Table Of Contents
Introduction
If you have a website, there is one free tool from Google that you simply cannot afford to ignore: Google Search Console. Whether you are a small business owner, a blogger, a digital marketer, or a developer, understanding what Google Search Console is and how to use it can make a dramatic difference in how well your website performs in search results.
This guide is written for everyone, including people who are new to SEO (Search Engine Optimization). You do not need to be a technical expert to use Google Search Console effectively. In this article, we will walk through everything from the very basics to the advanced features, explaining each concept in plain, simple language so you can start using this tool with confidence.
| Think of Google Search Console as your website’s direct communication channel with Google. It tells you what Google sees when it visits your site, what search terms bring people to your pages, and where you might have problems that are holding your site back. |
What is Google Search Console?
Google Search Console (often abbreviated as GSC) is a free web service provided by Google. It gives website owners, webmasters, and SEO professionals a window into how Google’s search engine interacts with their website. You can use it to monitor your site’s presence in Google Search, identify issues that could harm your rankings, and get detailed reports about how users are finding your site online.
Previously known as Google Webmaster Tools (it was rebranded in 2015), Google Search Console has evolved into one of the most powerful and data-rich platforms available for SEO work. The best part? It is completely free.
Why Is It Called ‘Search Console’?
The name reflects its core purpose. It acts as a console, or control panel, specifically designed to help you understand your website’s relationship with Google Search. Just as a pilot uses a cockpit console to understand what is happening with an aircraft, you use Google Search Console to understand what is happening with your site in the eyes of Google.
What Can Google Search Console Do?
At a high level, Google Search Console can help you with the following:
- Discover which search queries bring visitors to your site
- See how often your site appears in Google Search results
- Check which pages Google has indexed (and which it has not)
- Find and fix technical errors on your website
- Submit sitemaps so Google can find your content faster
- Understand your website’s mobile usability
- Monitor your site’s Core Web Vitals performance
- Receive alerts when Google detects a security issue on your site
Why Google Search Console Matters for SEO
SEO is the process of improving your website so that it ranks higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). To do SEO well, you need data. You need to know which keywords are driving traffic, which pages are performing well, and what technical barriers might be preventing Google from properly reading and ranking your content. Google Search Console provides all of this and more.
| Unlike other analytics tools that show you what happens after a visitor arrives on your site, Google Search Console focuses on what happens before the visit. It shows you your site’s performance in the search results themselves. |
The Connection Between GSC and Google Rankings
Google’s search algorithm uses hundreds of factors to decide where your pages rank in search results. Many of these factors are directly visible in Google Search Console. For example:
- If Google cannot crawl a page, it cannot rank that page. GSC shows you crawl errors and provides insights similar to a Nostras website speed test for performance issues.
- If your site loads slowly on mobile devices, that can hurt your rankings. GSC shows you mobile performance data.
- If your pages are not indexed, they will not appear in search results at all. GSC shows you indexing status.
By regularly checking Google Search Console and acting on the insights it provides, you are essentially keeping your website in good standing with Google, which naturally supports better rankings over time.
How to Set Up Google Search Console
Getting started with Google Search Console is straightforward. You will need a Google account (like a Gmail account) and ownership or access to a website. Follow the steps below to set it up.
Step 1: Go to Google Search Console
Open your web browser and navigate to search.google.com/search-console. Sign in with your Google account.
Step 2: Add Your Property
Once you are signed in, you will be prompted to add a property. A property is simply Google’s term for your website. You have two options:
Domain Property: This covers your entire domain across all subdomains and both HTTP and HTTPS. For example, adding example.com would include www.example.com, blog.example.com, http://example.com, and https://example.com. This is the recommended option for most users.
URL Prefix Property: This only covers a specific URL and its variations. For example, adding https://www.example.com only covers that exact version of your website. This can be useful if you only want to track a specific section of a site.
Step 3: Verify Ownership
Before Google gives you access to your site’s data, you need to prove that you own or manage the website. This is called verification. Google offers several methods:
| Verification Method | How It Works |
| HTML File Upload | Download a file from Google and upload it to your website’s root folder |
| HTML Meta Tag | Add a small snippet of code to your website’s homepage |
| Google Analytics | If already using GA, connect it to verify instantly |
| Google Tag Manager | Connect your existing GTM account to verify |
| DNS Record | Add a TXT record in your domain registrar’s DNS settings |
For most beginners, the easiest method is the HTML meta tag. You simply copy a line of code that Google provides and paste it into the <head> section of your homepage. Once done, click ‘Verify’ in Google Search Console and your property will be confirmed.
