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When I finish a new website, the last thing I do before handing it over is set up Google Search Console. It's free, it takes about half an hour, and it's the only place where Google tells you directly what it sees on your site: which pages it has found, which ones it has left out and why, and which searches your site is already showing up for.
A lot of small business owners I work with have never opened it. Some don't know it exists, and some had a developer who set it up under the developer's own Google account, so the owner can't get in. Here's how I set it up on a new site, step by step, and what I check in the first few weeks.
Use the owner's Google account, not yours
Before anything else, I ask the client which Google account they want to own the site's data. Usually it's the same account that owns their Google Business Profile or their business Gmail. I add the property under that account, or I set it up myself and then make sure the owner is listed as a verified owner.
If the only owner is a developer who has moved on, the business has to verify all over again, and any history in the reports is harder to get to. Under Settings, then Users and permissions, you can add other people as Full or Restricted users without giving away ownership. That's how I give myself access to client sites.
Domain property or URL prefix
When you add a site, Search Console asks you to pick one of two property types.
- Domain property. Covers every version of the site in one place: http and https, with and without www, and any subdomains. It can only be verified by adding a TXT record to the domain's DNS.
- URL prefix property. Covers only the exact address you type, for example https://example.com/. It can be verified in more ways, such as uploading an HTML file, adding a meta tag, or through Google Analytics.
I use a Domain property whenever I can get into the DNS settings, because it shows the full picture. If the site has old pages still being found on the www version or on http, I want to see that, and a single URL prefix property would hide it.
Verifying with a DNS record
Search Console gives you a line of text that starts with google-site-verification=. You add it as a TXT record at wherever the domain's DNS is managed. For most of my clients that's their hosting control panel or the domain registrar.
- Copy the verification text from Search Console.
- In the DNS settings, add a new TXT record. The host or name is usually @ (which means the main domain), and the value is the text you copied.
- Save it, wait a few minutes, then press Verify in Search Console.
Sometimes it fails the first time because the DNS change hasn't spread yet. I wait an hour and try again before assuming something is wrong. One thing I always tell clients: don't delete that TXT record later. Search Console checks it from time to time, and if it's gone, the site can lose its verified status.
Submitting the sitemap
A sitemap is a file that lists the pages you want Google to know about. On the custom PHP sites I build, the sitemap is generated automatically from the pages and blog posts in the database, so a new post gets added without anyone touching it. WordPress sites usually get one from an SEO plugin or from WordPress itself.
In Search Console, open Sitemaps, type the sitemap address (often sitemap.xml) and submit it. After a little while it should show a status of Success and a count of discovered pages. If that count is far off from the number of real pages on the site, that's worth looking into. Either pages are missing from the sitemap, or it's listing things that shouldn't be there, like test pages or admin URLs.
Checking the important pages with URL Inspection
At the top of Search Console there's a search bar for URL Inspection. Paste in any page address from the site and it tells you whether that page is on Google, when it was last crawled, and which version Google treats as the main one.
On a new site I inspect the home page and the main service pages one by one. If a page says it isn't on Google yet, I use Request Indexing. This doesn't guarantee anything, and there's a daily limit, so I save it for the pages that matter most rather than every single post. The rest get picked up through the sitemap over time.
The mistake I look for first
The most common problem I find on newly launched sites is a leftover noindex tag from the staging version. Developers often block search engines on a test copy, which is right, and then forget to remove it at launch. URL Inspection shows this clearly as "Excluded by 'noindex' tag". If you see it on your main pages, fix it before anything else.
Reading the Page indexing report
After a week or two, the Page indexing report starts to fill in. It splits pages into indexed and not indexed, with a reason for each group. Not every reason is a problem. These are the ones I see most and what I do about them:
- Page with redirect. Usually fine. It's normally the http or www version redirecting to the main address.
- Alternate page with proper canonical tag. Also fine. Google found a duplicate and correctly picked the main version.
- Not found (404). Worth checking. If these are old addresses from a previous site that still get visits or have links pointing at them, I add redirects to the closest new page.
- Discovered or Crawled, currently not indexed. Common on new sites. Google knows the page but hasn't added it yet. It usually settles with time, but if a key service page stays here for weeks, I look at whether the content is thin or too similar to another page.
- Duplicate without user-selected canonical. Means two pages look the same and the site didn't say which one is the main version. I add a canonical tag or merge the pages.
What the Performance report tells you
The Performance report is the part most owners end up liking. It shows the searches your site appeared for, how many times it was shown (impressions), how many people clicked, and the average position. Data starts appearing a few days after verification, and on a brand new site the numbers will be small at first. That's normal.
A few things I look at here with clients:
- Searches with plenty of impressions but very few clicks. Often the page title or meta description doesn't match what people were looking for, and rewriting it can help.
- Searches the owner didn't expect. These are good ideas for new service pages or blog posts, because people are already looking for them.
I don't promise rankings from any of this. Search Console shows you what's happening. It doesn't move you up by itself. But it turns guessing into looking at real data.
The other settings I turn on
- Email alerts. Search Console sends emails about new indexing problems, security issues and manual actions. I check that they go to an inbox the owner actually reads.
- Link to Google Analytics. If the site uses GA4, linking the two lets you see search data alongside what visitors do on the site.
I set up Search Console on every site I launch, including the ones in my portfolio.
What I check after launch
For the first month I open Search Console about once a week. I check that the sitemap still reads Success, the number of indexed pages is going up, no new errors have appeared, and the main pages pass URL Inspection. After that, a quick look once a month is enough for most small business sites, and it becomes part of the regular maintenance work.
If your site is already live and you've never looked at Search Console, it's worth setting up today. And if a developer set it up for you, check that your own account is listed as an owner. If you'd like help getting it set up or making sense of what it shows, you can ask me to set up Search Console.
FAQ
Is Google Search Console free?
Yes. It's a free tool from Google, and every site owner should have it.
How long until data shows in Search Console?
Usually a few days after verifying. Some reports take a week or two to fill up.
Should I use a domain property or URL prefix?
I prefer a domain property because it covers http, https and all subdomains in one place. It needs a DNS record to verify.
Does Search Console improve my rankings?
Not by itself. It shows you problems and what people search for, and fixing those is what helps.
