How to Read Google Search Console (GSC) Data

Google Search Console (GSC) is a free tool from Google that helps website owners understand how their site appears in search results. If you have an online store and haven’t set up GSC yet, you should create it now to start tracking your site’s performance. Knowing how to read GSC data can help improve your site’s visibility. This guide will break down the key reports in GSC and how to use them to optimize your website.

1. Performance Report – Measuring Website Visibility

The Performance report provides insights into how users find your website and interact with it. This report is crucial for understanding your site’s visibility and identifying opportunities for optimization.

The Performance report shows how your site is performing in Google Search. Here’s what to focus on:

• Total Clicks – The number of times users clicked on your site from Google search results. More clicks mean more traffic.
• Total Impressions – The number of times your site appeared in search results, even if users didn’t click on it.
• Average CTR (Click-Through Rate) – The percentage of impressions that turned into clicks. A low CTR means you may need to improve your titles and descriptions.
• Average Position – The average ranking of your site for different keywords. A lower number means better visibility.

You can also view the exact queries users are searching for and their current rankings in Google SERPs. This helps you assess how to improve your website and better align it with user intent.

The image below displays our organic traffic performance over time, helping us assess whether our website is improving, declining, or remaining stagnant. As shown, we can clearly see a significant improvement compared to last year’s performance.

What you can do:

1. Identify high-performing pages by checking which ones receive the most clicks and impressions. 
2. Analyze keyword performance by reviewing search queries driving traffic to your site.
3. Track your average position for important keywords and optimize content to improve rankings.
4. Find pages with high impressions but low CTR and improve their titles and descriptions.
5. Track keyword rankings to see which search terms bring traffic. 
6. Compare performance over time to measure your site performance.

2. Indexing Report – Ensuring Pages Are Indexed

The Indexing Report in Google Search Console helps you understand how Google crawls and indexes your website. The main categories include:

Pages 

The Pages section under the Indexing Report helps you understand which pages on your site are indexed by Google and which ones are not. This section is crucial because if a page isn’t indexed, it won’t appear in Google’s search results.

Key Metrics in the Pages Report

• Indexed Pages – Pages that Google has successfully added to its index and can appear in search results.
• Not Indexed Pages – Pages that Google has not indexed for various reasons.

Common Reasons Pages Are Not Indexed

GSC categorizes unindexed pages into different statuses. Here’s what they mean and how to fix them:

1. Discovered – Currently Not Indexed

• Google found the page but hasn’t crawled it yet.
• Possible Cause: Crawl budget issues or Google deciding it’s not important enough.
• Fix: Improve internal linking, ensure the page has valuable content, and submit it manually via URL Inspection Tool.

2. Crawled – Currently Not Indexed

• Google crawled the page but decided not to index it.
• Possible Cause: Thin content, duplicate content, or low perceived value.
• Fix: Improve content quality, add unique information, and ensure it’s not a duplicate of another page.

3. Excluded by ‘Noindex’ Tag

• The page has a meta noindex tag instructing Google not to index it.
• Fix: Remove the noindex tag if you want the page to appear in search.

4. Blocked by Robots.txt

• Googlebot is blocked from crawling the page due to robots.txt rules.
• Fix: Check your robots.txt file and update it to allow crawling if necessary.

5. Duplicate Without User-Selected Canonical

• Google found duplicate content but couldn’t determine which version to index.
• Fix: Use canonical tags to specify the preferred version of the page.

6. Alternate Page with Proper Canonical Tag

• The page is marked as a duplicate, and Google is indexing another version instead.
• Fix: No action needed unless the wrong page is being indexed.

7. Soft 404

• Google thinks the page doesn’t provide meaningful content.
• Fix: Ensure the page has useful content or set up a proper 404 error if the page is unnecessary.

8. Page with Redirect

• The page redirects to another URL.
• Fix: No action needed unless the redirect is incorrect.

How to Use the Pages Section Effectively

✅ Check for drops in indexed pages – A sudden decrease in indexed pages could indicate indexing issues.
✅ Fix non-indexed pages – Review the reasons and resolve them to ensure important pages get indexed.
✅ Regularly inspect new pages – Use the URL Inspection Tool to confirm if a new page is indexed.
✅ Ensure proper redirects and canonicalization – Avoid duplicate content issues by correctly setting up canonicals.

Understanding and optimizing the Pages section helps ensure that Google indexes the right pages, improving your site’s visibility in search results.

Sitemaps

A sitemap is a file that lists all the important pages on your site, helping Google discover and index them more effectively. The Sitemaps Report in GSC shows which XML sitemaps Google has processed and whether there are any errors.

