⚙️ Module B – Technical SEO & measurement (Days 5–7) · Day 07
Day 7: Google Search Console
⏱ 80 min📶 Intermediate🎯 100% self-study
Day 7 / 10
✅ Today you will learn
- Add and verify a property
- Submit a sitemap
- Read clicks, impressions, CTR and position
- Find quick-win keywords
- Use URL Inspection and the Page indexing report
🏢 In the real world
Mr. Sharma asks, “Is SEO working?” Guessing is not an answer. Google Search Console (GSC) is Google’s free tool that shows exactly which searches show your site, how often people click, and which pages Google has or has not indexed.
Set up and verify
Domain property
- Covers http/https, www and all subdomains
- Verified with a DNS TXT record at the domain registrar
- Recommended
URL-prefix property
- Covers only one exact prefix, e.g. https://sharmacomputers.example/
- Verified by HTML file, meta tag, Google Analytics or Tag Manager
- Easier if you cannot edit DNS
- 1Open search.google.com/search-console and sign in with the business Google account.
- 2Add property → Domain → enter sharmacomputers.example → copy the TXT record.
- 3In your domain DNS settings add the TXT record; wait a few minutes; click Verify.
- 4Sitemaps → enter sitemap.xml → Submit. Status should become “Success”.
- 5Settings → Users and permissions: add the owner’s account too, so access is not lost if staff change.
The Performance report
🖱️
ClicksHow many times people clicked your result👁️
ImpressionsHow many times your result was shown%
CTRClicks ÷ impressions × 100📍
Average positionAverage rank of your top result (1 = first)| Query | Clicks | Impressions | CTR | Avg. position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| tally course in aligarh | 96 | 1,450 | 6.62% | 3.20 |
| computer course in aligarh | 41 | 2,300 | 1.78% | 7.80 |
| tally course fees | 12 | 1,800 | 0.67% | 9.40 |
| python course aligarh | 22 | 410 | 5.37% | 4.10 |
| sharma computer institute | 188 | 260 | 72.31% | 1 |
| gst course near me | 5 | 940 | 0.53% | 12.60 |
| Total | 364 | 7,160 | 5.08% |
Last 28 days (example data). Overall CTR = 364 ÷ 7,160 × 100 = 5.08%. Impression-weighted average position ≈ 7.4.
Find quick wins
Filter for queries with many impressions, position 4–15 and CTR below 3%. Google already thinks the page is relevant; a better title, description and content can move it up and win clicks. Here: computer course in aligarh, tally course fees, gst course near me.
💡 Value of a better CTR
If “computer course in aligarh” keeps 2,300 impressions and CTR rises from 1.78% to 5%, clicks go from 41 to 115 – 74 extra potential students a month from one query.
Indexing: Page indexing report and URL Inspection
| Status (Page indexing report) | Meaning | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag | You asked Google not to index it | Fine if intended; remove noindex if not |
| Not found (404) | URL returns 404 | Redirect to a close page or leave if truly gone |
| Page with redirect | URL redirects elsewhere | Normal; make sure links point to the final URL |
| Duplicate without user-selected canonical | Google sees duplicates | Add canonical / 301 to one version |
| Discovered – currently not indexed | Found but not crawled yet | Improve internal links; be patient on new sites |
| Crawled – currently not indexed | Crawled but not worth indexing yet | Improve content quality and uniqueness |
- 1Paste a URL in the top search bar (URL Inspection).
- 2Read: “URL is on Google” or the reason it is not.
- 3After fixing a page, click Test live URL, then Request indexing.
- 4Do not request indexing again and again – once is enough.
💼 Office practice – professional tipMake a monthly GSC report for the owner with just five numbers: clicks, impressions, CTR, number of indexed pages and Core Web Vitals status – plus three actions taken and three planned. Owners care about trends and actions, not screenshots of every report.
Solved examples
Example 1: Read the data like an SEO
- “sharma computer institute”: CTR 72.31% at position 1 – brand search, healthy.
- “tally course in aligarh”: position 3.2, CTR 6.62% – good; add FAQs to try for the top spot.
- “gst course near me”: 940 impressions at position 12.6 – page 2. The site has no GST course page; create one.
- “tally course fees”: position 9.4, CTR 0.67% – the page hides fees; show them clearly and put “fees” in the title.
Practice exercises (unsolved – answer hidden)
Try each exercise yourself first – on paper, in a text editor or on your own site – then open the answer to check.
🏋️ Practice – do it yourself
Task 1: Calculate CTR and list the quick-win queries (impressions ≥ 800, position 4–15, CTR < 3%): “ms office course” 30 clicks, 1,200 impressions, position 6.0; “typing classes aligarh” 44 clicks, 320 impressions, position 2.1; “o level institute aligarh” 9 clicks, 1,100 impressions, position 8.3.
Show solution
CTR: ms office course 2.50%; typing classes aligarh 13.75%; o level institute aligarh 0.82%. Quick wins: ms office course, o level institute aligarh. “typing classes aligarh” already ranks near the top with a strong CTR.Task 2: A new blog post was published 10 days ago and is “Discovered – currently not indexed”. List three things you would do.
Show solution
Add internal links to it from popular related pages and the blog index; make sure it is in the sitemap; inspect the URL and request indexing once; check the content is substantial and original – then wait.🏅 Job skills unlocked today
✔ Set up and verify GSC✔ Submit sitemaps✔ Analyse performance data✔ Diagnose indexing issues
Quick quiz
🧠 Quick Quiz – test yourself
1. CTR =
Percentage of impressions that became clicks.
2. A Domain property is verified with:
At the domain registrar/DNS host.
3. “Crawled – currently not indexed” usually needs:
Google did not find it valuable enough yet.
4. Overall CTR in the example table:
364 ÷ 7,160.
Interview corner
💼 Interview Corner
Which Search Console reports do you check first?
Performance (clicks, impressions, CTR, position by query and page), Page indexing (why pages are not indexed), Sitemaps, Core Web Vitals, and Manual actions/Security issues.
How do you find quick-win keywords?
In Performance, filter queries with high impressions, average position about 4–15 and low CTR; improve the matching page’s title, description and content to move up and gain clicks.
Summary
- Verify a Domain property with DNS; submit the sitemap.
- CTR = clicks ÷ impressions × 100.
- Quick wins: high impressions, position 4–15, low CTR.
- Use Page indexing + URL Inspection to fix and request indexing once.
➡️ Next
Day 8: off-page SEO – backlinks, link attributes and safe ways to earn links.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Search Console the same as Google Analytics?
No. Search Console shows how your site performs in Google Search before the click; Google Analytics shows what visitors do on your site after they arrive. Use both.
How long until data appears?
Usually a few days after verification. Data is kept for 16 months, so set it up as early as possible.
