Google Search Console Complete Guide: Track, Fix, and Improve Your Rankings
Google Search Console (GSC) is the single most important free SEO tool available — and most website owners in Nepal either do not use it at all or only check it when something goes wrong. That is a massive mistake. Google Search Console gives you direct data from Google about how your website appears in search results, which queries bring traffic, which pages have errors, and what Google thinks about your site. No third-party tool — not Ahrefs, not SEMrush, not Moz — gives you this level of direct data from Google itself.
This guide walks you through everything from initial setup to advanced performance analysis. Whether you run a business website in Pokhara, manage an e-commerce store, or are learning SEO as a career skill, mastering Google Search Console will give you a measurable advantage over competitors who rely on guesswork.
Pillar Page: SEO Training Course at Swift Academy
How Do I Set Up Google Search Console for My Website?
Setting up Google Search Console requires adding your website as a property, verifying ownership through one of five methods (DNS, HTML file, HTML tag, Google Analytics, or Google Tag Manager), and then submitting your sitemap — the entire process takes 10-15 minutes. Here is the step-by-step process:
Step 1: Create or Access GSC
- Go to search.google.com/search-console
- Sign in with your Google account
- Click "Add Property"
Step 2: Choose Property Type
| Property Type | What It Covers | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Domain Property | All URLs across all subdomains and protocols | Most websites |
| URL Prefix Property | Only specific protocol and subdomain | Specific subdomain tracking |
Recommendation: Choose Domain Property for complete data. This covers http://, https://, www., and non-www versions automatically.
Step 3: Verify Ownership
| Verification Method | Difficulty | Speed | Recommended For |
|---|---|---|---|
| DNS Record | Easy | 24-72 hours | Domain property (required) |
| HTML File Upload | Easy | Instant | URL prefix property |
| HTML Meta Tag | Easy | Instant | URL prefix property |
| Google Analytics | Easy | Instant | Sites with GA installed |
| Google Tag Manager | Easy | Instant | Sites with GTM |
For Nepali business owners: If you bought your domain from Porkbun, Namecheap, GoDaddy, or a Nepali registrar like Mercantile, you can add the DNS TXT record through your domain registrar's control panel.
Step 4: Submit Your Sitemap
After verification:
- Go to "Sitemaps" in the left menu
- Enter your sitemap URL (typically
sitemap.xml) - Click "Submit"
Common sitemap locations:
https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xmlhttps://yourdomain.com/sitemap_index.xml(WordPress with Yoast/RankMath)
Step 5: Wait for Data
GSC takes 24-48 hours to start showing data, and about 3-5 days to populate meaningful search performance data. Be patient — this is normal.
How Do I Use the Performance Report to Track My SEO?
The Performance Report is the most valuable section of Google Search Console — it shows you exactly which search queries bring visitors to your site, which pages rank for what terms, your click-through rates, and how your positions change over time. Here is how to read and use it:
Understanding the Four Key Metrics
| Metric | What It Means | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Total Clicks | Number of times users clicked your result | Direct traffic measurement |
| Total Impressions | Number of times your result appeared in search | Visibility measurement |
| Average CTR | Clicks / Impressions × 100 | Indicates how compelling your listing is |
| Average Position | Your average ranking position | Track ranking improvements |
How to Analyze Performance Data
Filter by Queries to see what people search to find you:
- Look for queries where you have high impressions but low CTR — your title/description may need improvement
- Find queries where you rank position 5-15 — these are "striking distance" keywords you can optimize for
Filter by Pages to see which pages perform best:
- Identify your top-performing pages and create more content like them
- Find underperforming pages that need improvement
Filter by Country (especially important for Nepal businesses):
- See what percentage of traffic comes from Nepal vs other countries
- Adjust your SEO strategy based on your target audience
Practical Example for a Pokhara Business
Suppose you run a hotel in Pokhara and see this data:
| Query | Clicks | Impressions | CTR | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "hotel in pokhara lakeside" | 45 | 1,200 | 3.75% | 8.2 |
| "pokhara hotel with mountain view" | 12 | 800 | 1.5% | 14.3 |
| "best hotel pokhara" | 89 | 3,500 | 2.54% | 6.1 |
Action items:
- "hotel in pokhara lakeside" — Position 8.2 means you are on page 1. CTR of 3.75% is low. Improve your title and meta description to attract more clicks.
