If you're serious about increasing your website’s traffic, one of the most powerful tools at your disposal is Google Search Console (GSC). It gives us direct access to the real search terms people are using to find your site, along with key performance metrics that show how well your pages are doing in Google search results.
While there are other great SEO research tools out there like Ahrefs and SEMrush, Ubersuggest (Our favourite!) to find new keywords, but nothing beats the insights provided directly by Google itself. GSC offers a clear and detailed view of where your site stands right now, and it helps us uncover existing opportunities to improve traffic and conversions. Let’s dive into why this is so important.
Step 1: Do You Have Google Search Console?
If you have Google Search Console:
Fantastic! The first place we'll look is the Performance Tab—this is the heart of GSC and provides a treasure trove of data that is key to improving your SEO strategy. Here’s what we’ll review:
- Search Terms (Queries): We’ll see the exact search terms people are typing into Google that bring them to your website. This helps us identify which keywords are already working for you and where there’s potential to improve.
- Impressions: This shows how often your site appears in search results—even if you’re not ranking on the first page. Every time your site is shown in search results, even if it’s further down, it counts as an impression. This metric gives us crucial insights into your site’s visibility.
- Clicks: This is the number of times someone has clicked on your site from search results. Comparing clicks with impressions shows us which search terms are getting attention and which ones might need further optimisation.
- Click-Through Rate (CTR): This is a key indicator of how well your search result listings are performing. A higher CTR means your title and description are enticing enough for users to click through to your site.
- Average Position: We can also see your average position for each search term. Are your best search terms ranking well, or are there high-potential keywords sitting on page two or beyond? We’ll use this information to target improvements that will increase your ranking over time.
How to set up Google Search Console
The easiest way to install Google Search Console is by verifying your website through Google Analytics (if you already have it set up) or by adding an HTML tag to your site’s header. Here’s a simple step-by-step guide for each method:
Method 1: Verifying Through Google Analytics
If you already have Google Analytics installed on your website, you can use it to verify your Google Search Console account without adding any code.
- Sign in to Google Search Console:
Go to Google Search Console . - Add Property: Click on “Add Property,” then enter your website’s URL and select “Continue.”
- Choose Google Analytics Verification: In the verification options, select Google Analytics.
- Verify: Click on “Verify.” Google will use your existing Google Analytics setup to confirm ownership of your website.
This method is quick and easy if you’re already using Google Analytics.
Method 2: Adding an HTML Tag (No Google Analytics Required)
If you’re not using Google Analytics, you can verify ownership by adding an HTML tag to your site’s header.
- Sign in to Google Search Console: Go to Google Search Console.
- Add Property: Click on “Add Property,” enter your website’s URL, and select “Continue.”
- Select HTML Tag: Choose the HTML tag verification method.
- Copy the HTML Tag: Google will provide you with a meta tag code to add to your site.
- Add the Tag to Your Website: Insert the tag in the <head> section of your homepage HTML code. If you’re using a CMS like WordPress, you can often add this tag through a settings area or a plugin (such as a header/footer script plugin).
- Verify: Go back to Google Search Console and click “Verify” to complete the setup.
Once verified, Google will start collecting data about your website's performance, search terms, and more. If you need help adding the HTML tag, there are plugins or website support options that make it easy to integrate.
Are you struggling to set up GSC?
Don’t worry! We can help you get it up and running. Setting up GSC is easy and it’s an essential part of growing your website’s traffic. Once it’s connected, you will have full visibility into how your site is performing on Google, and we’ll be able to optimise from there.
If you have signed up to our email series we will do this for you for free.
Our Goal: Targeting Impressions to Drive Clicks
Our strategy starts by increasing your website’s impressions in Google search results. The more often your pages appear for relevant search terms, the more clicks they’re likely to get. By reviewing the search terms that are already driving impressions, we can start to target specific keywords that have the potential to bring in more qualified traffic. As we optimise these terms, the clicks will follow, and so will the improvements in traffic.
But that’s just the beginning. As part of our ongoing process, we’ll also use techniques to create new content based on data-driven insights. Tools like Ubersuggest or Google Keyword Planner will help us identify fresh opportunities to target keywords with high potential. Once this new content is indexed by Google, we’ll analyse its performance and continue optimising it to maximise the traffic it brings in. This ensures your site isn’t just ranking for current terms, but is constantly evolving to capture new search opportunities as well.
Google Search Console is an essential tool for this process, giving us the insight we need to boost your search visibility and target the right traffic.
If you’re not already using GSC, let us help you set it up. It’s the first step on your growth path to increased website traffic.
How Else Google Search Console Helps Boost Your Traffic
In addition to search term insights, GSC offers several other essential features that help us improve your website’s performance:
- Page Experience: Measures how users interact with your site, focusing on mobile usability and loading speed.
- Core Web Vitals: Focuses on the critical performance factors that affect user experience, like page speed and interactivity.
- Page Indexing: Shows us which of your site’s pages Google has indexed, and highlights any that may be excluded. If there are pages that aren’t being indexed, we’ll look into why and how to fix that.
Another important feature is submitting sitemaps. This allows Google to easily find and index all of your site’s pages. It’s a key step in ensuring Google knows about every page on your site, and it updates automatically whenever you add new content.
