Complete guide to using Google Search Console in your marketing campaigns

Google Search Console is a fundamental tool for any successful digital marketing strategy. It offers valuable insights into how Google views your site, and users interact with it in search results. Therefore, it is not enough to simply apply this solution, but you must be careful to analyze and take advantage of all the information that the platform can offer your company.

To help you with this mission, in this article we will explore what Google Search Console is, its main features, how to use it in marketing campaigns and the benefits it can provide for the strategy applied to your business.

So, if you have doubts about the subject, the time has come to fully understand the advantages of this solution and make the most of the platform. Good reading!

What is Google Search Console?

First of all, we need to understand that Google Search Console is a free platform, provided by Google, that allows website owners to monitor and optimize the performance of their domains in search results. In this way, it is understood that the tool plays a crucial role in decision-making and defining strategies. But to do that, you need to make the most of it.

Formerly known as Google Webmaster Tools, it offers critical information to improve your website's visibility in search results. With everything, we need to understand what its functionalities are and the impacts they can have on a strategy. Check it out below!

What are the features of Google Search Console?

Among the platform's features are some that are very interesting for marketing analysis, whether of a specific campaign or the general performance of a website.

But after all, what is Google Search Console for?

That's what we'll check out in the next topics. Continue reading and find out more!

1. Performance Monitoring

Google Search Console provides detailed information about how your website is performing in Google search results. This way, you can track the number of clicks, impressions, CTR (click-through rate), and average position for the keywords that lead users to your site.

2. Page Indexing

You can check which pages on your website are indexed by Google and identify those that are not. As we know, this is crucial to ensure the search platform is aware of all your relevant content.

To understand more about the page indexing process, you need to access our exclusive article: Experiencing issues with your site's search indexing? Check out these tips!

3. Bug Reports

In addition, Search Console also informs you about technical issues on your website that may affect your positioning in search results, such as crawl errors, pages not found, and more.

4. Sitemap

A sitemap is an XML or HTML file that lists all of a website's important pages and features, allowing search engines like Google to understand the site's structure and index its pages more efficiently. We can then say that this resource is a type of site map that makes navigation easier for search engines, helping them find and index website content with greater accuracy.

With this in mind, through Google Search Console, you can submit a sitemap to the search engine, which helps Google better understand the structure of your site and index your pages more efficiently. In our article “Sitemap: find out its functionality and the reason to apply it“, you can better understand this process and clarify all your doubts about it.

5. AMP and Mobile Improvements

Optimization for mobile devices is currently one of the main tactics for improving business results. SEO of a website. Therefore, if your website uses AMP pages (Accelerated Mobile Pages), Search Console offers insights into the performance of these pages on mobile devices, helping to optimize the mobile user experience.

6. Link Reports

Just like the previous topic, another important point for an SEO strategy is the link building. This is a search engine optimization strategy that involves deliberately creating links from other websites to your website.

Like everything in digital marketing, it is necessary to closely monitor and monitor the results of this type of tool. Through Google Search Console, you can check who is linking to your site and which pages are being referenced the most. This can help with identifying link building opportunities.

How to use Google Search Console in marketing campaigns?

Ok… now that you know the features of Google Search Console, we need to cover how to use it in your marketing campaigns. After all, as we said previously, it is not enough to simply apply it, but you need to have control over its advantages. Thus, making an analysis that is beneficial to your strategy.

Check out the main steps to start using the platform!

Step 1: Verify your website ownership

Firstly, we need to verify your site ownership in Search Console. In fact, this can be done through an HTML file or by configuring a meta tag on your website.

Log in to your Google account

First of all, you will need login in your Google Account. Also, make sure you use the account that is associated with the website you want to check. If you don't already have an account, you can create one for free.

Add a property

After logging in, you will be directed to the main Search Console dashboard. Click the “Add a property” or “Property” button in the top left corner.

Choose the type of property

Google Search Console offers several options for verifying your website ownership. Common options include “Domain” (to check the entire domain) and “URL Prefix” (to check specific subfolders of the site). Choose the appropriate option for your case and enter your website URL.

Choose a verification method

There are several ways to verify ownership of your website. Among them, we can mention:

• HTML File Method: You can download an HTML file provided by Google and upload it to your website's root directory.
• HTML Meta Tag Method: Copy the HTML meta tag provided by Google and paste it into the source code of your website's home page, usually between the tags <head>.
• DNS Registration Method: You will need to add a specific DNS record provided by Google to your website's hosting provider.
• Google Analytics or Google Tag Manager method: If you already use these tools, you can verify ownership through them.
• Hosting Provider Method: Some hosting providers offer direct integrations with Google Search Console, which makes verification easier.

Complete the verification process

Follow the instructions provided by your chosen verification method. The verification process may take a few minutes or even a few hours to complete.

Confirm verification

After completing the verification process, return to Google Search Console and confirm the verification by clicking the “Verify” or “Confirm” button.

Access to the control panel

Once successfully verified, you will have access to the Google Search Console dashboard for your website property and can begin exploring the available data and reports.

Step 2: Explore performance reports

After successful verification, go to the “performance” section in the Search Console dashboard. This way, you'll find information about the keywords that drive traffic to your website, the evolution of impressions and clicks over time, and much more.

Step 3: Fix errors and problems

In addition to the previous steps, you should regularly check the “coverage” section to identify and correct tracking errors, such as pages not found or blocked by robots.txt. This will ensure that Google indexes all relevant pages on your website.

Step 4: Analyze link data

Use the “links” section to check who is linking to your site. This can help with identifying partnership and link building opportunities.

Step 5: optimize the mobile experience

Finally, if your site is not optimized for mobile devices, use the “AMP and Mobile Improvements” reports to make improvements to the mobile user experience.

What are the main benefits of Google Search Console?

As we saw previously, Google Search Console offers a series of benefits for analyzing marketing campaigns. However, we know that this can go further.

Among the main advantages of applying this type of platform are:

1. Increased visibility in search results

By optimizing your website based on Search Console data, you can improve your pages' ranking in search results, increasing visibility to your target audience.

2. Opportunities for continuous improvement

Additionally, access to real-time data on your website's performance allows you to make informed decisions and make continuous improvements to your marketing strategy.

3. Identification of technical problems

Search Console helps you identify technical issues that may negatively impact your site's performance, allowing you to resolve these issues quickly.

4. Keyword Insights

Finally, you can find out which keywords are driving traffic to your website and adjust your content strategy based on these insights.

A digital marketing agency can help you with Google Search Console

What many companies still don't know is that the complexity of Search Console can be easily overcome with the help of a specialized agency. Beatz Marketing Digital, for example, can establish the best analysis processes to ensure that your business makes the most of this platform.

Want to know more about our services? Visit our website right now and check out all the details about the methodology that promises to revolutionize the way your company does marketing. We wait for you!