How to set up and use Google Search Console for your agency

Google Search Console is a free tool from Google that shows how your real estate website appears in Google search, which queries bring people to it and whether Google has any problems reading your pages. To set it up, add your domain as a property and verify ownership with a DNS record.

It is different from Google Analytics. Analytics shows what visitors do once they are on your site. Search Console shows what happens before they arrive. Together they give you a full picture. If you have not yet set up the other half, see our guide to Google Analytics 4.

Set up Search Console with a domain property

Use the Google account that your agency owns, not a personal account belonging to a staff member or provider. That way you keep access if people change roles.

1. Go to search.google.com/search-console and sign in.
2. Choose the domain property type. Enter your domain without "https://" or "www", for example youragency.com.au.
3. Google will ask you to verify ownership by adding a TXT record to your domain's DNS settings.
4. Choose your DNS provider from the list if it appears. If not, use the general instructions and copy the text Google provides.
5. Log in to your domain registrar or DNS host, add the TXT record and save it.
6. Return to Search Console and click verify.

DNS changes can take a little while to take effect. If verification fails, wait and try again. If you are not comfortable editing DNS, your web provider can add the record for you.

A domain property covers all versions of your site, including www and non-www, and http and https. That makes your data more complete than a single URL-prefix property.

Data will not appear instantly. Give it a few days before expecting meaningful reports.

Read the Performance report

For most agents, this is the report to use. It shows how your site performs in Google search. The four main measures are:

• Clicks: how often people clicked through from Google search to your site. Clicks from social media, email or other sources are not included.
• Impressions: how often your site appeared in search results, whether or not anyone clicked.
• Click-through rate (CTR): clicks divided by impressions.
• Average position: the average ranking of your highest result for those searches.

You can break the data down by query, page, country and device, and compare date ranges. The report can show up to 16 months of history, so check it regularly and look at long-term trends rather than day-to-day movement.

Questions the report can answer

• Which suburbs and phrases bring people to us? Look at the queries tab. See whether you appear for terms like "real estate agent" plus your suburb.
• Which pages earn the most clicks? Filter by page. These are the pages to keep fresh.
• Where is there room to improve? Look for queries with many impressions but a low click-through rate. A clearer page title or description can help.
• Are we found for our brand? Search for your agency name. If you rank poorly for your own name, something needs attention.

Be careful about reading too much into average position. It is an average, and rankings vary by person and location. Use it to spot movement, not to chase a number.

Check what Google has indexed

A page cannot appear in search unless Google has added it to its index. The Page indexing report (found under Indexing in the menu) shows how many pages are indexed and lists reasons for pages that are not.

Common statuses include pages that Google has found but not yet crawled, and pages that it crawled but chose not to index. Neither is always a technical fault. Often it means the page is too thin, too similar to another page or not considered valuable enough yet. Improving the content is usually the answer, rather than resubmitting it.

Use the URL Inspection tool to check a single page. It shows whether the page is indexed and lets you request indexing after you publish or update something important. Requesting does not guarantee inclusion.

Submit a sitemap

A sitemap is a file that lists the pages on your site. Submitting it under the Sitemaps section helps Google discover your pages. Many website platforms create one automatically, often at an address like yourdomain.com.au/sitemap.xml. Check with your provider if you are not sure where yours is.

Fix problems Google reports

Search Console emails the verified owner when it finds new issues. Do not ignore these. Check them, and pass them to your developer if needed. Typical examples include pages blocked from indexing by mistake, mobile usability problems or security issues.

Also look at the report for experience on mobile and page speed if available for your site. A slow or hard-to-use mobile site costs you visitors regardless of rankings.

Give the right people access

Search Console lets you add other users and set their permission level. Add your web developer or marketing provider if they are helping, but keep ownership with the agency. Review the user list now and then, and remove anyone who no longer works with you.

A monthly 20-minute routine

1. Open the Performance report and compare the last three months with the previous period.
2. Note your top queries and top pages.
3. Find two pages with high impressions and low clicks, and improve their titles or content.
4. Check the Page indexing report for new problems.
5. Read any alerts and pass them on.

For ideas on what to change once you see the data, read our post on improving your SEO ranking and our guide to Google Analytics for real estate.

If you would like someone to review your setup and what it is telling you, you can book a call with Lead Fleet.