How to Use Google Search Console to Identify SEO Issues

Google Search Console (GSC) remains an indispensable tool for webmasters, marketers, and SEO professionals. While many rely on surface-level insights, GSC offers deep diagnostics that can uncover hidden SEO issues affecting your site’s rankings.

This guide will break down how to identify and fix SEO problems using Google Search Console, ensuring your website stays optimized and competitive.

Step 1: Set Up & Verify Your Website

Before diagnosing SEO issues, you need to ensure that your website is properly added to Google Search Console. If you haven’t done this yet:

1. Visit Google Search Console.

2. Click “Add Property” and enter your website’s domain.

3. Choose a verification method (DNS record, HTML file upload, Google Analytics, or Tag Manager).

4. Verify and wait for Google to start collecting data (this may take a few hours to days).

Once verified, you’ll have access to a wealth of SEO insights and performance metrics.

Step 2: Monitor Your Website’s Performance

Performance Report: Traffic Insights & Click-Through Rates (CTR)

Navigate to Performance > Search Results to analyze:

• Total Clicks: How many users clicked on your website from Google search.

• Impressions: How often your website appeared in search results.

• CTR (Click-Through Rate): The percentage of impressions that resulted in clicks.

• Average Position: Your average ranking for keywords.

Actionable Fixes:

• Low CTR? Improve title tags and meta descriptions to be more engaging.

• Low Impressions? Optimize for long-tail keywords and improve content relevance.

• Average Position Dropping? Investigate competition and refine on-page SEO.

Step 3: Identify Indexing Issues

Coverage Report: Check for Errors & Warnings

In Indexing > Pages, you’ll find:

• Indexed Pages: Pages successfully indexed by Google.

• Excluded Pages: Pages Google chose not to index.

• Errors (e.g., “Page with Redirect”, “Submitted URL Blocked by Robots.txt”).

Actionable Fixes:

• Fix 404 Errors: Redirect broken links using 301 redirects.

• Remove Disallowed Pages: Check your robots.txt file and update if needed.

• Fix “Crawled – Currently Not Indexed”: Improve content quality and internal linking.

Step 4: Detect Mobile Usability Issues

Mobile Usability Report: Ensure a Smooth Mobile Experience

Go to Experience > Mobile Usability to check for errors like:

• Text too small to read

• Clickable elements too close together

• Content wider than screen

Actionable Fixes:

• Use a responsive design to enhance mobile-friendliness.

• Adjust font sizes and spacing for readability.

• Optimize images for faster mobile loading.

Step 5: Audit Your Core Web Vitals

Core Web Vitals Report: Page Speed & Performance

Under Experience > Core Web Vitals, look for:

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Measures loading performance.

• First Input Delay (FID): Measures interactivity.

• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Measures visual stability.

Actionable Fixes:

• Compress images and use lazy loading.

• Minify CSS, JavaScript, and enable browser caching.

• Improve server response time with better hosting.

Step 6: Analyze Links & Backlinks

Links Report: Internal & External Links Overview

In Links, check:

• Top Linked Pages (internal and external)

• Top Linking Sites (backlinks pointing to your website)

• Top Linking Text (anchor text used by referring sites)

Actionable Fixes:

• Identify toxic backlinks and disavow them using the Google Disavow Tool.

• Improve internal linking for better crawlability.

• Reach out for high-quality backlinks to boost domain authority.

Step 7: Identify Security & Manual Actions

Security & Manual Actions Reports

Google may penalize sites for violating its guidelines. Check:

• Security Issues (hacking, malware, deceptive content).

• Manual Actions (Google penalties affecting rankings).

Actionable Fixes:

• If flagged, resolve security threats immediately.

• For manual penalties, submit a Reconsideration Request after fixing violations.

Step 8: Use URL Inspection Tool for Quick Diagnosis

The URL Inspection Tool allows you to check how Google views a specific page. It provides:

• Indexing status

• Crawl issues

• Last Googlebot visit date

Actionable Fixes:

• Request Indexing for new or updated content.

• Fix errors preventing Google from crawling your page.

Final Thoughts

Google Search Console is more than just a performance-tracking tool; it’s an essential SEO troubleshooting platform. By regularly checking reports and resolving issues, you ensure that your site remains healthy, indexed, and optimized for search rankings.

Would you like expert assistance in diagnosing SEO issues? Let’s connect and take your website’s search performance to the next level!