Google Search Console, aka GSC, is a free tool offering several useful website management and monitoring options. Many SEO and digital marketing experts call it “the best free SEO tool” on the market. GSC has many valuable metrics and insights to offer, which is why this platform is a must-have for any marketing pro.
The original name for this service was Google Webmaster Tools, and Google changed it on May 20, 2015. In January 2018, Google introduced a new version of GSC; in September 2019, the old version became unavailable. You still can use some of its features, however. In November 2020, Google introduced many helpful and valuable reports to the tool.
Why should you use GSC?
Thanks to GSC, you can find out, for example, whether there are any problems with the indexation of a domain in the search engine, whether the website has a manual filter from Google, or whether you should submit XML sitemaps, amongst more capabilities. The most valuable of its features include:
- Performance reports – Keywords, images, video and news,
- Coverage issues – Indexed URLs and errors,
- Page experience – Core web vitals, mobile experience, HTTPS and security issues,
- Links reports – Inbound, outbound and internal links,
- Crawl statistics – How Google bot is crawling your website,
- Google manual actions and security issues check, and
- Data highlighter tool.