Google Search Console - Basic overview

 Google Search Console

Google Search Console (GSC) is a free service offered by Google that helps website owners to monitor, maintain and troubleshoot. Its old name is web master tool. We can make our SEO practices in a controlled form by using this free tool. This tool is unavoidable in optimization time. 

Benefits of search console tool:

  • Measure how much interactions we get
  • Identify site visitor's organic location
  • Understand average ranking position
  • Identify which keyword get more clicks
  • Google performance valuation
  • Number of impressions easily understand
  • Visitors used device details
  • Verify URL's using different methods
  •  Identify site defects
  • We can submit site map option. Which is very helpful for a website understanding
Google itself define Search console as a mock point. Search console is the medium to communicate with google and website owners. If any issues faced our websites such as browser compatibility issues, crawlability issues, broken links etc. are communicated via search consoles. 

Practical procedure for search console verification:

Find google search console on google platform-start now-paste our home URL in URL prefix area-continue-after verification reach dashboard (in case of blog it is an affiliated product of google so auto verification done.)-URL inspection (paste URL here)-Test live URL-view tested page-request indexing (similar step done for blog post URL also).

verification procedures

There are 5 methods for ownership verification of our website. Which means we prove that we are the owners of the site. 
methods are listed below,
  1. HTML File method
  2. HTML Tag method
  3. Google Analytics method
  4. Google Tag manager
  5. Domain name provider method
We can verify 1000 websites in one Gmail account. In case of API Interface used by developers can accommodate more than 1000 websites.

  • HTML File method
Google recommend this method rather than others. In this method google provide an HTML File we download that into our system and paste that on our website root directory. if we submit successfully then we can verify easily.
  • HTML Tag method
Also known as HTML meta tag verification method. Google provide a meta tag copy that and open our webpage home page editor and paste it to head section area. By this method we can verify our website.
  • Google Analytics method
It's a google provided free tool. Google acquire this tool in 2005. Analytics updated from 1 to 4, now we use analytics 4 that is GA4. Analytics tool helps to understand visitor's details, spending time, landing pages, Visitors country details, overall performance, interactions etc.
We can easily verify website in search console by install google analytic tracking code into our website. Our website verified through this tracking code.
  • Google Tag manager
Another tool is Google tag manager. If we add tags or tracking codes in our site for special purposes such as social media marketing, that tags managed by Google Tag manager.
Events adding and count number of visitors who played videos published in our site, take number of subscription actions, providing marketing strategies are the duties of tag manager. If once we install tag manager, we can easily verify website.
  • Domain name provider method
Add DNS data required to domain name provided account. Suppose if we purchase domain name from GoDaddy. Login GoDaddy account and a DNS required data create as text. Google provided text content copy and paste it to insert code area of DNS and save. This also help to verify website.
Except Domain name provider method and HTML file method all other methods need code availability for verification process. If designers made any change in webpage, then meta tag also changed, hence our communication with google stopped. This is the reason that Google recommend HTML file method.

Site map

In SEO process we use an xml document that is site map. Which is very useful for web crawlers to improve crawling process easiness. Do not need separate sitemaps for each blog post on dynamic websites like Blogger, WordPress.

Advantages of site map:

  • Understand last modification date and time
  • Change frequency option helps for crawling process, this field helps to mention our page modification period such as daily, monthly etc.
  • Contain all URL details
  • Our webpage complete information provided by site map
  • Understand priority of pages in a website. First priority is on home page its value is 1.

Some important points regarding site map

  • Total URL limit of site map is 50,000
  • Site map file size limit is 50 mb
  • Follow a valid structure
  • It's better to call site map in robots.txt file.
I have already published a blog on SEO On-Page optimization - Basic practices and guidelines.



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