Google Search Console is a free diagnostic tool that tells you how Google sees your site. After verifying ownership through DNS TXT record, HTML file upload, or Google Analytics tag, you get access to five core reports. Performance shows the last 16 months of clicks, impressions, average position, and CTR by query, page, country, and device. You filter by date range, compare periods, and export CSV to find pages stuck on page two or queries where you rank top five but get ignored. Coverage lists every URL Google tried to index, sorted into valid, error, excluded, and warning buckets. Errors mean lost traffic—missing canonicals, soft 404s, server errors. Fix those first. The Enhancements section flags mobile usability problems, Core Web Vitals failures, and structured data errors. At Ottawa SEO, we check Core Web Vitals weekly because a site that fails LCP or CLS often drops 10–20 positions overnight when Google rolls out ranking updates. The URL Inspection tool is your single-page X-ray: paste any URL to see the last crawl date, canonical Google chose, indexing status, and mobile screenshot. Use it to debug why a page won't index or confirm a fix went live. Links reports show your top external backlinks and internal link counts; compare internal link volume to see if important pages are orphaned. Sitemaps live under the Index menu—submit your XML sitemap and watch for parsing errors. Two workflow tips: set up email alerts so you catch coverage spikes the day they happen, and download Performance data monthly because the 16-month window rolls forward. Search Console doesn't show keyword volume or competitor data, so pair it with Google Analytics 4 for user behaviour and a paid tool like Ahrefs for backlink context. Most agencies glance at Search Console quarterly; we pull Performance exports weekly because search intent shifts fast and a query that converts today might dilute next month.