How to Set Up Google Search Console: A Step-by-Step Guide for Small Business Owners
Google Search Console (GSC) is a powerful tool that helps you monitor and maintain your website’s presence in Google search results. For small business owners, it's essential for understanding how your website is performing, identifying issues, and improving your SEO efforts. In this guide, I'll walk you through the process of setting up Google Search Console, with a focus on the key features you should be using to optimize your website's performance. It’s one of the first things I recommend you set up before I complete your SEO audit.
What is Google Search Console and Why Do You Need It?
Google Search Console is a free tool provided by Google that allows you to monitor your website’s search performance. It provides insights into how Google views your site, which search queries bring users to your site, and any issues that might be affecting your site's visibility. For small business owners, this information is crucial for improving your website’s SEO and ensuring that potential customers can find you online.
Key Benefits of Google Search Console:
Performance Monitoring: Track how your website is performing in Google search results.
Index Coverage: See which pages on your site are indexed by Google and identify any issues.
Mobile Usability: Ensure your website is mobile-friendly, which is essential for local SEO.
Security Issues: Get alerts about potential security issues, such as malware or hacking attempts.
Creating Your Google Search Console Account
To get started with Google Search Console, you'll need to create an account and add your website. Here's how to do it:
Visit Google Search Console: Go to Google Search Console and sign in with your Google account. If you already have Google Analytics set up, make sure to use the same account. In fact, I always recommend starting with setting up your Google Analytics first, so if you haven’t done that yet, go set that up with this tutorial, and then come back to setting up GSC.
Choose a Property Type: You can either add a domain (which includes all subdomains) or a specific URL prefix (which includes only that specific address and its subfolders). This is where most people start to get confused! So let me explain. Your website has multiple prefixes attached to it. There are the https/http prefixes as well as the www and non-www prefixes. For example:
https://yourdomain.com https://www.yourdomain.com http://yourdomain.com http://www.yourdomain.com
If you want to verify all variations of your website in one go, you will select a Domain property type, and you will need to verify via your DNS (Domain Name System).
If you want to verify your main variation (and then repeat steps for the other 3 variations), you will select URL Prefix.
Don’t worry. I’ll walk you through the steps of each option.
How to Set Up a Domain Property Type in GSC
Selecting a Domain Property is preferable because it includes all of the variations of your website. However it’s not necessarily if it’s too complicated for you.
If you decide to claim a Domain property type, enter in your website address without any prefixes (for example: yourdomain.com).
You will then see a new pop-up with instructions on how to verify your site. You will need to copy the TXT record and then log into your Domain Name Provider. This would be something like GoDaddy, Bluehost, or Namecheap.
From your Domain Name Provider, you will need to go into the DNS settings and paste in the TXT record that you copied from GSC. Each Domain Name Provider will have different ways of finding this.
Go back to the GSC pop-up and click “Verify”.
How to Set Up a URL Prefix Property Type in GSC
If you decide to claim a URL Prefix property type, you need to get the exact URL address of your website. So first open another window and go to your website. Select and copy the entire address of your homepage (for example https://www.yourdomain.com). Then paste it into the GSC pop up window where it says “URL Prefix”.
You’ll then need to decide how you want to verify your website. There are multiple options:
Verifying your site with a Squarespace website.
HTML File Upload: Download an HTML file provided by Google and upload it to your website’s root directory.
HTML Tag: Add a meta tag provided by Google to your website’s
<head>section.Google Analytics: If you’re already using Google Analytics, you can verify your site with your existing account. I recommend this if you followed my advice and set up your Google Analytics account first!
Google Tag Manager: Similar to Google Analytics, you can use Google Tag Manager for verification.
Bonus: Another very easy option if you have a Squarespace website specifically, is that you can log into your Squarespace account, go to Analytics, click on “Search Keywords”, and then you will have a button to connect your account right there.
For small businesses that don’t have Squarespace and don’t have Google Analytics set up, the HTML Tag method is often the easiest, especially if you have access to your website’s code or can easily edit the HTML.
3. After you have verified your web address with this prefix, go back to add a property and submit the different prefix versions of your site. There should be 4 total. You don’t need to access all the properties all of the time, but it’s good practice to make sure that all of your bases are covered. The good news is that you won’t need to go through the steps of verification each time. It’s much more simple with the subsequent prefixes.
