Google Search Console (GSC) is a free tool from Google that provides information about how a website is represented in Google search results. It offers valuable data about URL indexing, site visibility, and helps identify and resolve issues that affect search rankings.
Who Can Benefit from GSC? SEO specialists, webmasters, and business owners can use the service to improve SEO optimization and the technical health of their websites. It helps analyze keywords, identify 404 errors, and monitor the correctness of internal links.
Key Benefits of GSC
The key priorities include:
➤ Monitoring page indexing and identifying web crawling issues;
➤ Improving Page Experience and tracking Core Web Vitals;
➤ Analyzing meta tags, canonical URLs, and structured data to enhance site performance;
➤ Configuring GSC Tag Manager and integrating with Google Analytics for in-depth traffic analysis;
➤ Supporting mobile-first indexing and providing recommendations for mobile optimization.
Using web tools like GSC allows you not only to track indexing status but also to make adjustments to improve SEO metrics that impact page rankings.
Preparation Before Adding the Site
Before adding the site to the service, it is important to perform several steps:
➤ Check domain access — make sure you have the rights to manage the website.
➤ Choose the correct version of the site (HTTP/HTTPS, www / non-www) — determine which protocol to use and whether an HTTPS redirect is needed. This is especially important when setting up cross-domain redirects.
➤ Configure robots.txt and sitemap.xml — these files help control web crawling and speed up page indexing.
When setting up, it is important to consider HTTP headers, as they affect access to resources from other domains, which is particularly important when working with the CORS mechanism. Using Google Search Console and Google Tag Manager effectively impacts page ranking and site promotion quality in SERP.
Step-by-step guide: how to add a site to Search Console
Adding a site to the service is an important step for monitoring visibility in search. The tool tracks page indexing by analyzing queries and identifying errors. Follow the step-by-step instructions to quickly set up GSC and start using it.
Step 1: Log into GSC
Go to GSC and log in with your Google account. Make sure you use the same account linked to Google Analytics or Google Tag Manager to simplify the process of verifying site ownership.
Step 2: Choose the property type
After logging into GSC, you need to select the type of resource to track. This will determine what data will be collected and how the pages will be indexed in Google. Available types:
➤ Domain Property — tracks all subdomains and protocols.
➤ URL-prefix Property — tracks only the specified version of the website.
If your site is accessible through different URL versions, it is recommended to choose the domain property. This will help analyze traffic for all pages and subdomains in one interface of the service.
Step 3: Verify ownership
To use all the features of Google, you must verify ownership of the site. Without this, the service will not be able to provide data on indexing and errors. There are several methods for verification through:
➤ DNS record (recommended method for Domain Property): copy the TXT record and add it to the DNS records at your hosting provider (GoDaddy, Cloudflare, Namecheap, etc.). Confirm the addition in Google Search Console.
➤ HTML file (for URL-prefix): download the HTML file and upload it to the root directory of your website. Check file availability via browser.
➤ Google Analytics — works if GA is already installed on the site.
➤ Google Tag Manager — if GTM code is installed, verification is possible via Google Search Console Tag Manager.
The selected method should match your hosting capabilities and access level to the site. After successful verification, the service will start collecting data about pages, search traffic, and indexing errors.
Step 4: Adding Sitemap.xml
To help the service find and index pages faster, it is important to add sitemap.xml. This file helps search engines understand the structure of the site and take all important URLs into account. Without it, some pages may remain unindexed, which will negatively affect search results. You need to:
➤ Generate the sitemap.xml file using Yoast SEO, Screaming Frog, or XML-Sitemaps.
➤ Submit the sitemap in the “Sitemaps” section of Google Search Console.
After adding the sitemap.xml, check its status in the service. If the file is uploaded correctly, the system will start using it to improve indexing and SEO optimization of the pages.
Step 5: Checking Page Indexing
Once you’ve added the site to GSC and configured the basic settings, it’s important to check the indexing of the pages:
➤ Use the URL Inspection tool to ensure that pages are properly indexed by search engines.
➤ Request accelerated indexing for new pages to speed up the appearance of your content in search results.
This will help your site appear in search engine results more quickly, which is especially important for new content. Using PWA (Progressive Web App) also plays a crucial role. It speeds up page loading and improves the user experience, which positively impacts indexing.
