Lesson 76.3 named Google Search Console as the practical surface for watching search discovery. This appendix is a dated first walkthrough: confirm the property, inspect a URL, read performance queries, and check basic discovery — then write the recheck date and stop.

Start here: Google Search Console — about. Interfaces change; the official about page plus in-tool help is canonical. Record every date below — undated search advice rots fast.

Step 1 — Confirm the property (10 minutes)

Sign in with the site owner's account, add the property (domain or URL prefix per current docs), and complete verification as instructed. Confirm you see the property selector showing your site. Note the date, method, and who holds owner access. If you cannot verify ownership, stop — everything after this needs it.

Write: property ___ / verified ___ / owner ___.

Step 2 — URL inspection: can one page be found (15 minutes)

Pick the page Lesson 76.2 made bookmark-worthy — a ByeBuy lesson, a sample-brief page, a local offer page. Paste its full public URL into the top inspection bar (labeled URL inspection in current docs; follow the in-tool name at walkthrough time).

Read three answers: is the URL on Google, was the last crawl recent, and does the tool report mobile usability or page-experience issues? Use "test live URL" only to confirm a fix you just shipped — not as a ranking ritual. If the page is not indexed, check the obvious first: does the public URL load, is it linked from somewhere reachable, does a robots instruction or login wall block it?

Write: URL ___ / indexed: yes/no / last crawl ___ / issue + fix ___.

Step 3 — Performance queries: what questions surfaced you (15 minutes)

Open the performance report and set a 28-day window. Read queries (the words people typed), pages (which URL served), and position context (where you appeared — directional, not a grade). Sort queries by impressions, then look for the honest signals: branded versus non-branded, the one query with high impressions but few clicks (packaging problem — title and snippet need work), and the one page earning clicks from questions it only half-answers (content gap — improve the page, Lesson 76.5).

Write the top five queries with clicks and the one packaging fix plus one content gap you will address this month. No keyword-stuffing — match intent better, then rewrite for humans first.

Step 4 — Discovery: sitemap, links, and coverage (10 minutes)

Confirm a sitemap is submitted and read the coverage/pages report for errors: not-found URLs, blocked resources, server errors. Check internal links — does at least one reachable page link to the inspected URL with descriptive anchor text? Discovery is plumbing: clean paths, one canonical URL per page, no orphaned offers.

Write: sitemap status ___ / errors found ___ / internal link added ___.

Close the loop

# SEARCH-CONSOLE-NOTES.md — [Site], walkthrough date: ___

## Property
- Property + verification method + owner: ___

## URL inspection
- URL / indexed / last crawl / issue + fix: ___

## Performance (28 days)
- Top 5 queries + clicks: ___
- Packaging fix (title/snippet): ___ / content gap to improve: ___

## Discovery
- Sitemap / errors / internal link: ___

## Three actions + recheck date
1. ___ 2. ___ 3. ___
- Recheck date: ___ (monthly; record interface changes)
- Reference: https://search.google.com/search-console/about

Worked mini-example — ByeBuy lesson page, walked 2026-09-10: property verified via domain; sample-brief page indexed, crawled within a week, no usability flags; top query "how to check footnotes in filings" with impressions but weak clicks — packaging fix is a rewritten title naming the job; gap is a missing filled example halfway down — added; sitemap valid, one 404 from an old slug fixed with a redirect; recheck 2026-10-10.

Verify fast

Hand the notes to a teammate. Can they repeat the three actions and the recheck date without opening the tool? If not, the notes describe the dashboard instead of deciding — rewrite until the actions survive on their own.