Google Search Console (formerly known as Google Webmaster Tools) is a free tool offered by Google that allows website owners to monitor and improve their website’s visibility in Google search results. By using Google Search Console, website owners can identify and fix technical issues that might be preventing their website from ranking well in search results, and gain valuable insights into how their website is performing in terms of search traffic, clicks, and impressions.
To start using Google Search Console, you first need to
Verify your website
Verify that you are the owner of the website. This can be done by adding a HTML tag to the header of your website, uploading an HTML file to your website’s server, or using your Google Analytics or Google Tag Manager account. Once your website is verified, you will be able to access the Search Console dashboard.
Monitor search traffic
The Search Console dashboard provides valuable insights into how your website is performing in terms of search traffic, clicks, and impressions. You can see which keywords are driving traffic to your website, which pages are getting the most clicks and impressions, and which countries and devices are generating the most traffic. This data can be used to identify which pages are performing well and which pages need to be optimized for better visibility in search results.
Identify and fix technical issues
Google Search Console also allows you to identify and fix technical issues that might be preventing your website from ranking well in search results. For example, you can use the tool to check for broken links, crawl errors, and security issues. You can also use the tool to submit sitemaps and robots.txt files, which can help Google understand the structure of your website and crawl it more effectively.
Monitor backlinks
Backlinks are linked from other websites to your website. They are important because they signal to Google that other websites consider your content valuable. Google Search Console allows you to monitor the backlinks to your website, so you can identify which websites are linking to your content and check for any suspicious or spammy links.