Step 4: Wait for Data to Populate
After verification, Google Search Console will begin pulling in data about your website. If your site already has a history of search traffic, you may see data within a day or two. If your site is brand new, it may take a few weeks before meaningful data appears, since Google needs time to crawl and index your pages.
Navigating the Google Search Console Dashboard
Once you are inside Google Search Console, you will see a left-hand sidebar with several menu sections. Let us explore each major section and what it offers.
Overview
The Overview page is your homepage inside GSC. It shows a quick summary of your site’s performance across three key areas: Performance (search traffic), Coverage (indexing), and Enhancements (like mobile usability and Core Web Vitals). It also shows any recent manual actions or security issues. Think of it as your dashboard for a quick health check of your website.
Performance
This is arguably the most important and most used section of Google Search Console. The Performance report tells you exactly how your website is performing in Google Search. It shows you data from two primary sources:
- Search: How your site performs in regular Google Search results
- Discover: How your content appears in Google Discover (the personalized content feed on mobile devices)
Understanding the Four Key Metrics
The Performance report is built around four core metrics. Understanding these is essential for using GSC effectively.
1. Total Clicks: This is the number of times someone clicked on your website link in Google Search results and visited your site. This is your actual search traffic from Google.
2. Total Impressions: This is how many times your website appeared in search results, even if someone did not click on it. A high number of impressions with few clicks can indicate your title or description needs improvement.
3. Average CTR (Click-Through Rate): CTR is calculated as Clicks divided by Impressions, expressed as a percentage. If your page appeared 1,000 times in search results and received 50 clicks, your CTR is 5%. A higher CTR means your listing is compelling to searchers.
4. Average Position: This is the average ranking position of your pages in search results. A position of 1 means you appear at the top of the first page. A position of 10 means you typically appear at the bottom of the first page. Lower numbers are better.
| Pro Tip: If a page has a high number of impressions but a low CTR, that is a strong signal to rewrite your page title and meta description to make them more enticing. Small changes here can lead to significant traffic increases without any change in rankings. |
Filtering and Comparing Data
The Performance report allows you to filter data in several powerful ways. You can filter by date range, search type (web, image, video, news), country, device (desktop, mobile, tablet), and search appearance. You can also compare two date ranges side by side to see growth or decline over time. This comparison feature is especially useful for measuring the impact of SEO changes you have made to your site.
The Queries Tab
Inside the Performance report, the Queries tab shows you the actual search terms (keywords) that people typed into Google before clicking on your website. This is extremely valuable because it tells you what your audience is actually searching for. You might discover that people are finding your site through keywords you never specifically targeted, opening up new opportunities for content creation.
The Pages Tab
This tab shows which specific pages on your website are receiving the most clicks and impressions. It helps you identify your top-performing content and pages that might need more attention. If a page has lots of impressions but low clicks, it might be ranking well but failing to attract searchers due to a weak title or description.
The URL Inspection Tool
The URL Inspection Tool is one of the most useful features in Google Search Console, especially when you want to understand how Google sees a specific page on your website. You can access it from the top search bar within GSC or from the left sidebar.
What Does URL Inspection Tell You?
When you type in a specific URL from your website, the tool provides a detailed report about that page. Here is what it covers:
- Whether the URL is indexed in Google’s database
- When Google last crawled the page
- What the page looks like to Googlebot (the crawler)
- Any canonical issues (whether Google is treating another URL as the main version)
- Mobile usability status for that specific page
- Any structured data detected on the page
Requesting Indexing for New or Updated Pages
One of the most practical uses of the URL Inspection Tool is to request indexing. When you publish a new page or make significant updates to an existing one, you can use this tool to ask Google to crawl and index the page right away, rather than waiting for Google’s regular crawl schedule. Simply inspect the URL and click ‘Request Indexing.’ This can speed up the time it takes for your new content to appear in search results.
| Important Note: Requesting indexing does not guarantee that Google will index your page, or index it exactly when you want. It simply signals to Google that the page is ready. Google still makes the final decision based on its quality standards. |
Indexing Reports: Coverage and Sitemaps
For your pages to appear in search results, they first need to be indexed by Google. The Indexing section of Google Search Console helps you understand the state of your site’s index and troubleshoot any problems.