Key Metrics in the Sitemaps Report:

• Submitted XML Sitemaps – Lists all the sitemaps you’ve submitted.
• Status – Indicates whether Google successfully fetched and read the sitemap.
• Discovered URLs – Shows the number of pages Google found in the sitemap.
• Errors & Warnings – Highlights issues like incorrect formatting or unreachable URLs.

How to Use It:

1.  Ensure your sitemap is up to date with all important URLs.
2.  Submit your sitemap in GSC whenever you add or remove major pages.
3. Check for errors regularly and fix broken links or incorrect URLs.
4. Avoid including URLs with “noindex” tags, redirects, or errors.

Removals

The Removals section allows you to temporarily remove URLs from Google’s search results. Here’s what you need to know:

What You Can Do in the Removals Section

1. Temporary Removals – Request Google to remove a URL from search results for about six months. This is useful if you need to take down a page quickly but don’t want it permanently deindexed.
2. Clear Cached URL – Remove the cached version of a page and its snippet from search results, while keeping the page indexed.
3. Outdated Content – See removal requests for outdated or irrelevant content reported by users via Google’s Remove Outdated Content tool.

When to Use It

✅ A page has sensitive information and needs to be removed from search results quickly.
✅ A deleted product or outdated content is still appearing in search.
✅ You’ve updated content, but the cached version shows old information.

Important Notes

• This does not block Google from crawling the page permanently. You should use robots.txt, noindex tags, or remove the page entirely for a long-term solution.
• The removal request only affects Google Search and does not delete the actual page from your website.

3. Page Experience Report – Evaluating User Experience

Google prefers websites that provide a smooth user experience. This report covers:

• Core Web Vitals (LCP, FID, CLS) – Measures loading speed, interactivity, and layout stability.
• Mobile Usability – Ensures your site is mobile-friendly.
• HTTPS Security – Confirms your site is secure.

Example LCP issues exceeding 4 seconds on mobile Scenario

Problem:

The website owner checks the Google Search Console’s Core Web Vitals report and finds that 408 URLs are marked as poor due to LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) issues exceeding 4 seconds on mobile. The report shows no URLs in the “Good” or “Need Improvement” categories, indicating severe performance issues.

Possible Causes:

1. Large Images & Unoptimized Media: The homepage and product pages contain high-resolution images that are not optimized for fast loading.
2. Slow Server Response Time: The hosting server may have delays in processing requests, affecting LCP scores.
3. Render-Blocking Resources: Excessive JavaScript and CSS files are delaying page rendering.
4. No Proper Caching Strategy: The website does not use caching or a CDN (Content Delivery Network) to improve load times.

Action Plan:

1. Optimize Images: Use WebP format, compress large images, and implement lazy loading.
2. Improve Hosting Performance: Upgrade to a faster server or enable caching mechanisms.
3. Reduce Render-Blocking Elements: Minify and defer JavaScript, remove unused CSS, and use asynchronous loading where possible.
4. Enable a CDN: Distribute content across multiple servers for faster loading.
5. Monitor Progress: After making optimizations, validate fixes in Google Search Console and monitor improvements in Core Web Vitals.

Expected Outcome:

• LCP improves to under 2.5 seconds, moving URLs from “Poor” to “Good.”
• Enhanced mobile experience leads to better SEO rankings and conversions.

Example good HTTPS Report

4. Links Report – Understanding Backlinks and Internal Links

Links are important for SEO, and this report helps you see:

• Top linking sites – Websites that link to yours.
• Most linked pages – The pages on your site getting the most backlinks.
• Internal links – How your own pages link to each other.

How to Use It:

1. Gain high-quality backlinks to improve authority. 
2. Strengthen internal links to help users and search engines navigate your site. 
3. Watch for spammy backlinks and disavow harmful ones if needed.

5. Manual Actions & Security Issues – Avoiding Google Penalties.

If Google detects violations of its guidelines, you’ll see warnings here:

• Manual actions – Google penalties for rule violations.
• Security threats – Issues like hacked content or malware.

Scenario:

Your traffic suddenly drops, and Google Search Console shows a manual action for “thin content” on multiple pages. Google considers these pages low quality. Adding useful content and submitting a reconsideration request can restore rankings.

How to Use It:

1. Fix manual actions ASAP to restore rankings. 
2. Regularly check for malware and hacking attempts. 
3. Follow Google’s guidelines to stay penalty-free.

Final Thoughts

Google Search Console provides valuable insights that can improve your site’s performance in search results. By regularly checking these reports, fixing errors, and optimizing content, you can boost your site’s rankings and attract more visitors. So if you’re new to GSC, this will help you make data-driven decisions and grow your online presence even more.

Want to know more about your site performance? Contact Us Now for a Free Website Audit!