Skip to main content

Step 0: How to setup Google Search Console (GSC)

A step-by-step workflow for setting up your GSC to achieve best results with Surfer

Updated yesterday

💡 Why is this important?

Think of Google Search Console (GSC) as your direct line to Google. If something’s wrong with your site, this is where they’ll tell you.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

  • Crawl & Indexing Issues → Is Google even seeing your pages? Submit your sitemap to tell Google what’s on your page, understand how Google is crawling your site and which pages are excluded from the index.

  • Search Visibility → What are you ranking for? How much traffic are you getting? Where does it come from? Learn how your site performs in organic search, including clicks, impressions, CTR (Click-Through Rate), and rankings.

  • Website Health → Find technical errors (e.g., server errors, broken links), site performance metrics, and mobile usability problems.

Having direct insight into how Google views your website is critical for maintaining site health and improving SEO performance.
​

❓ What’s in it for you?

By connecting Google Search Console to your website, you can:

  1. Use Surfer tools that need GSC data: While you can use Surfer without connecting GSC, some tools require it to give you personalized suggestions. These include Sites tools - Content Audit, Topical Map, and Dashboard, as well as Auto-Internal Links in Content Editor. Click here to read more.

  2. Boost Organic Traffic: Address issues and optimize your site to appear higher and more often in search results.

  3. Improve User Experience: Fix broken pages and improve mobile usability to offer a better user experience, which can drive higher engagement and conversions.

  4. Track SEO Progress: Monitor keyword rankings, clicks, and impressions to measure the success of your SEO strategy.

  5. Receive Alerts: GSC alerts you about critical site issues like manual penalties, server errors, or security breaches (e.g., hacked content) Additionally, not all Surfer features require connecting GSC. For instance, the Content Editor generates its recommendations based on competitor analysis within your specific SERP rather than using your Google Search Console data. However, tools like Content Audit and Dashboard do depend on GSC data to provide insights into your site's performance.
    ​

🛠️ What you’ll need:

  1. Google Search Console

  2. Access to your DNS settings to add a TXT record

  3. Access to your CMS or Server to upload HTML verification files and add meta tags (e.g., WordPress, cPanel, FTP access)

  4. (Optional) Google Analytics or Tag Manager already installed as an alternative verification method
    ​

📆 When to do it and how often?

  • Initial Setup: Right after launching your site

  • Regular Check-Ins: At least once per week monitor important metrics like performance, coverage issues, and mobile usability. You can also check them in Surfer’s Sites.

  • Major Website Changes: Re-check GSC after big site updates (new design, new structure, new content, etc.) to ensure no new errors appear. You can also track this with Surfer’s Sites.

  • Periodic Maintenance: Every 1-2 months review user permissions, sitemaps, and any new GSC features or reports.

Prepare

  1. Google Account: Make sure you have a Google Account used for managing SEO tasks or website administration.

  2. Website Management Access: You must have privileges to modify your site’s hosting or CMS (for adding an HTML file, meta tag, or DNS record).

  3. Website Ownership or Authorization: You must be authorized to verify and manage the site in GSC.

Step-by-step

  1. Log into Google Search Console using your Google Account.

  2. Click “Add Property” → Enter your domain.

  3. Choose a verification method: Google offers multiple methods (DNS, HTML file, meta tag, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics). If you're not sure how to proceed, refer to the official Google Search Console's guide on ownership verification.

  4. Confirm Verification: Wait for Google to confirm your verification method.

  5. Complete Setup: Once verified, configure any additional settings like sitemaps and user permissions. If you're not sure how to proceed, refer to Google Search Console's guide for getting started.

💡 If your website targets multiple languages or countries under the same domain (for example, using subfolders like /en/ for English and /fr/ for French), it's recommended to set up separate GSC properties for each language or country section.

This allows you to monitor search performance, indexing issues, and user behavior for each audience more accurately. Alternatively, you can use GSC filters, but separate properties provide more precise control and the most accurate insights.

Troubleshooting GSC Data Issues

It’s not unusual for some data to be missing in Google Search Console, especially for sites that have low impressions. To address this, consider:

  1. Extending the Date Range: Look at a broader range of dates to capture more comprehensive data.

  2. Improving Site Visibility: Enhance the overall impressions of your site by optimizing for SEO, leading to better data collection in GSC.

Being proactive in these steps can ensure a richer dataset for analysis and insights.

🎉 You're in! Explore and make the most of your SEO journey.

Now head back to Surfer and connect it to your account →

PS. While connecting GSC unlocks advanced features like Content Audit and Dashboard for deeper insights, Surfer's Content Editor and many other tools can still be used effectively even without GSC data.

Did this answer your question?