A guide for webmasters

Introduction to the Google Search Console

The Google Search Console, an essential tool for webmasters and SEO experts, serves as a bridge between your website and Google search results. This free instrument offers a wealth of tools and reports to help you improve your website's visibility and performance. In this guide, we will discuss the different aspects of Google Search Console and its importance for optimizing your website.

Monitoring and managing your website

Google Search Console allows you to monitor and manage your website's presence in Google search results without the need to register. This tool allows you to understand how Google sees your website and gives you the opportunity to make any necessary improvements. It offers a variety of features, including:

1. Check whether Google can crawl and find your website.
2. Request re-indexing for new or updated content to resolve indexing issues.
3. Retrieve data on Google searches for your website to find out how often it appears in search results, which searches generate traffic, click-through rates and other relevant information.
4. Receive notifications from Google when spam, indexing errors or other problems occur on your website.
5. Receiving notifications about websites that link to your website.
6. Fixing issues with AMP pages, mobile user experience and other search options.

Price check and web analytics suite

Google Search Console also offers a web analytics suite to help you monitor and improve the performance of your website. Some of the latest updates in this suite include:

1. Compatibility with mobile devices to give you flexible access.
2. Improved display of all data with new filter options that enable precise analysis.
3. Extended availability of performance data on search queries and clicks, which can now be tracked back up to 16 months, as opposed to the previous 3 months.
4. More detailed information on individual pages to give you a deeper insight into the performance of your website.
5. An improved system for reporting crawling problems and other errors as well as a simplified option for requesting reindexing.

Activation and setup of the Google Search Console

To use the Google Search Console, you must first confirm that you are the owner of the website. This can be done by uploading a simple HTML file to your web server. Alternatively, you can also use Google Analytics or Google Tag Manager to verify your website. Each website to be monitored can be considered a „property“ and you can create up to 100 such properties, which can also be sub-directories.

Innovations and further developments

Since the renaming of Google Webmaster Tools to Google Search Console, Google's web analytics suite has undergone numerous changes. After a long beta phase, a revised version of the GSC was released in 2018, which offers an option to return to the previous version. However, most users are unlikely to find any data at this point.

The evolution of the SEO industry

Over the last two decades, the SEO industry has changed significantly. Algorithms have become more complex and there is a greater focus on quality and user experience. The industry has diversified, with a growing number of women working and being recognized in the industry. SEO today goes far beyond just understanding keywords; it also requires an understanding of user intent and the ability to find creative solutions to problems.

Technical know-how and relationships in the SEO industry

Technical know-how is crucial in the SEO industry. SEO professionals need to be able to collaborate with developers and other technical teams. Relationships are important in the SEO industry, and success in SEO often depends on the ability to collaborate with other teams and stakeholders. SEO also requires an ability to persuade and argue to promote the work necessary to optimize websites.

A deep understanding of users and their intentions

A deep understanding of users and their intentions is critical to success in SEO. SEO is a nuanced discipline that requires a deep understanding of users, competitors and website content. Storytelling is an important aspect of SEO, and SEO professionals must be able to tell a compelling story about their website that appeals to both users and search engines.

Differences between agency and in-house SEO

Working in an agency is very different from working in-house, with different focuses and challenges. In an agency, you often have to work with a variety of clients with different needs, whereas in-house you have the opportunity to focus on the specific requirements of a company.

Conclusion

The Google Search Console is an indispensable tool for every webmaster and SEO expert. It provides a direct link to Google search results and is a free tool. The Google Search Console gives you a complete overview of the status of your website and its relevance in the search results. You can also use the wide range of tools and setting options to identify problems and receive suggestions for solutions.

Further information

Would you like to find out more? Here are some interesting articles on the subject:

1. Search Engine Journal Guide to Google Search Console
2. 20 Things I Learned From 20 Years of Working in the SEO Industry