How to Use Google Search Console to Improve SEO

If you want to improve your website’s visibility on Google, you need to understand how Google views your site. That’s exactly what Google Search Console (GSC) does. 

Google Search Console (GSC) is a free tool offered by Google that track your site’s performance in search results, diagnose technical issues, and identify opportunities to grow organic traffic 

This guide will walk you through everything you need to know about how to use Google Search Console to improve SEO. 

What is Google Search Console?

Google Search Console is a free platform that gives website owners direct access to data about how their site appears in Google Search. It shows you how your pages are indexed, which keywords drive clicks, and what technical issues might prevent your site from performing well.

Key Tools and Reports in Google Search Console:

• Performance Report: Tracks clicks, impressions, CTR, and average ranking position for your pages and keywords.
• Pages Indexing Report: Shows which URLs are indexed and highlights errors or exclusions.
• Sitemaps: Lets you submit XML sitemaps to help Google discover your content faster.
• URL Inspection Tool: Displays how Google sees a specific page and allows you to request indexing.
• Core Web Vitals: Measures page speed, interactivity, and visual stability metrics.
• Enhancements (Rich Results): Shows how structured data is applied and whether your site is eligible for features like FAQs, breadcrumbs, or product reviews snippets.
• Crawl Stats: Displays how often and how efficiently Googlebot crawls your website, helping you identify crawl spikes or errors.
• Robots.txt report: Allows you to check whether your robots.txt file blocks important pages from being crawled.
• Page Removals Tool: Lets you temporarily hide pages or outdated content from search results.
• Links Report: Lists your internal and external backlinks.
• Security & Manual Actions: Alerts you if your site is hacked or penalized.

To add a website property to Search Console, you can verify your site ownership through a DNS record, HTML tag, or file upload. Google provides a clear step-by-step guide for setup and verification, which you can follow in their official documentation here.

Once verified, you’ll start collecting valuable search data within a few days.

10 ways to use Google Search Console to unlock easy SEO wins

1. Find low-CTR search queries with high impressions

The Performance report in Google Search Console helps you uncover keywords where your site already ranks well but doesn’t get enough clicks. Low click-through rates (CTR) often signal that your titles or descriptions aren’t appealing enough to users — an easy fix that can lead to a quick traffic boost.

How to do it:

1. Go to Performance → Search results.
2. Turn on both Impressions and CTR metrics.
3. Sort by Impressions to find search queries with high visibility but CTR below 2–3%.
4. Improve your title and meta description to make them more relevant and enticing (add clear benefits, numbers, or urgency).
   

Tip: Avoid keyword stuffing or clickbait titles — Google may rewrite them automatically, hurting your CTR even more. Keep your snippet aligned with the page’s actual content.

2. Find keywords where you rank on Page 2

Keywords that rank between positions 11–20 are “almost there.” These are opportunities where small improvements can push you to the first page and generate significant traffic gains.

How to do it:

1. In Performance, enable Average position.
2. Filter results for search queries with average positions between 11 and 20.
3. Sort by Impressions to focus on high-visibility opportunities.
4. Improve those pages by refining headings, adding internal links, and addressing gaps in content.
   

Tip: Don’t make major URL or title changes to these pages — focus on improving relevance and depth rather than resetting their established ranking signals.

3. Discover new content opportunities from search queries

Google Search Console is excellent for keyword research. The Performance report can reveal content ideas directly from real search data. Queries with impressions but no dedicated landing page are perfect candidates for new content.

How to do it:

1. In Performance → Search results, sort queries by Impressions.
2. Identify recurring search terms that don’t align with an existing page.
3. Create dedicated content targeting those gaps.
4. Internally link from related pages to give new posts initial visibility.
   

Tip: Don’t create a new page for every keyword variation. Group similar searches into broader topics to avoid fragmentation and future cannibalization.

4. Measure branded vs non-branded Traffic

Knowing how much of your traffic comes from branded vs non-branded searches helps measure SEO reach. Branded queries show awareness, while non-branded ones reflect your organic visibility among new audiences.

How to do it:

1. In Performance, click + New → Query.
2. Filter Queries not containing your brand name to view non-branded searches.
3. Repeat with Queries containing your brand name to compare both segments.
4. Track the ratio over time — an increase in non-branded queries means your SEO reach is expanding.
   

