Google Search Console (GSC) is a free service from Google for site owners. It reports which queries show your pages, how many clicks and impressions you get, which pages are indexed and what problems Google found while crawling.
Why it matters
It is the only direct source of Google's own data about your site. You can submit sitemaps, inspect individual URLs, see mobile and Core Web Vitals reports and receive notices about manual actions or security issues.
Data is sampled by query privacy rules, so very rare searches are hidden, and reports usually lag by a day or two. Use it alongside server logs and analytics for a fuller view.
Example
The Performance report might show:
Query Clicks Impressions CTR Position
sitedowncheck 120 600 20.0% 1.2
is my site down 45 9,800 0.5% 14.7The second row shows a page that is seen often but ranks low, which is an opportunity.
Common mistakes
- Not verifying the domain property, so subdomains and http variants are missed.
- Confusing it with Google Analytics, which measures visitors on your site.
- Ignoring coverage errors until traffic drops.
Related
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