SEO strategy: 8 activities to do using Google Search Console

A winning SEO strategy is one that not only implements every precaution so that the indexing of the contents of a site is possible, but one that from time to time provides for a general site audit.

The Google Search Console is certainly the most useful tool to understand if a site is healthy or needs further work to improve its SEO strategy .

This free tool from Google allows us to perform all the necessary operations to optimize the positioning of sites on search engines. In particular:

·         Check the status of the indexing of a site

·         Analyze if Google reads our site well

·         Check for site crawl errors

·         Analyze if visitors come through the keywords that interest us

·         Check incoming links and anchor text

·         Check the internal links

·         Check the optimization of a site for mobile devices

·         Submit a sitemap to Google.

1. Check the indexing status of a site

Not all pages of a site are indexed on search engines, but by working on the SEO strategy we can make sure to index the highest number possible. We can therefore verify what the contents are on Google using the Google Search Console.

By accessing the control panel we will find on the left all the functions of the instrument. To check the site's indexing status, we need to click on Google Index → Indexing status. On this section you can see the total number of indexed pages, as well as the number of pages blocked by the robots and removed. Specifically, a page is blocked by robots when it is penalized by Google's algorithm, due to some violation of its guidelines. Instead, it is removed when we ask for its removal.

2. Analyze if Google reads our site well and if there are crawl errors

If we want Google to index the pages of our site we must make sure that the communication between the site and the spider is clear and immediate. A site with an orderly, fast and error-free structure is the optimal condition. Search Console allows us to evaluate the health of our site.

From the side menu we must select Scan , and the sections that we are interested in consulting are:

        Crawl errors : we can check whether Google is having difficulty reading some content on the site; Search Console tells us both which pages generate the error, whether it occurs from Desktop or Mobile, or whether the error depends on the server or the contents not found (which had already been indexed but which Googlebot has not most found)

        Crawl statistics : through this function we can monitor the activity that the Googlebot (i.e. the spider that analyzes and indexes websites) has carried out on our site in the last 90 days. In particular, it shows us graphs on how many pages are scanned daily, how many Kilobytes are downloaded daily and what is the time spent for downloading a page (in milliseconds).

With regard to the first information relating to the number of pages crawled daily, the higher the number of pages, the better: it means that Google gives importance to the site. Particular attention should instead be paid to the other two data: a high volume of data could mean that the multimedia contents of the site or the template itself are to be optimized and lightened, while if the Google spider spends too much time scanning a page it will consequently scan it fewer (Googlebot has a limited time frame to crawl sites, and the faster it goes, the more pages it can optimize).

        View as Google : this function allows you to view our site with the "eyes" of the Googlebot, both from desktop and mobile.

3. Keywords, Google indexing: analyze if visitors arrive through the keywords that interest us

By clicking on Search traffic → Search analysis we access one of the most important functions of the Search Console, as well as in general one of the most powerful means for a prudent and complete SEO strategy.

Experimenting and intertwining the data provided by this function provides a clear picture of the results obtained by the SEO strategy.

The search analysis function revolves around the search queries (or keywords) through which we receive traffic. We can choose to filter the data based on:

        Clicks : how many times our page is clicked for that keyword

        Impressions : how many times our page on search engines is shown for that keyword

        CTR : Click to Rate is the ratio between clicks and impressions, which indicates the percentage of clicks based on how many times our page was shown in reference to the reference keyword

        Position : indicates the average position on the SERP of our page for that given keyword

We can sort the results by Query (keywords), Pages (destination), Countries, Devices (mobile, desktop or tablet), Search type (web, image or video) and Dates (last 28 days or date ranges personalized up to a maximum of 90 days).

4. Check the inbound links and anchor text

The usefulness of this function lies in the fact that we can monitor the link building strategy, so that we can check whether we receive quality links or not. Once the list of backlinks is obtained, we can verify the authoritativeness of the sites from which they come through specific online tools, for example Majestic and Moz.

The path to access the report with the backlinks that a site receives is Search traffic → Links that link to your site.The tool reports the links that Googlebot finds during the crawling and indexing phase, but also the domains from which the links come, the pages that receive the most links and the most frequent anchor text (the text containing the link). By clicking on the various results it is possible to obtain more detailed information.

5. Check the internal links

A good site structure also passes through the internal links that link the articles together. The articles we link should always be relevant, and possibly belonging to the same category so as not to confuse the Google spider.

If, for example, from an article on energy saving, we start a link to content that talks about a cooking class, we will create inconsistencies and confusion during the scan. Furthermore, at the top of the list of internal links that can be consulted in the section Search traffic → Internal links, we should have our most important content, as internal links, as well as external ones, contribute to giving importance to the pages of our site, both on the user side and on the search engine.

6. Check the optimization of a site for mobile devices

Browsing through mobile devices now beats desktop browsing: around 56% of users surf on smartphones or tablets against 46% of desktop users (AudiWeb data). Optimizing a site for mobile browsing is therefore more important than ever. Search Console also allows us to verify this aspect, indicating which elements are to be optimized. 

Through the function Search traffic → Usability on mobile devices we can ensure the correct usability of a site from mobile devices.

In Google Search Console it is Google himself who comes to our aid to make our site usable on the mobile side by pointing out what are the elements to be optimized.

7. Submit a sitemap to Google

The sitemap allows you to indicate to the search engine what the pages of the site are and what priorities they have, indicating the architecture of a site and communicating some reports: for example through the sitemap we can ask Googlebots not to index some links, or we can communicate metadata about specific types of content. This speeds up the process of indexing a site's URLs among search engine results.

Sitemaps are not essential, in the sense that engines still manage to access content through internal links or through backlinks. However, the presence of a Sitemap makes crawling easier and faster.

Also Read: SEO NYC Company

How to create a sitemap?

Any CMS has plugins to generate a sitemap. Once created you will have to send it to Google through the Search Console:   Scan → Sitemap → Add / Test Sitemap , top right.

Complete the path with the URL of your XML Sitemap (after uploading it to the server), which is usually miosito.com/sitemap.xml

Google will return the test result to your Sitemap, indicating errors or possible improvements if it detects them.

After verifying that the XML Sitemap does not contain errors, it will be possible to proceed with the actual submission.