How important is Google Search Console for SEO?
A game-changer for your website? SEO success for creatives
Have you guys ever heard of the Google Search Console? If you’re a serious creative wanting to boost their website visibility so that you can make sure you rank better in search engine results, setting up your Google Analytics account AND registering your website domain via Google Search Console are probably the two most important things that you may want to start with.
I have put together a summary article about the Google Search Console for artists and creatives who have little experience with SEO (Search Engine Optimization) but would like to dive into it and take the matters into their own hands :) I’ll tell you why you need it, and I’ll include the instructions with a few screenshots on how to set it up.
Do you have a GSC and a GA account set up? Tell me in the comments section please!
How important is Google Search Console for your website?
Google Search Console offers invaluable insights, diagnostic tools, and performance data that can elevate your online visibility, improve rankings, and drive organic traffic. And the best part is - it’s for free!
You should totally make sure you have set up your account properly, so let me help you! That means you have to have your own website, but heeeey… you already know about it from my previous article, right? :)
First things first - we need to understand why you should invest a bit of time into setting up your GSC in the first place. Google Search Console is incredibly important for several reasons:
1. It gives you website performance data
Google Search Console provides you with important data about your website's performance in Google's search results. It offers information about the keywords that are driving traffic to your site, the click-through rates (CTRs) for your pages, and the average position of your website in search results. This data allows you to monitor and evaluate your website's visibility and make informed decisions to improve your SEO strategy.
This is what I always tell my clients - knowledge is key. Don’t leave it to chance and don’t delegate it unnecessarily to paid specialists (like me hi hi). Doing those few small steps, like setting up GSC and a Google Analytics account, will make you feel empowered! You’ll constantly feel like an amateur SEO specialist and it will boost your confidence.
2. It gives you insights into how your website is crawled and indexed
With Google Search Console, you have the ability to submit your website's sitemap, which helps search engines understand the structure and content of your site. It also allows you to monitor how Google's crawler, known as Googlebot, is accessing and indexing your web pages. You can identify and resolve any crawling or indexing errors that may prevent your pages from being properly indexed and displayed in search results.
Imagine you put a lot of love and energy to build your personal website, but then no one is able to find it and visit it. GSC can assist you into fixing easy technical issues completely by yourself and make sure that your page is “visible” to Google, aka that it exists at all.
3. It helps you monitor keywords for content optimization
By analyzing the search queries that are driving traffic to your website, Google Search Console helps you identify relevant keywords and phrases that users are using to find your content. This information really helps you to optimize your website's content and align it with the search intent of your target audience. You can create targeted, high-quality content that addresses the needs and queries of your visitors, increasing the likelihood of ranking higher in search results. It’s a win win :)
In simpler words, those are the terms you need to know:
keywords are the words that you can INCLUDE on your website to make it rank better and show up in search engines more efficiently. Search queries are what users are actually TYPING into search engines like Google. So your keywords don’t necessarily need to match with what people are searching for, aka with their search queries.
4. It tells you how “healthy” your website is
Google Search Console alerts you to any critical issues that may affect your website's performance, such as security vulnerabilities, mobile usability problems, or manual penalties imposed by Google. By regularly monitoring your website's health, you can proactively address these issues and ensure that your site remains accessible, secure, and optimized for a positive user experience. Sounds good? :)
In case you also have Google Analytics set up (which you also should), here’s the main difference between the two. GA (Google Analytics) mainly gives you the data about your website in general: the traffic, the user behavior, e-commerce related data, and also some technical website data (landing pages, website speed etc. etc.). And GSC (Search Console) covers the more technical aspect of your website, focusing on the crawling, the indexing and the usability aspect.
Do you need it?
Yes, and don’t forget it’s for free :) In summary, Google Search Console is essential for understanding how your website performs in search results, optimizing your content for relevant keywords, resolving technical issues, and leveraging advanced search features. It empowers you with valuable insights and tools to enhance your website's visibility, user experience, and overall SEO performance. And it will make you feel a bit nerdy, in a good way :D
Coming from my performance marketing background I’ll tell you that more data is always better than no data. It will empower you to make better decisions and help you set up your business goals and where your focus should lie.
How do you set up your Google Search Console?
Setting up Google Search Console is a straightforward process and it’ll take you just a few moments. Follow these steps to get started:
Step 1: Sign in or create a Google Account
To begin, sign in to your existing Google Account or create a new one if you don't have an account already. Make sure to use an account that is associated with your website or business.
Step 2: Access Google Search Console
Once you're signed in, visit the Google Search Console homepage by navigating to https://search.google.com/search-console. Click on the "Start now" button to proceed.
Step 3: Add property (which means your website)
In Google Search Console, you need to add your website as a property. Enter your website's URL in the provided field and click on the "Continue" button. Make sure to enter the full URL, including the "http://" or "https://" prefix. You’ll be able to see this filed in the upper left corner:
Step 4: Verify ownership of your website
To prove that you own the website, Google requires you to verify your ownership. There are multiple verification methods available, and you can choose the one that works best for you. The most common method is to add an HTML file to your website's root directory.
I built my website using Squarespace and they included the steps that I needed to follow in this knowledge article:
[Squarespace] Verifying your site with Google Search Console
If you’re using Wordpress, make sure to follow those instructions:
[Wordpress] How to Add Your WordPress Site to Google Search Console
And here are the instructions for Wix-based websites:
[Wix] Verifying Your Site With Google Search Console
You can totally find instructions for any website building platform by typing into your search engine “connect google search engine +website builder platform name”.
Step 5: Explore the Google Search Console dashboard
Take some time to familiarize yourself with the different sections and features available in Google Search Console. For example, you can review search analytics, submit sitemaps, check for crawl errors, and much more.
Make sure to have a look at your “Search Console Insights” from your main dashboard. Please note that it will take a bit of time till the tool gathers some data to display. If your website is quite new or not optimized, it will take a little bit longer.
So how was it, did you set it up? Way to go! I’ll see you in my next online marketing for creatives article. You rock!