Google Search Console (GSC) is Google's free tool showing how your site performs in search results. If you're serious about SEO, this is the first tool to set up. Analytics measures traffic; GSC shows the relationship between Google and your site.
Why you need it
1) See which keywords lead people to your site. 2) Which pages are indexed, which aren't. 3) Technical errors (404, server errors, mobile issues). 4) Backlink list. 5) Request indexing of new pages. 6) Whether there's a manual action (Google penalty).
Step 1: add your domain
Go to search.google.com/search-console with a Google account. Click "Add Property". Two options: Domain (entire domain with all subdomains) or URL prefix (single address only). Domain is recommended — full coverage.
Step 2: verify ownership
For Domain — via DNS: add the TXT record GSC provides to your DNS settings. For URL prefix: HTML file upload, HTML meta tag, via Google Analytics or Tag Manager. Easiest — if GA4 is already installed, one-click verification.
Step 3: submit sitemap
After verification, go to "Sitemaps" in the left menu. Enter your sitemap.xml URL and click "Submit". Google now finds all your pages faster. For new sites this speeds up indexing by several days.
Key reports
Performance: which queries produce how many impressions, clicks, average position and CTR. The most important section — shows where you're strong and what to improve.
Pages (Indexing): how many pages are indexed, which are excluded and why. "Crawled - currently not indexed" — possibly low content quality. "Discovered - not indexed" — Google hasn't gotten to it yet.
Experience: Core Web Vitals (LCP, INP, CLS), mobile usability, HTTPS status.
URL Inspection
Enter any page URL in the top search bar — Google shows how it sees the page, whether it's indexed, when last crawled. For new or updated pages use "Request Indexing" for fast indexing.
Sayt.uz experience
Sayt.uz uses GSC to find the best-performing keywords for blog posts. By tracking positions for queries like "domain price", "choosing hosting", we update content accordingly.
Along with Yandex Webmaster
For the Uzbekistan market, Yandex matters too. webmaster.yandex.ru is Yandex's version of GSC. Set up both: Google covers global, Yandex covers local traffic.