The Pages Report (Previously Known as Coverage)
The Pages report shows you four categories of URLs on your website:
Error: These are pages that Google tried to index but could not, due to an error. This is the most urgent category to address. Common errors include server errors (5xx), redirect errors, and pages that return a ‘not found’ (404) status.
Valid with Warning: Google has indexed these pages but found something worth noting. For example, a page might be indexed but also submitted to a disavow file, which is contradictory.
Valid: These pages are successfully indexed and can appear in Google Search. This is the status you want for all important pages.
Excluded: These pages were not indexed by Google, but not because of an error. There are many reasons a page might be excluded, such as: you deliberately blocked it with a noindex tag, Google found a duplicate of the page and chose a different URL as the canonical version, or the page was blocked by your robots.txt file.
Why Excluded Pages Deserve Attention
Not all excluded pages are a problem. For example, if you have duplicate pages intentionally set to noindex, seeing them in the Excluded category is perfectly normal. However, if you find important pages in the Excluded category that you expected to be indexed, that is a red flag requiring investigation. Common reasons important pages get excluded include:
- Accidentally adding a noindex tag to a page you wanted indexed
- An incorrect canonical tag pointing to a different URL
- The page being blocked in the robots.txt file
- The page having thin or duplicate content that Google does not consider indexable
Sitemaps
A sitemap is a file that lists all the important URLs on your website. Submitting a sitemap to Google Search Console helps Google discover your content more efficiently, especially for large websites or newly published content. Most modern content management systems like WordPress automatically generate a sitemap for you.
To submit your sitemap, navigate to the Sitemaps section in GSC and enter the URL of your sitemap file (for example, https://www.yoursite.com/sitemap.xml). Google will then use this as a guide for crawling your site.
Experience Reports: Mobile Usability and Core Web Vitals
In recent years, Google has placed enormous emphasis on user experience as an SEO ranking factor. Google Search Console includes dedicated reports for two of the most important experience-related metrics.
Mobile Usability
With the majority of internet users now browsing on mobile devices, Google uses mobile-first indexing. This means Google primarily uses the mobile version of your site to determine rankings. The Mobile Usability report in GSC identifies pages on your site that have problems for mobile users. Common issues include:
- Text that is too small to read on a mobile screen
- Clickable elements (like buttons or links) placed too close together
- Content that extends beyond the screen width
- Viewport not being set correctly
Fixing mobile usability issues is not just good for SEO, it is good for your users. A site that works perfectly on mobile converts better, has lower bounce rates, and keeps visitors engaged longer, all signals that can contribute to better search rankings.
Core Web Vitals
Core Web Vitals are a set of specific, measurable factors that Google uses to evaluate the real-world user experience of a webpage. As of 2021, Core Web Vitals became an official Google ranking signal. There are three main metrics:
| Core Web Vital Metric | What It Measures |
| Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) | How long it takes for the largest visible element (like a hero image or headline) to fully load. Good LCP is under 2.5 seconds. |
| Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) | How much the page layout unexpectedly shifts while loading. A low CLS score means content does not jump around, providing a stable experience. |
| Interaction to Next Paint (INP) | How responsive the page is to user interactions like clicks and taps. Lower INP means the page feels fast and responsive. |
The Core Web Vitals report in Google Search Console groups your URLs into three buckets: Good, Needs Improvement, and Poor. Clicking on any issue gives you details about which pages are affected and what the specific problem is. Improving these scores can positively impact both your rankings and how users feel about your website.
Enhancements: Structured Data and Rich Results
Structured data is a standardized way of providing additional information about your content to search engines. When implemented correctly, structured data can help your pages appear as rich results in Google Search, which are enhanced listings that stand out visually compared to standard blue link results.
What Are Rich Results?
