Google Search Console: complete guide for your Senegalese SME

Google Search Console: the free tool 80% of Senegalese SMEs ignore

Google Search Console (GSC) is free, official from Google, essential. It tells you:

• Which keywords people find you on
• How many times your site appears on Google
• Which pages are indexed or in error
• Where you rank on each query

Without GSC, you do SEO blind. At Kolonell, we set it up systematically for every SME client in Dakar. Here is the full guide.

Step 1: Install Google Search Console in 10 minutes

Create your property

• Go to search.google.com/search-console
• Click "Add a property"
• Choose "URL prefix" (simpler): https://yoursite.sn
• Google asks you to verify ownership

Verify ownership

3 common methods:

• HTML tag: paste a tag in the of your site
• HTML file: upload a file to the root
• Google Analytics: if GA4 is installed, 1 click (fastest)

Submit your sitemap

In GSC: Sitemaps > Add sitemap → type sitemap.xml. Google then knows which pages to index. For a Kolonell Next.js site, the sitemap is auto-generated at /sitemap.xml.

Step 2: The 4 reports to check every week

1. Performance — the report that pays

Most important. Shows:

• Clicks: how many times your site was clicked from Google
• Impressions: how many times your site appeared
• CTR (Click-Through Rate): clicks / impressions
• Average position: where you rank

Kolonell read:

• High impressions + low clicks = rewrite SEO title/description
• Position 11-20 on a keyword = strong opportunity (push to page 1)
• Position 4-10 = optimize to break into top 3

2. Coverage (Indexing)

Lists all pages: indexed, excluded, in error. Typical errors:

• 404 not found: deleted page without redirect — fix it
• Soft 404: empty or nearly-empty page — add content
• Excluded by noindex: verify if intentional

3. Page Experience

GSC scores each URL on:

• Core Web Vitals: speed, visual stability (crucial on Senegalese 3G)
• Mobile usability: if your site is not mobile-friendly, Google penalizes
• HTTPS: SSL certificate mandatory

4. Links

See who points to your site (backlinks) and your strongest internal links. Useful to understand your SEO authority.

Step 3: 5 concrete actions based on GSC

• Rewrite meta descriptions for pages with high impressions and CTR < 2%
• Create content around keywords at position 11-20 to push into page 1
• Fix 404 errors with 301 redirects
• Manually request indexing for a new page (GSC > URL Inspection > Request Indexing)
• Remove soft 404 pages or enrich their content

Typical Senegalese SME mistakes

• Never checking GSC after install: you miss 80% of the value
• Mixing up GSC and GA4: GA4 measures behavior on your site, GSC measures your Google presence — both are complementary
• Ignoring Core Web Vitals errors: a slow site on 3G is penalized, direct traffic loss
• Not submitting a sitemap: Google discovers your pages more slowly

A Kolonell Dakar example

Fashion boutique in Almadies:

• Before GSC: Google traffic stuck at 400 visits/month
• After setup + GSC actions:
• Fixed 23 pages in 404
• Rewrote meta descriptions on 15 high-potential pages
• Improved Core Web Vitals (from "poor" to "good")
• 3 months later: 1,800 visits/month (× 4.5)

Conclusion: the free tool that changes everything

Google Search Console is free, powerful, and underused. 20 minutes a week and your SEO becomes data-driven — not gut-driven.

Need a full SEO audit?

Request a free SEO audit or message us on WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33. We set up GSC + GA4 + full audit in 48h.