Google Search Console Tips
Google Search Console (previously called Webmaster Tools) is a free tool provided by Google for website owners to monitor performance and traffic. GSC also offers search engine optimization recommendations and fixes. Our SEO Office Hours recaps below cover a range of advice from Google to help you better understand and get the most out of this fundamental SEO tool.
Search Console Reports 404s Based on Current Index
Search Console reports 404 pages based on the last time they were crawled by Googlebot.
You Can See Which Canonical Google Has Chosen in the New Search Console
In the new Search Console you can select individual URLs which takes you to the info query showing you the canonical that Google has chosen.
New Search Console Will Show More Sitemap Data
The new Search Console will show more detailed information regarding sitemaps and more detail per sitemap file.
Drop in Indexed Pages Could be Google Removing Duplicates
Google recognises duplicate pages within the GSC index status report. As URLs are reprocessed over time, Google realises that they don’t need to be kept so this can be one reason behind a drop in indexed pages and is commonly seen following HTTPS migrations.
Change Of Address Tool Used for Migrating to New Site, Not Merging Sites Together
Change of Address tool is designed for migrating one site to a new site and doesn’t really work when you’re merging two sites together.
Site:Query Isn’t Indicative of Total Number of Indexed URLs
The number of URLs returned using a site: query is optimised for speed so isn’t indicative of the total number of indexed URLs. It is better to use Search Console’s sitemap section, which shows you how many URLs were indexed of those submitted in the sitemap file.
High Quality Sites Are Prioritised When Using Submit To Index Feature
Higher quality sites can be given preference over low quality sites when using the Submit to Index feature.
Links in Search Console Don’t Reflect What Algorithms or Penalties Are Using
If a bad link appears in Search Console, that doesn’t mean this is automatically being included in any algorithms or penalties.
Crawl Stats Include Fetches for All Content
The Crawl Stats in Google Search Console includes fetches for all content on your site, including Adwords landing page quality score checks, images and Javascript requests.
Search Console Change of Address Takes a Couple of Days
A change of address submitted to Search Console takes a couple of days to take effect when a redirect is in place.