Google's free website tools: which one answers what

The short version

• Business Profile: your listing on Google Search and Maps.
• Search Console: how Google finds, indexes and shows your pages.
• Analytics 4: who visits, where they came from, and how many became leads.
• PageSpeed Insights: how fast a page is for real visitors and in a lab test.
• Rich Results Test and Tag Assistant: one-off checks for structured data and tracking tags.

Which Google tool should I open for which question?

Most confusion comes from opening the wrong tool. Analytics won’t tell you why a page isn’t on Google, and Search Console won’t tell you how many people filled in your form. Use this table to pick.

What does each tool do, and what can’t it do?

Google Business Profile

Your listing on Search and Maps: hours, phone, photos, reviews and posts. There’s no charge to add or claim one, per Google’s help page. Its performance report counts taps on the call button, direction requests and website clicks from the listing. A call-button tap isn’t proof a call connected.

Limits: it only covers the listing, not your website. Our Google Business Profile hub covers setup and upkeep, and reading your performance report explains the numbers.

Google Search Console

Search Console is “a free service offered by Google” for monitoring your site in Google Search. It shows the searches that found your pages and how often people clicked. It lists which pages are indexed and why others aren’t. It also flags security problems and penalties. Google also notes you don’t have to sign up to appear in results.

Limits: it reports on Google Search only, not visits from other places. It isn’t a live view, and it shows what Google found, not how to fix your theme. Our complete Search Console guide covers setup and every report, and our help page shows how to verify it.

Google Analytics 4

Analytics counts visitors and how they found you. It also shows the pages they read and what they did. Google’s setup page walks through creating a property, adding a web data stream and installing the Google tag.

Limits: it counts what you set it up to count. Form sends and phone taps only count as leads once you mark them as key events. Visitors who block cookies or decline consent may not be counted. Our complete Google Analytics 4 guide covers setup and key events, and our answer on what to check each month covers the reports.

PageSpeed Insights

Paste any public address and it reports two things. Google’s PageSpeed Insights documentation says the real-visitor data covers “the previous 28-day collection period.” It comes from Chrome users. The lab test runs Lighthouse on a simulated phone. A lab score of 90 or more is rated good.

Limits: small sites often have no real-visitor data, and the lab score moves between runs. The real-visitor section matters more. See whether a low PageSpeed score should worry you.

Rich Results Test

The Rich Results Test checks a page’s structured data. It shows which special Google results the page could qualify for. Enter a URL, or switch to Code to paste a snippet, and choose Smartphone or Desktop.

Limits: it only checks the types Google supports, and the help page says Google doesn’t guarantee your page “will appear exactly as shown.” For general checks, Google points to the Schema Markup Validator. It skips Google’s own warnings. Our answer on schema markup explains what it is.

Tag Assistant

Tag Assistant shows which Google tags fire on your site as you click around. It’s the quickest way to confirm Analytics or Google Ads tracking works after a change. Our Tag Assistant guide walks through it.

Why does it matter which tool I use?

Each tool answers one kind of question well and others badly. Say Analytics shows fewer visitors. It’s easy to blame Google rankings. Search Console might show the searches are fine, and the real change was a paused ad. Opening the right tool first saves a lot of guessing.

What are the common mistakes?

• Using a personal Gmail as the owner. When that person leaves, the business loses the history.
• Comparing numbers across tools. Search Console clicks, Analytics sessions and profile website clicks are counted differently. Compare each with itself.
• Not tracking leads. Analytics without key events tells you about visitors, not business.
• Using retired tools. Google retired the Mobile-Friendly Test and the Mobile Usability report on December 1, 2023, per its April 2023 announcement. Old checklists still link to them.
• Chasing a perfect lab score. Fix what the real-visitor data shows first.

What if a tool shows no data?

• Search Console is empty: check that the property is verified and is the right type. A new property starts empty and fills as Google collects data.
• Analytics shows nothing: the tag may be missing or blocked. Run Tag Assistant.
• PageSpeed has no real-visitor data: your page doesn’t have enough Chrome visitors yet. Use the lab section and test on a real phone.
• The Rich Results Test can’t fetch the page: the URL test needs a public page, so pages behind a login or firewall can’t be fetched. Switch to Code and paste the page’s HTML or the structured data snippet instead.

How much does it cost, and how long does it take?

All six are free. Setting up Search Console and Analytics can take an afternoon if you can edit the website. Business Profile setup is quick, but Google’s verification can take days or longer and may ask for extra proof, so it isn’t something to promise for the same day. The test tools take a minute each.

How does E-3 handle this?

Accounts E-3 sets up are created in the client’s name, with E-3 added as a user, so the business keeps everything if it ever leaves us. E-3 sets up Search Console for the sites it manages. Setting up lead tracking falls under our SEO and AI search service.

Related questions

• Back to the free website tools guide
• How do I check my tracking tags work?
• Why does Bing Webmaster Tools matter for AI answers?
• How do I see where visitors click and get stuck?
• Which free tool should I use when something looks wrong?
• How do I know if my website brings in calls and leads?

Sources

1. About Search Console (Search Console Help)
2. Add or claim your Business Profile (Google Business Profile Help)
3. Set up Analytics for a website and/or app (Analytics Help)
4. About PageSpeed Insights (Google for Developers)
5. Rich Results Test (Search Console Help)
6. Introduction to structured data markup in Google Search (Google Search Central)
7. Set up and use Tag Assistant (Tag Assistant Help)
8. The role of page experience in creating helpful content (Google Search Central Blog, April 19, 2023)
9. Performance metrics for your Business Profile (Business Profile Help)