indexable. Reviewing why these pages are excluded will help you improve your SEO strategy. Some pages may be intentionally excluded, but in other cases there may be problems you were unaware of.
5. Improved Indexing and Visibility
   With the information from the coverage report, you can take steps to improve the indexing of your pages. This includes fixing bugs, improving content, or making sure that important pages are not blocked from search engines. By improving indexing, you also improve the chances of your pages appearing higher in Google's results.
6. Monitoring Changes and Trends
   This report also allows you to see how things have changed over time. You can track the corrections you make and see if problematic pages improve their status. This is useful to make sure that changes to your site are having a positive impact on the visibility of your pages.

Coverage reports in Google Search Console are essential for monitoring the indexing status of your website. They help you identify and fix issues that could be affecting the visibility of your pages in search results. Using these reports on a regular basis will allow you to improve the performance of your website and ensure that it is well optimised for search engines.