Google Search Console is a free tool that helps you monitor and improve your site’s performance on Google’s search engine. It can alert you to any errors, issues, or penalties that affect your site’s ranking and visibility..
In this article, you’ll learn how to use Google Search Console to fix some common SEO problems and optimize your site for better results.
Identify Backlink ‘Powerhouse Pages’ to Boost New Posts
Ever wondered which pages on your site are link magnets? These “backlink powerhouses” hold the key to boosting your SEO game. Think of them as internal linking superstars, carrying tons of “link juice” that can fuel your new content’s ranking potential.
Why They Matter:
These superstar pages act like authority hubs, passing on their link value to connected pages. Simply put, linking new content to these powerhouses gives them an SEO boost, like a golden piggyback ride to search engine glory.
Finding Your Champions:
Google Search Console is your treasure map. Head to the Links Report, then “External Links” > “Top Linked Pages.” Behold! Your backlink royalty awaits, crowned with the most inbound links. Download that list – it’s your internal linking goldmine.
Harnessing the Power:
Now, get strategic. Analyze your powerhouse pages and their content. What valuable insights or related topics can they seamlessly connect to your new content? Craft natural, relevant internal links, directing users from these high-authority pages to your fresh gems.
By strategically leveraging your backlink powerhouses, you’ll unleash a wave of SEO power, giving your new content the authority it craves and boosting your overall site rankings. So, go forth, identify your champions, and watch your SEO reach new heights!
Find Easy Win Keywords for Quick Results
Ditch the guesswork, tap into Google’s insights. Google Search Console (GSC) isn’t just a ranking report, it’s a treasure trove of data straight from the source.
Dive into Page Reports and uncover:
- Keywords Driving Traffic: See the queries bringing visitors to your pages.
- Click Potential: Gauge how often each keyword clicks through to your content.
- Ranking Goldmines: Discover hidden gems – keywords you rank for (potentially positions 5-30) without explicit optimization. These are your “easy wins”!
Why “easy wins”? Optimizing for these existing rankings takes less effort and can boost your page higher in a flash. Think: relevant title tags, early keyword mentions, strategic image alt text, and natural keyword flow throughout the content.
Imagine, pages already getting traffic are just a tweak away from ranking like champions. Unleash the power of GSC and watch your content climb!
Maximize Your Crawl Budget
Google bots, like picky shoppers, prioritize quality over quantity when crawling your website.
This limited “crawl budget” favors authoritative sites and focuses on valuable pages. New websites and massive, product-packed eCommerce stores need to be extra mindful of this.
Your friendly neighborhood GSC Crawl Stats Report is your key to understanding this budget. See which pages Google deems worthy and identify any crawl errors hindering your site’s discoverability.
Duplicate content is another budget drainer. Squash it or channel it with proper canonicals, especially for your product variations. Think of it as organizing your store for both Google bots and human shoppers – clear paths lead to happier experiences.
Monitor Core Web Vitals and Address Indexing Errors
Master Google’s SERP with these SEO power tools:
Tired of lagging behind in search results?
Tune up your site and soar up the rankings with these essential Google Search Console features:
- Core Web Vitals Report: Think of it as a speed test for your pages. Slow loading or sluggish interaction? This report flags them, along with handy optimization tips to get you back in the green.
- Page Indexing Report: Ever wonder if Google sees all your amazing content? This report keeps you in the loop on any indexing issues, showing you exactly where to fix them and boost your visibility.
Crawl Errors, such as server issues, broken links, and redirect problems, should be addressed by ensuring your hosting server is reliable, repairing broken links, and setting up proper redirects.
Coverage Issues, such as unblocking blocked pages, correcting “no index” tags on important pages, addressing duplicate content, and resolving any other issues identified by Google Search Console reports, should also be managed. It’s essential to regularly use these reports to maintain a well-indexed website.
