Set up Search Console and Analytics, step by step.
Two free Google tools tell you how people find your website and what they do on it. This guide walks through setting up both for a new site, connecting them, and avoiding the mistakes that spoil the data.
- Search Console shows how people find you. Analytics shows what they do next.
- Both are free, and neither takes long to set up.
- Set them up on the final site, using an account the business controls.
6 min readPublished By Domeq Solutions
What each tool tells you
Google Search Console shows how your website appears in Google search: which searches show your pages, how often people click, and whether Google has any trouble reading the site. It is the closest thing to a direct line from Google.
Google Analytics shows what happens after people arrive: how many visit, which pages they use, where they come from and whether they take the action you want. The two answer different questions, which is why you want both.
Both tools are free. Every Domeq website project includes both, connected.
Search Console tells you how people find you. Analytics tells you what they do next.
How the two tools fit together.
Someone searches
Search Console records the query.
Sees your page
Search Console shows impressions and clicks.
Visits your site
Analytics records the visit.
Looks around
Analytics shows pages and time.
Enquires
Analytics counts the conversion.
Before you start
A few minutes of preparation prevents the most common headaches. The main rule is to set everything up with an account the business owns, not one belonging to a freelancer or agency who may move on.
Six things to have ready.
- A Google account that the business controls
- The website live at its final address
- Access to your domain settings or your website's files, to prove ownership
- The address of your sitemap
- Someone responsible for checking the reports
- A note of who has access to each tool
Setting up Search Console
Search Console asks you to prove you own the site before it shows you any data. Once that is done, the useful part is a few reports you can read in minutes.
Six steps in Search Console.
Add your site
Create a property for your website. A domain property covers every version of your address; a URL-prefix property covers one.
Verify ownership
Prove the site is yours, usually by adding a record to your domain settings or a small tag to your site.
Submit your sitemap
Give Google the address of your sitemap so it can find all your pages.
Inspect a page
Use the URL inspection tool on your homepage to check Google can reach it and has indexed it.
Read the Pages report
See which pages are indexed and why others are not. This is where problems show up first.
Check page experience
Look at the report on loading speed, responsiveness and visual stability, and note anything flagged.
Setting up Analytics
Analytics works by adding a small snippet of code to every page, so it can count visits. Your website platform usually has a place to add it, and a tag manager can do the same job.
Five steps in Analytics.
Create an account and property
Set up Google Analytics for your business and create a property for the website.
Add a web data stream
Tell Analytics the address of your site so it knows where to expect visits.
Install the tag
Add the tracking code to your site, through your platform or a tag manager, so it loads on every page.
Check it is working
Open the realtime report, visit your site in another tab and confirm your visit appears.
Mark your key events
Tell Analytics what counts as a result, such as a form submission or a click on a phone number. Analytics calls these key events.
Connect them and learn the words
Once both tools are running, link them. In Analytics settings you can connect Search Console, which brings search data into your Analytics reports so you can see the whole journey in one place.
Then give it time. Analytics starts counting straight away, and Search Console usually needs a few days before data appears. After that, a short monthly look at both is enough to keep you informed.
The words you will see in the reports.
- Impression
- One showing of your page in search results.
- Click
- One visit from a search result to your page.
- Query
- The words a person typed into the search box.
- Indexed
- Stored by Google, so the page can appear in results.
- Sitemap
- A file that lists your pages so search engines can find them.
- Session
- One visit to your site, made up of one or more page views.
- Key event
- An action you have marked as a result, such as an enquiry.
- Referral
- A visit that came from another website.
Looking for another term? Browse the full glossary.
Mistakes that spoil the data
Bad data is worse than no data, because it looks trustworthy. These six mistakes are the usual causes.
Six ways the data goes wrong.
Counting your own visits
Your team's visits can inflate the numbers. Exclude them where you can.
Installing the tag twice
A duplicate tag double-counts every visit. Check the code is added once.
Verifying the wrong address
A site can exist at several addresses, such as with and without www. A domain property covers them all.
Giving access to one person only
If that person leaves, so does your access. Add at least two owners.
Never looking at the reports
Data helps only when someone reads it. Put a monthly review in the diary.
Setting up before the site is final
Changing the address later means starting again. Set up once the site is live.
Questions, answered.
Are Google Search Console and Google Analytics free?
Yes. Both are free to use.
How long until data appears?
Analytics starts counting visits straight away. Search Console data usually takes a few days to start appearing.
Do I need both tools?
Yes, because they answer different questions. Search Console shows how people find your site, and Analytics shows what they do once they arrive.
What is the difference between Search Console and Analytics?
Search Console reports on your presence in Google search: impressions, clicks, queries and indexing. Analytics reports on visitors: who they are, where they come from and what they do on your site.
Do Domeq websites come with these connected?
Yes. Google Search Console, Google Analytics and Meta are connected to every website as part of the project. See Website Design & Development.
Who should own the accounts?
The business. Set both tools up under an account you control, and add other people as users, so you keep access whoever helps you.
Keep reading.
More guides on the same topic, and on the ones around it.
- Keyword Research for a Small Business: A Step-by-Step MethodLearn keyword research for a small business: list what customers search, group the terms by intent, check the results and choose one phrase per page.SEO
- Google Business Profile Checklist: Set Up and Maintain ItA Google Business Profile checklist for local businesses: details to fill in, how to verify, what to post, handling reviews and what to check each month.SEO
- On-Page SEO Checklist: 20 Checks for Every Page You PublishAn on-page SEO checklist of 20 checks for titles, headings, content, images, links and structured data, to run on each page before and after you publish.SEO
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