Search Console glossary

Organic click-through rate.

Calculation: clicks / impressions.

Number of appearances in Google Search results.

Should be read together with the goal, scope, and data volume when comparing across periods and campaigns.

Number of clicks from Google Search results.

Should be read together with the goal, scope, and data volume when comparing across periods and campaigns.

Average position in search results.

Calculation: lower is better.

A Search Console report showing whether Google has indexed your site's pages and, if not, why.

The report lists four statuses: Valid (indexed), Warning, Error, and Excluded. Pages in an Error status do not appear in search results.

The number of times a page from your site was shown to a user in Google search results; it does not have to have been clicked.

If impressions are high but clicks are low, title or meta description optimization may be worth considering.

The average rank at which your page appears in Google search results for a given query; 1 means the first position.

Positions 1-3 carry high CTR expectations. Positions 4-10 can present an improvement opportunity. 11 and beyond is considered the second page.

An XML file listing all of your site's URLs; submitted to Search Console to help Google discover pages more easily.

Submit your sitemap from Search Console → Sitemaps. Track the number of accepted URLs; if there is a big gap, check the coverage report.

The search phrase a user typed into Google that resulted in your site being shown.

The Performance report shows impressions, clicks, CTR, and position by query. Reviewing which queries produce low CTR is a good starting point for title optimization.

Google's three core page experience metrics: LCP (largest contentful paint), INP (interaction to next paint), and CLS (cumulative layout shift).

Track "Good", "Needs Improvement", and "Poor" URLs in Search Console's CWV report. Pages with "Poor" status may face a ranking disadvantage.

The number of clicks to your site from search results; it shows that the user actually navigated to your page.

Can be compared against organic session counts in GA4 during conversion analysis to check for inconsistencies.

Clicks divided by impressions; shows how much interest a page attracts in search results.

To improve a low CTR, try changing the title tag and meta description.

A Search Console tool that shows how a single URL looks from Google's perspective, whether it is indexed, and any issues.

To quickly get a new or updated page indexed, use URL Inspection → "Request Indexing."