- "pokhara hotel with mountain view" — Position 14.3 means page 2. Create or improve a page specifically targeting this keyword to move to page 1.
- "best hotel pokhara" — Good position at 6.1, but CTR of 2.54% could be higher. Add review stars (schema markup) to stand out.
How Do I Find and Fix Indexing Issues in Google Search Console?
The Pages report (formerly Coverage report) in GSC shows which of your pages are indexed, which are excluded, and why — fixing indexing issues often provides immediate SEO gains because pages that are not indexed cannot rank at all. Here is how to diagnose and fix common problems:
Understanding Page Status
| Status | What It Means | Action Needed |
|---|---|---|
| Indexed (Valid) | Google has indexed the page | None — working correctly |
| Not Indexed – Crawled, Not Indexed | Google found it but chose not to index | Improve content quality |
| Not Indexed – Discovered, Not Crawled | Google knows about it but has not visited | Check crawl budget, internal linking |
| Not Indexed – Excluded by robots.txt | Your robots.txt blocks it | Fix robots.txt if page should be indexed |
| Not Indexed – Noindex tag | Page has a noindex meta tag | Remove noindex if page should be indexed |
| Not Indexed – Redirect | URL redirects to another page | Normal if intentional |
| Not Indexed – 404 | Page not found | Fix or redirect the URL |
| Not Indexed – Soft 404 | Page loads but Google thinks it is empty | Add meaningful content |
Most Common Indexing Problems for Nepali Websites
Problem 1: "Crawled – Currently Not Indexed"
This is the most frustrating status. Google visited your page but decided not to index it. Common reasons:
- Thin content (less than 300 words of unique content)
- Duplicate content (same text on multiple pages)
- Low-quality content (no value to users)
Fix: Improve the page's content quality, add unique value, increase word count, and add internal links pointing to the page.
Problem 2: "Discovered – Currently Not Crawled"
Google knows the URL exists but has not bothered to visit it.
Fix: Add internal links from important pages to this URL. Submit the specific URL for indexing using the URL Inspection tool.
Problem 3: Pages blocked by robots.txt accidentally
# BAD robots.txt - blocks everything
User-agent: *
Disallow: /
# GOOD robots.txt for most websites
User-agent: *
Disallow: /admin/
Disallow: /private/
Allow: /
Sitemap: https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml
Using URL Inspection Tool
The URL Inspection tool lets you check any specific URL:
- Enter the URL in the search bar at the top of GSC
- See if it is indexed, when it was last crawled, and any issues
- Click "Request Indexing" to ask Google to recrawl the page
- Note: Google limits indexing requests — do not spam this for every page
How Do I Use GSC to Improve My Website's Core Web Vitals?
The Core Web Vitals report in GSC shows whether your pages provide a good user experience based on loading speed (LCP), interactivity (INP), and visual stability (CLS) — these are ranking factors that affect both your search positions and user behavior. Here is what each metric means and how to improve it:
The Three Core Web Vitals
| Metric | Full Name | What It Measures | Good | Needs Improvement | Poor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LCP | Largest Contentful Paint | Loading speed | < 2.5s | 2.5-4.0s | > 4.0s |
| INP | Interaction to Next Paint | Responsiveness | < 200ms | 200-500ms | > 500ms |
| CLS | Cumulative Layout Shift | Visual stability | < 0.1 | 0.1-0.25 | > 0.25 |
Common Fixes for Poor Core Web Vitals
For LCP (Slow Loading):
- Optimize images (compress, use WebP format, add dimensions)
- Use a CDN for static assets
- Minimize render-blocking CSS and JavaScript
- Upgrade hosting if server response time is slow
For INP (Poor Interactivity):
- Minimize JavaScript execution time
- Break up long tasks into smaller ones
- Use web workers for heavy computations
- Defer non-critical JavaScript
For CLS (Layout Shifts):
- Always set width and height on images and videos
- Avoid inserting content above existing content dynamically
- Use CSS
aspect-ratiofor responsive media - Preload fonts to prevent font swap shifts
Nepal-Specific Hosting Considerations
Many Nepali websites are hosted on cheap shared hosting that causes poor LCP scores. If your Core Web Vitals are consistently poor:
| Hosting Type | Typical LCP | Cost (NPR/year) | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap shared hosting | 4-8 seconds | 2,000-5,000 | Avoid for business sites |
| Quality shared hosting | 2-4 seconds | 5,000-10,000 | Acceptable for small sites |
| VPS (DigitalOcean, etc.) | 1-3 seconds | 8,000-15,000 | Good for most businesses |
| Cloud (AWS, GCP) | 0.5-2 seconds | 10,000-30,000 | Best for high-traffic sites |
How Do I Submit and Manage Sitemaps in Google Search Console?
