How To Audit A Site With Google Search Console Only

Updated: March 7, 2024.

Here I’m showing you measurement by measurement however to audit your tract with Google Search Console only.

SEOs erstwhile doing SEO audits ever usage a tract crawler similar Sitebulb or/and Semrush Site Audit arsenic the main instrumentality and a clump of different SEO tools.

But is it imaginable to execute a method SEO audit utilizing lone Google Search Console? It turns retired it is!

In my in-depth SEO audit guide, I showed you however to execute a method SEO audit utilizing modular SEO auditing tools.

Here, connected the different hand, I volition amusement you however to bash that utilizing Google Search Console only. This is going to beryllium ace interesting.

Check the duplicate nonfiction connected how to usage Google Search Console to bash keyword research.

SEO Audit With Google Search Console (Step By Step)

Before you start, support successful caput that:

• You tin bash this SEO audit benignant lone for existing sites that are indexed by Google and that person astatine slightest immoderate postulation from Google.
  There has to beryllium capable information successful GSC for you to beryllium capable to gully conclusions and marque observations. If you are auditing a brand-new site, past you indispensable usage modular SEO auditing tools, specified arsenic Sitebulb, Semrush Site Audit, oregon Screaming Frog.
• To beryllium capable to bash this method SEO audit, you request to person afloat entree to the tract successful GSC.
  • Ideally, the tract should person some the Domain and URL prefix properties.
  • You request to person afloat support to the spot oregon beryllium its owner.

The SEO hierarchy of needs successful Google Search Console

⚡ Check my nonfiction connected how to adhd and region users successful Google Search Console if you person problems getting entree to GSC.

☝️ If you are a beginner/intermediate SEO, you decidedly privation to instrumentality a look astatine the database of SEO champion practices (from Google).

Basic overview of the site

1. Check the overview of the tract

Go to Overview (you volition automatically onshore successful Overview aft logging in) to get a speedy wide representation of the site. If the tract is having superior issues (a manual punishment oregon information issues), you volition spot them successful Overview.

2. Check if the tract has undergone immoderate large alteration recently

This is simply a precise important portion of accusation particularly if you are hired to analyse a postulation drop. You tin cheque if the tract has been changed precocious successful 2 ways:

• Go to the Overview conception and wage peculiar attraction to what you spot nether the overview of Performance and Coverage.

❗ If determination is simply a important driblet oregon spike successful Performance and/or Coverage, you volition request to analyse it deeply. I volition speech astir the Performance and Coverage reports aboriginal successful the audit.

• Go to Settings > Change of address.

This Google Search Console instrumentality is utilized to pass Google astir the alteration of code to velocity up the migration process.

You whitethorn privation to cheque it to marque definite that your lawsuit did not hide to notation that the tract had been migrated. Note that this instrumentality is not mandatory to execute a tract migration but immoderate radical usage it.

3. Check if the tract has a manual action

To beryllium definite you are not missing immoderate important information, spell to Security & Manual Actions > Manual actions. If you spot “No issues detected”, past you tin proceed with the audit.

❗If determination is simply a manual action, past dealing with it should beryllium the apical precedence due to the fact that the tract is astir apt demoted successful Search.

4. Check if the tract has information issues

Just arsenic above. Go to Security & Manual Actions > Security issues and marque definite it says “No issues detected”.

❗If determination are issues, past removing them should beryllium the apical precedence due to the fact that the tract whitethorn not beryllium displayed successful Search oregon displayed with immoderate disfigured warning!

Crawling, crawlability, robots.txt, and sitemap

5. Check however Google is crawling your site

That’s what the Google crawl stats study is for. No request to bash a record log analysis. Go to Settings > Crawl stats and wage peculiar attraction to:

• The fig of crawl requests and their trend. Is it upward oregon downward?

• The crawl petition breakdown and particularly the By effect section to marque definite the crawl fund isn’t wasted on, for example, crawling pages returning presumption Not recovered (404).

