Google Search Console is a powerful SEO tool. Most people log into it for checking the vanity metrics such as impressions and clicks. However. Just checking your standalone metric may not be able to help you improve your SEO.
What is Google Search Console?
Google Search Console is a free tool provided by Google that can help to keep track of your website. If there is an issue with the search result and appearance of your website, you can use it for troubleshooting. It is possible to locate technical errors, see backlinks and submit sitemaps.
How Can You Utilise Google Search Console to Improve SEO
Instead of dissecting the Search Console report, we like to offer you a few ways to use the platform for improving your SEO.
Improving Rank of Underachieving Keywords
Underachieving keywords are those lying at four or five on the search engine result page. These websites are not getting their due as most people look at the first three links only. As a result, you are failing to obtain the traffic that you deserve.
If you are at the eighth rank then you may get only 1.8% of the total searchers on that specific keyword whereas a website in the number two position is obtaining about 14% of the traffic.
Using the Google Search Console, you can easily find the underperforming keywords. Page analysis allows you to get an idea about the issue and how can you optimise to increase your ranking on SERP. Here, you can improve your on-page SEO efforts plus you can add some internal links, look for backlinking and try to improve page speed. In this way, you can move your keywords upward and get the position you want.
Utilizing High-Ranking Keywords with Low CTR for Optimising Pages
Every page in the first position does not get 30% of the clicks. It is average. So, you may get more or less traffic. Now, you have to find the pages that perform less than average and analyse them to know how can you boost the CTR and attract more traffic.
From the ‘Search Result’ report in the Search Console, you can get data about CTR and rank. Here, you must concentrate on the keywords ranking below 3.
Now, you can Google the keyword ranking 3rd. It is possible to find a website with ads and featured snippets in addition to a video carousel. Due to all these SERP features, the link has managed to attract so much traffic.
Look to optimise your page so that it can earn a featured snippet from the SERP. These featured snippets usually get an average of 8.6% of the clicks. If you add a video, it can popularise the page more. However, you must remember that all the keywords cannot offer you more opportunities. So, you must choose the keyword carefully after research.
Find a Solution to Your Sitemap Issue
In case of a wrong sitemap, the Google crawler may become confused. Therefore, a lot of the time and resources may be wasted. Your URL may appear wrong as a result.
To know the issue, you can check the ‘Sitemap’ Report. It may show the warnings, errors and also valid URLs in addition to the excluded ones.
If there is not any major issue with the page, you can delete the page and reload it again by adding a perfect sitemap to get results and improve your SEO.
