Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
While most people are quite familiar with the Google search engine, far fewer are familiar with Google Search Console (GSC). Developed by the American Internet giant itself, this tool has many features that can be used by website administrators.
In an effort to help you understand the utility of GSC, especially in terms of SEO, this article provides an overview of the different functions and capabilities offered by Google Search Console.
GSC helps you optimize your website
If you have a background in SEO optimization, you are well aware that there is always something to improve on a website to boost your SEO, both in terms of its settings and content.
In this article, our team of Montreal SEO specialists explains everything about the Google Search Console. As you will see, this tool has various functions that help website administrators identify what actions they can take to give their site a boost in search results.
Submit your sitemap to Google
Day and night, Google’s robots conduct in-depth analysis to increase the relevance of search results presented to Internet users. If these robots are unable to browse a site, it will not be indexed and its content will not appear in the search engine results pages.
Submitting your sitemap to the GSC helps facilitate the analysis of your site, in addition to determining if any of these URLs are problematic. If you can correct the errors identified, you will improve the SEO of your site.
Analyze your website links
One of the most important ranking factors is the quality of backlinks to a website. Links from sites considered relevant increase the authority of a site for Google’s algorithm. This is why link building is a very important step in SEO strategies.
Google Search Console provides you with a list of websites that have at least one link to yours. You can also see the anchor texts of the links as well as the pages of your site that they lead to.
You can then find more information about each “backlink” by clicking on them. This lets you see the pages that contain the links and visit them to see how they are inserted into the content.
Detect broken links that affect your SEO
Broken links are very detrimental in terms of user experience, in addition to having a negative effect on a website’s ranking in search results.
In the crawl section of the Google Search Console, you will find details of the errors Google found when analyzing your website, including all URLs that generate 404 errors. All you have to do is make the necessary corrections to improve your SEO.
Check if your website is secure with Google Search Console
Website security is an important feature, especially for companies that have an online store and collect sensitive customer data.
Google Search Console allows you to check at a glance if your website has a security vulnerability that you should be aware of. It will also help you solve the security problems it has identified.
Check if your website is mobile-friendly
An increasing number of Internet users are surfing the web on mobile devices. Consequently, a site must be properly displayed on a smartphone or tablet.
You can use the Google Search Console to confirm that your website meets mobile usage standards. If the tool identifies elements that affect mobile usability, such as using Flash or a small font size, you will get a message explaining the cause of the problem so that you can make the necessary changes.
Google Search Console provides information about your website’s performance
If you are serious about managing and optimizing your website’s SEO, Google Search Console can help you find out where and how your site appears in Google search results.
Relevant data in the form of visibility and click tracking reports speak volumes about your website’s performance and can contribute to the development of successful SEO strategies.
Find out what keywords people use to find your website
Anyone who visits a website through an organic search used a specific search term to get there. Choosing the right keywords for each page of a site is therefore a very effective way to optimize your SEO and generate more traffic.
Google Search Console helps you do this by showing you the number of clicks that each keyword generates and the total number of times your website appears in search results for that keyword (impressions). Other information such as positioning and click rate are also presented.
This data indicates whether you are able to attract Internet users to your content based on the targeted searches in your SEO strategy.
Identify your most visited web pages
Every website has pages that perform better when it comes to SEO. As a result, they rank higher in search engine results and are more popular. This makes it worth understanding why in order to implement appropriate SEO practices that will help other pages of a site gain more visibility.
Google Search Console helps you determine which of your pages bring the most organic traffic to your website by giving you access to a list of all the pages that people have seen and clicked in descending order of popularity. You can also see which pages perform best in terms of impressions, clicks, click-through rates and positioning.
See where the Internet users who visit your website come from
For a company that operates in a given territory, obtaining traffic from that geographical region is essential. With this in mind, finding out where Internet users who have visited a website come from can help its administrators determine whether they are reaching the intended target and fine-tune their local SEO.
If you are targeting an audience that comes primarily from the geographic area your company serves, Google Search Console can be useful. It allows you to see how many clicks your website receives from each country. You can also display results based on impressions, click-through rates and search engine rankings.
See which devices are used to access your website
For the reasons outlined earlier in this article, all companies should ensure that their websites provide a good user experience on mobile devices.
Even if you have already taken steps to ensure that your website is responsive, you should still be aware how many of your visitors interact with your website on each different screen and device type. Once again, the GSC comes to your rescue and provides you with this information.
Start using Google Search Console now!
In conclusion, if you want to know where and how you appear in search engine results, Google Search Console is your best friend. It is packed with data that can also help you develop an effective action plan for improving your SEO. The best part is that GSC is a totally free SEO tool!
Finally, if you want to benefit from expert advice and harness the full potential of Google Search Console, contact our team now. With a “little big boost”, your rise in search engines may well be faster than you think!
Send a message