⚡ Check my in-depth usher to Google Search Console crawl stats report to larn much astir this tool.

6. Check if your big has had issues that marque it intolerable for Google to crawl your site

The Crawl stats study will besides amusement you if your hosts are having immoderate availability issues. This is precise important due to the fact that these issues whitethorn marque it intolerable for Google to crawl your site.

When successful Crawl stats report, navigate to Hosts and cheque if immoderate issues are reported nether Status.

• If you person a Domain property, past you volition spot each kid domains nether Hosts.

• If you person a URL prefix, past you volition spot the information for this 1 circumstantial UR.

If you don’t spot No problems nether Hosts/Host status, marque definite to cheque the details of the issues. Google reports connected 3 types of big issues, specified arsenic robots.txt fetch, DNS resolution, and server connectivity.

7. Check if Google has problems requesting robots.txt

Yes, you tin besides usage the Crawl stats study to cheque if determination person been immoderate problems with fetching robots.txt. If determination were issues, you volition the notification nether Hosts/Host status. Make definite to click done to analyse it further.

8. Check if robots.txt allows Googlebot

To trial robots.txt, you tin usage the (old) Google Search Console robots.txt investigating tool. To beryllium capable to usage the tool, you request to person a URL prefix property.

The instrumentality volition amusement you warnings and errors and volition fto you cheque if Googlebot tin entree the site.

9. Check if sitemaps person been submitted to Google and if Google tin fetch them

Go to Index > Sitemaps to cheque if sitemaps person been submitted to Google.

If the sitemaps are valid and Google has nary problems fetching them, you volition spot Success nether Status. If determination are issues, you volition spot Couldn’t fetch.

10. Check if the XML sitemap contains incorrect URLs

Yes, you tin usage GSC to cheque if sitemaps person incorrect URLs, specified arsenic URLs with a “no-index” tag.

To bash that spell to Index > Coverage, click connected the arrow down, and under Filter to Sitemaps, take the sitemap to check.

If the sitemap contains incorrect URLs, you volition them nether Error oregon Excluded. Make definite to work the details of the issues with those URLs and analyse these URLs.

Indexing & indexability successful Google Search Console

11. Check however galore web pages are indexed

Go to Index > Coverage and cheque Valid and Valid with warnings. These are the URLs that person been indexed by Google and tin look connected Google.

Make definite to analyse the pages that are Valid with warnings. These URLs person been indexed but determination are immoderate issues with them. Your task is to analyse further.

12. Check if immoderate weird oregon irrelevant web pages are indexed

To marque definite that Google has not indexed the URLs that should not beryllium indexed, simply spell done the database of the Valid and Valid with warnings URLs. Of course, depending connected the size of the tract it volition beryllium much oregon little doable.

When successful Coverage, cheque Valid and Valid with warnings and scroll down to Details. Pay peculiar attraction to Valid URLs with Type Indexed, not submitted successful sitemap. You request to manually reappraisal these URLs and determine if they each should truly beryllium indexed.

13. Check if determination are pages that couldn’t beryllium indexed

Go to Index > Coverage and cheque Errors. These are the pages that cannot beryllium indexed.

Navigate to Details to larn wherefore these pages haven’t been indexed and to presumption the examples of those pages (click connected the benignant of mistake and you volition spot the illustration pages).

14. Check if determination are pages that were excluded from indexation

Go to Index > Excluded to spot the pages that person intentionally been excluded from indexation.

Navigate to Details to larn astir the reasons wherefore a circumstantial leafage oregon a radical of pages person been excluded. Click connected the circumstantial benignant of exclusion to spot the database of URLs.

15. Analyze the sum of the submitted URLs only

Quite akin but the results whitethorn beryllium rather interesting. Choose All submitted pages instead of All known pages. Check if determination are immoderate pages with errors oregon warnings.

16. Check if determination are immoderate removal requests

Go to Removals and cheque what’s nether TEMPORARY REMOVALS, OUTDATED CONTENT, and SAFESEARCH FILTERING. As an auditor, you privation to cognize if idiosyncratic has filed 1 of these requests and whether it has been done connected purpose.

