Google Search Console (GSC) is one of the most valuable free tools available to any website owner - and one of the most underused by charities. It gives you direct insight into how Google sees your site, what searches bring people to you, which pages have problems, and much more.
If you don't have it set up, you're making SEO decisions without the most important data available to you. Here's how to fix that in under 15 minutes.
What Does Google Search Console Tell You?
Once set up, GSC shows you:
- Which search queries your charity appears for - and how many clicks and impressions each query gets
- Which pages rank highest and which ones are underperforming
- Crawl errors - pages Google couldn't access or index
- Mobile usability issues on specific pages
- Core Web Vitals - page speed and user experience metrics
- Sitemap status - whether Google has successfully read your sitemap and how many URLs it's indexed
- Manual actions - if Google has penalised your site for any reason
Important: Google Search Console shows historical data - it only starts recording from the day you verify your site. Set it up as soon as possible, even if you're not ready to act on the data yet.
Step 1: Go to Google Search Console
Visit search.google.com/search-console and sign in with a Google account. If your charity already has a Google account (for Gmail, Google Analytics, or Google Workspace), use that one - it keeps everything together.
Step 2: Add Your Property
Click "Add property" and you'll be given two options:
- Domain property - covers all versions of your domain (http, https, www, non-www) in one property. Recommended if you have access to your DNS settings.
- URL prefix property - covers only the exact URL prefix you enter (e.g.
https://yourcharity.org.uk/). Easier to verify but less comprehensive.
If you're comfortable with DNS, use the Domain property. If not, use URL prefix - it works perfectly well for most charity websites.
Step 3: Verify Your Site
Google needs to confirm you own the site before giving you access to its data. There are several verification methods:
HTML file upload (easiest for most charities)
Google gives you a small HTML file to download and upload to the root of your website. Once uploaded, visit the file URL in your browser to confirm it's accessible, then click "Verify" in Search Console.
HTML meta tag
Google gives you a <meta> tag to paste into the <head> section of your homepage. Add it, publish the change, then click "Verify".
DNS record (best for Domain properties)
Google gives you a TXT record to add to your domain's DNS settings. This is done through your domain registrar (GoDaddy, Namecheap, 123-reg, etc.). It can take a few minutes to a few hours to propagate. Once it does, click "Verify".
Google Analytics (if already installed)
If you already have Google Analytics set up on your site, you can verify Search Console ownership through that connection automatically.
Step 4: Submit Your Sitemap
Once verified, go to Sitemaps in the left-hand menu and submit your sitemap URL. For most charity websites this will be something like https://yourcharity.org.uk/sitemap.xml.
Don't have a sitemap? Use our free tool to check whether one exists and validate it for errors before submitting it to Google.
Free Sitemap Validator
Check your sitemap.xml and robots.txt for errors before submitting to Google.
Submitting your sitemap tells Google which pages you want indexed and speeds up the process of getting new content discovered.
Step 5: Wait, Then Explore the Data
It takes a few days for data to start appearing in Search Console - and some reports (like Performance) can take up to 48 hours to show after a search has happened. Don't be alarmed if the dashboard looks empty at first.
Once data starts flowing, the three most useful reports for charity websites are:
Performance
Shows which queries bring people to your site, which pages they land on, and how your click-through rate compares to your impressions. Look for queries where you're appearing on page 2 (positions 11–20) - these are often the quickest ranking wins, since you're already close.
Coverage
Shows which of your pages Google has indexed, and which ones have errors or warnings. Any "Error" pages need investigating and fixing.
Core Web Vitals
Shows how your pages perform on Google's page experience metrics - load speed, interactivity, and visual stability. Pages marked "Poor" should be prioritised for improvement.
Connecting Google Search Console to Google Analytics
If you also have Google Analytics (GA4) set up, you can link the two together in Analytics under Admin → Property settings → Search Console links. This lets you see Search Console data (queries, impressions, clicks) alongside your Analytics data (sessions, conversions) in one place.
How Often Should You Check It?
For most charities, a monthly review is enough. Set a reminder to look at the Performance report once a month - check whether your impressions and clicks are trending up, and look for any new Coverage errors that need fixing.
The data in Search Console compounds over time. The sooner you set it up, the more historical data you'll have when you need to diagnose a problem or measure the impact of your SEO work.