Performance
Queries, pages, countries and devices with clicks, impressions, CTR and average position, for up to 16 months.
Blog · Search Console
Google Search Console guide
Quick answer
Google Search Console is Google's free tool showing how your site is crawled, indexed and found in search. Verify a Domain property with a DNS TXT record, then use Performance for queries and clicks, Pages for indexing reasons, URL Inspection for single pages, and Core Web Vitals for speed. It reports problems; it does not fix rankings itself.
For site owners and marketers setting up Search Console for the first time or diagnosing a drop in Google traffic.
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knowledge
knowledge
- Read time
- 4 min
- Sections
- 5
- Updated
- 14 Nov 2026
- Written by
- WebJi® team
Last editorial update: 14 November 2026.
What does Google Search Console do?
Google Search Console is Google's free tool for site owners that reports how Google crawls and indexes a site, which searches show it, and which problems block it. It reports on Google's view of your site; it does not change rankings by itself or force a page into the index.
Pages (indexing)
Which URLs are indexed and the reason each excluded URL is not.
URL Inspection
The indexed copy of one URL, its chosen canonical, and a live test.
Experience
Core Web Vitals and HTTPS status grouped by URL pattern.
Security & manual actions
Hacked-content alerts and human-applied penalties.
Links and sitemaps
Top linking sites, internal links, and submitted sitemap status.
How do you verify a site in Google Search Console?
Add a Domain property and verify it with a DNS TXT record, or add a URL-prefix property and verify it with an HTML file, meta tag, Google Analytics or Tag Manager. The Domain property is the better default because it covers every subdomain and both http and https.
| Property | Covers | Verification |
|---|---|---|
| Domain (example.in) | All subdomains, http and https | DNS TXT record only |
| URL prefix (https://www.example.in/) | Only that exact scheme, host and path | HTML file, meta tag, Analytics, Tag Manager or DNS |
The TXT value looks like google-site-verification=abc123…. Add it at the bare domain (host @) in the DNS zone your live nameservers serve, for example cPanel’s Zone Editor or your registrar’s DNS page. It is separate from your SPF record; do not merge the two. You can confirm the record is live with dig TXT example.in +short before clicking Verify.
How do you read the Performance report and diagnose a traffic drop?
Compare two equal date ranges, then split by page, query and device: falling impressions mean lower visibility, while falling clicks with steady impressions mean the result lost its appeal or a SERP feature took the click. Sitewide averages hide the URL that actually moved.
- Open Performance → Search results and use Compare with the previous period of the same length (for example, 28 days vs 28 days).
- Open the Pages tab and sort by click difference to find the URLs that lost most.
- Click one page, then open Queries to see which searches dropped for it.
- Check Devices: a mobile-only drop often points to a template or speed problem.
- Use a regex query filter, such as
price|cost|rate, to group queries by intent.
Average position is an average of the highest position each impression achieved, so one new image or AI Overview impression can move it a lot. Read it alongside clicks, not alone.
What do the Pages report's "not indexed" reasons mean?
Each excluded URL is listed with a reason; most are normal housekeeping, and only pages you actually want in search need action. Clicking around in the report does not index anything; fixing the page does.
| Status | Meaning | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Crawled – currently not indexed | Fetched but not selected for the index | Improve thin or near-duplicate pages, or merge them |
| Discovered – currently not indexed | Known but not yet crawled | Add internal links from strong pages; check server speed |
| Duplicate without user-selected canonical | Google picked another URL as canonical | Add a rel="canonical" to the version you want |
| Alternate page with proper canonical tag | Your canonical points elsewhere, as intended | None |
| Excluded by 'noindex' tag | The page asks not to be indexed | Remove noindex only if the page should rank |
| Blocked by robots.txt | Crawling disallowed | Allow it if the page should be indexed |
| Page with redirect / Not found (404) | The URL redirects or no longer exists | Update internal links and sitemap entries |
After fixing a pattern, click Validate fix on that reason; Google rechecks the affected URLs over the following days or weeks.
How do you submit a sitemap and inspect a URL?
Enter the sitemap's full URL in Sitemaps → Add a new sitemap, and use the URL Inspection bar at the top to check one address's indexed and live status. A sitemap tells Google which URLs exist; it does not guarantee they are indexed.
- Sitemap hygiene: list only canonical, 200-status URLs; WordPress serves one at
/wp-sitemap.xmlby default, and SEO plugins usually replace it. - Inspect: read "Google-selected canonical" and "Crawl allowed?" before anything else.
- Test live URL: confirms the current page is fetchable and indexable after a fix.
- Request indexing: for a handful of important new or changed pages; it is quota-limited and not meant for bulk use.
Getting a brand-new site discovered is covered in submitting a website to Google.
How do Core Web Vitals, security issues and manual actions affect traffic?
Core Web Vitals flag slow or unstable page templates; security issues and manual actions are far more serious and can remove pages from results until they are fixed and reviewed. Speed fixes do not clear a manual action.
| Metric | Measures | Good |
|---|---|---|
| LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) | Loading of the main content | 2.5 seconds or less |
| INP (Interaction to Next Paint) | Responsiveness to taps and clicks | 200 milliseconds or less |
| CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) | Visual stability | 0.1 or less |
INP replaced FID as a Core Web Vital in March 2024. A security alert usually means hacked pages or malware: clean the site, then click Request review. A manual action names its scope (sitewide or partial); fix the policy issue, explain the fix in the reconsideration request, and wait for a reply. The template and crawl fixes behind these reports are covered in technical SEO, and slow hosting can be tested with the website speed test.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How long does Search Console take to show data for a new site?
Performance data usually starts appearing within a few days of verification, once Google has crawled the site and it has received impressions. Indexing reports can take longer to fill in. A site with no impressions yet will simply show empty charts.
Can I give my developer or SEO agency access without sharing my Google password?
Yes. Under Settings → Users and permissions, add their Google account as a Full or Restricted user. Keep yourself as the verified owner, and remove agency users when the contract ends.
Why do Search Console clicks differ from Google Analytics sessions?
They measure different things. Search Console counts clicks from Google Search results only, while Analytics counts sessions from every source and needs its tracking script and consent to fire. Some anonymised queries are also hidden from Search Console query tables for privacy.
How do I remove a page from Google quickly?
The Removals tool hides a URL from results for about six months. For permanent removal, delete the page so it returns 404 or 410, or add a noindex tag, before that period ends.
Reports and thresholds checked against Google Search Central documentation · Reviewed by the WebJi® team, Jaipur.
WebJi® since 2005
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