Google Analytics & Search Console

1. Learn it

• ▸Analytics answers 'who visited and from where'. Search Console answers 'what did they type into Google'.
• ▸Search Console is the one most builders skip and shouldn't — it shows the queries you almost rank for, which is your next page of content.
• ▸It also tells you when Google can't read your site, which is worth knowing before you wonder why nobody visits.
• ▸It pairs with product analytics rather than replacing it: one covers getting to the site, the other covers what happens inside it.
• ▸Both need a cookie or privacy notice in most countries. Say what you collect.

Cost: Free.

Separate the two questions

Write five questions about your traffic, then label each 'before they arrived' or 'after they arrived'.

1. 1Add your site to Search Console and verify ownership with the DNS record it gives you.
2. 2Submit your sitemap and check the coverage report a few days later.
3. 3Add Analytics only if you need the traffic detail your product analytics doesn't cover.

MessyDev never signs you up, spends your money, or touches your accounts. You do that part.

4. Use it

From launch onwards, and every time you publish content you hope people find.