🔖 Read also: 13 Practical Use Cases of RegEx in Google Search Console

5. Analyze seasonal keyword trends

SEO is rarely static. Search demand often changes by season, event, or annual trend. Comparing timeframes in GSC helps you anticipate these fluctuations and adjust your content schedule.

How to do it:

1. In Performance, click on Date → Compare.
2. Choose equivalent time ranges (e.g., last 3 months vs same 3 months last year).
3. Identify keywords with rising or declining impressions.
4. Refresh or promote relevant content before your seasonal peaks.

Tip: Always use full-month or quarter comparisons. Comparing uneven date ranges can mislead you with random short-term fluctuations.

6. Detect keyword cannibalization across multiple pages

When multiple pages target the same keyword, Google can get confused about which one to rank — a classic case of keyword cannibalization.

Don’t panic if some overlap exists — it’s natural for semantically similar pages. Only act when two pages are clearly competing for the same query and diluting CTR or rankings.

How to do it:

1. In Performance, click + New → Query and enter your target keyword.
2. Review which URLs receive impressions for that term.
3. If more than one page appears frequently, consider merging similar pages or refining their focus.
   

7. Evaluate the impact of title or meta description Changes

Google often rewrites titles and meta descriptions dynamically to better match search intent. Observe how Google displays your snippet in the SERP, and mimic its rewrite style – concise, descriptive, and aligned with query intent – to strike the optimal balance between relevance and click appeal.

After you update page titles or descriptions, you can validate if those changes actually improved CTR.

How to do it:

1. Note the date of your metadata change.
2. In Performance → Pages, filter for that URL.
3. Compare CTR and Impressions for the period before and after the change.
4. Keep performing A/B-style updates until you find what works best.
   

Tip: Test one element at a time. If you change too many things (title, headings, content), it is hard to identify what actually caused improvement or decline.

8. Identify keywords that trigger rich results

Rich results like reviews snippets, and HowTo snippets can significantly improve your visibility and CTR. GSC’s Search appearance filter shows which search queries already trigger enhanced results — and which ones could.

If your website supports multiple languages, look for the “Translated result” appearance in GSC. This indicates that Google automatically translated your content to display it in another language’s SERP – a strong signal of multilingual relevance.

How to do it:

1. In Performance, click Search appearance.
2. Check if your site appears for “FAQ,” “HowTo,” or “Product” results.
3. Add valid structured data to similar pages to increase eligibility for rich snippets.
4. Validate markup with Google’s Rich Results Test before resubmitting.
   

Tip: Never add markup for content users can’t see on the page. Hidden or misleading schema can lead to manual penalties or ignored structured data.

9. Find declining pages or queries

If you’ve noticed traffic dips but can’t pinpoint why, GSC’s date comparison can show which queries or pages lost visibility.

How to do it:

1. In Performance, click Date → Compare (e.g., last 3 months vs previous 3 months).
2. Sort by Clicks difference or Impressions difference.
3. Focus on queries or URLs with large declines.
4. Update declining pages with fresh examples, stats, or internal links.
   

Tip: Don’t assume every drop means a penalty — algorithm updates, seasonality, or SERP layout changes can also cause fluctuations. Always verify the timing.

10. Track keyword performance by page type or folder

Segmenting your performance data by folder (like /blog/ or /products/) helps you identify which sections of your site perform best and which need attention.

How to do it:

1. Go to Performance → Search results.
2. Click + New → Page and filter by URL path (e.g., /blog/ or /shop/).
3. Compare metrics such as CTR, Impressions, and Average position between folders.
4. Prioritize optimization efforts on sections that drive traffic but rank lower.
   

Tip: Keep your site structure consistent. Mixing folder names (like /articles/ and /blog/) makes filtering and long-term tracking more difficult.

10 ways to use Google Search Console to diagnose technical SEO issues

1. Use URL Inspection to verify rendering and indexing

Modern websites often rely on JS frameworks or lazy loading, which can hide key content from Googlebot.

Don’t assume because a page looks fine to users that Google can see it. JavaScript rendering often delays or blocks indexing — especially on slow or dynamic pages.

The URL Inspection tool lets you see how Googlebot actually interprets a page. You can use it to verify whether important text and links are visible to crawlers.

How to do it:

1. Enter the page URL in the URL Inspection tool.
2. Review if the page is indexed, and check which canonical URL Google selected.
3. Use the “View Crawled Page” to check the HTML to see what Google actually sees.
4. If key content is missing, adjust your rendering setup or server-side output.
   

