Google Search Console lives at search.google.com/search-console. You log in with any Google account, but you won't see anything useful until you add and verify your property. Verification proves you own or manage the site. Google offers five methods: uploading an HTML file to your root directory, adding a DNS TXT record through your domain registrar, connecting an existing Google Analytics tag, using Google Tag Manager, or pasting a meta tag in your homepage head section. DNS verification is cleanest for agencies managing multiple properties because it doesn't clutter the site files and survives CMS migrations. Once verified, Search Console shows up to 16 months of data including search queries that triggered your pages, impressions, clicks, average position, indexing status, Core Web Vitals, mobile usability issues, and manual actions. The Performance report is where most SEO work starts because it tells you exactly what keywords Google is ranking you for and which pages are winning or losing traffic. The URL Inspection tool lets you check how Google sees a specific page and request indexing after you publish new content or fix errors. If you're managing client sites at Ottawa SEO or running a domain portfolio, you'll want to set up Search Console for every property including subdomains and separate HTTP/HTTPS versions if they exist. Use domain properties when possible because they aggregate all protocol and subdomain variants into one dashboard. Add team members or clients as users with either full or restricted permissions under Settings so they can monitor their own performance without accessing your Google account. Common mistake: People verify the site but forget to submit a sitemap under the Sitemaps section. Google finds pages through crawling and internal links, but a sitemap speeds up discovery, especially for new sites or large inventories. The Coverage report will show you what's indexed, what's excluded, and what has errors. Check it monthly at minimum, weekly if you're actively publishing or restructuring content.