If you build websites for clients, you already know the hardest part of SEO is not the code. It is knowing which words real people type before they find the site. Google Search Console answers that question with real data, and this post shows how to read it, including the parts developers usually skip: the Queries report, the filters, and the positions 5 to 20 band where small fixes pay off.
What Search Console Shows You, and What It Hides
Google Search Console is free. You verify that you own the website, and Google starts showing you how the site performs in search. The data goes back 16 months, which is enough to spot trends instead of reacting to one noisy week.
One thing to understand early: the report only shows searches where your site actually appeared. It will not tell you what the whole city searched for, and Google hides some very low volume queries to protect people's privacy. Treat it as a sample of real customer language, not a complete census.
At aimEncoders, we open Search Console every week for our own site and for client sites. It is part of how we decide what to write next and which pages need work. The habit takes about twenty minutes, and it beats any keyword brainstorm we could do from memory.
Open the Performance Report
Start at search.google.com/search-console, sign in with the Google account that owns the site, pick your property, then click Performance in the left menu, then Search results. Set the date range to the last three months so you see a pattern, not a single day.
Four numbers sit at the top of the report.
Clicks: the number of times someone clicked through to your site from Google.
Impressions: how often your site appeared in the results, whether anyone clicked or not.
Average CTR: clicks divided by impressions, as a percentage. It tells you how often people chose your result when they saw it.
Average position: where your pages typically ranked for the searches shown. Lower is better. Position 3 beats position 12.
Impressions deserve as much attention as clicks. A search with 500 impressions and 2 clicks still tells you something: 500 people saw your site for that phrase, and almost none chose it. That is a page worth fixing, not a phrase worth ignoring.
The Queries Tab Is Where Your Customers Show Up
Scroll to the table under the chart and click the Queries tab. Now you are looking at the actual phrases people typed. This is the most useful screen in the tool.
Picture a plumbing business in Faisalabad opening this tab. It might see searches like these:
- plumber in Faisalabad
- emergency plumber near me
- bathroom pipe leakage repair
- how to fix a leaking tap
- plumbing installation cost
- best water tank installation service
The owner probably assumed customers only searched for the business name. The report says otherwise. People search for problems, for prices, and for help, often long before they search for a company.
Sort these phrases by what the searcher wants. Someone typing "how to fix a leaking tap" wants information. Someone typing "emergency plumber near me" wants to hire someone now, so the page that serves them should make calling easy. Look for themes that repeat. If five different searches mention water leakage, that is a service page or an article waiting to be written.
Filter the Data Until It Describes Your Customers
The raw list mixes everyone together. Three filters turn it into a picture of your customers.
Filter by page. Click the Pages tab to see which URLs get search traffic, or filter the Queries report to one page and see which phrases bring it up. On our own site, filtering a service page shows us the exact words people use before choosing a developer, which tells us what the page must answer first.
Filter by country. The country filter shows where impressions and clicks come from. If most of yours come from Pakistan, local pages and city names deserve your attention. If searches from the UK or the US are growing, that is a signal too, and it may be time for content that speaks to overseas clients.
Filter by device. Most local searches happen on phones. If mobile impressions are high but clicks are low, look at what people see on a small screen. Is the title clear? Does the page load fast? Can someone tap to call without hunting for it?
Filters can combine, so you can look at mobile searches from Pakistan for one specific page. That is often the exact audience a small business cares about.
Find the Keywords That Are Almost Working
Now sort the Queries tab by impressions. Look for phrases with plenty of impressions, few clicks, and an average position between 5 and 20. These are the easy wins. The pages already rank. They need a nudge, not a rebuild.
Take a furniture shop as an example. Say its dining table page ranks 9th for "wooden dining table price", with 900 impressions and 18 clicks over three months. The page shows up, but people do not choose it. The fix is usually small: a title and description that answer the search directly, a price range on the page, and clearer product details. Then wait a few weeks and check the same query again.
