Google Search Console for Beginners: Setup, Reports and Fixing Indexing Issues (2026)

Google Search Console is a free tool from Google that shows how your website appears in Google Search: which searches bring visitors, which pages are indexed and what problems Google found while crawling. If you run a business website and do only one technical SEO task this month, set this up. It takes less than an hour, and you do not need to be a developer.

From my own work: Whenever I take on SEO work for a site, Search Console is the first thing I ask for access to. Quite often the property was never verified, so months of search data that could have guided the work simply do not exist.

What Search Console does (and does not do)

• It shows clicks, impressions and average position from Google Search.
• It reports which pages Google has indexed and why others are not.
• It lets you submit sitemaps and ask Google to recrawl a page.
• It warns you about security problems and manual actions.

It does not show what visitors do after they arrive; that is the job of analytics. Use both together (see my Google Analytics 4 setup guide). And if SEO itself is new to you, start with what is SEO.

Step 1: Add and verify your site

Go to Search Console, sign in with a Google account the business controls, and add a property. You will be asked to choose a type:

Property type	Covers	Verification
Domain	All subdomains, http and https	DNS record only
URL prefix	Only URLs under the exact address entered	HTML file, HTML tag, Google Analytics, Tag Manager or DNS

A Domain property gives the most complete data. Google shows you a TXT record; add it in the DNS settings at your domain registrar or DNS provider, wait a few minutes and click Verify. If you cannot edit DNS, use a URL-prefix property and the HTML tag method: SEO plugins such as Yoast SEO and Rank Math have a field for the verification code. All methods are described in Verify your site ownership.

Two practical points: do not remove the DNS record or tag afterwards, because verification is rechecked; and data starts collecting from the moment the property is added, so reports will look empty for the first few days.

Step 2: Submit your sitemap

A sitemap is a file listing the pages you want Google to know about. WordPress generates one automatically at /wp-sitemap.xml; Yoast SEO and Rank Math use /sitemap_index.xml. Shopify and most site builders create one at /sitemap.xml.

1. Open Sitemaps in the left menu.
2. Enter the sitemap address and click Submit.
3. Come back later and check that the status is “Success” and the number of discovered pages looks right.

A sitemap helps Google discover pages; it does not guarantee they will be indexed.

Step 3: Read the Performance report

This is the report you will use most (Performance report help). It has four metrics:

• Clicks: how many times people clicked through to your site.
• Impressions: how many times your pages appeared in results.
• CTR: clicks divided by impressions.
• Average position: the average ranking of your top result for a query.

Below the chart, the tabs break the data down by queries, pages, countries, devices and dates. Three checks worth doing regularly:

1. Almost-there queries: filter for queries with an average position of roughly 8 to 20. These pages are close to the first page; improve their content and internal links using the on-page SEO checklist.
2. High impressions, low CTR: the page appears but people do not click. Rewrite the title and meta description to match what the searcher wants.
3. Compare periods: use the date filter to compare the last 28 days with the previous period and find pages that lost clicks.

The queries list is also a free source of ideas for keyword research, because it shows the exact words people already use to find you.

Step 4: Use URL Inspection

Paste any URL from your site into the search bar at the top. Search Console tells you whether the page is on Google, when it was last crawled, which canonical URL Google selected and whether the page was found in a sitemap.

• Test live URL checks the page as it is right now, useful after a fix.
• Request indexing asks Google to crawl a new or updated page sooner. There is a daily limit, and requesting again and again does not speed things up.

Step 5: Fix Page indexing issues

Open Indexing → Pages to see how many pages are indexed and the reasons others are not (Page indexing report). Not every item is an error; many are expected.

Status	What it means	What to do
Not found (404)	The URL does not exist	Redirect it to a relevant page if it has links or traffic; otherwise leave it
Page with redirect	The URL forwards to another URL	Normal; make sure internal links point to the final URL
Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag	The page tells Google not to index it	Fine for cart or account pages; remove the tag if the page should rank
Blocked by robots.txt	Google is not allowed to crawl it	Check that robots.txt is not blocking important sections
Alternate page with proper canonical tag	A duplicate that points to the main version	Usually nothing
Crawled – currently not indexed	Google saw the page and chose not to index it yet	Improve the content, make it unique, add internal links
Discovered – currently not indexed	Google knows the URL but has not crawled it	Add internal links; be patient on new sites

After fixing a group of pages, open the issue and click Validate fix so Google rechecks them.

A simple weekly routine

• Read any email alerts from Search Console.
• Check the Performance report for sudden drops.
• Look at the Pages report for new issues affecting important URLs.
• Inspect any page you published or changed this week.

Also add a colleague or your developer under Settings → Users and permissions instead of sharing your password.

Need help with this on your own site or business?

I build and secure WordPress sites, web apps and AI automations end to end, in Bangla and English: a free discovery call, a written scope with a fixed quote, a focused first version, then testing, deployment and monitoring.

See the portfolio and the AI agent services, or tell me what you need.

FAQ

Is Google Search Console free?

Yes. It is free for any site owner; you only need a Google account and a way to verify ownership.

How long does it take for data to appear?

Usually a few days after the property is added. Search Console keeps up to 16 months of performance data, so set it up early.

Does submitting a sitemap or requesting indexing guarantee ranking?

No. They help Google find pages. Whether a page is indexed and where it ranks depends on its quality and relevance.

Sources

• Search Console Help: Verify your site ownership
• Search Console Help: Performance report
• Search Console Help: Page indexing report