GSC is open in between 2 and 10 tabs at any one time. This is useful on both a macro- and micro-level, such as when I want to know how many impressions HubSpot has gained month over month or what happened to a popular blog post.

I’m a content strategist on HubSpot’s SEO team, which means GSC is particularly useful to me. But anyone who’s got a website can and should dip their toes in these waters. According to Google, whether you’re a business owner, SEO specialist, marketer, site administrator, web developer, or app creator, Search Console will come in handy.

It was overwhelming the first time. There were so many labels that I did not understand (index coverage?!? There were hidden filters and confusing graphs. The more I used the program, the easier it became.

If you’d like to avoid the learning curve, I can tell you everything I know about using Google Search Console.

What is Google Search Console (also known as Google Search Console)?

Google Search Console, formerly Google Webmaster Tools, is a platform that allows anyone who has a website to monitor the way Google views it and optimizes its organic presence. This includes your referring domains and mobile site performance. It also shows you the most popular queries and pages.

Priorities first. It’s time for you to sign up for GSC.

How to add your website to Google Search Console

Sign into your Google account. If it is a business site, make sure to use your business account (not a personal one).

Visit Google Webmaster tools.

Click “Add a Property.”

Enter the URL for your website in the “Website” drop-down box. Use the exact URL displayed in the browser bar.

Click “Continue.”

Choose a method to prove that you own your site (HTML file, domain name provider, or HTML tag).

Google begins tracking your site as soon as it is added to GSC, even before you have been verified as the owner.

Verifying your site on GSC

GSC allows you to access confidential information regarding the performance of a website or app (and even influence how Google crawls! It would be best if you first verified that you are the owner of the site or app.

Verification allows a user to have control over an individual property. Each GSC property must have at least one verified owner.

Note that the verification of your property does not affect PageRank or how it performs in Google’s search. You can certainly use GSC data in order to strategize on how to rank better, but adding your site to GSC will not automatically improve your ranking.

GSC Verification Methods

HTML file upload: Upload an HTML file for verification to a certain location on your website.

Domain name provider: Sign in to your domain registrar (like GoDaddy, eNom, or networksolutions.com), and verify your site directly from GSC or add a DNS TXT or CNAME record.

HTML Tag: Add a tag to the Section of HTML code for a particular page.

Google Analytics tracking code: Copy the GA tracking codes that you have used on your website. You must have “edit” access to GA in order to use this option.

Google Tag Manager container code: Copy the GTM code container associated with your website. This option is only available if you have container-level GTM permissions to View, Edit, and Manage.

Google-hosted websites, including Blogger, Sites, and Pages, are automatically validated.

URL Versions – WWW domain or not?

True/false: Hubspot.com is the same as www.hubspot.com

Is the answer False? Each domain represents a separate server. Although the URLs may look similar, from a technical standpoint, these are two distinct domains.

If you enter “hubspot.com,” you will land on “www.hubspot.com.” What is the sorcery behind this?

HubSpot’s preferred domain is “www.hubspot.com”. That means we’ve told Google we want all of our URLs displayed in search as “www.hubspot.com/……”. And when third parties link to our pages, those URLs should be treated as “www.hubspot.com/……” as well.

If you don’t tell GSC which domain you prefer, Google may treat the www and non-www versions of your domain as separate — splitting all those page views, backlinks, and engagement into two. Not good.

If you have not done so already, you can also create a 301 redirect from your nonpreferred domain to your desired one.

GSC users, owners, and permissions

There are two types of GSC roles. You might want to jump straight to the data (cough), but this is important.

Owner A GSC owner has full control over their property. Owners can add or remove users, modify settings, view all data, and access all tools. Delegated owners have been added to the system by verified owners. (Delegated Owners can add other delegates.)

User A user is able to see all data and take certain actions but cannot add new users. Full users are able to see the majority of data and perform some actions. Restricted users can only view data.

Consider carefully who should be able to change settings. You don’t want anyone to change an important setting by accident. Give your team only the authority they need.

As an example, Victor Pan, HubSpot’s technical SEO manager, is a verified user. As an SEO content strategist, I am a delegated user. I don’t have to make any changes because I use GSC heavily. Our blogging team members, who use GSC for blog and post analysis, are full users.

Here are detailed instructions for adding or removing owners and Users in Search Console.

A third role is an associate. You can link a Google Analytics account with a Search Console one, which allows you to see GSC reports in GA. You can access GA reports from two sections in the Search Console, namely Sitelinks and Links to Your Site.

A GA property may only be linked to one GSC website and vice-versa. You can associate the GA property with the GSC website if you are the owner.

Do You Need A Sitemap?

Google does not require a sitemap to appear in search results. Google claims that its web crawlers can find the majority of your pages if your site is properly organized (meaning your pages are logically connected).

There are four scenarios where a sitemap can improve the crawlability of your website:

This is a big page. Googlebot will miss changes and additions if you have a lot of pages.

There are many “isolated pages”. A page with few links to other pages makes it harder for web crawlers to find.

This is a new site. The older sites are less visible because they have fewer backlinks.

The sitemap is used to make it easier for Google Search to display and format your website.

Use the GSC Sitemaps Tool to submit your sitemap.

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