Once you have your site verified, you can view your dashboard. Note that you will not see any data generated a first. GSC doesn’t pull past data, so you’ll have to wait at least a week before you can see any real valuable data about keywords and page clicks, etc. But one thing you should do right away is submit your sitemap.
Submitting Your Sitemap
One of the first things that you should do in GSC is to submit your sitemap to Google. This helps google to find and index all pages on your site. Your website’s sitemap is generally pretty easy to find. Start by typing in your website and then add “sitemap.xml” to the end of it. For example, “yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml”. This format is common with multiple platforms like Squarespace, Shopify, and Wix. If you have Wordpress with a Yoast plug-in, your sitemap could be “yourdomain.com/sitemap_index.xml”.
When you type in this web address, you should get a webpage that shows your sitemap. It might look like an organized table or it might look like just a bunch of text like this:
Once you find your sitemap, copy the address, and paste it into GSC in the Sitemap section and click “submit”. You’ll get a green success status once it’s submitted. If it’s not green right away, refresh the page or come back to it in a few minutes.
Add users to Your Account
If you need to provide access to other members of your team, or an SEO specialist like me, follow these steps to get them added to your account.
Go to settings.
Select “Users and Permissions”.
Select ““Add User”, and type in the email address of the person you want to add.
Select the permissions that you want to provide access to. For me, I always need “full permissions” to use Google Search Console for SEO purposes.
Understanding the Google Search Console Dashboard
Once your website is verified, you’ll gain access to the Google Search Console dashboard. Here’s an overview of the key sections you’ll find:
Performance: This section shows you how your site is performing in Google search results, including clicks, impressions, and average position.
URL Inspection: Use this tool to see how Google views a specific URL on your site. You can also request re-indexing if you've made changes.
Coverage: This report shows which pages of your site are indexed by Google and highlights any errors.
Sitemaps: Submit your website’s sitemap here to help Google better understand your site structure.
Mobile Usability: Check if your site is mobile-friendly and resolve any issues that may affect user experience on mobile devices.
Security Issues: Google will notify you of any security issues detected on your site.
Key Features Small Business Owners Should Focus On
As a small business owner, there are several key features in Google Search Console that you should pay close attention to:
Performance Report: Monitor which search queries bring traffic to your site and how users interact with your content.
Coverage Report: Ensure that all important pages are indexed and fix any errors or issues that may arise.
Mobile Usability: With more people using mobile devices, it’s crucial that your site is mobile-friendly.
Core Web Vitals: These metrics measure the user experience on your site, including loading speed and interactivity. Improving these can boost your rankings.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Setting Up Google Search Console
Even though setting up Google Search Console is straightforward, there are common mistakes that small business owners should avoid:
Not Verifying All Versions of Your Website: Ensure that you verify all versions of your site, including
http,https,www, and non-wwwversions.Ignoring Errors in the Coverage Report: Failing to address errors can result in important pages not being indexed by Google.
Not Submitting a Sitemap: A sitemap helps Google understand your site’s structure and find all your important content.
Overlooking Mobile Usability Issues: Mobile optimization is critical, especially for local businesses that rely on mobile traffic.
Next Steps: Monitoring and Improving Your SEO Performance
After setting up Google Search Console, it's important to regularly monitor your site's performance and make improvements based on the data you collect. Here are some next steps:
Check Your Performance Report Monthly: Look for trends in your search traffic, and see which keywords are driving the most visitors.
Fix Coverage Issues Promptly: Address any errors or warnings in the Coverage report to ensure all your important pages are indexed.
Improve Mobile Usability: If you see any mobile usability issues, make the necessary changes to improve user experience.
Optimize Core Web Vitals: Regularly check your Core Web Vitals and work on improving loading times and interactivity.
By following these steps and using Google Search Console effectively, you can improve your website’s SEO performance and attract more customers to your small business. If you walk, I could also set up your GSC and GA4 for you.
If you’re ready to take your website’s performance to the next level, consider booking a comprehensive SEO audit with me. I’ll provide an in-depth analysis of your site and actionable recommendations to help you achieve your business goals.