- The Performance report shows the searches that bring clicks and impressions.
- The Pages report shows which pages are indexed and why others are not.
- Check Manual actions and Security issues; they should always be empty.
- Review the main reports monthly and after any big website change.
Before you start
Verify your website as a domain property if you can (it covers all versions: http, https, www and subdomains), and give your SEO partner access as a user rather than sharing your Google password.
The 10 reports to check
1. Performance (Search results)
Clicks, impressions, click-through rate and average position, by query, page, country and device. Compare periods to spot growth or decline, and look for queries with many impressions but few clicks.
2. Pages (indexing)
Shows how many pages are indexed and why others are not, for example “Crawled – currently not indexed”, “Duplicate without user-selected canonical” or “Not found (404)”. Not every excluded page is a problem, but important pages should be indexed.
3. URL Inspection
Check a single URL: whether it is indexed, which canonical Google chose, and how Googlebot renders it. You can also request indexing after updating an important page.
4. Sitemaps
Submit your XML sitemap and make sure its status is “Success”.
5. Core Web Vitals
Real-user data on loading (LCP), responsiveness (INP) and visual stability (CLS), grouped by similar pages. Good thresholds are LCP within 2.5 seconds, INP within 200 milliseconds and CLS below 0.1.
6. HTTPS
Confirms your pages are served securely.
7. Manual actions
If a human reviewer at Google has penalized your site, it appears here. This report should say “No issues detected”.
8. Security issues
Alerts for hacked content or malware. Again, it should be empty.
9. Links
Your most linked pages, top linking sites and internal link counts. Useful for spotting important pages with too few internal links.
10. Rich result reports
Under Enhancements, see whether your structured data (for example breadcrumbs, products or videos) has errors.
Three practical ways to use the data
Find quick wins
In the Performance report, filter for queries with an average position between 8 and 20 and sort by impressions. These are topics where a better page or more internal links can lift you onto the first page.
Improve click-through rates
Find pages with high impressions but a low click-through rate. Rewrite the title and meta description so they match the search intent more clearly and give people a reason to click.
Spot problems early
A sudden drop in indexed pages, a jump in 404 errors or a fall in clicks on a key page are early warnings. Investigate within days, not months.
Access and ownership
Search Console should always belong to your business. Add your agency or developer as a user with the permission level they need, and remove access when the work ends. If a previous agency verified your site with their account, re-verify it under your own and review the user list.
A simple monthly routine
- Compare clicks and impressions with the previous month and the same month last year.
- Check the top pages and queries for big changes.
- Look at the Pages report for new indexing problems.
- Confirm Manual actions and Security issues are empty.
- Note what changed on your website that month, so you can connect cause and effect.
Want a clear monthly report built from this data? That is part of every ITCore plan. See our technical SEO service.
MD. TAMZID ULLAH is the Founder & CEO of ITCore and a Top Rated SEO expert and AI search visibility (AEO & GEO) strategist with 6+ years of experience. Meet the team.