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Often the forgotten child of Google, Search Console is a powerful tool to be used for immediate and clear SEO insight direct from the search giant itself. Analysis of key data highlighted in Search Console can immediately benefit SEO.
Sitemaps
Using the sitemap function allow for the testing and submission of Sitemaps. Search Console will also tell you how many pages are indexed, any warnings and errors associated with a sitemap.
As crawlers use a sitemap as a key indicator of what they expect to see when visiting a site and what is indexed. If key parts of your website cannot be seen, or are not being indexed, then there’s a need to work on the sitemap and the site as a whole to rectify these issues.
404 Pages/Crawl Errors
If pages in the sitemap which are being crawled and showing up errors are showing in Google Search Console then is imperative to investigate further. If these are unexpected 404 pages, which you feel should be live, then fixing pages and find the cause of the problem is also of the utmost importance.
A bad crawler experience is associated with a bad user experience and rankings will be impacted as search engines see appropriate.
Data Highlighting
If you are selling products, holding events or are a local business then the use of Data Highlighting is very effective. Carrying out this task will send key data to Google and this well then be passed on for users looking for specific information or products relating to your business.
These then show up on organic results to engage click-throughs.
Search Queries/Volumes
Using the search queries and volumes section of GSC can provide insight to what your website is showing for in SERPs and the value of these keywords to your business. Hook this data up to third party systems and you can start to see the value of these keywords in terms of real traffic and ultimately conversions to a website.
Link Overviews
Get an in-depth look at the links Google is seeing pointing to your website. This is important as it shows what Google sees, not what the full link profile is of the website.
There’s a need to understand the difference between what Google sees and how this impacts your website and what is seen elsewhere. Google has worked hard to remove bad links from its network, meaning your bad links from a third-party source might not be impacting your website at all.
POLARIS is an SEO agency based in London. Contact info@polarisagency.co.uk for more information
