Google Search Console is a web service by Google which allows webmasters to check indexing status and optimize visibility of their websites. Google rebranded Google Webmaster Tools as Google Search Console.
Google Webmaster Tools is a sweet suite of Google SEO tools that provides data and configuration control for your site in Google. If you’re doing any SEO and you don’t find value in GWT, you either use a paid tool that re-uses GWT data or you have an untapped gold-mine.
There’s a ton you can do with GWT, but it can take a while to learn how to get a great return on the time you spend with it. To that end, I’ve tried my best to assemble a meaty, practical collection of actionable tips on the reports I’ve found most useful.
Google has a lot of resources on SEO, and good practitioners gobble as much of it as they can. The Google Webmaster Tools Help Center is a treasure trove.
Make sure you use GWT with an inquisitive mindset. Most of the reports have limits, caveats, and nuances. Before you go rushing off to make a major decision, make sure the data is what you think it is and means what you think it means. Often, GWT data leads to important but unconfirmed hypotheses that you need to investigate.
Also, if you click the help button, you may get a quality, relevant suggested help article. So do that frequently. The articles are pretty good at explaining what the various data-types in reports actually are (insomuch as Google is willing to share).
Offered as a free service to anyone who owns a website, Google Webmaster Tools (GWT) is a conduit of information from the largest search engine in the world to you, offering insights into how it sees your website and helping you uncover issues that need fixing.