Google Search Console
Google Search Console is a collection of tools and resources to help website owners, webmasters, marketers, and SEO professionals improve their websites. This powerful platform allows users to monitor website performance in the Google search index, providing invaluable insights and actionable data.
An essential tool for anyone serious about improving search performance and visibility, Google Search Console offers a unique window into how Google perceives and interacts with your site, providing data that can’t be found anywhere else. That’s why we’re committed to keeping you informed fast about Google Search Console news.
Key features
Google Search Console offers a huge variety of features that include:
- Search Appearance Information: Gain insights into how your site appears in search results.
- Search Traffic Analysis: Understand your audience better by analyzing your overall search performance.
- Technical Status Updates: Receive notifications about critical issues affecting your site’s performance in search results.
- Crawl Data and Indexing Insights: Monitor how Google crawls and indexes your site.
- Performance Reports: Access detailed data on your site’s search performance. Core Web Vitals reports provide crucial information about your site’s user experience.
- URL Inspection Tool: Examine specific URLs to understand how Google views and indexes them and troubleshoot any issues.
- Links Analysis: Explore internal and external links to your site.
Leveraging Google Search Console effectively can lead to significant improvements in your site’s search performance. For example:
- The Performance Report can help identify underperforming pages that might benefit from content optimization.
- The Mobile Usability Report can guide improvements in your site’s mobile experience, which is crucial in today’s mobile-first indexing environment.
- The Links Report can inform your link-building strategy by revealing the most linked content and the top linking sites.
The evolution
Originally launched as Google Webmaster Tools, the platform was significantly rebranded in 2015 to become Google Search Console. This change reflected its broader utility for various marketing professionals beyond webmasters.
The evolution of Google Search Console mirrors the changing landscape of SEO and digital marketing in general. As search algorithms become more sophisticated and UX takes center stage, the platform has adapted to provide more insights and actionable data.
Maximizing your Google Search Console experience
We invite you to read our guides and tips for using Google Search Console, along with the latest news and feature updates. The goal of our content is to help you make the most of Google Search Console.
For example, you can learn how to use Google Search Console to get easy SEO wins. You can also explore our comprehensive SEO’s guide on the platform, as it offers an in-depth look at techniques and best practices for seasoned professionals.
Stay tuned to Search Engine Land to ensure you’re always up-to-date with the latest features and best practices of Google Search Console, helping you maintain a competitive edge in the ever-evolving world of SEO.
How to fix ‘Blocked by robots.txt’ and ‘Indexed, though blocked by robots.txt’ errors in GSC
Confused by these Google Search Console errors? Learn what they mean, why they happen, and how to fix them effectively.
Google Search Console performance report 24-hour view now can be exported
A month ago, Google added new hourly data to the performance reports in Search Console, and today, you can export that data.
How to fix the ‘Page with redirect’ error in Google Search Console
Have you discovered the “Page with redirect” error in GSC? Learn to spot and fix it by improving content quality, site architecture, and more.
Google Search Console rolling out new date controls for performance reports
This includes a new hourly view of the data.
Google Search Console Insights no longer to show data from Google Analytics
Google says this change is to make it easier to use these reports.
How to fix the ‘Alternate page with proper canonical tag’ error in Google Search Console
Fix this GSC error by identifying the true canonical source, inspecting the URL, checking your language folder and more.
Google Search Console recommendations now fully live
Note, you still may not see it if Google does not have recommendations for you.
Google site reputation abuse policy now includes first-party involvement or oversight of content
This policy is still enforced with manual actions but Google confirmed there are algorithms that detect similar issues.
Google Search Console removing the Page Experience report
Google said, "We decided to remove this page to reduce unnecessary clutter within Search Console and simplify navigating to this information."
Google Search Console performance report bug causes panic
Many of you woke up to seeing zero close to clicks and impressions this morning, this is an issue on Google's end Google confirmed.
Decoding Googlebot crawl stats data in Google Search Console
Dive into the lesser-known Crawl Stats reports, plus how to monitor Googlebot activity and identify actionable insights for enterprise sites.
Google Search Console Performance report filters now stick
There is a "reset filters" option to remove the filters you previously set.
How to use Google Search Console to unlock easy SEO wins
Steps for using GSC to review your traffic, analyze the search landscape and make impactful optimizations for quick results.
How to fix ‘Crawled – Currently not indexed’ error in Google Search Console
Uncover the reasons behind the 'Crawled – Currently not indexed' error in Google Search Console and solutions to get your pages indexed.
Google Search Console launches recommendations
This is an experimental feature, so you might not see it yet.
Google Search Console now lets you set your shipping and return policies
Search Console shipping and return settings take precedence over other methods, like structured data.
The SEO’s guide to Google Search Console
Dive into Google Search Console's features and reports, plus how to navigate the tool like a pro, from basic setup to advanced SEO analysis.
Google working on fixing latency issues with the Search Performance reports
The reports within Search Console are now delayed by over 52 hours.
Google Search now supports return policy markup at the organization-level
A year ago, Google added support for return policy structured data support for merchant listing and now Google is expanding that support to the organization level.
Google Search Console Performance report adds merchant listings to images report
Google now will show the merchant listing performance within the Google Search Image tab in Search Console data.
Google’s link reporting tool is now fixed
Last week there was a bug with the Google Search Console report.
Google Search Console link report may be broken today
Many are noticing huge declines in the number of links reported in the link report within the Google tool.
Google Search Console reporting error for product snippets
You may have noticed a spike in impressions and clicks between May 15 to May 27 - it was a bug.
Google rolls out AI Overviews in US with more countries coming soon
AI Overview link cards get a higher click through rate than normal web search results but Google won't break out click data in Search Consoles for content creators.
Google Search Console security update improves management of ownership tokens
You can now more easily see and remove which have access to your Search Console profiles.
3 underutilized Google Search Console reports for diagnosing traffic drops
Decode your website's traffic declines with GSC's detailed reports, covering device segmentation, search appearance and crawl stats insights.
Google issues search ranking penalties through manual actions
Check your properties within Google Search Console for manual actions to see if your were impacted.
Google Search Console recipe rich result report adds two new properties
Google added recipeInstructions and recipeIngredient and thus you may see an increase in warnings for recipe items.
Google Search turned off some event rich results
Google says you may see a drop in clicks and impressions for your event search appearance reported metrics in your performance report.
Google performance reports updates how it counts clicks and impressions for job listing and detail pages
No changes were made to Google Search, this is just a reporting change.
Googlebot crawl rate tool is now gone
You can no longer set your desired crawl rate within Google Search Console.
How to link GA4 with Google Search Console
Combine the power of Google Analytics 4 and Google Search Console data for a deeper analysis of your site's organic search performance.
Google Search Console to stop reporting on product results search in performance reports
This e-commerce related search reporting will end next month, in January 2024, Google said.
Google officially drops Mobile Usability report, Mobile-Friendly Test tool and Mobile-Friendly Test API
We knew this was coming and now these Google mobile tools are no longer available.
New Google Search vacation rental rich result
This new vacation rental structured data comes with new Search Console and Rich Results reports.
Google Search Organization markup adds name, address, contact information, and other business identifiers
Google has updated the Search Console and Rich Results test reporting to support these new additions.
Google Search now supports discussion forum and profile page structured data
Google can show these as rich results in Google Search and Google also added new Search Console reports.
Google Search Console was down today
You may be seeing a 500 error when trying to access the tool.
Googlebot crawl rate tool in Search Console is going away
The tool is going away on January 8, 2024 because Google says it is no longer useful.
Google Search Console experience and enhancement reporting bug
Google is working on a fix, this has no impact on indexing or ranking.