Google SEO tools: Search Console, PageSpeed and Keyword Planner

Google provides a suite of free SEO tools that every Wix website owner should be using. These tools give you direct data from Google itself about how your site performs in search, how fast it loads, what keywords drive traffic, and whether your structured data is valid. No third-party tool can match the accuracy of data that comes directly from Google. This lesson covers the seven essential Google SEO tools, how each one connects to your Wix SEO workflow, and the specific data points you should monitor in each tool.

Google Search Console: Your SEO Command Centre

Google Search Console (GSC) is the single most important free SEO tool for any website. It provides data directly from Google about which keywords your site ranks for, which pages are indexed, which pages have errors, and how your site performs in search results. Every Wix site should be connected to GSC from day one. The data GSC provides is the foundation for every SEO decision you make.

• Performance report: Shows every keyword your site appears for in Google, with clicks, impressions, average position, and CTR. Filter by date, page, country, and device.
• URL Inspection: Check the indexing status of any individual URL. Request indexing for new or updated pages. See exactly how Google renders your page.
• Pages report: Overview of all indexed and excluded URLs. Identifies pages with crawl errors, noindex tags, redirects, and other issues preventing indexing.
• Sitemaps: Submit and monitor your XML sitemap. Verify Google has discovered all your pages and check for submission errors.
• Core Web Vitals: Shows mobile and desktop page experience scores across your entire site. Identifies pages with poor, needs improvement, and good scores.
• Enhancements: Validates structured data across your site. Shows which rich result types are detected and flags any schema errors.
• Links: Shows your top linked pages (external and internal), top linking sites, and top linking text. Essential for understanding your backlink profile.

Google Rich Results Test

The Rich Results Test validates whether a specific page is eligible for rich results in Google search. Paste any URL and it shows which structured data types are detected, whether they pass validation, and what rich result features the page qualifies for. Use this tool every time you add or modify schema markup on your Wix site. It is also invaluable for competitive analysis: test competitor pages to see what schema types they use so you can match or exceed their rich result coverage.

• Test any live URL or paste raw HTML/JSON-LD code for validation
• Shows detected structured data types with pass/fail status for each
• Highlights specific errors with field-level detail about what needs fixing
• Shows warnings for recommended but not required fields that improve rich result quality
• Renders the page as Google sees it, catching client-side rendering issues

Google PageSpeed Insights

PageSpeed Insights measures the real-world and lab performance of any URL, providing Core Web Vitals scores and specific optimisation recommendations. The tool tests both mobile and desktop performance separately because mobile performance is typically worse and more important for SEO (Google uses mobile-first indexing). Run PSI on your key pages monthly and track scores over time to catch performance regressions before they impact rankings.

• Field data (real user data from Chrome User Experience Report) shows actual visitor experience
• Lab data (simulated testing) provides consistent, reproducible measurements
• Specific recommendations ranked by estimated impact on page load time
• Filmstrip view shows visual loading progression so you can see exactly what users experience
• Performance scores from 0-100 for both mobile and desktop with colour-coded thresholds

Google Business Profile Manager

For any business with a physical location or service area, Google Business Profile Manager is where you create and manage your listing that appears in Google Maps and local search results. Your GBP listing is separate from your Wix website but directly impacts local SEO rankings. The Wix GBP integration simplifies management, but the full Google Business Profile dashboard provides more advanced features including messaging, booking integration, and detailed insights.

Google Keyword Planner

Keyword Planner is part of Google Ads but is free to use for keyword research without running ads. It shows search volume estimates, competition levels, and related keyword suggestions for any seed keyword. While primarily designed for paid search, the data is equally valuable for organic SEO planning. Use it to estimate traffic potential for target keywords and discover related terms you might not have considered.

• Search volume estimates show how many monthly searches a keyword receives in your target location
• Competition indicator (Low, Medium, High) suggests how difficult the keyword is to rank for
• Related keyword suggestions help you discover long-tail variations and related topics
• Forecast tool estimates clicks and impressions for keyword groups at various bid levels
• Location and language filtering lets you see search volumes specific to your target market

Google Trends

Google Trends shows the relative popularity of search terms over time and across geographic regions. Unlike Keyword Planner, which shows absolute search volumes, Trends shows interest trajectories: whether a topic is growing, stable, or declining. Use Trends to time your content strategy, identify seasonal patterns, and compare the relative popularity of competing keywords before committing to a content direction.

Google Structured Data Markup Helper

The Markup Helper provides a visual interface for generating structured data markup for common schema types. Paste a URL, highlight page elements, and the tool generates JSON-LD code you can add to your Wix page. While schema apps on Wix are more convenient for ongoing management, the Markup Helper is useful for understanding what structured data looks like and for generating schema for one-off pages.

