Google Search Console is one of the most useful free tools a business website can have, and one of the most overlooked. It shows how Google sees your website: which searches you appear for, which pages get clicked and whether anything is stopping Google from reading your site properly.
This beginner’s guide explains how to set it up, the reports that matter most for a small business and what to do with what you find.
Search Console vs Google Analytics
They answer different questions:
- Search Console shows what happens before someone reaches your site from Google Search: the searches, how often you appear and how often you are clicked.
- Google Analytics shows what happens after they arrive: which pages they visit and whether they enquire.
Used together, they give a much fuller picture. Our guide to what to track on your website covers the Analytics side.
Setting it up
- Sign in to Search Console with a Google account your business controls.
- Add your website as a property. A domain property covers every version of your site, including with and without “www”, and is usually the best choice.
- Verify ownership. For a domain property, this means adding a DNS record through your domain registrar or host.
- Submit your XML sitemap, if your website has one. Most WordPress SEO plugins create one automatically.
Data starts to appear after a few days. Add anyone who helps with your website as a user, rather than sharing your login.
The Performance report
This is where most of the useful information is. It shows:
- Clicks: how many times people clicked through to your site from Google Search.
- Impressions: how many times your site appeared in results.
- Average CTR: the percentage of impressions that became clicks.
- Average position: roughly where you appeared in results, which varies by location and person.
Look at the Queries tab to see the actual searches, and the Pages tab to see which pages appear. A few useful things to look for:
- Searches with many impressions but few clicks. Your page appears but people don’t choose it. Improving the page title and description can help.
- Services you offer that don’t appear at all. You may need a dedicated page. See how to structure a service page.
- Unexpected searches. These can inspire new content or reveal what customers really call your services.
The Pages (indexing) report
This shows which pages Google has indexed and which it hasn’t, with reasons. Not every page needs to be indexed, such as thank-you pages or duplicates. But if important service pages are listed as not indexed, investigate why.
The URL Inspection tool lets you check a single page and request indexing after you publish or update it.
Experience and security reports
- Core Web Vitals shows pages with speed or stability issues, based on real visitor data where there is enough. See why websites feel slow.
- Security issues alerts you if Google detects hacking or malware. If you ever see something here, act quickly. Our guide to what to do if your website is hacked can help.
- Manual actions shows if Google has taken action against your site for breaking its spam policies. For most small businesses, this should be empty.
Links
The Links report shows which other websites link to yours and which of your pages have the most internal links. It is a useful way to spot local directories, suppliers or partners already linking to you. See our guide to local business directories.
A simple monthly routine
- Check for new errors or security messages.
- Compare clicks and impressions with the previous month and the same month last year.
- Note your top searches and whether they match the work you want.
- Pick one page to improve, such as updating its title, adding FAQs or expanding thin content.
Want help reading your data?
Madexify sets up Search Console and Analytics for small businesses across Pakenham, Officer, Beaconsfield, Berwick, Narre Warren, Cranbourne, Clyde and Bunyip, and turns the numbers into a short list of practical improvements. See our digital marketing services, or contact us to talk about your website’s search performance.
Sources: Search Console Help: getting started. Accessed 26 September 2026.
This article is part of our Local SEO and Google Guide. Browse all our guides on the guides page.