One caution: a phrase at position 15 that brings buyers can matter more than a phrase at position 5 that brings browsers. Judge a keyword by the business it could bring, not only by its ranking. And always check which page Google connects to the query, in the Pages tab. Fix that page, not the one you wish ranked.
Turn Searches Into Pages People Actually Want
Finding keywords is only the start. The value comes from matching each search to the right kind of page.
Informational searches become articles. Phrases like "how much does a website cost", "WordPress vs custom website", and "how to make a business website mobile friendly" are questions. Answer them properly and the reader starts to trust you before they ever ask for a quote.
Commercial searches become service pages. Phrases like "website development company Faisalabad", "ecommerce website developer", and "website maintenance services" come from people choosing a provider. Give each one its own page when the demand is real, instead of stuffing every phrase onto one general page. A focused page converts better because it answers one need clearly.
Ask one question about every phrase: is this person learning, comparing, or ready to contact someone? The page should match the answer. Someone asking "how much does an ecommerce website cost" needs pricing guidance. Someone typing "ecommerce website developer in Faisalabad" is looking for a provider. Mix those two up and both pages underperform.
If you want the local side of this in more depth, we wrote a full walkthrough in Local SEO for Pakistani Businesses: The 2026 Playbook, which covers Google Business Profile and local pages step by step.
Three Mistakes That Waste Good Data
Chasing phrases that have nothing to do with your business. A thousand visits from people who will never buy is just a number on a chart. Relevance beats volume every time.
Ignoring mobile and local searches. For a business in Faisalabad, "near me" searches and city names are often where the enquiries live. A report full of desktop traffic from another continent is interesting, but it will not fill your diary.
Expecting the report to list every search. It will not. Low volume queries stay hidden, and some data takes two or three days to appear. Use what the report shows, check it again next week, and let the picture build over months.
A Weekly Habit That Compounds
Check the Performance report once a week. Note the new queries, the ones climbing, and the ones with impressions but no clicks. Then make one small fix: a better title here, a clearer page there, one new article for a question customers keep asking. Together, over a few months, they move a website from guessing at keywords to matching what people actually search for.
That is also how we work at aimEncoders. We build custom web applications that actually convert, and we keep checking Search Console data so the sites we launch stay visible for the searches that bring real customers. If you would rather have someone run this for you, that is what we do.
A Note for Developers
Developers usually meet Search Console during launch, when they verify the property and submit the sitemap. It is worth coming back to it every week after that. The Pages report shows which URL Google connects to each query, which tells you exactly which page to fix instead of guessing. If a page that should rank does not appear at all, the URL Inspection tool tells you whether Google has indexed it and why not. Titles and descriptions are code, not copy: set them per page in your framework's metadata, keep them unique, and keep them inside the character limits Google shows. And when Search Console flags a mobile usability issue or a slow page, treat it like a bug, because for the visitor it is one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Google Search Console show what customers search for?
Yes. The Performance report has a Queries tab that lists the search terms your website appeared for in Google results. It shows impressions, clicks, and average position for each one.
Is Google Search Console free to use?
Yes. It is a free service from Google. You verify that you own the website, and you can monitor its search performance, check indexing, and see which queries bring visitors.
How do I find the best keywords in Search Console?
Open the Performance report, click the Queries tab, and sort by impressions. Look for searches that fit your business, have good visibility, and get relatively few clicks, then check their average position and the intent behind them.
Can I find local customer searches with Search Console?
Yes. Use the country filter to look at searches from Pakistan, and watch for location phrases in the Queries list, such as "web developer in Faisalabad" or "best restaurant in Lahore".
How often should I check Search Console?
Once a week is a good rhythm for a small business. Compare month to month so you can see trends instead of reacting to one quiet day.
Muhammad Asad Ullah is the founder of aimEncoders, a web development agency in Faisalabad that builds custom websites, web apps, and ecommerce stores, and tests every site before it goes live.
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