Google Search Console setup

Google Search Console setup and your first read of it

Connecting your site to Google Search Console so you can see what you show up for and fix indexing problems.

What this is

Search Console is Google's own free report on your site. It shows the searches you appear for, which pages get clicked, and anything preventing pages from being indexed. It is the only place some of that information exists.

It is free, it takes very little time, and a surprising number of small business sites have never had it connected.

What you get

What setup involves

  • 01

    Verifying ownership

    Proving the site is yours, usually through a DNS record or a file on the server.

  • 02

    Submitting your sitemap

    So Google has an explicit list of the pages you want indexed rather than discovering them by following links.

  • 03

    Checking indexing immediately

    The first genuinely useful output. How many of your pages Google actually has, and which ones it is refusing and why.

  • 04

    Setting up the account properly

    Registered under an account you own and control. If an agency holds the only access, you lose your historical data the day you leave them.

  • 05

    Showing you what to look at

    A walkthrough of the three reports worth checking and permission to ignore the rest.

What it costs

Quoted after a free consult, because what it takes depends entirely on what you already have. Book a call, I will tell you what is involved, and you get a number before anything starts. Website plan details are on the pricing page.

Search Console itself is free. What is being quoted is the setup and the walkthrough, and it is a small job.

How this differs

Search Console shows what happens inside Google before the click: impressions, queries and indexing health. Website analytics shows what happens after the click, on your site. Neither substitutes for the other.

Rank tracking and geo-grid reports answer where you appear across a service area. Search Console reports an average position that blends locations together, which is why it cannot answer that question.

This is a short piece of work and I am not going to pretend otherwise. On a site I build it is part of launch and there is nothing to buy. If you only need this, say so and it can be handled quickly.

Questions

What people ask

Is Search Console free?

Entirely. It is Google's own tool and there is no paid tier.

Will it show me everything I rank for?

It shows searches where your site appeared and got impressions, which is close but not complete: very low-volume queries are withheld for privacy. It is still the most reliable source you have.

Who should own the account?

You. Always. Access can be granted to whoever does the work, and the property should belong to an account you control so the data is yours.

How long before there is data?

A few days for the first data, and the reports get more useful over the following weeks. There is no historical backfill, which is an argument for connecting it now rather than when you need it.

See what Google already knows

Tell me what is going on and I will tell you whether this is what you actually need. No pitch deck and no pressure.

Book a free consult