… how will it relate to SEO?
… will there be radical changes?
… am I going to need to do anything different?
The above may be some of the questions you might be thinking about if you have heard the announcement of the new search console by Google. In this article we’ll seek to answer some of the above questions and take a closer look at what it could mean for you.
What is the new search console?
Firstly let’s start with basics and have a quick look at this for those who aren’t familiar.
To those who have normal and full access to the standard Google search console, a beta system for the new version is now available. We understand that there are a few issues around users reporting that they cannot see all their properties (website domains) in the beta version, but hopefully this will be fixed soon. In any case, users can still use the normal search console by finding the link to go back. It is envisaged that with time, more features will be transferred over to the new version to make it even more efficient and accessible. According to official announcements, a small selection of new features will be available on the beta system with these being slowly rolled out.
The four new features
Let’s now consider what these new features are and why they are important.
1) Extension of search performance. We are all use to seeing this on Google search console – information about impressions, click-through-rate etc. The trouble is that the current platform only allows limited historical data. Changes now mean that data will be available for 16 months!
2) There will be greater detail on how your website is indexed and tools to help should there be a problem. This is more developed and advanced based on what is on offer currently.
3) It will have AMP monitoring. You will know from our previous posts the importance of accelerated mobile pages (AMP.) It seems only right that Google implement some kind of facility where these can be monitored.
4) The job postings feature. This was something Google introduced last year for some locations. Now this will become part of search console too.
The SEO impact of all this?
This is perhaps what people most people want to know. We see the implications of these search console changes amounting to the following:
I) A greater degree of information and historical data being made available means there will be greater scope to compare and contrast, spot trends (including problems) and the capacity to be able to fix these. The limited data previously meant that some users have been left in the dark after certain (short) timeframes have passed.
II) Errors can be highlighted and fixed sooner meaning a less detrimental impact to websites is likely to be the outcome from this. ‘Fix validation’ buttons will also appear in certain areas which shows the tool is focused on making users achieve the best possible outcome.
III) Google’s range of other ‘features’ (i.e. AMP’s etc) will have taken a greater step into the spotlight as a result of this update with greater functionality and support for these too. This paves the way for some of Google’s other features to start featuring too?
We think that the latest Google search console change will certainly be welcomed as it is designed with webmasters in mind who can get the best from using the platform. Who can really argue with that?
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