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How to Maximise Your Revenue with Google Search Console
An Australian Business Owner’s Strategic Guide to Using Google Search Console for SEO
Want to know the secret to making SEO monitoring and analysis easy and accessible for non-technical business owners?
Google Search Console (GSC) is Google's in-house tool used to monitor the status of all of the pages on your website, analyse rankings and traffic, and identify technical and security issues on your pages.
GSC is the tool for identifying SEO insights for business owners, website performance monitoring, and improving online visibility.
GSC while data heavy uses a simplified interface to make navigation easier for the average user. They also include helpful step-by-step guidance on how to resolve all the issues that would impact SEO on your website.
While GSC does make SEO accessible for the average Joe, putting everything into practice and properly implementing a professional SEO strategy can still be time consuming.
As a business owner you need to decide if you want to take on the challenge of SEO by yourself, hire someone in-house, or outsource the work to a professional and experienced SEO agency like Branchlead.
After reading this article, you should have enough information to make an informed decision.
Defining Your Goals---What to Expect
It is important to remember that this is not a complete guide. In this article we discuss business applications, important functions, and content optimisation with GSC.
If you're interested in really figuring out the ins and outs of GSC. Be sure to check out the actual tool (we've linked it at the bottom of this article).
As Google does want you to succeed with their tools and provide all their users with the best experience possible, they make using GSC easy with tutorials, guides, and more that they update as needed.
As always, if you start digging into GSC and find it to be a little too complicated or time consuming, just give us a call and we can help you out. Whether you need technical SEO, a brief SEO consultation to get you started, or one of our full SEO service packages.
So, let's dive in!
Why Google Search Console is Essential for Business Growth with SEO
You may be wondering, what does GSC have to do with SEO? Why is it so important?
GSC is Google's in-house tool. It knows all the secrets of every new update Google makes to its search engine algorithm.
And if that's not enough to convince you of the importance of GSC?...
Whether your target is local customers, or customers on the other side of the globe, traffic from search engines is a good place to look for them.
According to WebFX, 68% of all online experiences begin with a search engine. That means if you want to capture your share of online experiences, search engine traffic is a good place to start.
Even more important, according to Alphametic, Google holds over 95% of the search engine market share in Australia, making it Australia's dominant search engine. With that much market share, you would be crazy not to focus organic search traffic effort on Google.
Google makes it easy to do that with Google Search Console. You get information straight from the source on all the data Google uses to rank your webpages and send you traffic.
According to MyCodelessWebsite, using Google Search Console correctly can increase organic traffic to your site by up to 28%.
But what happens if you don't use GSC correctly? You may think it doesn't matter, what you don't know can't hurt you, right?
Unfortunately, that's not the case with GSC.
If you aren't actively using GSC and monitoring your website and pages, all the time and effort you spend on content will go to waste if Google identifies an issue with one of your pages and doesn't rank it in search results.
What's worse, posting content on your website and trying to implement an SEO strategy without tracking on GSC?
It's like running a facebook ad campaign without ever looking at your ROAS and CPA. Blindly consuming time, money, and other resources without any idea of whether or not it's working.
And sure, maybe if your business is making so much money that you don't know what to do with it, that's an option...
But if you're like 99% of business owners, every $ and every second of your time is incredibly valuable because using it properly has the potential to multiply it in your business.
What Does Google Search Console Do for My Business?
So for you as a business owner, how does GSC help your business?
The secret is in how it takes data and analytics that you would previously need a developer just to read, and turns them into actionable insights for the average Joe.
How?
Well, let's find out!
Increase Organic Visibility Without Paid Ads
GSC puts all your important data in one place which makes it easy to make tweaks to your content based on trends you notice in the data.
Are your keywords getting you a lot of impressions (views) but no clicks? That's awesome because half of the SEO battle is already won.
But views aren't everything, they just mean people are seeing your page. Unfortunately, you don't get paid for the number of people that see your page.
You only get paid when people click and then purchase your product or service.
So, you're probably wondering...
How do you fix it so you get more clicks? Tweak your meta title and meta description until you get it right.
Now I'm not saying you should change these every 30 minutes, but if you are getting tens of thousands of impressions and no clicks, your meta title and description are definitely the source of your problem.
This is where CRO (Conversion Rate Optimisation) comes into play.
You want to improve conversions from the top of your funnel (your ranking on Google) all the way to the bottom (where prospects eventually purchase your product or service).
How do you do that?
Better copywriting.
Focus your meta title/description on pain points and desired results.
Think of it like a vacation, no one wants to pay for the plane ride, they want to pay for the destination. They want to pay for the unique experiences, not the 6-hours cramped in a flying box.
(To make this point hit home, you probably clicked on this blog post to learn more about GSC and how to use it in your business... Not because you enjoy reading almost 3000 words of text.)
