Our clients are always looking for the latest and greatest way to optimize their websites to make searching for their goods and services much easier online. Most people have heard of Google Analytics and Google AdWords, but there’s another helpful tool that Google offers: Google Search Console. Formerly Google Webmaster, Google Search Console gives webmasters a glimpse into how their websites are performing online and prompts them to fix any pending issues.  

Okay, but Doesn’t Google Analytics Already Do That? 

Not really. They measure completely different metrics. Analytics monitors web traffic where Search Console monitors website issues and searchability. 

Briefly speaking, Google Analytics measures your website’s foot traffic- specifically how potential customers are finding your site. A website’s overall traffic is broken into a few main search categories: organic, paid, direct, and referral. A Google Analytics report will show you web traffic percentage for each search category, how long users are spending on each page, your website’s bounce and conversion rate, revenue generated, the number of unique and repeat users, page views, demographics, network, and mobile vs computer access. These metrics are pretty impressive, but Google Analytics is only half of the website management pie. 

So… How is Google Search Console Different?

Simply put, Google Search Console allows you to measure your website’s search traffic and performance and better understand where your website is coming up on search engine results pages (SERPs). This tool also indicates any website errors that may be negatively affecting your website’s chances of being searched organically. You can also use Google Search Console to monitor web pages with embedded videos, mobile useability, and non-text content like images, galleries, and other textless website elements.

How Can I Use Google Search Console to Improve My Web Traffic and Searchability?

What Google Search Console provides is data.

It won’t fix your website’s issues for you, but it will provide you with the tools you need to determine if changes need to be made to your website, marketing strategies, or SEO. This tool has several capabilities available to webmasters to survey their website traffic and search metrics.

Know Your Keywords

This tool kit allows you to see which keywords and queries bring users to your site via organic search. Understanding your target audience better will allow you to optimize your site and create content for it that will delight potential customers.

Is Google Showing the Latest and Greatest?

When you submit your sitemap or individual URLs to Google Search Console, Google will crawl your company’s website. This will help you ensure that the search engine is displaying the most up-to-date version.

Find and Fix Website Issues

You’ll receive an email when Google Search Console finds something wrong with your website, it will point out the affected URLs and prompt you to fix them. It will also give you a way to notify Google that you’ve remedied the issues, and it will make a reassessment of your site. 

See Through Google’s Eyes

When you plug in your website’s URL into Google Search Console’s URL Inspection tool, you’ll gain access to information about your website that the Google index takes into account when adding your website to SERPs. 

Google Search Console is a fantastic tool if you want to get into the Google search algorithm’s good graces, so why not use it?