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
Likelihood to Recommend
It's well suited to get a baseline picture of what's happening organically on Google for an SEO client. It doesn't replace other SEO research tools, but works alongside them well. Great for troubleshooting issues. However, I'm not a fan of the recent changes they made to the Page Indexing report. We receive a lot of irrelevant email notifications regarding the indexing of pages that don't actually exist.
VU
Verified User
Employee in Information Technology (Marketing & Advertising company, 1-10 employees)
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.
Likelihood to Recommend
If you just want to understand how much traffic you're getting from Google organic search results, and study the queries and landing pages that make up this traffic, this is a great tool. If you also want to figure out where you may be missing opportunities or making it hard for people to find your site, this can help with that. However, GSC is not going to give you step by step instructions for how to fix SEO issues, and won't help prioritize anything either. It's essentially like a car dashboard, but doesn't do any driving or tell you how to drive.
Google Search Console is a great tool to monitor sites' organic performance. It helps to monitor a webpages performance for specific keywords and helps us make updates to page content if necessary. The coverage issues it shows also helps fix technical issues on the website regarding indexing, core web vitals and even on-page aspects of the website.
Pros
provide data
monitor performance
guide in improving websites organic traffic
Cons
better filter option on the performance section with ability to get data for a list of pages instead of just a single pages
Likelihood to Recommend
great for SEO specialists to analyze website organic performance and helps fix issues regarding on-page SEO. It also helps track the performance of website pages and also the details on what keywords are ranking in which countries. The coverage also helps find out what technical issues there are on the web pages.
We use Google Search Console to help us monitor our search visibility on Google. This tool helps us see what search enhancements (job postings, featured snippets, rich results, etc.) are showing up on Google. It also helps us know what pages are being indexed and which ones have errors associated with them.
Pros
Keywords
Impressions/clicks
Rich results
Cons
Data is inconsistent from Google Trends & Analytics.
Likelihood to Recommend
Google Search Console is the foundation for any website that you want to show up on Google. Having this helps you see what links your site is getting, clicks, impressions, keywords you're ranking for, any rich results you're ranking for, and the page experience for users.
I should probably start my review by saying that I have been using this tool for a very long time, at least 8 years. During this time, he helped me solve all the emerging issues of basic search engine optimization. This is simply an indispensable tool at the start and I recommend everyone to master it first, and then more complex ones. Its value cannot be underestimated, as it helps to eliminate mistakes made during optimization.
Pros
SEO issues detection.
See pages as search spider sees.
Managing external links.
Cons
Sometimes it's hard to navigate through the console.
Indexing results should have better views.
Likelihood to Recommend
When you launch a website and in the first weeks of its life, the Google console should be your best friend with whom you can spend Friday evening catching optimization problems. Of course, there are a ton of other tools, but no one has canceled the basic problems and it is better for you to solve them together with the search system.
We utilize Google Search Console to analyze the ongoing performance of our client's websites in the Google Search environment. Each of the tools in GSC helps us keep an eye out for potential problems and identify solutions before they become significant business-altering problems. Recent updates have made this tool significantly more streamlined.
Pros
Analyze basic search engine performance.
Identify potential website issues.
Track search results and landing pages in a more granular way.
Cons
The streamlined toolset removed some key tools we used to utilize.
It is more difficult to implement re-crawl requests and know when to expect answers.
Sharing access with additional users is more challenging.
Likelihood to Recommend
This free tool from Google lets you get a basic level of insights into how your website is functioning in the organic Google Search environment. You get more information than you might with third-party tools, as all of the information is "straight from the horse's mouth," so to speak.
VU
Verified User
Professional in Marketing (Marketing and Advertising company, 1-10 employees)
We use Google Search Console at our search engine marketing agency. It creates a communication channel for our account managers to understand better how Google is crawling, indexing, and displaying our clients' websites on www.google.com.
Pros
Keyword specific performance data for SEO.
Technical SEO feedback including site speed, mobile usability and much more.
Cons
Some features are still in beta and thus have limited or incomplete data.
The coverage report can have overwhelming data that makes it hard to know what is a concern and what is ok.
Likelihood to Recommend
Google Search Console well suited for business owners, marketing managers, and agencies who want to get started with search engine optimization. Google Search Console is free, powerful, and relatively easy to use.
I often forget that the Google Search Console even exists. When I remember to check it out, it is useful. It gives good recommendations on how to speed up my site, which is less important with the mass adoption of fast internet speeds, but it still helps with mobile users with bad connections.
Pros
The best way to analyze your google SEO.
It helps to find who is linking to your site.
Cons
The way it shows your sites is a bit confusing. It shows your URL as different sites for "HTTP" and https" It should consider that the same site.
This tool could easily be combined with Google Analytics. Currently, it just adds another step to the SEO process.
Likelihood to Recommend
You need to understand that the Google Search Console is different than Google Analytics and that you really should use both of them together. Google Search Console offers more suggestions on how to improve your SEO. You can't have one without the other. Depending on who hosts your site, the host analytics might be better than what Google Search Console can offer.
We use Google Search Console to identify potential search engine crawl issues and track keyword searches with Google for our website. The tool gives us some insight into how Google and its users see and access our website.
Pros
Allows you to directly submit a sitemap to Google for crawling.
Shows common search queries used to access site.
Cons
Recrawling of pages that have suggested improvements is very slow
Disavowing non-existent URLS doesn't remove them from the error report
Likelihood to Recommend
Google Search Console is useful for gaining some insights into how your website is perceived by Google and interacted with by those using their search engine. You can get an idea of what keywords are being searched, who links to your site, and the pages that are receiving traffic. If you're using Google Analytics, you can connect the two to get more detailed information.
VU
Verified User
Professional in Marketing (Management Consulting company, 51-200 employees)
