Google Search Console: 5 reports to check every month

Google Search Console is a free Google tool that shows how your website is doing in search: which queries it appears for, how many people click on it, which subpages are in the index and whether Google has detected a break-in. Many businesses set it up when the site launches, and then nobody looks at it.

You don’t need to log in every day. In its guide to Search Console, Google writes that you will get an email about new problems, but it is worth checking the account about once a month and after changes to your site’s content. Below I describe 5 reports for such a review and what you can read from them without knowing SEO. As of 3 November 2026; I give button names as they appear in Google’s help, and in the panel they may differ slightly.

Before you start: the property and access for your contractor

If you don’t have an account yet, go to the Google Search Console page, click Add property and choose a type. In Search Console terms, a “property” is simply your website.

For a business, a Domain property is usually more convenient, because it shows everything in one place. However, it requires access to the panel where the domain’s DNS is set. After verification, don’t remove the record or the file: Google checks from time to time whether they are still there, and without them you lose your owner status.

Access for a contractor without sharing your password. Don’t send your Google Account password to an agency or an IT person. Instead:

1. Open the property and go to Settings → Users and permissions (only the owner sees this page).
2. Click Add user and enter that person’s Google Account address.
3. Choose the permissions: Restricted is enough to view the data, Full gives a view of everything and some actions.
4. Save the changes.

When the work ends, choose Remove access next to the user. If the contractor was a verified owner, also remove their verification file or tag, otherwise they can regain access on their own (details in Google’s help on permissions). I can also submit your site to Search Console for you, together with Bing Webmaster Tools and a sitemap, in the Submission to Google and Bing service (from PLN 190 net).

Report 1: Performance, or who searches for you and clicks

The most important report shows four numbers:

• Clicks: how many times someone came to the site from Google results.
• Impressions: how many times a link to your site appeared in the results.
• CTR: clicks divided by impressions.
• Average position: the site’s average place in the results.

Leave the default range of the last 3 months, turn on comparison with the previous period, and in the menu above the chart switch the view from daily to weekly (this option has been available since December 2025). Fluctuations between days of the week will stop hiding the trend. Then go through the two tabs below the chart:

• Queries: the phrases people found you by. Look for ones with many impressions and few clicks. A better page title and description often help, with the service and the city at the start.
• Pages: which subpages attract traffic. If the page for the service you earn the most from barely shows up, you know where to start.

Three things that often confuse people:

• The table total doesn’t match the chart. Google omits rare queries from the table to protect user privacy, but includes them in the total on the chart.
• Year-over-year comparison. In its list of data anomalies, Google states that from 13 May 2025 to 27 April 2026 impressions were reported inaccurately, and after the fix their number dropped. The error also affected CTR and average position, which are calculated from impressions, but not clicks, so when comparing year over year, look at clicks above all.
• AI impressions. Since June 2026 (since 31 August for all sites), Search Console has had a separate report for generative AI features such as AI Overviews and AI Mode. However, it shows only impressions, without clicks.

With more impressions, the filters also offer a split into branded and non-branded queries (only in a property for the whole site, not for a subfolder or a subdomain): you separate people who already know your business from new customers. And after every change to the site, right-click the chart and add an annotation (up to 120 characters, visible to everyone with access to the property).

Search Console stops measuring at the click. You won’t see phone calls and forms in it: that is what GA4 with configured events is for, which I set up in the Analytics and tags service.

A new domain: few impressions are normal at first

Google writes that data in a new property appears a few days after you add it. With a new website, during the first weeks you will usually see only occasional impressions, mainly for the company name: Google is only getting to know the site, and it doesn’t have links or history yet. In its SEO Starter Guide, Google notes that some changes take effect within a few hours and others after several months.

It makes sense to worry when, after a few weeks, the site doesn’t show up even for the company name. Then go to report no. 2 and to the guide Your business website doesn’t show up in Google.

Report 2: Page indexing, or whether Google knows your subpages

In the menu, you will find it under Indexing → Pages. The chart splits addresses into “Indexed” and “Not indexed”, and below it there is a list of reasons.

Google says outright that you shouldn’t expect every address to be indexed, but should make sure that the most important pages are in the index. Redirects and duplicates with a correct canonical tag are usually fine. Pay attention to these reasons:

Every month, check that the home page and the service pages are in the index: paste the address into the search bar at the top of Search Console. The message “URL is on Google” means everything is fine. If the address isn’t there, click Request indexing after the fix (a daily limit applies). When you fix a problem that affects many addresses, click Validate fix in the report. According to Google, validation usually takes up to 2 weeks.

Report 3: Core Web Vitals, or speed for your customers

The Core Web Vitals report shows how the site performed for real Chrome users over the last 28 days, separately on phones and computers:

Addresses are grouped by status: “Good”, “Needs improvement” and “Poor”. Start with the mobile tab and check that no group has dropped to “Poor”, especially after adding a plugin, a photo carousel, a chat or a new ad script.

With a small site, the report often says that no data is available. This isn’t an error: Chrome hasn’t collected enough visits yet. In that case, check the site with the Check your website tool, which in about 30 seconds measures speed on a phone with Google PageSpeed and shows what to improve.

Report 4: Security and manual actions

The Security & Manual Actions section contains two reports:

• Manual actions: a penalty imposed by a Google employee for spam, e.g. unnatural links or hidden text. The result may be a lower position or the removal of pages from the results.
• Security issues: Google suspects a break-in, that is, content added by hackers, malware or pages that phish for visitors’ data.

In a quiet month, you will see a green check mark and no issues. If there is something there, first remove the cause on all pages, then click Request review and describe what was fixed. Google writes that the review takes from a few days to a few weeks.

Search Console sends an email about new problems. Make sure it goes to an inbox that someone reads, not only to a former employee or a previous agency.

Report 5: Sitemaps, or a list of pages for Google

A sitemap is a file with a list of the addresses on your website, most often yourcompany.pl/sitemap.xml. You will find the report under Indexing → Sitemaps. You add a new sitemap by pasting its address into the Add a new sitemap field and clicking Submit. Every month, check three columns:

1. Status: it should read “Success”. “Couldn’t fetch” means Google can’t open the file.
2. Last read: when Google last fetched the sitemap.
3. Discovered pages: compare this with the number of subpages you actually have. If you have 30 subpages and the sitemap lists 8, the sitemap isn’t updating. If it lists 400, unnecessary addresses have ended up in it: tags, test pages, attachments.

“Discovered pages” are addresses found in the sitemap, not indexed ones. You don’t need to submit the sitemap every month: do it again after a major change to the site or after fixing a fetch error.

A 20-minute plan once a month

A list to put in your calendar:

• [ ] Performance: clicks in the weekly view against the previous period, the top 10 queries and pages.
• [ ] Performance: 3 queries with many impressions and a low CTR, to improve their title and description.
• [ ] Page indexing: the home page and the service pages are in the index.
• [ ] Core Web Vitals: no group on mobile has the “Poor” status.
• [ ] Security & Manual Actions: no issues.
• [ ] Sitemaps: “Success” status and a page count that matches reality.
• [ ] Users and permissions: only the people who should have access do.

Write the key numbers down in a simple table. After six months, you will see which changes to the site really brought traffic.

Summary

Search Console doesn’t need daily attention, but once a month it is worth going through the five reports described above. Such a review lets you catch a problem before it affects the number of calls from customers.

If you want me to review this data regularly and turn it into specific fixes, see the SEO and search rankings service or write to me. I reply within 24 hours, and new clients get a 20% discount on their first order.