Google Search Console: How to Use it for Your SEO Strategy

Many people neglect to use Google Search Console (GSC), claiming nothing great comes for free. Yet, this tool offers a broad functionality that can compete with many paid alternatives. Whether you’re doing on-site SEO or link building, GSC is a good option for website owners to track their progress.

But how can you make the most of this tool to improve SEO on Google and your website visibility? Today we’ll figure that out. And after reading this blog, you’ll learn how to effectively work with Google Search Console for SEO.

How to Start Working With Google Search Console?

The setup process is pretty straightforward. Besides, Google took great care of its technical documentation. So, you can refer to their Developers page whenever you get any questions. Here you can find all the instructions for setting up and using your Google Search Console for SEO.

Starter Metrics Glossary

If you’re a beginner, the first time you use Google Search Console might be overwhelming. There are several terms that can confuse you. But no worries, we’ve explained them for you further below:

• The Clicks refer to the overall number of clicks you got through Google.
• The Impressions mean how many times your pages appeared in the search results. So, for example, suppose you have 100 impressions and 10 clicks. It means that your pages appeared in users’ searches 100 times, but they clicked on your links 10 times.
• The Click-through rate (CTR) is the number of clicks divided by impressions. If we take our previous examples, we would have to divide 10 by 100. As a result, we get a 10% CTR. This is one of the metrics to measure the success of your content or your ads.
• The Position allows you to see the average position (ranking) of your pages on Google.

How Could You Use Google Search Console for SEO?

Everyone, from webmasters to business owners, cares about website visibility. You can create some exceptional content. Yet, if no one sees it, what’s the point? This is why Google Search Console might become your best friend. It provides some relevant data that can help you analyze your page and bring it to a whole new level. How? Let’s see some of the best use cases of Google Search Console for SEO.

Keywords Optimization

Even if you’re far from SEO, you know keywords are important. Over 90% of online activity begins with a search on the internet. And to reach all these users, you need the right keywords that match their searches. Google Search Console can help you with that to improve SEO on Google.

Since GSC has a lot of information about your website, it can provide you with the specific keywords needed to rank higher. Use the Search Results section to get insights into the queries and keywords people are using to find your site. To increase your efficiency, connect your Google Search Console to the Google Analytics account.

See All the Errors in One Place

Your website visibility doesn’t only depend on SEO but also on the overall performance of your page. Google Search Console has the Enhancements tab to track that. There are several indicators that can help you understand how healthy your website is.

Look at your Core Web Vitals to see how your site performs regarding loading speed, user interaction, and stability. Fix all the issues that appear there to improve SEO on Google. This will also make your user experience much better.

Indexing & URL Inspection

You can use Google SearchConsole to find issues related to indexing. If unresolved, they can have a negative impact on your site’s SEO ranking. To find current issues, check the Index section with the list of all your pages.

The URL Inspection tool is a perfect way to analyze your links. This feature is a solution if you notice a link that doesn’t appear on search results. Also, it helps you to see a lot of technical information, errors, and how Google crawled each page.

Analyze Your Internal and External Links

If you’re doing link building, this can be a very useful feature for you. Use Google Search Console to see the domains that link to your website. Besides, you can check what pages perform the best. Apart from backlinks, you can also see your internal links. It is a great way to track what pages require your attention. Maybe you need to add more links to the articles to improve SEO on Google.

Analyze this data well to find pages that need optimization to get more traffic and website visibility. Don’t limit your optimization to keywords only. Check your visual content as well. Many webmasters struggle with optimizing video and avoid it altogether. But video content is a great way to engage users.

Mobile Optimization 

It is nearly impossible to improve SEO on Google without working on mobile usability and mobile indexing. Studies show that users perform 64% of all searches via mobile devices. Google Search Console has a Mobile usability section to help you. Here, you can get an analytic overview and suggested fixes to make your page more mobile-friendly.

Bonus Tip to Improve SEO on Google

Try to use Google Search Console on a regular basis to check some vital indicators, such as:

• Watch out for the URLs that have issues. Whether it’s a low-speed problem or a duplicated page, you have to manage it.
• Look if you have some sudden drops in your Indexing section. This means that Google can’t access some of your pages. Dive deeper and find the issue to improve SEO on Google. 
• Always check the Enhancements tab to find all the issues that require your attention. It is important to fix them as soon as possible.

The most crucial part is consistency. Try to check your Google Search Console whenever you can. This way, you can ensure that everything is up and running.

Conclusion

Despite being free, Google Search Console is a powerful tool to improve SEO on Google. It can help you spot a wide range of critical issues that could otherwise harm your website’s visibility. Of course, if you are serious about SEO, you would also need other tools. But GSC has several features that can bring you one step closer to your search ranking goals.

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