Tip: Randomly search for a link or important text in the HTML to see if they exist in the rendered HTML.

2. Monitor crawl frequency and server performance with crawl stats

The Crawl Stats report (under Settings) shows how often Googlebot visits your site and whether it encounters crawl errors. A consistent or increasing crawl rate generally indicates healthy site authority and accessibility.

Regular crawl activity indicates Google can easily access and refresh your content, while sudden drops or spikes can signal technical or performance issues.

How to do it:

1. Open Settings → Crawl stats.
2. Review overall crawl requests, crawl trends, response codes, and downloaded data volume.
3. Look for sharp drops or spikes that align with recent technical changes.
4. Identify patterns — for instance, frequent 5xx errors or long response times suggest server bottlenecks, while a sharp drop in crawl requests may mean Google is struggling to access your content.
5. If crawl rate decreases, check your hosting performance, uptime, and whether key sections are accidentally blocked by robots.txt or returning errors.
   

Tip: Don’t restrict crawling unnecessarily with robots.txt. Over-blocking important sections can prevent Google from refreshing or reindexing pages efficiently.

3. Diagnose indexing drops or coverage issues

If you’ve ever wondered “why are my pages not indexed in Google Search Console?”, the Indexing → Pages report provides the answer. It lists URLs that were discovered or crawled but not indexed along with explanations.

How to do it:

1. Go to Indexing → Pages.
2. Review the “Not indexed” list for patterns (e.g., “Crawled – currently not indexed,” “Duplicate,” “Soft 404”).
3. Use the URL Inspection tool to check canonical tags, robots.txt, and content quality.
4. Improve or consolidate low-value pages before resubmitting for indexing.
   

Tip: Don’t keep resubmitting the same URLs hoping Google will index them. Focus instead on improving content uniqueness, internal linking, and crawl accessibility.

4. Audit structured data enhancements for rich results

Structured data helps Google display rich results like FAQs, reviews, and events. The Enhancements section in GSC shows how well your schema markup is implemented.

How to do it:

1. Go to Enhancements in the left menu.
2. Check available schema types (e.g., FAQ, HowTo, Product).
3. Review warnings or errors — hover for details and fix invalid or missing properties.
4. Once corrected, click “Validate fix” to prompt re-evaluation.
   

Tip: Don’t chase every possible schema type. Focus on ones that truly match your content and offer visible SERP value. Misusing structured data can trigger manual actions.

5. Filter sitemaps by content type to monitor indexing

If you have a larger site, don’t combine all URLs into one huge sitemap. Especially if your site covers very different topics or markets. Segmented sitemaps make it easier to isolate coverage issues and pinpoint where indexing gaps occur.

For example, you can create a separate sitemap for blog posts and another for products; or if you have a multilingual site, separate each market with a different sitemap – then you can use GSC to compare how efficiently Google indexes each section.

How to do it:

1. Go to Indexing → Sitemaps.
   Submit or review your sitemap URLs (e.g., /blog-sitemap.xml, /product-sitemap.xml).
2. Check the “Discovered URLs” vs “Indexed URLs” count for each.
3. Identify underperforming sections — for instance, a blog sitemap with 500 submitted pages but only 300 indexed.

6. Track Core Web Vitals for template types

Core Web Vitals (CWV) measure how users experience your site, including load time, interactivity, and layout stability. 

Google Search Console automatically groups URLs that share a similar structure or page template with the same issue and status. This grouping helps you identify patterns and prioritize fixes that will benefit many pages at once.

How to do it:

1. Go to Experience → Core Web Vitals.
2. Review the “Poor,” “Needs improvement,” and “Good” categories.
3. Use URL patterns to identify problem templates (e.g., issues on all /blog/ pages).
4. Work with developers to fix recurring technical issues.

Tip: Don’t fix CWV issues on individual URLs if the root cause is sitewide — such as a slow script or heavy image component. Always check if problems are template-level first.

7. Audit robots.txt and crawl control

Your robots.txt file tells Googlebot which parts of your site it can or can’t crawl — but not what it can index. The robots.txt report in Google Search Console makes it easier to spot errors or parsing issues that might prevent Google from reading your rules correctly.

How to do it:

1. In Google Search Console, open the robots.txt report under Setting (Crawling).
2. Review the list of files Google has discovered for your verified hosts. You’ll see the fetch status and last crawled date for each.
3. Click into a file to view any warnings or parsing errors — such as invalid syntax, unrecognized directives, or fetch failures.
4. If Google shows “Not fetched” or “Fetch failed,” double-check that your file is accessible at https://yourdomain.com/robots.txt.
5. After fixing errors, click Request recrawl so Google rechecks your file.

