The new Google Search Console brings a significant improvement to search analysis. Search engine optimization (SEO) professionals and webmasters will be able to more easily analyze their website search standings and resolve issues. PR and marketing professionals will be able to more easily learn how their efforts, such as guest blog posts, media placements and link-building campaigns, are improving website rankings.
Formerly known as Webmaster Tools, the Google Search Console helps website developers understand web search rankings, submit and remove content for crawling, fix SEO problems, and complete other tasks. Google announced last August that it was introducing a beta version of a new Search Console to a small number of users. Google now announced that it is rolling out the changes to all users. Specifically, users will see four new features: Search Performance, Index Coverage, accelerated mobile page (AMP) status and Job Posting reports.
More Data Available
The Search Performance report will show 16 months of data which will make analyzing longer-term trends easier and enable year-over-year comparisons. It will include more in-depth data on clicks, impressions, CTRs, average ranking position, and current web position.
“This is a significant improvement over the current limitations of the system,” says Forbes contributor Jayson DeMers, founder and CEO of AudienceBloom.
The search console and Google Analytics are some of the most important web analytics tools. Some media measurement services such as Glean.info enable import of Google Analytics for fully-integrated measurement of owned, earned and social media in one online analytics dashboard. The services will likely upgrade website analytics with the new Google data.
The Index Coverage report shows correctly indexed URLs on your site, warnings about potential issues, and reasons why Google isn’t indexing some URLs. It automatically alerts you when there’s an indexing error, and can help locate the root of the problem. Diagnostic tools can help you understand the issue. A share button enables you to quickly communicate data with your team. A “validate fix” button lets you verify that the correction was effective. The Index Coverage report works best for sites that submit sitemap files. Sitemap files are the preferred method to notify search engines about new and updated URLs, Google states.
AMP status. The accelerated mobile pages (AMPs) report helps fix errors that prevent your AMP pages from appearing in Google Search results with AMP-specific features. “Google’s been pushing accelerated mobile pages (AMPs) for a few years now, so it’s only right that its Search Console is updated with a new report covering their performance,” DeMers notes. “Soon, you’ll be able to monitor your AMP performance, including how your pages are displayed and any errors that come up.”
Job postings. The Jobs feature, rolled out last year in certain locations, lets companies add structured data to enhance appearances of job postings in Google Search results, inform Google of fixes or updates to those pages, and monitor performance of those pages.
The new console has significant implications for SEO and digital marketers, experts believe. It greatly improves the process of fixing website errors and communicating information between team members, and better supports the auxiliary features of AMPs and Google for Jobs. But perhaps most importantly, it shows that Google is becoming more transparent it its search performance data.
“There’s little more frustrating as an SEO than having conflicting data sets or being blind to certain aspects of your performance, so it will be a breath of fresh air to get more information straight from the source,” DeMers says.
Does Your Website Have the New Console?
As Google is rolling out the console gradually, you might not see it yet. Google says it will send a message when your site is available in the new search console. It will continue to add features over the year, and you’ll see both versions side-by-side.
To check if you have access to the new console, visit the landing page for the Google Search Console beta instead of the regular webmaster tool, explains Jennifer Slegg, founder and editor at the SEM Post. Log into your search console account and select a website property on the top right list. If you don’t have any sites available in the selection box, then none of your sites currently have access. If not, the sites should be available within a few weeks. Google is seeking feedback on the feature through its sidebar feedback feature.
Bottom Line: Because Google dominates internet search, marketers certainly notice when it makes a significant change. That’s the case with its new search console, formerly known as Webmaster Tools. Besides helping SEO pros, more data and enhanced features of the new Google Search Console will help PR and marketing understand the impact of their link-building campaigns and other SEO-related endeavors.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