How to Set Up Google Search Console for Better SEO Optimization
UX factors play a crucial role in website ranking, as search engines evaluate user interaction with the site. Additionally, it is essential to optimize mobile usability to enhance user experience on mobile devices. For successful setup and improved visibility, use the following tools and practices:
➤ Analyze the GSC report to identify indexing and site coverage issues.
➤ Monitor and fix 404 errors to prevent traffic loss.
➤ Track Core Web Vitals to improve Page Experience and speed up page loading.
➤ Optimize external and internal links to enhance navigation and SEO.
➤ Set up canonical URLs and hreflang tags for multilingual sites to avoid content duplication.
➤ Use structured data (JSON-LD) to generate rich results and improve visibility in featured snippets.
Proper configuration of the service will improve PPC and SEO, speeding up page indexing and improving search rankings and SERP positions.
Errors When Adding a Site to GSC and Their Solutions
How to properly connect to Google Search Console? When adding a site to Google Search Console, various errors may occur that need to be resolved promptly for effective indexing and monitoring. Let's consider the most common errors and their solutions.
Verification Error – Incorrect DNS Record or HTML File Added
If you encounter a verification issue, it could be related to an incorrectly added DNS record in Google Cloud DNS or an HTML file that is required to confirm ownership of the site. Make sure you've correctly set up the DNS record on your domain or uploaded the HTML file to your server. Verify the syntax and paths of these elements so that Googlebot can properly confirm your site in the service. This error prevents the successful addition of the site and its indexing.
Site Not Indexing – Check robots.txt, noindex Meta Tag, and Sitemap.xml
If your site is not indexing, potential causes could be related to the settings in robots.txt, the noindex meta tag, or the absence of a sitemap.xml file. Check if there are any indexing restrictions in your robots.txt file that may be blocking Googlebot from accessing important pages. Make sure there is no noindex tag on the pages, which prevents them from being indexed. Additionally, ensure that the sitemap.xml is properly configured and submitted to Google so it can crawl all necessary pages. Use an HTML validator to resolve any errors, improving the site's quality and ensuring proper indexing, which will enhance visibility in search engines.
No Data in Reports – New Website, Requires Time for Googlebot Analysis
If there is no data in the service reports and the site has just been added, it's important to wait, as Googlebot needs time to crawl and index new content. During this period, details about traffic, 404 errors, external links, or other metrics may be missing. This is normal, and data will gradually appear. It is crucial to ensure the site is correctly set up for fast analysis, including proper configuration of robots.txt, the presence of sitemap.xml, and no blocks for Googlebot. Fixing these issues and using the GSC API can automate indexing monitoring, accelerate the discovery of new pages, and enhance the site's search performance.
Alternative Tools for Webmasters
How to add a site to Google Webmaster? Apart from Google Search Console, there are several other powerful tools for webmasters that can assist with website analysis and optimization. These tools can offer additional features for traffic analysis, SEO optimization, and improving site visibility in search engines. Let's look at some popular alternative solutions.
Bing Webmaster Tools – an alternative to GSC for Bing
If your site needs to be represented in the Bing search engine, it is worth using Bing Webmaster Tools. This is the Bing equivalent of GSC, which allows you to track the indexing status using structured data. It can generate performance reports and diagnose errors on the site. It's important to remember that Bing has its own unique features and algorithms. Using this tool will help increase your site's visibility in Bing search results.
Ahrefs Webmaster Tools – analysis of duplicate pages and links
Ahrefs Webmaster Tools is ideal for analyzing duplicate pages, external links, and monitoring the state of your site's backlink profile. This tool provides detailed data about external and internal links, as well as pages that might have duplicated content. Regular use of Ahrefs will help improve link structure and resolve potential technical SEO issues.
Screaming Frog SEO Spider – audit of HTML markup and URL parameters
Screaming Frog SEO Spider is a powerful tool for auditing HTML markup and analyzing URL parameters. With its help, you can detect technical SEO errors such as content duplication, issues with tags, and broken pages. This tool also helps identify potential problems with robots.txt and sitemap.xml configurations, which improves web crawling and accelerates the indexing process.
Using these alternative tools in addition to Google helps cover more aspects of technical SEO, enhancing page load speed and indexing.
Using Google Search Console is critical for SEO and mobile-first indexing. The service helps improve mobile adaptation, page load speed, and web performance. It’s important to regularly analyze traffic using PPC and SEO. Also, performance marketing should be leveraged effectively to boost results.
Professional SEO promotion is key to successful LSI optimization of your site.
