How to read Google Search Console: a guide for business owners
Google Search Console is a free tool that shows how your site appears in Google Search and how Google sees your pages. There are four reports a business owner should look at regularly: Performance, Page indexing, Sitemaps and Manual actions. Not every warning in them is a problem. Below we go through what each report tells you, and which situations genuinely need action.
We use the report names exactly as they appear in Search Console and in Search Console Help, so you can match what you see on screen with this guide.
What is Search Console for?
Search Console answers two questions. First: which searches lead people to your site on Google? Second: which of your pages has Google found and added to its index — and if not, why not?
That is where it differs from analytics. Analytics shows what visitors do once they are on your site. Search Console shows the moment before that: the search result. The two do not replace each other; they fit together.
To use Search Console you need to verify ownership of the site. It matters that the account is opened in your name and that you hold administrator rights. We include this in the handover list in domain, hosting and business email.
How to read the Performance report
The Performance report shows your site’s visibility in Google Search through four metrics. The default view covers the last three months.
| Metric | What it means | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| Clicks | How many times someone clicked through to your site from search results | Real visits arriving from search |
| Impressions | How many times your site was shown in search results | Visibility — being seen, even without a click |
| CTR (click-through rate) | Clicks divided by impressions | How appealing the title and description are |
| Average position | The average position of your topmost result | A general trend; not enough for a decision on its own |
The table below the chart groups the data by queries, pages, countries, devices, search appearance and dates.
As a business owner, two views will help you most:
- The Queries tab. Which words do people find you with? If you see queries you did not expect, check whether the site has a page that actually answers them.
- The Pages tab. Which page gets plenty of impressions but few clicks? That usually means the title or description does not match the search.
One note: if you search for a query from the list yourself, you may not see your site. Google explains that results vary with the searcher’s time, location, device and recent history.
What does the Page indexing report tell you?
The Page indexing report shows the index status of every URL Google knows about on your property. Each URL has one of two statuses: “Indexed” or “Not indexed”.
This is where many business owners start to worry. Seeing non-indexed pages does not always mean something is wrong. Google’s own documentation says you should not expect every URL on your site to be indexed, because only canonical pages are. Old addresses that redirect, duplicates of the same content and pages you have deliberately hidden are not indexed — which is exactly as it should be.
In the report’s “Why pages aren’t indexed” table, every reason has a “Source” column. According to Google, in general you can fix only the issues whose source is listed as “Website”.
What each indexing reason means
The table below gathers the reasons you will see most often, and what to do about each.
| Reason in the report | What it means | Normal? | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Page with redirect | The address redirects to another page | Yes, if the site was rebuilt | Check that the redirect goes to the right page |
| Alternate page with proper canonical tag | The page is marked as an alternate and points correctly to the canonical | Yes | Nothing |
| Duplicate without user-selected canonical | The page duplicates another, and you have not named a canonical | Usually | If Google picked the wrong page, mark the canonical explicitly |
| Duplicate, Google chose different canonical than user | Google chose a different address from the one you declared canonical | It depends | Use URL Inspection to see which address Google chose |
| URL marked ‘noindex’ | The page carries an instruction not to index it | Yes, if you added it on purpose | Remove it if the page should appear in search |
| URL blocked by robots.txt | The site’s robots.txt file stops the page being crawled | Yes, if blocked on purpose | Remove the block if the page matters |
| Not found (404) | The page could not be found when requested | Yes, for a deleted page | If the page moved, add a 301 redirect to the new address |
| Soft 404 | The page shows a “not found” message, but the server does not report an error | No | Return a real 404 for missing pages, or give the page real content |
| Server error (5xx) | The server returned an error when the page was requested | No | Ask for the hosting to be checked |
| Redirect error | The redirect chain is too long, loops or breaks | No | Reduce redirects to a single step |
| Crawled - currently not indexed | Google crawled the page but did not index it | Yes, in small numbers | If the content is thin or very close to another page, strengthen it |
| Discovered - currently not indexed | Google knows the address but has not crawled it yet | Yes, briefly, on a new site | Check internal links and the sitemap; watch for a few weeks |
On the last two rows, Google’s documentation adds that there is no need to resubmit a “Crawled” page. For “Discovered”, Google has typically postponed the crawl because it expected it to overload the site.
When should you worry?
Change over time matters more than the numbers themselves. Google’s documentation says that, ideally, the count of indexed pages rises gradually as your site grows.