17. Check if canonical tags are utilized correctly

GSC besides allows to you audit canonical links connected your site. You tin either cheque 1 circumstantial URL oregon place groups of URL with a circumstantial canonical tag implementation oregon issues.

• To cheque the canonical tag of a circumstantial URL, simply usage the URL inspection tool, unfold Coverage and cheque what’s nether Indexing.

• You tin besides spell to Coverage > Excluded and look for:
  • Duplicate, Google chose antithetic canonical than idiosyncratic
  • Duplicate, submitted URL not selected arsenic canonical
  • Duplicate without user-selected canonical
  • Alternative leafage with due canonical tag

Make definite to analyse illustration pages folded nether each of these 4 types of canonical tag issues/implementations.

Rendering & mobile-friendliness

18. Check however the pages of the tract render

Another happening you tin cheque utilizing GSC is however the pages of the tract are rendered.

• To bash that, spell to URL inspection, benignant the URL, and deed enter. Next, click connected TEST LIVE URL.

• Click VIEW TESTED PAGE and the sheet connected the close volition appear. You tin present presumption the rendered HTML, spot the screenshot, oregon show much information (HTTP response, contented type, leafage resources, JS console messages).

19. Check if the tract is mobile-friendly

This is rather important, particularly successful the epoch of mobile-first indexing.

Go to Experience > Mobile Usability. If the tract is mobile-friendly, past each of its pages volition beryllium marked arsenic Valid.

20. Check if determination are immoderate issues with mobile-friendliness

If the tract has mobile-friendliness issues, past you volition spot them nether Error. Pay peculiar attraction to these due to the fact that these URLs whitethorn person superior problems successful Search.

Google checks for the pursuing six types of mobile-friendliness issues (I learned it from the GSC documentation):

• Uses incompatible plugins (e.g. Flash)
• Viewport not set
• Viewport not acceptable to “device-width”
• Text excessively tiny to read
• Clickable elements excessively adjacent together
• Content wider than screen

Not that the tract tin beryllium mobile-friendly (e.g. has the viewport acceptable properly) but it whitethorn person issues similar Content wider than screen. You cannot disregard immoderate of these issues.

Page Experience & Core Web Vitals

With the caller Page Experience study and the Core Web Vitals report, Google Search Console allows you to thoroughly analyse and measure your tract successful presumption of Google leafage acquisition signals.

21. Check the percent of Good URLs

Go to Experience > Page Experience. Ideally, you privation to spot 100% of Good URLs. Note that Good URLs are the URLs that are considered Good if they walk each of the 3 Core Web Vitals metrics (for mobile).

⚡ Make definite to cheque my Core Web Vitals guide and my Core Web Vitals audit.

22. Check the overview of Google Page Experience signals

The Page Experience report shows you the summary of each 5 Google Page Experience signals.

However, support successful caput that HTTPS is simply a site-wide cheque confirming that the bulk of URLs connected your tract load implicit HTTPS, and Ad Experience – meaning nary intrusive interstitials – is lone a reminder that Ad Experience is 1 of Google Page Experience signals. This is not the existent Ad Experience presumption of the site.

⚡ Check my Google Page Experience audit to larn much astir however to audit your tract successful presumption of these 5 signals.

23. Analyze Core Web Vitals metrics for Mobile and place groups of URLs with akin issues

Go to Experience > Core Web Vitals > Mobile and OPEN REPORT. Check Poor and Need improvement to show the details of URLs with issues. Navigate to Details and analyse each contented benignant and the URLs it affects.

If each URLs are Good, past congratulations.

24. Analyze Core Web Vitals for Desktop and place groups of URLs with akin issues

Core Web Vitals appraisal is coming to desktop soon, truthful you decidedly should look astatine however the tract is doing successful presumption of Core Web Vitals for desktop.

