Google Search Console (GSC) is a free tool provided by Google that helps you monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot your website's presence in Google Search results. It offers valuable insights into how Google views your site and provides data to help you improve your search performance.

This Help article includes the following:

  • Why use Google Search Console
  • Setting up Google Search Console
  • Using Google Search Console effectively
  • Why you might receive emails from Google Search Console about indexing issues

Why use Google Search Console

Google Search Console is essential for website owners, as it allows you to:

  • Monitor website performance: Track how your website appears in search engine results and see which queries bring visitors directly to your website.
  • Optimize content: Understand which of your website pages perform well in searches, and find opportunities to improve.
  • Submit sitemaps: Ensure that Google can easily crawl and index your website's pages.

Setting up Google Search Console

Step 1: Add your website

  1. Sign in to your Google Search Console account
  2. Click the 'Start now' button
  3. Enter your website's URL in the 'Domain' or 'URL prefix' field
  4. Click 'Continue'

Step 2: Verify your website

To verify ownership, use the HTML Tag method:

  1. Under 'URL Prefix' on the right, enter your website's full URL and click 'Continue.' The domain should be in the format of https://domainname.com
  2. Under the 'Other verification methods' section, select 'HTML Tag'
  3. Click 'Copy' to copy the HTML tag provided
    • It will be in this format: meta name="google-site-verification" content="TCLguGGYC1PMLAJZqKXB3T58cxlV5axCucLWmPyO_kg"
  4. Return to your Bandzoogle 'Sitemaps' tab and paste the metatag text in the field marked 'Google Verification metatag'
  5. Click 'Save'

Step 3: Submit your sitemap

Google will automatically crawl your website to index its pages for search results a few weeks after you update this information. Manually submitting your sitemap to Google (or re-submitting, if you change your website's page structure) can speed up this process:

  1. Go back to your domain settings on the Google Search Console page
  2. Click the 'Verify' button located in the HTML Tag section

    Note: There are multiple 'Verify' buttons on this screen, one for each verification method. Be sure to click the button under 'HTML Tag' or the verification process will fail.

  3. From the 'Ownership Verified' window, click 'Go to property'
  4. Click the menu button in the top left corner, then click 'Sitemaps' under the 'Index' header
  5. You'll see 'Add a new sitemap' - after the URL posted there, enter 'sitemap.xml' and click 'Submit' Click 'Got it'

Using Google Search Console effectively

Monitor Performance

  • Performance Report: View clicks, impressions, click-through rate (CTR), and average position in search results.
  • Coverage Report: Check the indexing status of your pages and identify any issues.
  • Enhancements Report: See reports on mobile usability, structured data, and AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages).

Optimize Content

  • Search Analytics: Identify high-performing keywords and pages.
  • URL Inspection Tool: Get detailed crawl, index, and serving information about your pages.
  • Mobile Usability: Ensure your site is mobile-friendly to improve user experience and rankings.

Why you might receive emails from from Google Search Console about indexing issues

Google sends indexing-issue emails to website owners to suggest improvements for SEO. You may also see similar notifications in the 'Indexing' section of your GSC menu. However, these emails don't necessarily mean there's something wrong with your site or that immediate changes are needed.

Here's why you might be receiving these notifications:

  1. Non-content pages: Google often flags pages that aren't meant to be indexed. These can include transactional pages like those linking to a shopping cart or sign-up area, which are created by dynamic software to bridge real content pages. Since these aren't actual content pages, they're not configured to be crawled by Google.

  2. Duplicate content: Google may identify multiple pages with similar content, particularly in features like blogs or calendars. To avoid confusion, Google only indexes the 'canonical' version of a page, which is marked with a canonical tag.

Example: indexing your 'yourdomainname.com/calendar' page and not 'yourdomainname.com/calendar_page-1' page. You may receive an email notifying you that the second page has not been indexed, but this is by design and you can disregard that warning.

This ensures that the original version of the content is prioritized in search results, improving your page's performance in search engines.

  1. 'Home' Page: If you receive notice that your yourdomainname.com/home page cannot be indexed, this can be disregarded as well. yourdomainname.com and yourdomainname.com/home both load the same 'Home' page, so one is blocked from being indexed to avoid duplicated content, thus maximizing your SEO for your root 'Home' page.

Receiving these emails is part of maintaining a clean and effective website. It's Google's way of helping you optimize your site for better search visibility but it doesn't mean that there is anything that needs fixing. If you're unsure, reach out to Bandzoogle's support team through live chat or email for more clarification.

For more detailed information about using Google Search Console and advanced tips, visit the Google Search Console Help Center.

To read more about getting your website listed in search engines, see Optimizing your band website for SEO.