Rich results include things like:
- Star ratings and reviews displayed directly in search results (for product or review pages)
- FAQ sections expanded directly in the SERP
- Recipe cards showing cooking time, ratings, and ingredients
- Event listings showing date, time, and location
- Breadcrumb navigation shown in the search result URL
How GSC Reports on Structured Data
If your website uses structured data markup (typically in a format called JSON-LD), Google Search Console will automatically detect it and show you a report for each type. For example, if you have a recipe website using recipe schema, you will see a Recipe structured data report. This report tells you how many pages have valid structured data, and flags any errors or warnings that might prevent your pages from appearing as rich results.
| Having valid structured data and appearing as a rich result can dramatically increase your CTR. Studies have shown that rich results attract significantly more clicks than plain blue links at the same ranking position. This is one of the highest-impact SEO opportunities available for many types of content. |
Security and Manual Actions
These two sections deal with more serious issues that can have an immediate and severe impact on your website’s presence in search.
Manual Actions
A manual action is a penalty applied to your website by a human reviewer at Google. This happens when someone on Google’s spam team reviews your site and determines that it violates Google’s Webmaster Quality Guidelines. Manual actions result in your site ranking lower or being removed from search results entirely. Common reasons for manual actions include:
- Unnatural or manipulative inbound links pointing to your site
- Thin or low-quality content designed to game search rankings
- Hidden text or keyword stuffing
- Cloaking, where your site shows different content to Google than to users
- Hacked content that has been injected into your site
If you have no manual actions against your site, this section will display a reassuring green checkmark. If you do have a manual action, GSC will explain what the issue is and provide steps to fix it. Once fixed, you can submit a reconsideration request to Google asking them to lift the penalty.
Security Issues
This section alerts you to security problems that Google has detected on your website. The most common issues include:
- Malware: Malicious software has been installed on your site, usually by hackers
- Phishing: Your site is being used to trick users into providing personal or financial information
- Harmful downloads: Your site is serving files that could damage a user’s computer
- Deceptive pages: Content on your site is designed to mislead users
Security issues are not just an SEO problem. They put your visitors at risk and can destroy trust in your brand. Google will display a warning to users in search results if your site has a known security issue, which can devastate your traffic. Fixing these problems quickly is critical.
Links Report: Understanding Your Backlink Profile
Backlinks (links from other websites pointing to yours) are one of the oldest and most powerful ranking factors in SEO. Google Search Console provides a Links report that gives you a clear picture of your website’s backlink profile.
External Links
The External Links section shows:
- Top linked pages: Which pages on your site have the most backlinks from other websites
- Top linking sites: Which external websites link to you most frequently
- Top linking text: The anchor text (the clickable words) that other sites use when linking to you
This data is incredibly useful for understanding your site’s authority and for identifying which content naturally attracts links. If a particular page is attracting many backlinks, that is a strong signal of its value, and you might want to create similar content.
Internal Links
Internal links are links that go from one page on your site to another page on the same site. The Internal Links section shows which of your pages receive the most internal links. This matters because internal links pass authority and relevance signals from one page to another. If important pages have very few internal links pointing to them, they are essentially isolated, making it harder for Google to discover and rank them.
| A practical SEO technique: Use the Internal Links data to find your most-linked pages and then add internal links from those high-authority pages to other important pages you want to rank. This passes link authority to pages that need a boost. |
Practical SEO Workflows Using Google Search Console
Now that you understand what each section does, let us look at some practical workflows to apply these insights to your SEO strategy.
Workflow 1: Finding Quick Win Keywords
One of the most actionable strategies in SEO involves finding keywords where you rank on page 2 of Google (positions 11 to 20) and pushing those pages onto page 1.