Go to Experience > Core Web Vitals > Desktop and OPEN REPORT. Check Poor and Need betterment to show the details. Navigate to Details and analyse each contented benignant and the URLs it affects.

All green? Congrats!

Structured information (Schema.org)

25. Check the types of Rich Results implemented connected the site

You tin spot the types of Rich results implemented connected the tract nether Enhancements successful the near sidebar successful Google Search Console.

26. Check if circumstantial structured information types implemented are correct

Simply click connected each circumstantial Rich results benignant displayed nether Enhancements. If determination are nary issues with a circumstantial type, you volition spot 0 nether Error and Valid with warnings.

If determination are immoderate errors oregon warnings, past cheque what’s nether Details and analyse the circumstantial URLs oregon groups of URLs with these issues. Note that URLs listed nether Errors cannot beryllium displayed with the usage of Rich results.

27. Check if the tract has breadcrumbs and if they are valid

Having breadcrumbs connected the tract is astir ever a bully signifier (especially successful the lawsuit of larger sites).

Check if determination are Breadcrumbs nether Enhancements and if breadcrumbs are Valid (i.e. tin beryllium displayed successful hunt results).

28. Check if the tract uses the FAQ Schema and if it is valid

Having the FAQ Schema besides makes a batch of consciousness successful the lawsuit of galore sites. Check if determination is FAQ nether Enhancements and if it is valid (i.e. tin beryllium displayed successful hunt results).

Language versions

Google Search Console (the aged version) tin besides assistance you analyse and troubleshoot planetary targeting connected the site.

29. Check if hreflang tags are utilized connected your site

Go to Legacy tools and reports > International targeting to cheque if the tract has hreflang tags. Note that this study is not disposable to Domain properties.

Once you click connected International targeting, you volition beryllium moved to the aged GSC. In tab Language, you tin cheque whether the tract has hreflang tags. Note that if determination are superior issues with the implementation of hreflang tags, past GSC whitethorn amusement the info that determination are nary hreflang tags adjacent if determination are.

30. Check if hreflang tags are implemented correctly

If Google tin admit hreflangs implemented connected the site, past you volition beryllium capable to spot if determination are issues and what types of issues they are. For example, GSC volition amusement if determination are nary instrumentality tags.

Internal links

31. Check the apical internally-linked pages

Google Search Console besides allows you to analyse interior links and cheque what interior pages you nexus to the most.

Go to Links and connected the right, you volition spot file Internal links with table Top linked pages. Click MORE to presumption the full report.

Are the apical linked pages the astir important pages of the site?

Status codes

Google Search Console is besides a large instrumentality for analyzing presumption codes connected your site. You tin bash that utilizing the Coverage report and the Crawl stats report. However, enactment that the Crawl stats study volition amusement you each the resources of your tract portion the Coverage study volition lone amusement you the presumption codes of your pages.

32. Check if determination are 301 oregon 302 redirects connected the tract

There are 2 ways to analyse redirects successful a tract utilizing Google Search Console.

• Go to Index > Coverage and cheque Excluded and scroll down to Details. Look for Page with redirect under type. Click to spot the examples of redirected pages.

• Go to Settings > Crawl stats and scroll down to Crawl requests breakdown. Analyze what you spot nether By response. Are determination 302 oregon 301 redirects?

33. Check if these redirects person close statuses

Now let’s cheque if the redirects person close statuses, i.e. for imperishable redirects 301 presumption is returned and for impermanent redirects, it’s 302.

Go to Settings > Crawl stats and click connected 301 and 302 redirects to cheque what URLs/resources are redirected and what presumption they return.

Many sites instrumentality 302 redirects successful the places wherever 301 redirects should beryllium used. Google is getting amended and amended astatine recognizing specified situations and treating these 302s arsenic 301s.

34. Check if determination are URLs returning 5xx errors

There are 2 ways to cheque if determination are server issues.

• Go to Coverage > Errors and cheque if determination are Errors with benignant Server mistake (5xx). Click connected the contented to cheque details and spot the URLs affected.

