Google Search Console is a free tool that shows how your website performs in Google Search: which searches you appear for, how often, where you rank and how many people click. Every BC business with a website should have it, set up in the owner's name. Once it's running, a ten-minute check each month tells you whether your SEO is working, whether you do it yourself or pay someone.
Why an owner should care
Search Console is Google's own data about your site. It isn't an agency's estimate or a tool's guess. That makes it the fairest way to check any SEO claim, including ours.
It answers questions like:
- Which searches bring people to my site?
- Are people in Kamloops finding my Kamloops page?
- Did traffic drop after we rebuilt the website?
- Is Google having trouble reading any of my pages?
Set it up in your own name
If you don't have Search Console yet, set it up under a Google account your business controls, not a personal account of an employee or a former agency. Google offers two ways to add a site: a "domain" property, which covers every version of your site and is verified through your domain settings, and a "URL prefix" property, which covers one version and offers more verification options. If you're unsure, ask whoever manages your domain to help with the domain option, since it captures everything.
After it's verified, add your web developer or SEO provider as a user. You can remove them any time. If an agency set it up under their own account years ago, ask them to add you as an owner now.
Data starts collecting from the day you verify, so the sooner the better.
The four numbers that matter
The Performance report shows four metrics, which Google defines roughly as follows:
| Metric | What it means | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Clicks | How many times someone clicked through to your site from Google Search | The trend over months, not days |
| Impressions | How many times your site appeared in search results | Rising impressions mean Google shows you for more searches |
| CTR | Clicks divided by impressions | Low CTR on a popular search suggests your title or description needs work |
| Average position | The average position of your highest result | Useful per search; misleading as a sitewide number |
A practical example: suppose your "drain cleaning Abbotsford" page gets 600 impressions and 12 clicks in a month. That's a 2% CTR. If it sits at an average position of 8, you're on page one but low; improving the page could lift both position and clicks. If it sits at position 3 with a 2% CTR, the problem is more likely your title and description than your ranking.
The ten-minute monthly check
Do this on the same day each month and jot the numbers in a simple spreadsheet.
Minutes 1–3: overall trend
Open the Performance report and set the date range to the last three months compared with the previous three months. The default view shows the past three months; adjust it so you're comparing like with like. Note total clicks and impressions. Is the trend up, flat or down?
For seasonal BC businesses, compare against the same months last year when you have the data. A roofing company's clicks always fall in a dry summer and rise with autumn rain; that's not an SEO problem.
Minutes 4–6: top searches
Switch to the Queries tab and sort by clicks. Ask:
- Are the top searches ones that bring paying customers?
- Do your service towns appear in them?
- Any surprises, good or bad?
Then sort by impressions. Searches with many impressions and few clicks are your easiest wins.
Minutes 7–8: top pages
Open the Pages tab. Check that your most important pages (main services and town pages) are getting impressions. A town page with almost no impressions after three or four months needs attention.
Minutes 9–10: problems
Look at the Pages report under indexing. A few excluded pages is normal. Watch for sudden jumps, especially after a website change, and for important pages listed as "crawled, currently not indexed" or "not found". Glance at any messages Google has sent about security or manual actions. Those are rare and serious.
Filters that help BC businesses
- Country filter. Set it to Canada to remove stray foreign traffic, which matters if you're near the Washington State border and appear in US searches you can't serve.
- Device filter. Compare mobile and desktop. Urgent trades usually get most clicks on phones, so mobile numbers matter most.
- Query filter. Filter queries containing a town name, for example "kelowna", to see how a single market is doing.
- Page filter. Filter by a location page's address to see which searches it appears for.
Red flags worth a call
Call your web developer or SEO provider if you see any of these:
- A sharp drop in clicks over a few days that isn't explained by season or holidays.
- A jump in non-indexed pages right after a website update.
- Your main service pages missing from the Pages report.
- A security or manual action message from Google.
- Branded searches falling. If fewer people search your business name, check your Google Business Profile and offline reputation too.
Reading agency reports against Search Console
When an SEO provider reports progress, ask which numbers come from Search Console. Rankings from third-party tools are estimates checked from one location; Search Console is Google's own record. If a report shows rankings going up while Search Console clicks are flat, ask why. Good providers welcome the question. Our hiring guide has more questions like this.
Where to go from here
Search Console is the main measuring tool behind our technical SEO work, and our keyword research guide shows how to use its query data for planning. If you'd like help setting it up or reading it, the contact page explains how to reach us. BCSEO.ca is a marketing and consulting service, not a contractor.
Frequently asked questions
Is Search Console the same as Google Analytics?
No. Search Console shows how your site appears in Google Search before anyone clicks: searches, impressions and positions. Analytics shows what visitors do after they arrive. They answer different questions and work best together.
Who should own my Search Console account?
You. Set it up under a Google account your business controls, then add your agency or web developer as a user. That way the data stays with you if you change providers.
My average position went down but clicks went up. Is that bad?
Usually not. When your site starts appearing for more searches, including ones where it ranks lower, the average can drop even as real traffic grows. Clicks are the better signal.