Search Console has been tested by Google for some time now and only a selected number of users are given early access to the beta. The new Search Console is still in beta, and as per Google, it will continue to port features from the previous Search Console to the new one over the upcoming years. Webmasters and SEO service providers will able to use both the versions until and unless the change is complete. So, when the Google’s new Search Console is here, let’s take a close look at it.

New Features That Are Incorporated :

Search Performance Report –

In this revamped Search Console, the most important functionality is the Search Performance. In the old search Analytics report, you can overlay total impressions, average CTR, total clicks and position data. However, you cannot put forth multiple comparisons on top of one another, thus, you cannot compare the UK and the US data at the same time. But, in the newer version, it allows both SEO companies and webmasters to get highly specific with the performance data for a site. With this new Console, Google has exceeded all the expectations, quadrupling the date range. It enables you to choose between 3 months, 6 months and 12 months date ranges. You can also select ‘full duration’ which is up to 16 months.

Enhancements : Accelerated Mobile Pages And Job Postings –

An updated AMP status report allows website owners to validate newly-fixed URLs of AMP. In the older version of Search Console, AMP URLs with errors and suggestion to fix it was provided by Google. But, there was not any process where Google can be requested to reprocess the amended URLs. With the new Search Console, you can validate a fix across various pages and Google will manage those with a higher priority. Webmasters having job listings on their site can mark them up with Job Posting structured data to be eligible for Google Jobs.

Index Coverage Report –

This section of Google’s new Search Console is a fusion of old Index Status and Crawl Error Reports. This allows site owners and experts of an SEO company to see how well Google is indexing the site, as well as identify and fix mistakes if there are any. Apart from this, another feature that is quite useful is its ability to request Google to re-crawl after you have solved a problem. For example, if you have fixed an error, rather than waiting for the search engine to re-crawl to a site and identify the fix, you can pro-actively ask Google to update its index. You can check data by pages having errors, excluded pages, valid pages with caution, indexed pages and overlay impression data on top.

What Features Remain The Same :

The revamped Search Console has nothing similar to the older versions of Search Console. Though there are some rough equivalents, the new search performance has features that are quite alike to the data of the old Search Analytics reports and the Index Coverage Reports. This includes data that is visible in the crawl errors sections and index status of the previous version. Additionally, the sitemap submission process is also much similar to the new Search Console. However, the ‘Test’ button is missing in the new version that permitted webmasters to review the sitemap before it is submitted. Moreover, Index Coverage report works in synchrony with sitemaps. In this case, owners submit a sitemap file, where they use Sitemap Filter over Index Coverage data so that the focus can lie on a proper list of URLs.

What More To Expect In Future :

A plenty of updates can be expected in the upcoming years, as a lot of data from the previous version still has to make its way to the new one. Some of the notable features that are yet to be added to the new version are:

Internal Links and Site Links –

One of the essential SEO functionalities that are missing from the new Search Console is data on links, both internal and external. In the older version, these are helpful data that lets Webmasters and SEO companies check accurately who is linking to their domains and which are the pages that receive the links. This importantly observes the development of the link-building campaigns and backlinks. Moreover, the internal links let you evaluate and boost the level of internal linking within a site. It is expected to be introduced soon so that Webmasters can get benefits from new and improved links.

Structured Data, Data Highlighter and Rich Cards –

These reports are yet to come to Search Console, yet will not be in the same form before. Google has started launching native support to content types to Google Assistant, thus, it is possible that the new version might feature additional functionality for implementing Assistant. Furthermore, Google might also take initiative to include Rich Results Testing Tool in Search Console, assisting webmasters and SEO service experts to find and fix errors that averts rich results from getting displayed.

International Targeting –

With this report, Webmasters target an audience based on country and language, which are crucial for international SEO. Webmasters that function in multiple geographies will be eager to find out what this international targeting look like when it appears in the new Search Console.

Mobile Usability –

Google has put forth more emphasis on mobile approach in case of website building. Henceforth, it is expected that some features on mobile usability will be soon incorporated in the newer version of Search Console. Currently, the mobile report already evaluates how well your site is optimized for mobile usage. It highlights issues like small font size, touch elements (placed too close to each other) and flash usage and the role of interstitial pop-ups. As page-speed has already been considered as the ranking factor on mobile, it is indeed expected that this will be one of the characteristics that will be imbibed in the new mobile usability report. It is reasonable to predict some connection to the mobile first-index. As it is possible to have a comparison between mobile and desktop search performance, Google may develop extra characteristics into mobile usability report. This allows an SEO service provider to identify the issues and correct it so that it boosts ranking on mobile.

Well, through this article, I shared with you all information about the new functionalities of the Search Console and what more you can expect in the future. If you have found this interesting to read, keep an eye on this space for more such articles. I will be back with more, soon!

Share With: