How to Add a User to Google Search Console

Google Search Console (GSC) is an essential tool for website owners, digital marketers and SEO professionals. It provides invaluable insights into how your site performs in Google Search, helping you optimize and improve your online presence. One of the key features of GSC is the ability to add users, allowing multiple people to access and manage your site’s performance data.

In this blog post, we’ll guide you through the process of adding a user to Google Search Console and highlight the benefits and measurable metrics available in GSC.

Benefits of Using Google Search Console

Before diving into the steps of adding a user, let’s explore why Google Search Console is crucial for your website’s success:

1. Performance Insights: GSC offers detailed reports on your site’s search performance, including clicks, impressions and average position in Google Search results. These insights help you understand how users interact with your site and identify areas for improvement.
2. Index Coverage Reports: These reports show how many of your site’s pages are indexed by Google and highlight any issues that may prevent pages from being indexed, such as errors or warnings.
3. URL Inspection Tool: This tool allows you to check the indexing status of a specific URL, ensuring that your most important content is indexed correctly.
4. Enhancements: GSC provides reports on enhancements like mobile usability, structured data and AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages), helping you improve the overall user experience on your site.
5. Security Issues: GSC alerts you to any security issues detected on your site, such as malware or hacked content, allowing you to take immediate action to protect your visitors and your reputation.

How to Add a User to Google Search Console

Adding a user to Google Search Console is a straightforward process. Here’s how you can do it:

1. 1. Log in to Google Search Console: Go to the Google Search Console and log-in with your Google account.2
   2. Select a Property: Choose the property (website) you want to add a user to from the property selector dropdown.
   3. Go to Settings: In the left-hand menu, scroll down and click on “Settings.”
   4. Manage Property Users: Under the “Users and permissions” section, click on “Users.”
   5. Add a New User: Click the “Add User” button in the top-right corner.
   6. Enter User Details: Enter the email address of the person you want to add and select their permission level (Full or Restricted).
   7. Confirm and Save: Click “Add” to save the new user. The user will receive an email invitation to access the property in GSC.

    

User Permissions in Google Search Console

When adding a user to Google Search Console, you can assign different levels of permissions based on the level of access you want to provide. Here’s a brief overview of the different user permissions available:

Full User:

• Access Level: Full users have complete access to all data and most settings.
• Capabilities: They can view all reports and settings, submit sitemaps and use the URL Inspection Tool. They can also manage users and settings but cannot add or remove property owners.

Restricted User:

• Access Level: Restricted users have limited access to data.
• Capabilities: They can view most reports and settings but cannot make any changes. They have read-only access and cannot manage users or property settings.

Owner:

• Access Level: Owners have the highest level of access.
• Capabilities: They can view and modify all data and settings, manage users and have the ability to add or remove other owners. There are two types of owners: verified owners (who have verified ownership of the property) and delegated owners (who are granted ownership by a verified owner).

Measurable Metrics Available in Google Search Console

Once you have added users to GSC, they can access a wealth of metrics to help analyze and optimize your site’s performance. Here are some of the key metrics available:

• Clicks: The number of times users clicked on your site’s link in Google Search results. This metric helps you gauge the effectiveness of your page titles and meta descriptions.
• Impressions: The number of times your site appeared in search results. Impressions indicate the visibility of your site in search queries.
• Click-Through Rate (CTR): The ratio of clicks to impressions, expressed as a percentage. A higher CTR suggests that your search snippets are compelling and relevant to users.
• Average Position: The average ranking of your site’s pages in search results. Monitoring this metric helps you understand how well your site is performing in search rankings.
• Pages with Errors: Pages on your site that Google was unable to index due to errors. Fixing these errors ensures that all your important pages are searchable.
• Mobile Usability: Reports on issues affecting the mobile usability of your site. Given the increasing importance of mobile search, addressing these issues is crucial for maintaining a positive user experience.
• Backlinks: Information on sites linking to your content. Backlinks are a critical factor in SEO, influencing your site’s authority and ranking.

By leveraging the insights and metrics provided by Google Search Console, you can make data-driven decisions to enhance your website’s performance, security and user experience. Adding users to GSC allows your team to collaborate effectively, ensuring that everyone has access to the information they need to contribute to your site’s success.