Find keyword cannibalization issues with Google Search Console
To identify keyword cannibalization issues with Google Search Console, analyze the Performance report to locate keywords targeted by multiple pages. Look for instances where similar keywords are associated with different pages on your site.
Assess the performance data of each page to determine which one is performing better. Keyword cannibalization often occurs when multiple pages compete for the same or similar queries, leading to confusion for search engines.
Once identified, you can take steps to choose a primary page, optimize its content, and implement solutions such as canonicalization or redirects to resolve the issue.
Search Console for SEO Copywriting
Search Console can help you optimize your SEO copywriting for better rankings and visibility on Google’s search results.
For example, the Performance report can give you an overview of how your website is performing, including the number of impressions, clicks, click-through rate, and average position.
The URL Inspection tool can show you how Google crawls and renders a specific page on your website. The Coverage report will show you the index status of your website and details about any errors or warnings.
And the Enhancements report can help you identify features that can improve your SEO copywriting, such as breadcrumbs or sitelinks search box.
Use Google Search Console Data To Find New Topic Ideas.
But not just any topic ideas…
They’re perfect for supporting content to improve rankings (and traffic) through internal linking.
Why?
Google is showing you the keywords they think your existing page(s) are most relevant to.
Here’s how to find them:
- Go to Google Search Console and filter for impressions and position (turn everything else off).
- Select the page you want to create supporting content around, i.e., the page you want to rank higher.
- Analyze the ‘Queries’ for ideas that have a different intent from your main page (normally low ranking).
It’s important to differentiate between queries you could optimize for on the main page vs. creating a new page.
But as always, analyze the results page to find your answers.
Then:
- Publish your new page
- Internally link to your main page
- Repeat for all supporting content
- Watch your rankings and traffic increase
Update Old Content With New Links
When you publish a new blog post, publish a new piece of content, make sure you’re going back and updating your old content with those new links.
So you’re looking at the top keyword that you want to rank for, and going in Google Search Console or checking tools like Keyword Explorer to see what other pages on your site rank for that keyword, and then adding links to the new content to those pages.
I find when I do this, time and time again, it lowers the bounce rate. So you’re not only updating your old page with fresh content and fresh links and adding relevance. You’re adding links to your new content.
So make sure, when you publish new content, you’re updating your old content with those new links.
Better Leverage Search Console Data
I’d look for pages that are getting a good amount of impressions but have a poor CTR (generally ties in with the average positioning as well.
Once you’ve found a few of these pages, filter the performance report by page and look at them individually to see what search terms they’re showing for – are these the terms you want it to be showing for?
From there, do a search for these terms in google (don’t be alarmed if your site is not in the same position GSC said it’s in) and check out the competition. What are they doing better? What content do they have? What links do they have pointing to their page / site?
Don’t forget to check out their metadata and any rich results they might have (e.g. star ratings, which make a post stand out and increase its ‘real estate’ in the SERPs)
Not to hijack your post with my own plug, but I’m in the process of building a little tool to help determine what your potential increase in clicks is from proper CTR optimisation. It’s still very much in alpha development stages, but you could have a look.
Stop Submitting URLS Everytime You Publish Posts
No, you won’t rank any better just because you submit a blog post to Google.
Once your blog is established and has some backlinks, there’s not much point in submitting posts manually, because Google should be spidering your site every day, and finding anything new.
But in the early days, submitting new posts to Google manually will get them picked up straight away – which could be a day or two quicker than waiting for it to visit your site on its own schedule.
It’s good practice to have an XML sitemap listing all the pages you want Google to index. If you’re using WordPress then one of the SEO plugins like Yoast will take care of that for you.
Final Thoughts
While these strategies unlock GSC’s potential, the treasure trove goes deeper.
Uncover niche content gold, diagnose SEO roadblocks, and optimize for stellar performance.
GSC helps you to rank higher. Not because you simply submit your website to it, but because you see website & mobile issues, warnings and fix them. You analyze data and make necessary content & title updates and rank higher.
Author: Jugnu Nagar
SEO Specialist
