Connect Google Search Console¶
Connect Google Search Console to see how your website and online store appear in Google Search: clicks, impressions, click-through rate and average position, your top searches and pages, sitemap health and whether a page is indexed. Ohanvi only reads this data. It never adds sites, submits sitemaps or changes anything in Search Console. Takes about 5 minutes.
Before you start¶
- You can see Google Workspace in the Connect panel. This screen is for admins by default. If you do not see it, ask your admin.
- Your site is already added and verified in Google Search Console, at search.google.com/search-console. Ohanvi does not verify sites for you.
- You know which Google account has access to the site in Search Console. It can be the owner or a user the owner added.
- Your browser allows pop-ups for Ohanvi. Google sign-in opens in a pop-up.
What Ohanvi asks Google for¶
| What Google shows you | What Ohanvi uses it for |
|---|---|
| View Search Console data for your verified sites | Listing your sites, and reading their search performance, sitemaps and index status. |
This is read-only access. To submit a sitemap or add a site, Ohanvi opens Search Console for you.
Steps¶
Connect Google Search Console¶
- Open Connect in the left rail, then select Google Workspace under Connectors.
- On the Search Console card, click Connect Google Search Console. If your Google account is already connected for another service, the card reads Needs permission. Click Grant Search Console access instead.
- In the Google window, choose the Google account that has access to your site.
- Read the permission Google lists and click Continue.
- Back in Ohanvi, the card reads Ready.
Link a site¶
- On the Search Console card, click Open.
- Read Sites on followed by your Google account. It lists every site that account can see in Search Console.
- Next to the site you want, click Link.
- Ohanvi shows linked. Ohanvi is fetching its history now. The site moves to Linked properties.
Ohanvi saves the site's daily totals for the last 16 months in the background, then adds each new day. Google itself keeps only 16 months, so Ohanvi keeps your history longer than Google does.
A site that reads Verify in Search Console is not verified for this Google account. Click it, finish verification in Search Console, then come back and click Link.
Domain and URL-prefix sites
Search Console has two kinds of site. A domain site, such as example.com, covers every page on example.com, www.example.com and shop.example.com. A URL-prefix site, such as https://www.example.com/, covers only addresses that start with exactly that. You can link both.
Read your search performance¶
-
Open Analytics in the left rail, or under More if it is not on the rail, and click Search Analytics. The Search Console dashboard opens on the Performance tab. You can also open it from Google Workspace: on the Search Console card, click Open, then click Open dashboard under Linked properties.
If Search Console is not connected yet, the page shows Connect Search Console. If no site is linked, it shows Link a property. Both open Google Workspace.
-
Choose a date range: 7d, 28d, 3m, 6m, 12m or 16m.
- Under Compare, choose Off, Prev for the period just before, or YoY for the same dates a year earlier.
- Read the four tiles: Clicks, Impr. (impressions), CTR and Avg position. Each shows the change against the comparison period. For Avg position, a lower number is better, so moving from 15 to 12 shows as an improvement.
- Click a tile to show that number in Trend. The solid line is the current period, the dashed line the comparison period.
To include the last two days, turn on Include fresh data. Google still updates those numbers, so they show as dotted in Trend.
Dates are in Pacific Time
Search Console counts each day in Pacific Time, and its numbers arrive 2 to 3 days late. Ohanvi shows the same dates as Search Console, so the totals match.
Find your top searches and pages¶
- Open the Pages & queries tab.
- Choose Query for the words people searched, or Page for your pages.
- Choose a view:
- Top: what brought the most clicks.
- Losing: what lost the most clicks against the comparison period.
- Quick wins: searches at positions 4 to 20 that many people see but few click. A small climb in ranking pays most here.
Check sitemaps and index status¶
- Open the Indexing tab.
- Read Sitemaps. Each sitemap shows Errors, Warnings or Pending, how many addresses it lists and when Google last read it.
- To submit a sitemap, click Submit a sitemap in Search Console. Search Console opens on its sitemaps page.
- Under Inspect a URL, paste the address of one page on this site, for example
https://www.example.com/products/shoe, and click Inspect. - Read the result: Indexed or Not indexed, Coverage, Last crawl, Google canonical, robots.txt and any Rich results.
Inspection shows the version Google has indexed. It is not a live test of the page.
Compare organic, paid and local¶
- Open the Overview tab. It uses the date range you chose above.