8. Identify Crawl Budget Waste

If Google wastes that budget on duplicate, faceted, or low-value URLs, your key pages may not get crawled often enough.

How to do it:

1. Compare Crawl Stats with Indexing → Pages reports.
2. Find non-valuable URLs (e.g., /filter/, /tag/, ?sort=) that Google crawls frequently.
3. Use canonical tags, robots.txt, or “noindex” directives to guide Googlebot toward priority URLs.
   

Tip: Avoid relying solely on “noindex.” Google still needs to crawl those pages to see the tag. Use robots.txt to block crawl access for irrelevant or infinite URL patterns.

9. Track indexing speed for new content

Google Search Console can help you understand how long it takes for new pages to be indexed and whether your site’s crawl frequency supports fast discovery.

How to do it:

1. Publish a new piece of content and note the publication date.
2. Use the URL Inspection tool to check when Google first crawled or indexed it.
3. Compare across multiple posts to calculate your average indexing delay.
4. If indexing takes more than a few days, strengthen internal links and ensure the page is included in your sitemap.
   

Tip: Avoid repeatedly requesting indexing. Excessive submissions can trigger rate limits without solving underlying crawl or quality issues.

10. Audit canonicalization choices by Google

Google doesn’t always respect your declared canonical tag. Sometimes it chooses its own version. GSC shows which canonical URL Google selected for each page, helping you identify duplication or preference issues.

How to do it:

1. Inspect the URL using URL Inspection.
2. Under “Indexing,” review “User-declared canonical” vs “Google-selected canonical.”
3. If they differ, investigate duplicate content or similar URLs.
4. Strengthen your preferred canonical with consistent internal linking and sitemap references.
   

Tip: Don’t use the canonical tag as a band-aid for poor site structure. If you have duplicate content on multiple URLs , consider consolidating or redirecting them entirely.

3 bonus ways to use Google Search Console for reporting and site management

1. Use the Removals Tool to manage outdated or sensitive Content

The Removals tool lets you temporarily hide pages from Google Search results, which is useful for urgent situations like confidential leaks, outdated offers, or deleted products.

However, don’t rely on this tool as a cleanup strategy. It’s temporary — if a page should be removed permanently, apply a 404 or 301 redirect and update your sitemap accordingly.

How to do it:

1. Go to Indexing → Removals.
2. Click New request and enter the URL to hide.
3. The temporary removal lasts about 6 months, during which you should fix or permanently redirect the page.

2. Monitor Backlink Growth and Quality

While Google Search Console doesn’t show every backlink, it’s a valuable checkpoint for identifying new or lost referring domains. This helps track off-page SEO efforts and ensure that external links are contributing positively to visibility.

How to do it:

1. Go to Links → External links → Top linking sites.
2. Check the “Top linked pages” to see which URLs earn the most backlinks.
3. Use the data to assess which content types attract links organically and replicate those formats.
   

Tip: Don’t ignore sudden changes — a sharp drop in linking domains can signal lost partnerships, removed mentions, or even a penalty-triggering disavow mistake.

3. Integrate GSC Data With Looker Studio or Google Sheets

Google Search Console data is powerful, but its interface can feel limited when you need to track performance over time or share results with clients and stakeholders.

By connecting GSC to Looker Studio (formerly Data Studio) or Google Sheets, you can turn raw data into clear, actionable SEO reports.

How to do it:

1. Connect your verified GSC property to Looker Studio using the built-in connector.
2. Build dashboards showing clicks, impressions, and CTR trends by page or country.
3. Alternatively, use the Google Search Console API or Sheets connector to automate weekly reporting.
   

Tip: Don’t overload dashboards with vanity metrics. Focus on actionable KPIs like non-branded traffic growth, CTR changes, and keyword movement.

Turning Data Into Continuous SEO Growth

Most people open Google Search Console to check clicks and impressions, and stop there. But once you dig deeper, you realize it’s full of hidden insights. 

It turns invisible search behavior into visible insights by showing you what users see, what Google understands, and where to focus next.

So keep exploring. Test a new filter, combine reports, spot patterns others ignore. GSC rewards curiosity — and that curiosity is what separates good SEOs from great ones.