Once you start seeing CTR that meets your expectations, but you're still not getting the conversions you want... You then move on to optimising your website.
Reduce Marketing Waste
GSC helps you reduce marketing waste. Even if your content isn't getting you clicks and impressions, it still costs you to host and it still takes up valuable space on your website.
GSC allows you to see which pages are performing well, and which aren't. This makes it easier to decide which pages are worth 'tweaking' for better results, and which pages are better off deleting.
You can then focus your SEO efforts on high-ROI keywords that are getting more impressions and a higher ranking on Google.
Early Detection = Risk Reduction
In some cases you can even think of GSC as your own personal VA.
It monitors your website 24/7 for all sorts of concerns like mobile usability issues and indexing errors. It then alerts you of problems before they impact rankings.
This gives you a heads up so you can go in and fix any problems before they slow down your business growth and impact your ability to bring in new customers.
By proactively fixing technical issues like duplicate metadata and crawl errors, you can keep your SEO strategy going strong and fix issues before they impact your business. (Imagine if facebook gave you a warning and told you what needs to be fixed before they banned your ad account!)
Quick Tip: Staying on top of GSC keeps your website and your SEO strategy running smoothly and reduces the risk of losing access to leads and new customers, but again for a busy business owner like yourself, it can be time consuming.
Free, Scalable SEO Toolset
Best of all? GSC is free and scalable for businesses of all sizes.
That means you don't need to use paid platforms to get access to the most essential and accurate SEO data for your website.
It also means, even if you aren't super technical, you can still access all the relevant information and find out where problems are occurring on your website.
Maybe you can't fix them yourself, but with the help of AI or a quick consult with your favourite SEO agency (Branchlead!).
Your lead generating machine (your website + SEO strategy) will be running smoothly once again and bringing in more customers and revenue for your business.
What Key Metrics on Google Search Console Should I Focus On?
GSC tracks many metrics. For you as a business owner, many of them aren't relevant to the extent you will be using GSC, but there are some important ones to watch out for.
We've listed this below with a brief discussion of why each of them is important.
Search Performance
GSC helps analyse search performance. You can see the search queries from users that are giving you the most impressions and clicks.
Based on this info you can modify your strategy to increase conversions.
For example if you're a Brisbane landscaping business showing up a lot for 'landscaping ideas' but not so much for 'landscaping service Brisbane' then you're probably attracting more DIY-landscapers than customers, which could be a big problem for your business.
GSC also lets you see brand versus non-brand search performance. Brand search performance would be how often the name of your business is searched for. Non-brand would be how often you show up in search results that don't include your name (like our 'landscaping service Brisbane' example from earlier).
Why does that matter?
Brand searches mean people know you and you're probably getting a lot of traffic through referrals.
Non-brand searches typically don't know you, as they are looking for a solution to a problem or a specific service.
If you're getting attention from non-brand searches, it's a good sign you're reaching new prospects, your SEO strategy is working, and your business is growing.
Index Coverage
GSC easily allows you to monitor which pages are indexed (being shown on Google) and which are being ignored.
If you don't address indexing issues, important content could end up being invisible to search results. Which can severely impact your ability to bring in new customers with organic search.
Mobile Usability
According to LocalDigital, 68% of searches in Australia are conducted on mobile devices. If you want access to those 68% of searches, you need to make sure your website is mobile friendly.
GSC makes it easy to identify mobile usability errors that can directly affect lead generation from your website so that you can quickly resolve them and ensure a smooth user experience for everyone who visits your site.
Security Issues & Manual Actions
Security issues can be a big concern not only for you but for your users as well.
GSC makes it easy to receive alerts about malware, spam, and penalties affecting the trust and ranking of your website.
Early detection allows you to take action quickly and protect your site and users.
Security issues are serious and can cost your business tens of thousands of dollars, and if not managed quickly, they can damage your reputation for years to come and cause you to lose many of your current customers.
Manual actions are another serious concern that GSC will notify you of. A manual action is when a human at Google manually marks your website as violating Google's terms of service.
While this doesn't happen often, it can be due to your website being involved in sketchy or dishonest practices.
The nice thing about Google is that they will tell you directly what is wrong and give you an opportunity to fix it.
Once the issue has been fixed, you can apply for reconsideration and they will manually review your website.
It is important to take manual actions seriously and address them quickly, otherwise your website will be banned from Google (for a business, that's basically like disappearing off the face of the earth).
How to Best Use Google Search Console Without Technical Expertise
As a business owner, you're probably wondering how to best navigate and use GSC.
Below we've included a few key tips for making the most out of GSC.
Prioritise High-Impact Pages
You can use the 'Pages' tab to see which URLs are getting the most traffic and which need improvements. This gives you a broad overview of your website and helps you figure out where to focus SEO and content efforts.
