Google Search Console

Score9 out of 10

237 Reviews and Ratings

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What is Google Search Console?

Google Search Console is a search engine optimization software solution offered by Google.

Categories & Use Cases

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Multi-domain support
For SEO agencies, the tool allows users to track multiple domains in one instance.
Category average: 8.9
Task management
Users can track and manage the tasks associated with SEO.
Category average: 7.3
Keyword analysis
The tool analyzes the content of your site to help discover the right keywords.
Category average: 8.9

Local SEO
The tool helps optimize your website for local searches.
Category average: 7.8
Backlink management
The tool tracks existing backlinks, measures their impact on search rankings, alerts you of new backlinks, and helps surface backlink opportunities.
Category average: 7.5
Competitive analysis
The tool analyzes your website’s position in comparison to competitive websites in areas such as backlinks, SERP position, etc.
Category average: 8.2

Most Frequent Users

Top 3 industries using Google Search Console.

Based on HG Insights installation data

View all Reviews

#1 most frequent

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

29.7%

4,513 installations of 15,181

#2 most frequent

Information

13.9%

2,105 installations of 15,181

#3 most frequent

Manufacturing

8.2%

1,239 installations of 15,181

Pros

User-friendly interface for navigating and visualizing query and page metrics
Detailed information on top and new content performance
Comprehensive data on backlinks and internal linking structures

Cons

Limited availability of historical data for long-term trend analysis
Inability to apply multiple filters in the performance report
Lack of full access to keyword click data within performance reports

Verified User

Manager in Marketing (10,001+ employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Google Search Console (GSC) to check which keywords are driving traffic to our website, check our average rankings, make sure pages that we want to be indexed are being indexed, and making sure pages that we don't want to be indexed are not, fixing errors, checking to make sure our schema markup is working, and monitoring core web vitals. These tools help us determine what's working for SEO, what's not working, and address any issues that pop up.

Pros

Gives you a sample of keywords associated with actual clicks to your website
Is user-friendly and easy to create reporting
Contains explanations around definitions making it easier for new users to understand

Cons

Full access to keyword click data is not available
While you can see the source URL for where Google found a particular URL, it doesn't tell you where on the page it's finding it
Lookback window should be longer for Performance reporting

Return on Investment

GSC gives us invaluable insights into our SEO which in turn generates us revenue, we don't have hard numbers but it is key to our SEO strategy

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Semrush, BrightEdge, Conductor and Google Analytics

Other Software Used

Semrush, Adobe Analytics, Botify

Verified User

Vice-President in Marketing (501-1000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Great tool to understand which content is falling out of favor with users.

Pros

Highlight content that might have issues
Highlight issues with how googlebot is crawling the site
Helps us understand where there are speed issues

Cons

Expose AIO impression, click and rank data
Expose all the data, not just a sample

Return on Investment

Helped us to identify many issues with our sites and specific pages

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Semrush, Ahrefs, Botify and Sistrix

Namrata Agarwal View profile

Managing Director in Corporate at Vishisht Lifestyle (1-10 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use Google Search Console to understand how my website is performing on search engine platforms. Google Search Console shares data and insights on how my website is doing across different parameters.

Pros

Google Search Console insights is a great feature which provides an overview of my top content, how my new content is performing, etc.
It gives detailed information around backlinks - who is linking to us, how many backlinks do we have, how is the internal linking within the website, etc.
I like the graph feature that shows how the website is performing overall in one month, three months etc. Seeing the graph can help us understand whether it is trending upward or downward and we can shift strategies accordingly.

Cons

I would love to be able to do Keyword Research within Search Console so that I can plan my content accordingly.
It would be great if we are able to get some customer information on what users are already looking for based on our industry. For example we are a natural skincare brand, it would be really helpful if Search Console told us what users are searching for that could be related to skincare industry.
N/A

Return on Investment

Google Search Console sends out an email beginning of every month with all the details of how the site performed the month before. This is super helpful because we don`t need to remind ourselves to fix things on website. This monthly email is a great reminder and also making tweaks once every month is a great practice for long term SEO success.
Ever since we started using Google Search Console, we saw great improvements not just on our website but overall in our business. For example, we were naturally ranking well for one of our products and were also getting orders through Organic search. We got to know about this thanks to Google Search Console. This helped us figure out what are we doing well in that particular product page which we can then sort of replicate for other product pages and try to win there as well.
Just with the information that Google Search Console shares with us in terms of which pages are not ranking well or the ones that are trending downwards, we are able to fix those web pages and are able to generate sales without spending any money because Google Search Console is free to use.

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Ubersuggest, Semrush and Moz Link Explorer

Other Software Used

Canva, Google Keep, ChatGPT

Bailey Witt, MBA View profile

Senior Digital Marketing Strategist in Marketing at Trellis (51-200 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Google Search Console is used by our agency to asses organic search performance for our clients and identify issues with indexing or core web vitals.
Our agency primarily manages paid media - Google & Meta Ads - but using Google Search Console we can understand how people organically find our clients' websites based on the keywords they search and what pages they land on most. It also helps us get a gauge for how many people search for their brand name.

Pros

Query and page metrics are very easy to navigate and visualize, and compare periods.
Uploading a sitemap is very easy.
Viewing indexed pages vs non-indexed pages, and the reasons for not being indexed, is very helpful.

Cons

Only being able to go back 16 months is a big letdown. We know this data is captured and available, so it's a shame that this data can't be shown to us.
There is no way to have multiple filters in the Performance report, which makes it difficult to see performance trends for specific use cases, such as searching for performance for brand terms that contain one phrase but not another.
While the indexing reports are helpful for identifying where potential issues are, there is no system in place to help prioritize or grade these issues, or even tips for how to fix certain issues. In other words, you're kinda left to fend for yourself and hope you know what to do.

Return on Investment

For our agency, it directly helps us prove the value of our SEO help to clients with charts showing growth in traffic.
Google Search Console provides simple reports for easy screenshots that make our SEO auditing process simpler, saving time and resources.

Usability

Verified User

Employee in Information Technology (1-10 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use Google Search Console to monitor my client's search performance for monthly SEO retainer clients. It allows me to easily see what queries have been gained or lost. I can also see any issues with indexing and quickly request a page to be indexed. Submitting a sitemap is invaluable. It's also helpful to monitor core web vitals.

Pros

Track Queries
Track Page Indexing
Track Core Web Vitals

Cons

Page Indexing Report should default to submitted pages
Timeframe Comparison should have more options
Longer History

Return on Investment

Able to successfully determine whether a client will have ROI with organic efforts before investing
Often able to see changes and trends but not always able to determine what caused them.
Able to plan successfully for website migrations

Google Search Console

What is Google Search Console?

Categories & Use Cases

Videos