How To Use the New Google Search Console

Google Search Console is the go to area for webmasters.

Google have provided there very own Seo Console for you to work from. So it’s well worth getting comfortable with the layout. It’s designed to help small businesses understand how to optimise their website for better performance and customer experience. No doubt for most business owners, the end result is to get more search engine traffic from potential clients. So following some simple steps will help you get your website registered and performing for you. Lets show you how it works and how you can set it up in a few quick steps.

Step 1. Add your Domain and Verify It.

Go to Google Search Console and log in.

Then add your domain name using the “add property” link. To verify your domain there are several ways, just follow the instructions supplied by Google after selecting  “add property”.

If you have more than one web site its fine, you can add several web site domains.

Step 2. Manage the property

Head to the “Manage Property tab” for the selected website and make sure you have verified your domain. It may take a while for Google to index it and spider your site. Then you can also link the account to your Google analytics, which will really enhance the amount of detail the console can provide. E.g. keywords, traffic details, devices, text too small etc. You may spend some time here learning what issues Google finds on its first index. Most of these initial issues can be easily resolved.

Step 3. Submit an XML Sitemap

If you are using a CMS like WordPress, then you can easily produce an XML sitemap to satisfy Google indexing. Yoast or Google Sitemap plugins are commonly used and easy to install. Once the XML file is produced, upload it to the sitemap area of Google Search Console and come back 48 hours later to make sure its successful.

Also for a full review on how to setup a sitemap using WordPress plugins or a standalone tool you will need to visit the generate a site map for Google article.

The reason for the sitemap, is it helps Google learn about the menu structure and what pages have recently changed.

Step 4. Produce Quality Content

If you are producing great quality articles and the aim is to help users not search engines, then you have the right goal in mind. Having said that, Google search engine shouldn’t be totally ignored, as you can use structured data to improve the way a search engine understands your content.

When writing pages for the website, try to explain your unique value, speak to your audience naturally, all these things will help your visitor realise they have found an article worth reading. An article worth reading is often worth linking too, and that will be great for credibility in search engines.

So why use structured data mark-up? This will give Google spider more information on what the content is and how it can be presented correctly in various platforms and news feeds. This will also make the page more relevant to the search engine, and can help your Search Engine Results. 

Other ways to produce quality web pages is to ensure your content is up to date, original and relevant to your visitors. Never use structured data to deceive your users. Google have provided a really useful tool to help you check your structure at https://search.google.com/structured-data/testing-tool.

Todays lesson?
Produce Quality Content for Humans not Search Engines

I hope today’s article was useful, if you think we missed something then let us know below.