We suggest a closer look when:
- The indexed page count drops sharply with no change on your side. A page, or the whole site, may have been blocked by mistake.
- An important page is under “Not indexed”. A service page, the contact page or a best-selling product.
- Server errors (5xx), soft 404s or redirect errors are rising. These three usually point to a problem on the site itself.
- The Manual actions report has an entry. More on this below.
- Clicks are not recovering in the weeks after a redesign. Redirects from old addresses may be missing. We cover this in redesigning a website without losing SEO.
Once you have fixed an issue, open its row in the report and use “Validate fix”. According to Google, validation typically takes up to about two weeks, sometimes longer.
Why does the Sitemaps report matter?
A sitemap is a file that tells Google which pages on your site it should know about. The Sitemaps report shows whether Google could read the sitemap you submitted.
Each sitemap shows one of three statuses: “Success”, “Has errors” or “Couldn’t fetch”. A successful sitemap does not mean its URLs will be crawled or indexed; it only means Google could read the file.
Google’s documentation also notes that a small site — roughly 500 pages or fewer, with every page reachable through links from the home page — probably does not need a sitemap. We recommend setting one up anyway. It makes it easier to track when new pages are found, and to filter the indexing report by sitemap.
When to use the URL Inspection tool
The URL Inspection tool shows the index status of a single page. Use it to check whether a page you have just published has been indexed, or to understand why something is wrong.
Three of its functions are enough for a business owner:
- Check the index status. It says “URL is on Google” or “URL is not on Google”. The first means the page is eligible to appear in search results — not that it is guaranteed to.
- Test live URL. Tests the current version of the page as Google sees it. Useful for seeing the result straight after a fix.
- Request indexing. Asks Google to crawl the page again. There is a daily limit; if many pages have changed, submitting an up-to-date sitemap is the better route.
The same tool shows which address Google has chosen as canonical for a page — the quickest way to make sense of the “Duplicate” reasons.
The Manual actions and Security issues reports
Both of these reports should usually be empty. Empty is good news.
The Manual actions report shows that a human reviewer at Google has found pages on your site that do not comply with Google’s spam policies. Part or all of the site may then be left out of search results. Once the problem is fixed, you request a review from the same report.
The Security issues report lists signs that the site has been hacked, or behaviour that could harm visitors. Such pages may appear in results with a warning label. If you see an entry here, contact your hosting and maintenance team without delay.
What the Core Web Vitals report shows
The Core Web Vitals report shows how quickly your pages load and respond for real visitors. Pages are grouped with similar pages and labelled “Good”, “Needs improvement” or “Poor”. We explain how to read it, and how to fix speed problems, in why is my website slow?
A fifteen-minute monthly routine
You do not need to check Search Console every day. We suggest going through it once a month, in this order:
- Manual actions and Security issues. Empty? Then carry on.
- Page indexing. How does the indexed page count compare with last month? Has a new reason with source “Website” appeared?
- Sitemaps. Is the status “Success”, and is the last read date recent?
- Performance. Any clear change in clicks and impressions? Which page gets many impressions but few clicks?
- Core Web Vitals. Has a new group of pages appeared under “Poor”?
- A note. Write a line on what changed this month and what to watch.
The last step is the one most often skipped, and the most useful. When you see a drop three months later, these notes tell you what changed on the site at the time. We describe where Search Console sits within technical SEO in our technical SEO checklist, and the rest of maintenance in why website maintenance matters.
Frequently asked questions
Does Search Console cost anything?
No. Search Console is a free tool from Google. All you need is a Google account and verified ownership of the site.
I have lots of non-indexed pages — is something wrong with my site?
Not necessarily. Redirected old addresses, duplicates and deliberately hidden pages are not indexed, and Google itself says you should not expect every URL to be indexed. What matters is whether the pages that should be indexed are, and whether there are errors whose source is “Website”.
How long does it take for a new page to be indexed?
According to Google’s documentation, new content can take a few days to be indexed. Requesting indexing through the URL Inspection tool can shorten the wait, but it does not guarantee indexing.
Why is the average position different from what I see when I search?
Average position is the average of your topmost result over a given period. Search results, meanwhile, change with the searcher’s location, device and history. So the position you see in your own search may not match the average in the report.
If you would like us to keep an eye on Search Console for you, see our SEO and maintenance service. If something in your reports puzzles you, write to us; we reply within two working days.