Imagine you run a dental practice. A patient types "dentist near me open Saturday" into their phone and looks at the list that appears. Is your website on it? In which position? How many people clicked, and how many went to a competitor instead? Most business owners cannot answer these questions. The site gets built, then the owner types their own business name into Google, sees it, and considers the matter closed.
But searching for your own name does not show the real picture. Your customers do not know your name yet. They type what they need. This is where a free tool from Google comes in. In this article I will explain what it is, which four pieces of information it gives you, and what to ask the person who looks after your website.
What is Google Search Console?
If you are asking what is Google Search Console, my shortest answer is this: it is a free report card that Google sends you about your website. It tells you how Google sees your site and how it shows it to people. It costs nothing and anyone can open it.
Think of a shop window. This tool tells you how many people passed, how many came in, and that there is a crack in the glass. It is the only official source on how your site appears on Google.
The 4 things to check
The tool has dozens of screens, but as a business owner you do not need to know them all. Five minutes once a month, looking at these four things, is enough.
- What do people type when they find you? The searches are listed. Sometimes you will see phrases you never expected, such as "weekend emergency dentist". This shows how your customers actually talk.
- How many people click? You see how often your site appeared in results and how many of those appearances turned into a click. If you appear a lot but get few clicks, the headline and description people see in the result may not be convincing.
- Which of your pages are on Google? You see which pages are working and which never appear. If your service page is not on Google, a customer cannot buy that service from you.
- Is Google reporting a problem? If part of your site cannot be opened, cannot be understood, or looks broken on a phone, the tool tells you. Think of it as a warning light on a dashboard.
Here is an example. A lawyer may expect to appear for "divorce lawyer". Looking at the tool, they might find people are actually asking "how long does an uncontested divorce take". That tells you which question your site should answer.
Which decision does each number affect?
| What you see | What it tells you | Decision it supports |
|---|---|---|
| Searches | What need brings customers to you | Which service to highlight |
| Clicks | Whether appearing is enough | Rewriting titles |
| Pages shown | Which pages work | Whether you need a new page |
| Problem reports | Whether Google finds obstacles | Urgent fixes |
Whose account should it be?
I see one mistake very often. The person who builds the site opens the tool under their own account. When the project ends, or when there is a disagreement, you no longer have access. Years of data sit in somebody else's account.
The account should be opened with your business's own Google account. You are the owner, and you give the person who builds or maintains the site permission to use it. That permission can be removed whenever you like. The person who built your site can set it up easily; usually they only need access through your Google account.
What you can check, and what the expert does
Splitting the roles makes this simple.
What you can check yourself:
- Make sure the account is tied to your own Google account.
- Once a month, open the tool and glance at the searches and click counts.
- If a problem notice arrives, look for it in your inbox; Google also emails these to the account owner.
- Ask your web person, "What changed this month?"
What the expert does:
- Sets up the tool and proves to Google that you own the site.
- Makes sure your pages are properly introduced to Google.
- Reads incoming problem notices, finds the cause, and fixes it.
- Looks at the data and recommends which page to improve.
A notice such as "page not indexed" (meaning Google has not added the page to its list) should not make you panic. Not every message is urgent, but telling which ones are is the expert's job.
How Search Console differs from Analytics
The two are often confused. Search Console describes what happens before someone reaches your site: how much you appear on Google. Google Analytics shows what visitors do after they arrive. One counts the crowd outside the window; the other counts what people do once they are inside the shop. Neither replaces the other, and together they give the full picture. I cover Analytics in a separate article.
What to ask the person doing the work
You can ask whoever built your site or handles your SEO these questions:
- Is the Search Console account under my Google account, and am I the owner?
- Which searches have we started appearing for in the last three months?
- Which pages appear but do not get clicked, and what will we do about them?
- Is Google currently reporting any problem on our site?
- Based on this data, what will we do next month?
A good expert answers in plain language. "It is technical, you would not understand" is not a good sign. As for timing, setup is usually a short job, but data only starts to build after setup. You will see a first meaningful picture after a few weeks, and a reliable one after a few months.
Frequently asked questions
Does Search Console cost money?
No. It is a free Google tool. Someone charging you is selling their expertise and time, not the tool.
What if the person who built my site opened it under their account?
You can prove to Google that you own the site and add your own account. Past data may stay in the old account, which is why opening it under your own account from the start is better.
Will I see results straight away?
No. Google needs time to notice and evaluate a new page, and any promise of an exact timeline or result would be dishonest. What matters is whether the direction over time is up or down. The mistake I see most often is dropping the tool in week one because the numbers are low.
Next step
Search Console is the most honest way to see where your site stands on Google. If you do not have an account, or you do not know who holds it, finding out is probably the most useful first step you can take today. If you would like me to read the data with you and explain what to do next, take a look at my SEO services page.