Submitting a sitemap tells Google about all the pages on your website that you want indexed — this speeds up discovery of new content and ensures Google knows about pages it might not find through crawling alone. Here is the complete sitemap management guide:
Creating a Sitemap
WordPress (Most Common in Nepal):
- Install Yoast SEO or RankMath plugin
- Sitemap is automatically generated at
/sitemap_index.xml - No manual creation needed
Custom Websites (Django, Laravel, Next.js):
For Django:
# settings.py
INSTALLED_APPS = [
# ...
'django.contrib.sitemaps',
]
# sitemaps.py
from django.contrib.sitemaps import Sitemap
from blog.models import Post
class PostSitemap(Sitemap):
changefreq = 'weekly'
priority = 0.8
def items(self):
return Post.objects.filter(status='published')
def lastmod(self, obj):
return obj.updated_at
# urls.py
from django.contrib.sitemaps.views import sitemap
from .sitemaps import PostSitemap
sitemaps = {'posts': PostSitemap}
urlpatterns = [
path('sitemap.xml', sitemap, {'sitemaps': sitemaps}),
]
Submitting to GSC
- Navigate to "Sitemaps" in GSC left menu
- Enter your sitemap URL (e.g.,
sitemap.xml) - Click "Submit"
- Wait for processing — check back in 24-48 hours
Monitoring Sitemap Status
After submission, GSC shows:
- Success — Sitemap read successfully
- Has errors — Some URLs in the sitemap have issues
- Couldn't fetch — GSC cannot access your sitemap (check URL, check robots.txt)
Check that the number of "Discovered URLs" matches the number of pages you expect. If you have 50 pages but only 20 are discovered, your sitemap may be incomplete.
How Do I Use GSC's Links Report to Understand My Backlink Profile?
The Links report shows you which external websites link to yours (backlinks), which pages on your site get the most links, and what anchor text other sites use — this data helps you understand your authority and identify link-building opportunities. Here is how to use it:
Reading the Links Report
The Links section has three main areas:
-
External Links — Links from other websites to yours
- Top linked pages (which of your pages get the most backlinks)
- Top linking sites (which websites link to you most)
- Top linking text (anchor text used in links to your site)
-
Internal Links — Links between pages on your own website
- Shows which pages have the most internal links
- Helps identify orphan pages (pages with no internal links)
-
Top Linking Sites — Domain-level view of who links to you
What to Look For
For a Nepali business website:
- Check if local directories (Nepal Yellow Pages, local business listings) link to you
- Look for links from industry-relevant sites
- Identify any spammy links that could hurt your SEO
Actionable insights:
- If your most linked page is your homepage, you need to build links to inner pages
- If a competitor is linking to you, explore partnership opportunities
- If you see links from irrelevant or spammy domains, consider using Google's Disavow tool
Building Links Locally in Nepal
| Link Source | Difficulty | Value | How to Get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nepal business directories | Easy | Medium | Submit your business listing |
| Local news sites (Republica, Setopati) | Hard | High | Newsworthy content, press releases |
| Industry blogs | Medium | High | Guest posting, expert quotes |
| Social media profiles | Easy | Low | Create and link profiles |
| Partner/client websites | Medium | Medium | Request testimonial links |
What Does Reddit Say About Google Search Console?