• Go to Settings > Crawl stats and look for Server mistake (5xx) under By response conception of Crawl requests breakdown. Click connected this contented to spot illustration pages that returned 5xx.

If the fig of those URLs with issue Server mistake (5xx) or/and the requests with the effect Server mistake (5xx) is immense you whitethorn privation to further analyse the server of the site.

35. Check if determination are URLs returning 4xx errors

Again, you tin cheque that successful 2 ways.

• Go to Index > Coverage and prime Errors. Look for the Error type Submitted URL not recovered (404). Click connected the mistake to spot the ULRs affected. Check if they inactive instrumentality 404 and if this is the presumption codification they should beryllium returning.

• Go to Settings > Crawl stats and navigate section By response. Check what’s nether Not recovered (404). Click to spot the examples of resources returning presumption 404.

36. Check if determination are brushed 404 pages

Here the process is precise similar.

• Go to Index > Coverage and prime Error. Navigate to Details and look for mistake benignant Submitted URL seems to beryllium a brushed 404. Click connected the mistake to spot illustration URLs.

Security

I person already touched upon information but it won’t harm if I give a abstracted conception to it arsenic this is simply a highly important facet of SEO.

37. Check if determination are immoderate information issues connected the site

If the tract has immoderate information issues and is filtered by Google Safe Browsing, past you volition astir apt spot the notification successful Overview disposable aft you log successful to GSC.

You tin cheque if the tract has information issues by going to Security & Manual Actions > Security issues oregon Experience > Page Experience > Page acquisition signals.

38. Check if the tract uses HTTPS

Google Search Console does lone a site-wide cheque of the HTTPS coverage, which means it volition archer you if the tract has an SSL certificate and if the bulk of its URLs are loaded implicit HTTPS. To cheque your site’s status, spell to Experience > Page experience.

However, enactment that Google Search Console volition not bash a thorough cheque for mixed content. To bash that, you request to crawl the tract utilizing Sitebulb or Screaming Frog SEO Spider.

Website speed

Did you deliberation that it is not imaginable to analyse the velocity and show of the tract utilizing GSC? Think again! Of course, this is not a standard Google PageSpeed Insights trial but you volition get an idea.

39. Check if the tract has had immoderate velocity issues

Google Search Console does not show your Lighthouse oregon Google PSI people but it tin amusement you whether your tract has go slower than accustomed recently.

• Go to Settings > Crawl stats and cheque Average effect time. Are determination immoderate antithetic spikes?

Performance & visibility successful Google

This is not strictly method SEO but I judge that each high-quality SEO audit should besides analyse the site’s visibility and show successful search. Once you place these areas, you volition cognize what to absorption connected successful your audit recommendations.

So we are present switching to the Performance report.

40. Identify the queries and pages that bring the astir clicks

Navigate to Performance > Search results oregon conscionable Performance (if the tract does not person postulation from Discover or/and Google News).

Scroll down the array and analyse what appears nether tab Queries (Top queries) and Pages (Top pages). In astir cases, these are going to beryllium the queries and pages to absorption connected successful the archetypal place.

41. Identify the state that brings the bulk of traffic

Now spell to tab COUNTIRES to spot the countries that bring the astir clicks. You whitethorn besides privation to analyse the CTR and Average position successful those countries.

Just click connected a circumstantial state to spot the filtered presumption with information lone for that country.

42. Compare the postulation coming from mobile and desktop

Yes, you tin besides usage Google Search Console to comparison integrated postulation coming to your tract done mobile and desktop.

Now determination to tab Devices to spot the fig of clicks coming from Desktop and Mobile. Analyze the CTRs and mean positions arsenic well.

To comparison the mobile and desktop traffic, click connected NEW astatine the top, prime Device, tab COMPARE, and click APPLY.

43. Check if Google Image Search brings a important magnitude of traffic

For immoderate sites, Google Image Search postulation is precise important and these sites should set their SEO strategy accordingly and not hide to optimize for Image Search.

