Search Console is the only free source of truth about how Google sees your site, and most owners open it once, find it confusing, and never return. Four reports carry almost all the value.
Search Console shows which queries you appear for, which pages Google has indexed, and what is broken. The four reports worth your time are Performance, Pages, the URL Inspection tool and Core Web Vitals. Start with Performance sorted by impressions to find terms you nearly rank for.
Setting it up properly
- Add a domain property rather than a URL prefix, so all subdomains and both protocols are covered.
- Verify through DNS, which is the most durable method.
- Submit your sitemap.
- Wait. Data is not retrospective, so it starts accumulating from verification onward.
- Add anyone who needs access as a user rather than sharing a login.
Performance: where the opportunities are
This report shows queries, impressions, clicks and average position. The most useful view is not your best-performing terms, it is the near misses.
- Filter to positions 8 to 20. These are terms you almost rank for, where a modest improvement moves you onto page one.
- Sort by impressions with low clicks. High impressions and few clicks usually means your title and description are not earning the click.
- Look for queries you never targeted. Google often finds you for things you did not plan, and those are cheap wins.
- Compare periods to see what is rising and falling rather than reading a single snapshot.
One caution: average position is averaged across everyone who saw it, so a position of 12 might mean 5 for some searchers and 30 for others.
Pages: what is indexed and what is not
| Status | Means | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Indexed | In Google's index | None |
| Discovered, currently not indexed | Known, not yet crawled | Improve internal links to it |
| Crawled, currently not indexed | Crawled and judged not worth indexing | Improve or consolidate the content |
| Excluded by noindex | You told Google to skip it | Check it was intentional |
| Duplicate without user-selected canonical | Google chose a different version | Add a canonical tag |
| Soft 404 | Looks empty or missing | Add real content or return a proper 404 |
The two that matter most are the not indexed pair. Discovered means a crawl priority problem, usually caused by weak internal linking. Crawled means a quality judgement, which is a content problem.
URL Inspection
Paste any URL to see whether it is indexed, when it was last crawled, which canonical Google chose, and whether the mobile version renders properly.
It also has Request Indexing, which pushes a page into the crawl queue. There is a daily quota of roughly ten to twelve URLs, and it speeds up crawling rather than guaranteeing indexing.
The reports you can mostly ignore
- Links. Directionally useful, and far less complete than a dedicated backlink tool.
- Enhancements. Worth checking after adding structured data, not routinely.
- Removals. Only for emergencies, and it is temporary rather than a way to deindex.
- Crawl stats. Interesting on large sites, irrelevant on small ones.
A monthly routine
- Compare last month's clicks and impressions with the previous month.
- Check positions 8 to 20 for terms worth a push.
- Check Pages for new errors or a rise in not indexed.
- Check for manual actions, which takes five seconds and matters enormously.
- Look at which pages lost traffic and find out why.
Twenty minutes a month is enough. Checking daily produces noise and bad decisions.
Frequently asked questions
What is Google Search Console?
A free Google tool showing how Google crawls, indexes and ranks your site: which queries you appear for, which pages are indexed, and what is broken. It is the only direct source of this data and every site should have it.
What is the difference between Search Console and Analytics?
Search Console covers what happens in Google search before someone reaches you: queries, impressions, positions, indexing. Analytics covers what happens after they arrive. You need both, and they measure different things so their numbers will not match.
What does Discovered, currently not indexed mean?
Google knows the page exists but has not crawled it. It usually signals low crawl priority, most often because few or no internal links point to the page. Improving internal linking is the standard fix.
What does Crawled, currently not indexed mean?
Google fetched the page and decided not to index it. This is a quality judgement rather than a technical problem, and it usually means the content is thin, duplicative or not distinct enough from what already ranks.
How often should I check Search Console?
Monthly is enough for most sites, plus a check after any launch or migration. Daily checking produces noise, since normal fluctuation looks like a trend over short windows.