If you're seeing that some of your pages are getting little to no impressions, then remove them from your website.
If you find some pages are getting lots of impressions but no clicks? Optimise your meta title and meta description.
Use Step-by-Step Error Resolution
Not a technical person? No problem. Whenever there is an issue flagged by GSC, it links directly to Google Help Center's tutorials which teach you how to fix the issue step-by-step.
Quick Tip: If you don't have the time or patience to troubleshoot, Branchlead offers technical SEO services which can help you quickly and easily address any technical issues that arise.
Monitor Progress Effectively
SEO is a long-term approach to marketing. It requires monitoring your progress over longer periods of time.
GSC makes it easy to compare results over longer periods of time by allowing you to compare performance over 3, 6, or 12-month time periods using date filters.
If you notice your numbers are dropping after a change in strategy then it might be time to reconsider your new approach.
Reducing and Mitigating Risks with Google Search Console
GSC helps you mitigate SEO risks that can derail your entire SEO strategy and cause you to lose both customers and revenue.
With GSC you can easily identify broken links, 404 errors, and crawl issues... All of which can severely impact your ranking with Google.
GSC allows you to easily detect security breaches like malware that may result in browser warnings and lost conversions.
Quick Tip: No one wants to visit a website that their browser deems 'unsafe,' so be sure to take action immediately when GSC warns you about malware and security breaches.
GSC also makes it easy to address manual actions and prevent significant drops in search rankings as we mentioned earlier.
Growing Your Australian Business with Google Search Console and Strategic SEO
We've talked a lot about GSC and what it does, but we haven't mentioned much about how you can use GSC in combination with your SEO strategy to grow your business.
So, let's do that now.
Local SEO Optimisation
GSC shows you where your traffic is coming from so you can create additional service pages accordingly.
So for example if you're a plumber based in Sydney, but you also get traffic from Parramatta you could consider creating a service page for 'Plumbing Services Parramatta' to get more traffic and clicks.
Which means more customers and more revenue for your business.
Brand vs. Non-Brand Performance Tracking
By examining brand-specific vs. general product/service searches you can determine where your traffic is coming from.
If you're getting a lot of brand-specific traffic (brand-specific meaning they searched the name of your business), you're probably getting a good bit of referral traffic.
If you're getting non-brand specific traffic, it's usually because someone found your website when looking for a product or service. (Which means your SEO strategy is working and your business is growing!)
Scaling SEO Efficiently
GSC makes it easy to implement a basic professional-level SEO strategy without the need for an agency by giving you access to technical data, realtime monitoring, and in-depth tutorials to resolve any issues.
Quick Tip: While GSC does make the process easier, as a business owner you have more important things to worry about. Unless you're just getting started with your business, for most business owners it still makes more sense to outsource SEO to an experienced agency like Branchlead.
The Next Steps for Enhancing Your SEO Strategy with Google Search Console:
So what's next?
Set up and verify your site with Google Search Console. You can do that here
Regularly check GSC. Monitor your search performance and implement monthly improvements. Only by tracking data can you respond appropriately.
Integrate GSC with Googly Analytics for insights into user behavior. (Pro Tip: This is more advanced, focus on 1 and 2 first!)
Of course if you're still a little confused or a little overwhelmed by all the information here, we're always available to help. Whether you need someone to implement a completely Done-For-You SEO strategy, technical SEO help, or just an SEO consult, Branchlead can help. With 10+ years of experience and dozens of satisfied customers, Branchlead has the expertise you need to grow your business with SEO.
Ready to implement an SEO strategy that helps your business grow and thrive? Contact us today to get started.
Google Search Console FAQs
Do I need to hire a developer to use Google Search Console?
No. Google Search Console is designed to be used by the average person. Most business owners can set it up and use its data and analytics reporting without much difficulty. (There's absolutely zero coding needed.)
How can Google Search Console help my business bring in more revenue?
Google Search Console helps you identify which pages are working and which aren't. This helps you optimise your strategy to cut losses and build-up the winners meaning more leads, more customers, and more revenue.
What if I don't have time to check Google Search Console every week?
Even if you only have time to check Google Search Console once a month, it can still help you find and resolve issues before they have a lasting impact on your business. Google Search Console also makes it easy to set email alerts for any issues that arise.
But my business is special, will it still work for us?
Yes. It doesn't matter if you do ecommerce, law, construction, consulting, or even baking. Google Search Console can provide insights relevant to your industry.
Is there any risk in not using Google Search Console?
Yes. If your site gets penalised or if there are any errors preventing it from showing up in search, you might not realise it until you stop getting leads. Google Search Console helps you stay aware of SEO issues and allows you to respond quickly which prevents disasters from happening.
Get actionable steps to boost your online visibility and drive more traffic to your business.
