Google Search Console is an SEO tool, we don't dispute that.
But have you ever considered that it could also be a great business tool?
In this article, we'd like to offer you a completely different, business-oriented perspective on this formidable tool, which will help you to
- Create a partnership with Google (himself!)
- Capture more market share
- And bonus point: Improve your offer
Isn't that what we call business fundamentals?
Why work with Google?
This question is answered very simply with a few figures: Today, around 5 billion people have access to the Internet. Of these 5 billion people, around 92% will use Google as their search engine on their computer or cell phone.
The challenge of working with Google, and more broadly of deploying a digital strategy, is to open up your company to the world's largest, ever-expanding market.
How do you create a partnership with Google using Search Console?
For many companies, digital is a colossal market, and Google can be seen as the intermediary providing access. A demanding intermediary that needs to be transformed into a partner.
The theory behind a profitable partnership is simple: it's a matter of integrating and aligning the interests of the different parties: a win-win situation.
Understanding Google's interests
Keep this in mind: Google is an advertising company, generating over 80% of its revenues from advertising (in various forms):
You may have noticed, but Google doesn't charge you for your searches.
So how does Google make its money? Well, it's simple: Google's first results are sponsored results.
In other words, Google charges for access to the top positions of its search engine. Does this mean I have to pay for access to the highest positions? Surprisingly, the answer is no!
Why would a GAFAM offer me free visibility?
It may seem counter-intuitive: why would Google let you appear at the top of its search engine results for free, when that's precisely what it charges for?
The answer lies in the company's business model: Google's customers are not its users. Google's users are people looking for answers to their questions.
If search results aren't relevant, Google will have fewer users. And if Google's usage declines, the number of businesses paying for its services will decline.
This is the complexity of the marketplace business: you have to bring together supply (relevant information) with demand (companies that want to promote themselves) at the same time.
What does Google want from my site?
Google needs relevant content to answer its users' questions. Only your expertise, documented through your website, can provide it with all the knowledge it needs.
In a nutshell, Google expects quality information that's accessible and easy to navigate.
The Search Console in all this?
Here we are: Search Console is Google's way of helping you provide it with what it needs! That's why it's a free tool because it serves Google's interests.
In short, the tool gives you access to the information you need to adjust your site to Google's quality requirements. You will be able to :
- Avoid technical errors that lower the quality of the browsing experience on your website,
- Access performance information that shows the most interesting content in the eyes of the search engine (and the users! ),
- Visualise the sources that refer you and "validate" you to the sigh with the Mountain View firm.
In short, to build a successful partnership with Google: Navigate the Search Console screens, and identify and meet its quality requirements. All the information you need is just a click away.
Bonus: the search console helps you improve your offer and your positioning
When your site reaches a critical size and sufficient reputation, search engines eventually associate you with a large number of queries entered by users in your field.
Exploiting these queries, called "keywords" in SEO jargon, can lead you to nuggets on your users' needs and knowledge of your market:
For example:
Imagine you only offer blue products, but in the Search Console, the keyword "green" is regularly associated with your products: proof that it's time to diversify your range.
Imagine that your flagship product is immediately associated with the keyword "fast delivery": it would surely be worthwhile for you to offer 24-hour delivery.
What's true for your offer is also true in terms of positioning: some of our customers have discovered the reasons for their customers' unavowed purchases thanks to Google Search Console: all they had to do was create a page to present the alignment between their product and the user's intention to multiply their number of orders!
Conclusion
Yes, Google Search Console is an SEO tool.
But the data it contains are business data, and should not be ignored by any website owner.
Our WordSeek SEO tool's mission is to transform this raw, inaccessible information into concrete action to develop your business. Don't hesitate to try it out for free!