- Open the Performance report in Google Search Console
- Click on the ‘Queries’ tab to see your keyword data
- Add a filter for ‘Position’ and set it to show positions greater than 10 and less than or equal to 20
- Sort the results by ‘Impressions’ to find keywords with high search volume
- These are your quick win opportunities. The pages are already somewhat relevant to these keywords; they just need a push
- Update the content on those pages to be more comprehensive, add relevant internal links pointing to them, and ensure the title tag and meta description use the target keyword naturally
Workflow 2: Fixing Indexing Issues
If you notice a drop in organic traffic or believe some pages are not being found by Google, follow this workflow:
- Go to the Indexing section and click on Pages
- Look at the Error category first and address any errors immediately
- Review the Excluded category and check if any important pages are listed there
- Click on the reason for exclusion to see which pages are affected
- Use the URL Inspection Tool to investigate specific pages and understand why they are excluded
- Fix the root cause, then use Request Indexing to prompt Google to re-crawl the corrected pages
Workflow 3: Improving CTR for High-Impression Pages
A page that appears many times in search results but rarely gets clicked is a missed opportunity. Here is how to improve it:
- In the Performance report, click on the Pages tab
- Sort by Impressions and look for pages with a CTR below your site average (usually below 3 to 5% for informational content)
- Click on a page to see which queries it appears for
- Rewrite the page’s title tag to be more compelling, specific, or to include a power word or number
- Rewrite the meta description to give a clear reason to click, including a call to action
- Monitor the page’s CTR over the following 2 to 4 weeks to measure improvement
Workflow 4: Monitoring Site Health After Changes
Whenever you make significant changes to your website, such as a redesign, a URL restructure, or switching from HTTP to HTTPS, Google Search Console is the first place you should monitor. After major changes:
- Check the Performance report for any sudden drops in clicks or impressions
- Review the Pages report for a spike in indexing errors
- Use URL Inspection to verify that key pages are still indexed correctly
- Check the Mobile Usability report to confirm the changes did not break anything on mobile
Google Search Console vs Google Analytics: Understanding the Difference
Many beginners confuse Google Search Console with Google Analytics. While both tools are free and both deal with website data, they serve very different purposes.
| Feature | Google Search Console vs Google Analytics |
| Primary Focus | GSC: Pre-visit data (how users find you in Google). GA: Post-visit data (what users do on your site) |
| Traffic Sources | GSC: Only Google Search. GA: All traffic sources including direct, social, email, paid ads |
| Keyword Data | GSC: Shows actual search queries. GA: Limited keyword data after ‘not provided’ era |
| Technical SEO Data | GSC: Yes (indexing, crawl errors, structured data). GA: No |
| User Behavior Data | GSC: No. GA: Yes (pages visited, time on site, bounce rate, conversions) |
| Setup Required | GSC: DNS or code verification. GA: Tracking code on all pages |
In practice, the two tools are complementary. You should use both together for a complete picture of your website’s performance. For example, Google Search Console tells you that a certain keyword brought 500 clicks to a page last month. Google Analytics tells you how those 500 visitors behaved once they arrived: did they read the whole article, click through to other pages, or bounce immediately? Together, these insights help you improve both your SEO and your website’s content quality.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Using Google Search Console
Even experienced SEO professionals make mistakes when interpreting data in Google Search Console. Here are the most common pitfalls and how to avoid them.
Mistake 1: Ignoring the Date Range
GSC defaults to showing data for the last 3 months. For some analyses, this is fine, but for others, you need to look at longer time periods to spot trends. Always be aware of the date range you are using and adjust it based on what question you are trying to answer.
Mistake 2: Confusing Average Position with Actual Position
The average position metric in GSC is an average across all the searches where your page appeared. Your page might rank in position 3 for one keyword and position 25 for another, giving you an average of 14. This does not mean your page always appears at position 14. Always look at position data in context with the specific queries and pages.
Mistake 3: Ignoring Excluded Pages
Many website owners only look at the Error category in the Pages report and ignore Excluded pages. However, important pages can end up in the Excluded category for reasons that are not immediately obvious, such as incorrect canonical tags. Make it a habit to regularly review both categories.
Mistake 4: Acting on Short-Term Data Fluctuations
Google Search rankings fluctuate constantly, especially over short periods. A drop in clicks or impressions over one week is not necessarily cause for alarm. Look at trends over months, not days. Before making major changes based on a data shift, make sure the change is sustained and significant.
Mistake 5: Neglecting Mobile Usability Issues
Some website owners see mobile usability warnings in GSC and dismiss them, thinking their site looks fine on their own phone. However, issues can affect specific devices, screen sizes, or operating systems that you might not personally test on. Every mobile usability issue flagged in GSC should be taken seriously, as mobile experience is directly tied to rankings.
Advanced Tips for Getting More from Google Search Console
Once you are comfortable with the basics, there are several advanced strategies that can help you extract even more value from Google Search Console.
Tip 1: Segment Data by Device
Use the device filter in the Performance report to compare how your site performs on desktop versus mobile. If your mobile clicks are significantly lower than desktop despite mobile being the dominant device type, that points to a mobile experience problem worth investigating.
Tip 2: Track Seasonality
By comparing data from the same period year over year, you can distinguish seasonal traffic changes from actual ranking improvements or losses. For example, if you run a tax help website and your traffic spikes every March and April, knowing that pattern prevents you from incorrectly attributing the spike to an SEO change you made.
