A beginner guide on how to setup/use Google search console or webmaster tools. It was formerly known as Google webmaster tools. The first step to adding and monitoring your site performance in Google search engine which you can use the results to do and learn SEO for your website or client to improve its ranking
As the title indicates it to provide you information and help you understand the basics knowledge you will need when you first started using this tool. In time, as you keep tracking your or clients’ website you will learn the most through monitoring it.
The data/information shown in an account is approximate and is not 100% accurate
GOOGLE SEARCH CONSOLE DNS VERIFICATION
Table of Contents
It is a free tool provided by Google to everyone who owns a website or webmasters the only thing you need to do to register or submit your website/site
FIRST, open your browser and search for a search console or Google search console. Click on the first listing
SECOND, It will show you the Google search console page and click on start now button
THIRD, Welcome to Google search console page will be shown and enter or add your domain name under Domain option
FOURTH, Sign in to your service provider e.g Namecheap, Godaddy, etc. and copy the verification code
FIFTH, Choose domains, select a domain if you have multiple, DNS settings or zone, and add TXT (Text) record
Go back to search console and click on verify button
LASTLY, A popup page with ownership will be verified, you can click on either done or go to the property button
FEATURES OF GOOGLE SEARCH CONSOLE
The general or unique features of Google search console will be explained in a short, simple and easy way to understand for anyone who’s just getting started
I am using one of my micro niche website for example which is in it’s 8 (eight) month for the screenshot or images but it still hasn’t peak and plateau
OVERVIEW
It has three parts such as Performance, Coverage, and Enhancements. You can expand each one of them by clicking on the open report text
I will do a little elaborate on each one of them separately through this post
PERFORMANCE
By default, it shows you a data of three months but it used to be one month. It shows
a) Total clicks: Pageviews or clicks from SERP (Search Engine Result Page) to your website/blog,
b) Total Impressions: The numbers of times your post/posts is shown in SERP,
c) Average CTR: The percentage of click form SERP and 5% is considered high value, and
d) Average position: The position or number where your post is in SERP.
Scroll down, You will have more options such as
a) Queries: what phrases or sentence people search for your article or blog to show up,
b) Pages: It refers to a specific article or blog,
c) Countries: Where your article or blog is shown,
d) Device: Its people use to view your content such as Mobile, Desktop and tablet, and
e) Search Appearance: Search results like title, URL, Snippets, product rich or featured snippets, Sitelinks, Breadcrumbs and search within a site.
Search type option (Pen or Pencil logo): By expanding, You can check or see the performance for Web, Image, and video which you have included or use it within your content.
You can do a comparison for any two of the performance such as web, image, and video
DATE
You can check for the performance of the Last 7 days, 28 days, 3months, 6 months,12 months, 16 months and custom option including
Comparision for the last 7 days, 28 days, 3 months, 6 months to the previous option
If your website is years old then you can do a comparison of 7 days, 28 days and 3 months year over year and custom option
URL INSPECTION
It can be used to submit your website/ blog post/ article to crawled by bots and to fix if a problem occurs in one or more of your pages
COVERAGE
It has an option such as
a) Error: the numbers will be shown and how-to or guide will be shown as well,
b) Valid with a warning: You just need to keep an eye on it nothing serious,
c) Valid: The amount of index pages/posts and are in SERP, and
d) Excluded: It is intentionally excluded by bots or by you.
SITEMAP
A sitemap helps Google bots to crawl the pages/posts of your website. An XML file that has the lists of all your URL’s in a website
The code or file format to make a one for your website/site
https://YourDomain/sitemap.xml
Change the word your domain with your domain name
ENHANCEMENTS
As of making this blog post, it is a recently incorporated feature but not new. Google’s own product page speed insight to check the speed or time it takes to open or load each and every page when visited by people is monitored.
CORE WEB VITALS
Largest Contentful Paint: The time it takes to load or upload your content to the user after clicking on your website link
Ideal time is 2.5 seconds or faster and is acceptable up to 4 seconds
First Input Delay: How long it takes for your page contents to load and a user a interact with it
Ideal time should be 100 milliseconds or less and is acceptable up to 300 milliseconds
Cumulative Layout Shift: The page layout information such as link, button, etc. doesn’t change while you are interacting with it
Ideal value should be 0.1 and up to 0.25 is acceptable
MOBILE USABILITY
Make sure your website/blog theme has the mobile version as well which when someone visits your site from a mobile it will load or show the smartphone or mobile version
LINKS
It has three parts such as
a) External links: The posts/pages which are used to link back to your website,
b) Internal links: It shows you the connections between you posts/pages,
c) Top linking sites: The website/domain which links to your website/blog, and
d) Top linking Text: The words/sentences use to link back to your website/blog.
