Google Search Console for beginners: the reports that actually matter

By Axyra Nova Editorial · 28 September 2026 · 5 min read · Marketing and SEO

Google Search Console is a free tool that shows how your website appears in Google Search. It tells you which searches bring people to your site, which pages are indexed, and whether Google has found problems. For a small business, it is one of the most useful tools available, and it costs nothing.

This guide explains how to set up Google Search Console, which reports matter most and how to turn what you see into practical fixes.

What Search Console does and does not do

Search Console shows data from Google's perspective:

  • Which search queries show your pages, and how often people click.
  • Which pages Google has indexed, and why some are excluded.
  • Problems with mobile usability, page experience and structured data.
  • Links from other sites.
  • Security issues and manual actions, if any.

It does not show what visitors do once they arrive on your site. For that, you need an analytics tool. Search Console and analytics complement each other.

Google's Search Console overview describes all the features.

Step 1: Add and verify your site

There are two property types:

  • Domain property: covers every version of your domain, including subdomains and both http and https. Verification is through a DNS record.
  • URL-prefix property: covers only addresses starting with a specific prefix. Verification can use an HTML file, a meta tag, analytics or other methods.

A domain property gives the most complete picture. If you cannot edit DNS, a URL-prefix property for your main https address is a good start.

Step 2: Submit your sitemap

A sitemap lists the pages you want search engines to know about. Most website platforms create one automatically, often at /sitemap.xml. In Search Console, open the Sitemaps report and submit its address.

Google's sitemaps overview explains how sitemaps work and when they help most.

The performance report

This is where most people spend their time. It shows:

  • Total clicks: how many times people clicked through to your site.
  • Total impressions: how many times your pages appeared in results.
  • Average click-through rate: clicks divided by impressions.
  • Average position: roughly where your pages appeared.

You can view these by query, page, country, device and date.

Useful questions to ask

  • Which queries bring the most clicks? These are your strongest topics.
  • Which queries have many impressions but few clicks? The page appears but people do not choose it. Improving the title and description can help.
  • Which pages are gaining or losing clicks? Compare date ranges to spot changes.
  • How does mobile compare with desktop? Large differences may point to mobile usability problems.

The pages (indexing) report

This report shows which pages Google has indexed and which it has not, with reasons. Common reasons include:

  • Duplicate without user-selected canonical: Google found similar pages and chose a different one to index.
  • Crawled, currently not indexed: Google visited but chose not to index the page, often because it adds little value.
  • Not found (404): the page does not exist, perhaps after a URL change.
  • Page with redirect: the address redirects elsewhere, which is normal after a move.
  • Excluded by noindex tag: the page asks not to be indexed.

Not every excluded page is a problem. Focus on pages you want people to find. If an important page is not indexed, check its content, internal links and any noindex tags.

URL inspection

The URL inspection tool shows how Google sees a specific page: whether it is indexed, which canonical Google selected, and when it was last crawled. After fixing a page, you can request indexing.

Experience and enhancement reports

Depending on your site, you may see reports for:

  • Core Web Vitals: real-user data about loading, interactivity and visual stability. The web.dev guide to Web Vitals explains each metric.
  • HTTPS: whether pages are served securely.
  • Structured data: errors in markup such as products, FAQs or local business details.

Fixing errors here helps your pages appear correctly in search.

The links report shows which sites link to yours and which of your pages receive the most links. It can reveal old pages that still attract links, which should be kept or redirected rather than deleted.

A monthly routine

A short monthly check is enough for most small businesses:

  1. Compare the last 28 days with the previous period in the performance report.
  2. Look at the top queries and pages for anything unexpected.
  3. Find two or three pages with high impressions and low click-through rate, and improve their titles and descriptions.
  4. Check the pages report for new errors on important pages.
  5. Review Core Web Vitals and fix any new problems.
  6. Note what you changed, so you can see the effect next month.

A worked example

A local bakery set up Search Console and noticed its "custom birthday cakes" page appeared often in search but was rarely clicked. Its title was simply "Cakes". The owner rewrote it as "Custom birthday cakes in Yaba, ordered online" with a description mentioning flavours, lead times and delivery.

The pages report also showed several old product pages returning 404 errors after a redesign. The owner added redirects to the closest current pages. Our guide to URL redirects explains how.

Over the next couple of months, the bakery could see more clicks to the cake page in the performance report, and the 404 errors cleared as Google recrawled the redirected addresses.

Common mistakes

  • Setting up Search Console and never looking at it again.
  • Panicking about every excluded page.
  • Focusing on average position alone instead of clicks and click-through rate.
  • Deleting old pages that still have links without redirecting them.
  • Forgetting to add a new property after moving to a new domain.

Learning more

Google's SEO starter guide is a clear introduction to how search works. For more on improving content, see our guide to writing blog posts for small business SEO, and our local SEO basics for businesses that serve a specific area.

How Axyra Nova helps

Axyra Nova's site checks highlight common search problems, such as missing titles, slow pages and broken links, so sellers can offer clear, verifiable fixes. See the features page.

Frequently asked questions

Is Search Console free?

Yes. It is free for any site owner who verifies their site.

How long until data appears?

Data usually starts appearing within a few days of verification, and builds up over time.

Does submitting a sitemap guarantee indexing?

No. A sitemap helps Google discover pages, but Google still decides what to index based on quality and other factors.

Do I need Search Console if I use analytics?

Yes. Analytics shows behaviour on your site; Search Console shows how your site performs in Google Search before people click.