Tip 3: Identify Content Gaps with Impressions Data
Pages with a large number of impressions but very few clicks, especially for informational queries, may be appearing in search results for a topic but not addressing it well enough to earn the click. Use this data to identify content gaps and create new, more comprehensive articles specifically targeting those queries.
Tip 4: Connect GSC with Google Analytics 4
Google now allows you to link Google Search Console with Google Analytics 4. Once linked, you can view GSC data (like organic search queries) directly within the GA4 interface alongside on-site behavior data. This integration provides a much more holistic view of how search performance translates into real user engagement on your site.
Tip 5: Set Up Email Alerts
Google Search Console can automatically send you email alerts when it detects significant issues with your website, such as a security problem, a sudden spike in crawl errors, or a manual action. Make sure your email address is verified in GSC settings so you receive these timely notifications.
Google Search Console for E-commerce Websites
If you run an online store, Google Search Console has several features that are particularly relevant to e-commerce SEO.
Product Structured Data
E-commerce sites often use product schema markup to enable rich results in Google Search, including price, availability, and ratings. GSC’s structured data reports will show you if your product markup is valid, if any pages have errors, and whether they are eligible for rich results. For an online store with hundreds of products, this report becomes essential for ensuring all your products can appear as enhanced listings.
Breadcrumb Structured Data
Breadcrumb navigation is common on e-commerce sites to show category hierarchies. When marked up with structured data, breadcrumbs appear in search results, helping users understand where a product page sits within your site structure. GSC shows you the status of your breadcrumb markup.
Performance by Product Category Pages
Use the Pages tab in the Performance report to analyze how your category pages are performing. These are often the highest-priority pages for e-commerce SEO because they capture broad, high-volume search terms. If a key category page is underperforming, the data in GSC can help you understand whether the issue is visibility (low impressions) or appeal (low CTR) or both.
How Often Should You Check Google Search Console?
A question many beginners have is: how often do I need to log in and review GSC data? The answer depends on the size and activity level of your website, but here are some general guidelines.
Daily: Check for any critical alerts or security issues. If you have just made major changes to your site, monitor the Performance and Coverage reports daily for a week or two.
Weekly: Review the Performance report for any significant changes in clicks, impressions, or average position. Check the Pages report for new errors.
Monthly: Do a more thorough analysis of your top-performing and underperforming pages. Review your Core Web Vitals report and work on any Poor or Needs Improvement pages. Assess your link profile in the Links report.
Quarterly: Do a comprehensive site audit using all sections of GSC. Compare data quarter over quarter to identify long-term trends. Review your sitemap to ensure all new content has been submitted.
Conclusion
Google Search Console is not just a tool for technical SEO specialists or web developers. It is a powerful, free, and beginner-friendly platform that every website owner should understand and use regularly. From discovering which keywords drive your traffic, to fixing indexing errors, to improving your site’s speed and mobile experience, GSC provides the insights you need to make smart, data-driven decisions about your website.
The key to getting value from Google Search Console is consistency. Log in regularly, learn to read the data, and most importantly, take action on what you find. SEO is not a one-time task but an ongoing process, and Google Search Console is your most reliable partner in that journey.
As you grow more comfortable with the tool, you will find that the data it provides becomes second nature to interpret. You will spot opportunities faster, catch problems earlier, and understand your audience better than ever before. And all of this comes at absolutely no cost to you.
| Remember: Google Search Console does not just tell you what is happening with your website. It tells you what Google thinks about your website. And in the world of SEO, there is no more important opinion to understand. |
Key Takeaways
- Google Search Console is a free tool from Google that helps you monitor, analyze, and improve your website’s performance in Google Search.
- It provides four core metrics in the Performance report: Clicks, Impressions, CTR, and Average Position.
- The URL Inspection Tool lets you see how Google views any specific page and request faster indexing.
- The Pages (Coverage) report helps you identify and fix indexing issues across your entire website.
- Core Web Vitals and Mobile Usability reports are essential for monitoring user experience factors that influence rankings.
- The Links report shows your most-linked pages and top referring domains, valuable for link building strategy.
- GSC and Google Analytics are complementary tools: GSC covers pre-visit search data, GA covers on-site behavior.