SEO communities on Reddit share valuable GSC tips:
-
r/SEO — "GSC's Performance report is the only data source that shows you actual Google search data. Everything else (Ahrefs, SEMrush) is estimated. Start with GSC, then use paid tools to fill gaps." (Top advice)
-
r/SEO — "The 'Compare' feature in GSC is underused. Compare the last 3 months to the previous 3 months to see if your SEO is actually improving. Trends matter more than individual day fluctuations."
-
r/bigseo — "When you see 'Crawled – Currently Not Indexed' for important pages, it means Google doesn't think your content is good enough. Don't just request reindexing — improve the content first, then resubmit."
-
r/TechSEO — "Submit your sitemap, set up email alerts for coverage issues, and check GSC at least weekly. Most SEO problems are visible in GSC weeks before they affect your traffic."
Practical Takeaway: Your Weekly GSC Routine
Follow this routine every week to stay on top of your website's search performance:
Every Monday (15 minutes):
- Check Performance report — any significant traffic drops?
- Look at top queries — any new keywords appearing?
- Check for new indexing issues in the Pages report
Every Month (30 minutes):
- Compare this month's performance to last month
- Review Core Web Vitals — any pages degraded?
- Check Links report for new backlinks or lost links
- Look for "striking distance" keywords (positions 5-15) to optimize
Every Quarter (1 hour):
- Full Pages report audit — fix all indexing issues
- Sitemap review — ensure all important pages are included
- Mobile usability check
- Review and act on any manual actions or security issues
For Nepali Business Owners:
- Set up email alerts in GSC for critical issues
- Track your performance for Nepal-specific queries
- Compare your performance for English vs Nepali language queries
- Monitor local search terms related to Pokhara, Kathmandu, etc.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Google Search Console free?
Yes, Google Search Console is completely free. It is provided by Google to help website owners understand and improve their presence in Google search results. There are no premium tiers or paid features. Every website owner should set it up.
How long does it take for Google Search Console to show data?
After verifying your property and submitting your sitemap, basic data appears within 24-48 hours. Meaningful performance data (clicks, impressions, rankings) typically takes 3-5 days to populate. Historical data is not available before the date you add your property.
Can I use Google Search Console to remove pages from Google?
Yes. Use the "Removals" tool to temporarily remove a URL from Google search results (lasts about 6 months). For permanent removal, add a noindex tag to the page and then use the Removals tool. This is useful for pages with sensitive information or outdated content you want to hide quickly.
What is the difference between Google Search Console and Google Analytics?
Google Search Console shows how your site appears in Google search (queries, impressions, rankings, indexing). Google Analytics shows what users do on your site after they arrive (page views, session duration, conversions, traffic sources). You need both tools for complete website analysis. GSC focuses on search performance; GA focuses on user behavior.
How do I fix "Submitted URL marked noindex" error?
This means a URL in your sitemap has a noindex tag, which is contradictory. Either remove the noindex tag (if you want the page indexed) or remove the URL from your sitemap (if you do not want it indexed). In WordPress, check your SEO plugin settings for the affected page.
Master SEO with Professional Training
Google Search Console is one tool in the SEO professional's toolkit. At Swift Academy in Pokhara, our SEO Training course covers GSC in depth alongside keyword research, on-page optimization, technical SEO, link building, and content strategy — everything you need to rank websites and build a career in SEO.
Explore Our SEO Training Course in Pokhara and learn to use data-driven SEO strategies that deliver real results.
Related Articles
- SEO Training Course in Pokhara
- SEO-Friendly Next.js Website Guide
- SEO for E-Commerce Websites in Nepal
Suggested Images
- Hero Image: Screenshot mockup of Google Search Console dashboard with performance graph — Alt: "Google Search Console dashboard showing search performance metrics"
- Mid-Article: Diagram showing the GSC verification methods comparison — Alt: "Google Search Console verification methods comparison for beginners"
- Bottom CTA: Photo of SEO training session at Swift Academy Pokhara — Alt: "SEO training with Google Search Console at Swift Academy Pokhara Nepal"
