Google Search Console

What Search Console reveals

Google Search Console (GSC) shows which queries bring visitors from Google search, your average position for each keyword, click-through rates, and total impressions. This data is authoritative—it comes directly from Google's systems, not third-party estimates.

GSC also reports indexing status, Core Web Vitals performance, crawl statistics, mobile usability issues, and security problems. It's the most comprehensive view of your site's Google search health.

Performance insights

The Performance report shows exactly which queries trigger your pages in search results. You'll see queries you rank for that you didn't expect, revealing content opportunities. You'll also spot high-impression, low-click queries—terms where you rank but your meta descriptions or title tags fail to attract clicks.

Filter by page to see all queries driving traffic to specific URLs. Filter by query to see which pages compete for the same keyword—useful for identifying keyword cannibalisation.

Technical issue detection

GSC alerts you to indexing problems: pages blocked by robots.txt, canonical issues, duplicate content, server errors, and 404 errors. Fixing these issues improves search visibility directly.

The Coverage report shows which pages Google successfully indexed versus those excluded or encountering errors. Regularly reviewing this ensures all important content remains discoverable.

Using Search Console effectively

Check GSC weekly at minimum. Review performance trends, address any new errors or warnings, and monitor Core Web Vitals scores. After site changes or new content publication, request indexing through GSC to speed discovery.

Submit your XML sitemap through GSC to help Google discover all pages. We configure this automatically for every Fernside site during launch setup.

Search Console in our workflow

We connect every site to Google Search Console and grant clients owner access. Regular GSC monitoring helps us identify SEO opportunities, diagnose ranking drops, and ensure technical health. It's non-negotiable for serious search optimisation.