How To Set Up Google Search Console

If someone types what you do into Google and your website shows up, that’s not luck – that’s data you can actually track, understand, and improve. And the free tool that makes all of this visible to you is Google Search Console.

I’ll be honest with you: I put this off for longer than I should have. It sounds technical, it has the word “console” in it (which feels very programmer, not very female entrepreneur building something meaningful), and I had no idea what I’d actually do with the information once I had it.

But once it was set up? It completely changed how I thought about my website. Not in a hustle-culture, obsess-over-your-metrics way – in a genuinely useful, calm, oh so that’s what’s actually happening way.

So here’s the plain-English guide to getting it set up, and what to actually look at once you’re in.

First — What Is Google Search Console, Exactly?

Google Search Console (often called GSC) is a free tool from Google that tells you:

Which search terms people are typing to find your website
Which of your pages are showing up in Google results
Whether Google can properly read and index your site
If there are any errors stopping your pages from appearing at all

It’s different from Google Analytics, which tells you what people do once they arrive. Search Console tells you what’s happening before they click – back when they’re still typing into Google.

For those of us building online businesses without a PR budget, this is genuinely gold.

What You’ll Need Before You Start

A Google account (Gmail works perfectly)
Access to your website’s backend (WordPress, Squarespace, Wix – whatever you’re using)
About 20 minutes, a cup of tea, and zero pressure to understand everything on day one

Step 1: Go to Google Search Console

Head to search.google.com/search-console and sign in with your Google account. You’ll land on a welcome screen asking you to add a property – that just means adding your website.

Step 2: Add Your Website as a Property

You’ll see two options: Domain or URL Prefix.

Which one should you choose?

Domain covers everything – your main site, any subdomains (like blog.yoursite.com), and both the http and https versions. It’s the more complete option, but it requires you to verify via your domain provider (GoDaddy, Namecheap, etc.).
URL Prefix covers a specific URL like https://yourwebsite.co.uk. It’s a bit easier to verify if you’re on WordPress, and it’s absolutely fine for most small business owners.

For most of us, URL Prefix is the path of least resistance. Type in your full website URL (make sure you include the https://) and click Continue.

Step 3: Verify That You Own the Site

Google needs to confirm the website actually belongs to you before it shares any data. You’ll be given several verification options – here are the most common:

Option A: HTML Tag (Easiest for WordPress)

Google will give you a small snippet of code that looks something like this:

<meta name="google-site-verification" content="abc123xyz" />

You need to paste this into the <head> section of your website. On WordPress, the easiest way to do this without touching code is:

Install a free plugin like RankMath SEO or Yoast SEO if you don’t already have one
In RankMath: go to RankMath → General Settings → Webmaster Tools and paste the code in the Google Search Console field
In Yoast: go to Yoast SEO → General → Webmaster Tools and paste it there

Save, then go back to Google Search Console and click Verify.

Option B: Google Analytics (If You Already Have It Set Up)

If Google Analytics is already installed on your site, you can verify through that. Google will just check that the tracking code is present. Quick and painless.

Option C: Google Tag Manager

If you use Tag Manager, same idea – Google checks for the container snippet on your site and that’s your verification.

Once verified, you’ll see a green confirmation screen.

Step 4: Submit Your Sitemap

A sitemap is basically a list of all your pages that helps Google find and understand your website. Most SEO plugins create one automatically.

To submit it:

In the left sidebar, click Sitemaps
In the field provided, type sitemap.xml (or sitemap_index.xml if you’re using RankMath or Yoast – check your plugin settings if you’re not sure)
Your full sitemap URL will look like: https://yourwebsite.co.uk/sitemap.xml
Click Submit

You’ll see a status message – it might say “Couldn’t fetch” at first, and that’s normal. Google needs a little time to crawl it. Check back in a day or two and it should show as Success.

Step 5: Wait (Genuinely, Just Wait)

This is the part nobody tells you clearly: Google Search Console takes a few days to a few weeks to start populating with data, especially if your site is relatively new or hasn’t been verified before.

Don’t panic if you log in the next day and everything looks empty. Set a reminder to come back in a week.

What to Actually Look At (Without Overwhelm)

Once data starts appearing, here are the only things I’d suggest focusing on to begin with:

The Performance Report

This is the one you’ll use most. It shows:

Total Clicks – how many people clicked through to your site from Google
Total Impressions – how many times your site appeared in search results (even if no one clicked)
Average CTR – click-through rate, what percentage of people who saw your site actually visited
Average Position – where your pages are typically ranking

Scroll down and you’ll see the search queries – the actual words people typed to find you. This is the part that tends to make people go oh wow, I had no idea. You’ll often discover you’re ranking for things you never thought to optimise for, or notice obvious gaps where you could easily do better.

Coverage (or Indexing)

This tells you which pages Google has successfully indexed and if there are any errors. If you have pages showing as “Excluded” or “Error,” it’s worth looking into – but don’t spiral. Some exclusions are totally normal (like duplicate pages or redirects).

URL Inspection Tool

You can paste any page URL from your site into the search bar at the top to see whether Google has indexed it and when it was last crawled. Handy if you’ve published something new and want to give Google a nudge to discover it faster- just click Request Indexing after inspecting the URL.

A Few Things Worth Knowing

You won’t see data for searches with very low volume. Google anonymises results to protect privacy, so some of your query data will be hidden. This is normal.

GSC only shows the last 16 months of data (or 28 months if you adjust the filter). So there’s a good reason to get it set up sooner rather than later – you want that historical data building up over time.

You don’t need to check it every day. Once a month is genuinely enough for most small businesses. Look at it, notice any patterns or surprises, and that’s all you need to do.

Why This Matters for Your Business

Here’s the thing about SEO that nobody really talks about honestly: it’s slow, and it’s quiet, and it works in the background while you’re doing everything else.

Google Search Console won’t give you overnight results. But it will show you whether the content you’re creating is being found, which search terms are actually bringing people to your door, and where you have real opportunities to be more visible – without relying on social media algorithms, ads, or anyone else’s platform.

For those of us building something sustainable rather than something shiny, that matters.

Set it up. Let it sit. Come back to it in a few weeks with a cup of tea. You might be surprised what you find.

Have you set up Google Search Console yet? Drop your questions in the community – I’d love to hear how you get on. Linsey x