Getting Started with Google Search Console
Google Search Console is an essential tool for webmasters and SEO professionals. It provides data and diagnostics to ensure your website is performing optimally in Google Search results.
Verify Your Domain
Before you can access all the features Google Search Console has to offer, you need to verify your domain. This process confirms that you are the owner or authorized manager of the website. You can verify your domain using various methods such as uploading an HTML file to your website server, adding a DNS record to your domain’s configuration, using your Google Analytics account, or the Google Tag Manager.
Set Up Your Property
Once your domain is verified, the next step is to set up your property in Google Search Console. A ‘property’ refers to any website, application, or similar that you want to track. Setting up your property involves specifying the domain you wish to monitor. After setup, you can access a wealth of data about your site’s performance, including search traffic, indexing status, and crawl errors. Be sure to regularly check and maintain your Google Search Console property to stay on top of your site’s SEO health.
Common Google Search Console Errors and How to Fix Them
Server Errors (5xx)
Server errors indicate that the server hosting your website is experiencing issues. To fix these errors, you should check your server logs or contact your hosting provider for assistance. Ensuring server stability and availability is crucial for resolving these errors.
Redirect Errors
Redirect errors occur when your website’s redirects are not set up correctly. This can confuse both users and search engines. Use tools like Google Search Console to identify problematic redirects and correct them by ensuring they point to the appropriate, active URLs.
Blocked by robots.txt
The robots.txt file is used to control web crawler access to certain parts of your site. If pages are blocked inadvertently, check your robots.txt file and modify it to allow search engines to access the appropriate content.
Marked noindex
Pages marked with a noindex tag are excluded from search results. Ensure critical pages are not marked with noindex by reviewing your site’s HTML and removing unnecessary noindex tags.
Soft 404 Errors
Soft 404 errors occur when a page returns a “not found” message but ultimately displays a valid web page. Address these by correctly configuring your server to return a 404 status code for non-existent pages or by redirecting users to relevant, existing content.
Unauthorized Request (401)
Unauthorized request errors suggest that restricted content requires authentication. Verify your server settings and authentication requirements to resolve such issues, ensuring that only appropriate content is gated.
Not Found (404)
The 404 error indicates that a page cannot be found. Fix these errors by updating internal links, creating useful redirect pages, or restoring the missing content when possible.
Navigating Index Coverage Reports
What is Indexed, Not Submitted in Sitemap
This section shows pages that Google has indexed, but which are not included in your sitemap. To resolve this, you should update your sitemap to include these pages, ensuring they are intentionally included in your search strategy.
Index, Blocked by Noindex Tag
Pages that are indexed but also blocked by a noindex tag should be reviewed. Remove the noindex tag from these pages if you want them to stay in search results, or verify that they should be intentionally hidden. Ensure consistency between your indexing strategy and robots/meta tags configurations.
Resolve Crawled, Currently Not Indexed
Pages that are crawled but not indexed may have quality or duplicate content issues. To resolve this, improve the content quality of these pages and ensure they are unique. Also, check for any technical issues like slow load times or improper meta tags that may prevent indexing.
Handling Mobile Usability Issues
Fix Incompatible Plugins
Incompatible plugins can hinder the mobile user experience. Identify and replace or remove these plugins with ones that are compatible with mobile devices to ensure a seamless browsing experience on smartphones and tablets.
Set the Viewport Correctly
Setting the viewport correctly is essential for mobile usability. Ensure your HTML documents have a viewport meta tag that adjusts the page’s width and scaling to the screen size of the device used. This helps maintain a responsive design across devices.
Ensure Content Fits Within Screen Dimensions
Content should always fit within the screen dimensions on mobile devices. Avoid horizontal scrolling by designing flexible layouts and using relative units like percentages for width and height. This ensures text and images are displayed properly on all screen sizes.
Enhancing Your Core Web Vitals
Improve Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
To improve the Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), optimize your images and videos, and ensure your server response times are fast. Additionally, leverage efficient caching strategies and consider using a Content Delivery Network (CDN).
Reduce First Input Delay (FID)
To reduce First Input Delay (FID), minimize JavaScript execution times and break up long tasks. Implementing lazy loading and using modern, efficient frameworks can also help to decrease FID.
Minimize Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
Minimize Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) by reserving space for ad elements, using size attributes for images and videos, and avoiding inserting new content above existing content. Employing web fonts that do not cause layout shifts can also enhance CLS.
Confirming and Validating Fixes
Use the Validate Fix Tool
Once you’ve made corrections on your website, you can use the Validate Fix tool in Google Search Console to confirm that the issues have been resolved. This tool re-crawls your site and verifies if the implemented changes have fixed the reported problems.
Confirm Fixes through the URL Inspection Tool
For more granular validation, use the URL Inspection Tool in Google Search Console. This allows you to inspect specific URLs to ensure that the fixes are properly recognized by Google. Enter the URL of the corrected page, and you will receive detailed feedback on its indexing and crawl status.