- Read the cards:
- Organic search: clicks, impressions, CTR and average position from Search Console.
- Paid search: clicks, spend, conversions and impressions from your Google Ads account.
- Local (Business Profile): profile views, calls, direction requests and website clicks from your Google Business Profile.
- On your site: the organic sessions, key events and revenue that Google Analytics counts from organic search, each with its change vs before. Click Open Analytics to open the property's dashboard.
- Read Organic vs paid clicks. It draws both lines day by day and says what share of your search clicks were organic.
- Read From search to your site. It follows people from Google Search to your site: Impressions (seen on Google), Clicks, Organic sessions (visited the site) and Key events (converted). Without Google Analytics, it reads Sessions and key events need Google Analytics.
A card that reads Not connected says why:
- Organic search: click Go to Google Workspace and connect Search Console.
- Local (Business Profile): click Connect Business Profile and connect your Google Business Profile.
- On your site: click Connect Google Analytics to open Google Workspace, then connect Google Analytics and link the property of your site. See Connect Google Analytics.
- Paid search: there is no button. Your Google Ads account is not connected from a screen in Ohanvi, so contact Ohanvi support to compare paid clicks.
The other cards keep working either way.
Each source keeps its own days
Search Console counts days in Pacific Time. Google Ads counts them in your ad account's time zone, and Google Analytics in your property's time zone. Numbers for the same date can come from slightly different hours.
Link a site to your online store¶
If you connected a Shopify, Wix or WooCommerce store, Store SEO under Store connections suggests the site that covers it and links it in one click. See See your store in Google Search.
Unlink a site¶
- On the Search Console card, click Open.
- Under Linked properties, click Unlink next to the site.
- In the Unlink window that names the site, click Unlink.
The dashboard stops showing the site. Daily totals Ohanvi already saved are kept and come back if you link the site again. Nothing changes in Search Console.
Disconnect Search Console¶
- On the Search Console card, click Disconnect.
- In Disconnect Google Search Console?, click Disconnect. The account's other Google services keep working.
Ask the AI assistant about your search traffic¶
Ohanvi's AI agents can read your linked sites too. When you set up an agent, the Search Console tools are listed under SEO: Search Console properties, Search performance, Top searches and pages and Why search traffic changed. Turn them on, then ask in plain words, for example:
- "What were my top searches last month?"
- "Which pages lost the most clicks this month?"
- "Where can I get more clicks quickly?" The agent looks for searches at positions 4 to 20 that many people see but few click.
- "Why did my clicks drop?" The agent compares two periods and tells you whether fewer people saw your site, fewer clicked, or your rankings moved, and which searches and pages changed most.
The agent only reads. It cannot link sites or change anything in Search Console. It also sees only what your role may see: if your role cannot open Search Console in Ohanvi, the agent cannot either.
Troubleshooting¶
| Issue | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| No Search Console properties | The Google account has no sites in Search Console. | Add or verify your site in Search Console, or connect the Google account that owns it. |
| A site reads Verify in Search Console | The site is not verified for this Google account. | Verify it in Search Console, then click Link. |
| Ohanvi lost access to this property | The Google account was removed as a user of the site in Search Console. | Ask the site owner to add the account again, or link the site through another Google account. |
| Search Console is busy or Showing saved numbers | Google asked Ohanvi to slow down. Ohanvi shows the last numbers it fetched. | Click Refresh in about 15 minutes. |
| No search data in this period | The site is new in Search Console, or had no searches in these dates. | New sites take 2 to 3 days to show data. Try a longer range. |
| The newest days are missing | Google publishes numbers 2 to 3 days late. | Turn on Include fresh data to see the last two days early. |
| A tile reads Comparison cut short (16-month limit) | The comparison period starts more than 16 months ago, where Google has no data. | Choose a shorter range, or YoY for a range inside the last 4 months. |
| Inspection says the address is not part of the site | The page is on another domain or another URL prefix. | Inspect a page of this site, or link the site the page belongs to. |
| Inspection says the property has used today's inspections | Google allows a limited number of inspections per site per day. | Try again after midnight Pacific Time. Inspections of the same page within an hour are free. |
| A card reads Reconnect needed | Google access was revoked or expired. | Click Reconnect and sign in again. |
| A card reads Not enabled on server | Search Console is switched off for your workspace. | Contact Ohanvi support. |