Search Console Webmaster Guide

If you have ever searched for "Google Webmaster Tools" and landed on something called Search Console, you are not lost: they are the same product, just renamed. This guide explains what Google Search Console is, how to set it up, and what every core report tells you about your site's health in Google Search.

What is Google Search Console?

According to Google's own documentation, Search Console is a free service that helps you monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot your site's presence in Google Search results. It is the only place you get first-party data on the exact queries that bring people to your site, which pages Google has indexed, and which technical issues are holding you back. Every serious site owner should have it connected, because most of its data simply is not available from third-party tools. For a step-by-step feature tour, our dedicated Search Console guide pairs closely with this one.

Webmaster Tools vs Search Console: same tool, new name

The product was originally called Google Webmaster Tools. Google rebranded it to Search Console in 2018 to reflect that its users are not only webmasters but also marketers, business owners, developers, and SEOs. The name "Webmaster Tools" lingers in old tutorials and in search habits, so if a guide mentions one and you see the other in your account, they refer to the same platform. If you also run Microsoft's equivalent, our Bing Search Console guide covers that second, free data source.

Setting up and verifying your site

You cannot see any data until Google confirms you own the site. Verification proves ownership and protects your private search data. The main methods are:

• Domain property: verify the whole domain (all subdomains and protocols) with a DNS TXT record. This is the most complete option.
• URL-prefix property: verify a specific address using an HTML file upload, an HTML meta tag, Google Analytics, or Google Tag Manager.

Google's guide to getting started with Search Console recommends four first steps once you are in: verify ownership, make sure Google can find and read your pages, consider submitting a sitemap, and monitor your site's performance. Do those in order and you have a working foundation.

The Performance report

The Performance report is the heart of Search Console. It shows four metrics for your appearances in Google Search: total clicks, total impressions, average click-through rate, and average position. You can filter by query, page, country, device, and date. This is where you learn which searches you actually rank for, spot pages that get impressions but few clicks (often a title or description problem), and track whether changes moved the needle. Because this query data comes straight from Google, it is more trustworthy than any estimate.

The Indexing (Pages) report

The Pages report, under Indexing, tells you which URLs Google has indexed and which it has excluded, with the reason for each. Common reasons include "Crawled, currently not indexed," "Discovered, currently not indexed," "Duplicate without user-selected canonical," and outright errors. A URL that is not indexed cannot rank, so this report is your first stop when a page is missing from search. The URL Inspection tool sits alongside it, letting you check any single URL, see its indexed status, and request indexing after a fix.

Sitemaps, Links, and Experience reports

Beyond Performance and Indexing, several reports round out your view of site health:

• Sitemaps: submit your XML sitemap here so Google can discover URLs efficiently, and check for parsing errors.
• Links: see your top linked pages, top linking sites, and the anchor text pointing at you. This is a free way to understand your backlink profile.
• Page Experience and Core Web Vitals: monitor real-world loading, interactivity, and stability metrics grouped into good, needs improvement, and poor.
• Enhancements: validation for structured data types you have added, such as breadcrumbs or FAQs.

The Links report is a genuinely useful, free backlink view. To go deeper on what those links mean and how to earn more, see our complete guide to backlinks.

Common Search Console mistakes to avoid

Search Console is powerful, but a few habits cause confusion:

• Ignoring the difference between crawled and indexed: being crawled does not guarantee indexing.
• Requesting indexing repeatedly: spamming the request button does not speed things up. Fix the underlying issue instead.
• Reading average position too literally: it is an average across many queries and pages, so segment before you draw conclusions.
• Forgetting the data delay: reports lag by a couple of days, so today's spike may not appear yet.

Once you are comfortable reading the reports, the next step is turning them into an SEO workflow, which our guide on using Google Console for SEO walks through in practical detail.

Frequently asked questions

Is Google Webmaster Tools the same as Search Console?

Yes. Google Webmaster Tools was renamed to Google Search Console in 2018. The product is the same free service for monitoring your site in Google Search; only the name changed. Old tutorials and search habits keep the "Webmaster Tools" name alive, but both point to the same platform.

Is Google Search Console free?

Yes, Google Search Console is completely free. It is offered by Google to help you monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot your site's presence in Google Search results. There is no paid tier, and the first-party query and indexing data it provides cannot be obtained from third-party tools.

How do I verify my site in Search Console?

You prove ownership using either a domain property, verified with a DNS TXT record for the whole domain, or a URL-prefix property, verified by HTML file upload, a meta tag, Google Analytics, or Google Tag Manager. Domain properties give the most complete view, while URL-prefix properties offer more verification methods.

What does the Coverage or Pages report show?

The Pages report, under Indexing, lists which URLs Google has indexed and which it has excluded, along with the reason for each exclusion. Since a page that is not indexed cannot rank, this report is the first place to look when a URL is missing from Google Search.

Does Search Console show my backlinks?

Yes. The Links report shows your top linked pages, your top linking sites, and the anchor text others use to link to you. It is a free, first-party view of your backlink profile, though dedicated backlink tools may find additional links.