Getting the most from Google Search Console

Why Is Search Console the Most Important Tool for Diagnosing SEO Issues?

When your site's organic traffic suddenly drops or important pages disappear from Google results, the first place you should go is Search Console (Google Search Console). This free tool gives you direct access to Google's data—data that you won't find in this precise and unfiltered form in any other tool (such as Analytics or third-party tools).

Many site managers only look at the Performance report and overlook other sections of Search Console. However, to diagnose ranking drops and fix indexing errors, you need to regularly review four main reports: Performance, Index Coverage, Enhancements, and URL Inspection. In this article, you'll learn step by step what information to extract from each and how to resolve the issues.

Performance Report: The Starting Point for Diagnosing Ranking Drops

The Performance report in Search Console shows data on clicks, impressions, click-through rate (CTR), and average position. But the key point is that this report shows all pages and all queries together by default. To accurately diagnose a ranking drop, you need to set up filters.

How to Find Ranking Drops in the Performance Report?

Follow these steps:

1. Log in to Search Console and select "Performance" from the left-hand menu.
2. Change the date range to the last 3 months, then click "Compare" to compare two 6-week periods.
3. Click "Date" and enable the "Compare to previous period" option.
4. Now click "Position" and look at the average position in the chart. If the average position line has noticeably gone up (a higher number means a worse ranking), you have a ranking drop.
5. To find problematic pages, click the "Pages" tab and sort the table by "Position." Pages whose position has dropped from 10 to 25 or more need investigation.

An important note: sometimes a ranking drop only occurs for specific queries. For example, your homepage might rank #3 for "Linux hosting" but drop to #15 for "buy hosting." To check this, click the "Queries" tab and identify queries that have lost position.

Comparing with the Previous Period: A Common Mistake

A common mistake is confusing a ranking drop with a click drop. Sometimes clicks decrease but position stays the same; this usually happens due to seasonal changes or changes in search results (such as the appearance of videos or featured snippets). But if the position has genuinely dropped, you need to look for technical or content-related reasons.

Index Coverage Report: Finding Indexing Errors

The "Index Coverage" report in Search Console shows the indexing status of your pages. This report is divided into four categories: Error, Valid with warnings, Valid, and Excluded. To fix indexing errors, you should focus on the "Error" category.

Common Types of Indexing Errors and Their Solutions

Here are the most common errors you'll see in Search Console and how to fix each one:

• 404 Error (Page Not Found): If a page that was previously indexed now returns a 404, you should redirect it with a 301 to a relevant page, or if it's truly removed, mark it as removed in the report.
• 500 Error (Server Error): This error usually occurs due to server issues or heavy scripts. Check your server logs, and if you're using shared hosting, make sure you have sufficient resources. In these cases, reviewing php.ini settings and increasing memory_limit can help.
• Page with "Found, but has redirect error": This error means there are redirect chains (e.g., A to B and B to C). Simplify the redirects so they only involve one step.
• Page with "Crawled but blocked by robots.txt": If you've accidentally blocked a page in robots.txt, remove that line. To check, open the robots.txt file in your browser and make sure the page path isn't in it.
• Page with "Submitted with noindex": If you've added a noindex tag to a page you want indexed, remove that tag. This error often occurs on pages that are automatically noindexed (e.g., filter pages in WooCommerce stores).

How to Fix Indexing Errors?

To fix errors, follow these steps:

1. In the Index Coverage report, click on each error to see the list of affected pages.
2. Click the "View sample" icon to open a sample URL.
3. Use the "URL Inspection" tool at the top of the page to check the current status of that URL.
4. Fix the issue (e.g., correct the redirect or remove the noindex tag).
5. After fixing the issue, click "Validate Fix" and wait for Google to crawl the page again.

URL Inspection Tool: Checking the Status of a Specific Page

The "URL Inspection" tool at the top of Search Console is one of the most powerful tools for diagnosing indexing issues. With this tool, you can see the status of a specific URL: Is it indexed? When was it last crawled? What errors does it have?

Steps for Using URL Inspection

1. In the top bar of Search Console, enter the full page URL and press Enter.
2. If the page is indexed, you'll see the message "URL is on Google." If not, the message "URL is not on Google" will be displayed.
3. Click "Test Live URL" so Google crawls the page in real time and shows current issues.
4. In the "Coverage" section, you'll see potential errors such as noindex, 404 errors, or robots.txt issues.
5. If the page isn't indexed, click "Request Indexing" so Google crawls the page again.

Important note: Only request indexing for pages where you've actually resolved the issue. If the page still has errors, your request is useless and may cause Google to temporarily limit crawling.

Enhancements Report: Fixing Structural Issues

The "Enhancements" report in Search Console includes sections such as Structured Data, Mobile Pages, and Speed. If you use Schema Markup (e.g., for showing rating stars or FAQs), this report will show related errors.

For example, if you've used JSON-LD to display FAQs and Google reports an error like "Invalid value in mainEntity field," you need to fix the JSON structure. Here's a correct example of JSON-LD for FAQs:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "FAQPage",
  "mainEntity": [{
    "@type": "Question",
    "name": "How to buy Linux hosting?",
    "acceptedAnswer": {
      "@type": "Answer",
      "text": "To buy Linux hosting, first determine your needs and then choose a reputable provider."
    }
  }]
}

After fixing it, use the "Validate Fix" tool and then check the code's validity with the "Rich Results Test" tool on Google's site.

Diagnosing Ranking Drops Caused by Algorithm Changes

Sometimes a ranking drop has nothing to do with technical errors and is caused by a Google algorithm update. In this case, Search Console helps you identify patterns:

• If the ranking drop started on a specific date, compare that date with algorithm update dates (such as Core Updates).
• If only specific pages (e.g., category pages) have dropped, the issue is likely thin content. In this case, strengthen the content on those pages.
• If the ranking drop has affected the entire site, the issue may be external links (toxic backlinks). In this case, use the Disavow tool in Search Console.

To use the Disavow tool, you need to create a text file containing the toxic links and upload it to Search Console. The file format is as follows:

# List of toxic domains
domain:example-spam.com
# List of specific URLs
https://example-spam.com/page1

Note that you should only do this when you're sure the links are truly toxic; improper use of Disavow can harm your rankings.

Summary: A Weekly Routine for Reviewing Search Console

To ensure no issue goes unnoticed, establish a consistent weekly routine:

1. Review the Performance report by comparing two 6-week periods and note pages with position drops.
2. Open the Index Coverage report and check the number of errors. If errors have increased, find the cause.
3. Review the Enhancements report and fix structured data errors.
4. For each new page you've published, use the URL Inspection tool and request indexing.

If you follow this routine regularly, a ranking drop will no longer be a surprise for you. Search Console tells you where the problem is; you just need to listen. And if you're looking for a stable infrastructure for your site, ServerNet can provide suitable hosting for running your site; but your main focus should be on optimizing content and fixing the technical errors explained in this article.