When successful the Performance report, click on Search type: Web, click COMPARE, and deed APPLY. You tin present comparison web and representation postulation coming to the site.

You tin present spot the presumption comparing these 2 types of postulation sources.

44. Analyze postulation coming done circumstantial types of Rich Results

When successful the Performance report, click connected +NEW, prime Search quality and prime a circumstantial benignant of affluent results (FAQ affluent results, for example).

You volition spot the filtered presumption with information astir the postulation coming done this 1 benignant of affluent results. It’s precise almighty information!

45. Analyze however pages with bully acquisition perform

When successful the Performance report, click (again) connected +NEW, prime Search appearance, take Good leafage acquisition and deed APPLY.

Now you tin spot the filtered presumption showing you lone the pages that walk Core Web Vitals. How are these pages doing successful Search?

Website Quality & Relevance

Whenever a Google Core Update happens, we speech astir quality. Even if I bash a method SEO audit of the site, I ever look astatine the tract from a prime and relevance perspective. In summation to making usage of the prime guidelines Google provides, you tin besides find immoderate clues successful GSC.

46. Check if determination are pages that Google whitethorn see debased quality

This is of people not a last verdict but I noticed that it happens much and much often. Google is not obliged to scale each leafage of your site.

If a tract adds a batch of low-quality web pages, they whitethorn sometimes beryllium disposable successful Coverage > Excluded nether Crawled – presently not indexed or/and Discovered – presently not indexed. If the pages displayed determination are “normal” pages of the site, past thing is not OK for sure.

47. Check the pages that fertile connected the 2nd oregon 3rd pages of hunt results

These pages sometimes whitethorn deficiency prime and/or relevance. This is, of course, not ever the lawsuit and determination are tons of awesome pages connected the 2nd oregon 3rd leafage of results. Anyway, it won’t harm anyone if you instrumentality a deeper look astatine these pages.

• Go to the Performance report, cheque each 4 metrics (Total clicks, Total impressions, Average CTR, Average position) and scroll down until you spot the array with dimensions.

• Go to tab PAGES. Unfold the further filter paper and cheque Position.

• Choose Greater than and benignant 11. You volition present lone spot the pages whose mean presumption is supra 11. Analyze these pages utilizing your communal SEO consciousness and experience.

⚡ If you privation to excavation deeper into the prime and relevancy of the site/pages, I urge you cheque my Google Product Reviews Update audit wherever I analyse each connection and portion of proposal Google gave regarding prime and E-A-T.

Backlinks

Yes, you tin usage different SEO tools to cheque the backlinks of the site. But you whitethorn arsenic good usage Google Search Console and spot the backlinks that Google sees.

48. Analyze the backlink illustration of the site

Go to Links (in the near sidebar) and analyse successful details conception Top linked pages, Top linking pages, and Top linking text. This is not a nexus audit but I judge you should inactive instrumentality a look astatine that section.

49. Check if the disavow record has been submitted

You decidedly request to cognize if the disavow record has been submitted for the site. You tin entree the Disavow tool here.

Note that you tin cheque if immoderate links person been disavowed lone if you person a URL Prefix property. If nary links person been disavowed, you volition spot thing similar this.

As you tin see, it is so imaginable to execute an SEO audit utilizing lone Google Search Console, the escaped SEO instrumentality that everyone should beryllium utilizing connected a regular basis.

In this guide, I touched upon the bulk of method (and non-technical) SEO elements that each SEO audit should check. A large vantage of this GSC attack to auditing is that the information and accusation travel consecutive from Google, the lone hunt motor we truly attraction about. How chill is that?

Make definite to cheque my different SEO audit and method SEO guides:

• How to audit a tract with JetOctopus
• How to audit a tract with Sitebulb
• How to analyse log files with JetOctopus
• How to audit a tract with Ahrefs Site Audit
• The database of example method SEO issues
• The list of SEO mistakes to larn astir imaginable method SEO issues you tin travel crossed portion auditing sites.