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Google Search Console is a software tool provided by Google for use by webmasters and site owners at no charge to monitor, maintain and troubleshoot your site for organic results performance in the Google SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages).
How Does Google Search Console Help?
Google Search Console helps webmasters and site owners spot issues that may affect their ranking results in the Google SERPs and provides important data into your site’s organic traffic metrics.
What Are the Key Features of Google Search Console?
The key features of the Google Search Console tool are URL Inspection, Performance, mobile usability & links.
- URL Inspection
- Performance
- Mobility Usability
- Links
URL Inspection
The URL inspection tool supplies several pieces of valuable information and search engine optimization tools. With the URL inspection tool, you can submit an URL for inspection by Google. There are several steps that you must take to get the maximum result from this tool.
When you submit an URL for inspection the first result is for the record of the page as it currently appears in the Google index.
You may receive the following results:
URL is not on Google
URL is available to Google
URL is on Google
You need to prompt the Googlebot to crawl the page by using the ‘Test Live URL’ call to action. When you do this, you are prompting the Googlebot to crawl the live page. THIS NOT AN INDEX CRAWL!
To use this tool further, you will need to select the ‘View Tested Page’ call to action.
When you view the tested page, you will see the HTML results from the fetch of the code. You will see the screenshot of the rendered page. The ‘More Info’ menu item presents other data related to the page, HTTP response code information, page resources, and JavaScript console messages.
If you find any errors in this data related to the page you will want to correct those first before you take the next, and final magical step.
The last step is to request indexing. This will add the URL to a priority crawl queue in the Google ranking result indexing process.
Performance
The performance tools generate valuable information on your organic search traffic activity. The data you can gain from this tool based upon search query is total clicks to the site from a SERP result, total impressions as seen in a user’s browser no matter whether that SERP result is on page 1 or page 10. If it appeared in a user’s browser the impression data (times seen in a browser) will be recorded here.
You can also see the average CTR (click-through rate) and how many times an impression was viewed, then clicked on, by a searcher.
You can also instantly view the average position of the keyword term. And, then following the number of clicks, impressions, click-through rate, and average position.
With this tool, you can also view the individual search query term performance by page, country, device, search appearance and dates.
Mobile Usability
This tool supplies important data on your site’s mobile performance. The source of the data if provided by the Google Smartphone Crawler. More information about this crawler can is found here: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/1061943
Another valuable tool to troubleshoot any mobile performance issues can be found at, https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly
Links
This part of the tool supplies valuable information as to who links to your site, what your top internally linked pages are, what sites are linking to your site and what is the top linking text according to Google.
Once I found a link to a client’s site that looked like an adult site. Upon further review, this was indeed an adult site. The adult site owner had copied my client’s home page HTML code, loaded it on to their server, and infused it with hundreds of adult content and adult content links.
What they did not do was remove the original site links for the client’s site which led back to the client’s site and appeared in their link profile in their Google Search Console account.
This resulted in the involvement of the client’s legal team to put forth a cease and desist order.
One can discover much with this all-important tool.
Why Is Google Search Console Important?
Google Search Console is important because it provides a guideline for what Google identifies as important. Rarely do you find where Google puts into print what matters on the internet. What they do put into print is right in your Google Search Console account.
The best advice about this tool is that if Google is going to provide this information in print then it is important, and you should pay attention to it and work to fix any issues appearing in the tool.
About That Company
Founded in 2007, That Company is one of the largest agencies, by staff size, in the United States dedicated to specializing in digital marketing: search engine optimization campaign management, pay per click advertising campaign management, social media marketing advertising campaign management, online reputation management campaign management and organic campaign management, white label search engine optimization campaign management, white label pay per click campaign management and white label social media marketing campaign management.
About the Author: Mark B. Gray
Mark has been with That! Company since the day that we opened the doors in May 2007. He started as a commission only, subcontracted website salesperson. His duties included offering website development and hosting services to SMB’s (small to medium-sized businesses). As the company neared its first 6 months in business a fourth employee was hired, and after, Mark became the fifth full-time employee.
Aside from the company’s CEO, Mark was the first employee to manage PPC campaigns. As the business’ Search Engine Optimization client base grew, Mark added Search Engine Optimization content curation and on-page optimization implementation and testing to his resume. As the company neared its first year in existence, Mark became a Search Engine Optimization consultant with a full load of clients to manage.
Mark’s strengths include: On-page Search Engine Optimization implementation and testing, internal link structure discovery and implementation, backlink management and disavowal discovery and data evaluation, Google Search Console use and data evaluation, Google Analytics use and data evaluation, client communication, reliability, accountability and Search Engine Optimization content curation on an ‘as needed’ basis.