Recommended Google Tools Monitoring Schedule

• Daily (2 minutes): Check GSC for new manual actions or security issues via email alerts.
• Weekly (10 minutes): Review GSC Performance report for ranking changes. Check for new indexing errors in the Pages report. Respond to new Google reviews in GBP.
• Monthly (30 minutes): Run PageSpeed Insights on top 5 pages. Review Core Web Vitals report in GSC. Check sitemap status. Run Rich Results Test on any pages with schema changes.
• Quarterly (1 hour): Review GSC Links report for new backlinks and lost links. Use Keyword Planner to refresh your keyword research. Check Google Trends for shifts in your industry topics.

Setting Up Google Search Console for Your Wix Site

Connect and configure GSC step by step

• Go to search.google.com/search-console and sign in with your Google account.
• Click "Add property". Choose "URL prefix" and enter your full Wix domain including https://.
• Choose the HTML tag verification method. Copy the meta tag code provided.
• In your Wix dashboard, go to Settings then Custom Code. Add the GSC meta tag to the Head section of all pages.
• Return to GSC and click Verify. You should see a green success confirmation.
• Navigate to Sitemaps in the left menu. Enter your sitemap URL (typically yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml) and click Submit.
• Wait 24-48 hours for initial data to populate. GSC needs time to process your site.
• After data appears, navigate to Performance and review your top queries, pages, countries, and devices.

Reading GSC Performance Data for SEO Decisions

The Performance report is the most valuable section of GSC for ongoing SEO management. It shows exactly which keywords your Wix site appears for, how many impressions and clicks each keyword receives, your average ranking position, and your click-through rate. Interpreting this data correctly drives every SEO decision from content creation to page optimisation.

Interpret GSC Performance data for actionable insights

• Set the date range to the last 3 months for a meaningful data set.
• Sort by Impressions (highest first) to see your most visible keywords. These are terms Google already associates with your site.
• Look for keywords with high impressions but low CTR. These are ranking opportunities where better title tags and meta descriptions could increase clicks.
• Filter by Position and find keywords averaging positions 5-15. These are close to page 1 or already on page 1 but not yet in the top 3. Targeted optimisation can push them higher.
• Switch to the Pages tab. Identify your top-performing pages. These are your strongest SEO assets.
• Look for pages with declining clicks over time. These may need content refreshes.
• Check the Countries tab to see where your traffic comes from. Verify it matches your target market.

Running a PageSpeed Insights Audit on Your Wix Site

Conduct a thorough PageSpeed audit

• Open pagespeed.web.dev and enter your homepage URL.
• Wait for the analysis to complete. Review both Mobile and Desktop results.
• Note your Core Web Vitals scores: LCP (Largest Contentful Paint should be under 2.5s), FID/INP (interaction delay should be under 200ms), and CLS (layout shift should be under 0.1).
• Review the Opportunities section. These are specific recommendations ranked by estimated impact.
• For each recommendation, note whether it is something you can control on Wix (image compression, lazy loading) or a platform-level factor (server response time).
• Test your top 3-5 most important pages, not just the homepage. Service pages and blog posts may have different performance profiles.
• Record all scores in a spreadsheet with the date tested. This creates a baseline for tracking improvement over time.

Complete How-To Guide: Setting Up and Using All Essential Google SEO Tools

Complete step-by-step Google SEO tools setup and workflow

• Step 1: Create a dedicated Google account for your business if you do not already have one. Use this same account for all Google tools to keep everything connected.
• Step 2: Set up Google Search Console. Add your Wix domain as a URL-prefix property. Verify ownership via the HTML meta tag method. Submit your sitemap.
• Step 3: After 48 hours, review your initial GSC data. Navigate to Performance and note your top 10 keywords by impressions. These are your baseline.
• Step 4: Run your homepage, top service page, and top blog post through PageSpeed Insights. Record the mobile and desktop scores in a spreadsheet.
• Step 5: Test your homepage in the Google Rich Results Test. Note which structured data types are detected and whether they pass validation. Fix any errors.
• Step 6: If you have a physical location, claim or create your Google Business Profile. Complete every field: name, address, phone, hours, categories, description, and photos.
• Step 7: Set up Google Keyword Planner. You need a Google Ads account (free to create, no need to run ads). Navigate to Tools > Keyword Planner. Research your top 5 service keywords to see monthly search volumes.
• Step 8: Explore Google Trends for your primary keywords. Check whether they are growing, stable, or declining. Compare 2-3 keyword variations to choose the one with the strongest trajectory.
• Step 9: Bookmark the Google Structured Data Markup Helper. Use it to understand what schema types are available for your content before adding markup through Wix apps.
• Step 10: Set up Bing Webmaster Tools by importing your GSC data. This takes 2 minutes and covers both Bing and DuckDuckGo visibility.
• Step 11: Create a browser bookmark folder called "SEO Tools" with links to every tool. Include: GSC, PSI, Rich Results Test, GBP, Keyword Planner, Google Trends, Markup Helper, and Bing Webmaster Tools.
• Step 12: Create a recurring monthly calendar event: "SEO Tools Review". Each month, check GSC Performance for ranking changes, run PSI on your top 5 pages, verify Rich Results on any updated pages, and check GBP for new reviews.

Essential Resources and Links