The new beta version of Google Search Console was released a few months ago, and it promised a series of new features which would be released over time. SEO consultants and webmasters all over the world have been asked to contribute to the project with suggestions, feedback, and recommendations on the most useful tools and, reportedly, one of the most common requests was to have more details on how Google bots see a specific URL.
In response, Google announced a new feature in the new Google Search Console, called 'URL Inspection Tool', which will provide more detailed information on pages with regards to crawl, indexation, and serving. The feature allows you to enter an URL that you own, and will unveil its last crawl date and status, any crawling or indexing errors, the canonical URL for that page, and, if indexed, its accelerated mobile page (AMP) version or rich results.
Moreover, if a page isn't indexed, you'll probably be able to learn why (e.g. if there are no index robots meta tags or canonical URLs affecting that page). A single click will take you to the issue report, which will also show all the other pages affected by the same problem, so that it'll be even easier to find, track, and fix common issues on your site.
The URL inspection tool began rolling out on the 25th of June, and continued to roll out to Google Search Console users in the subsequent weeks.
Other Updates
Google Search Console developers haven't been resting on their laurels, and in addition to the URL Inspection Tool, they've also released a few more features, reports, and tools, such as:
- 16 months' worth of data for the Search Analytics API: Now making it more aligned with the Google Search Console (GSC) Performance report
- The Recipe Report: Will help you find structured data issues related to recipe-rich results, as well as test and validate your fixes with a task-oriented interface and an improved message system
- New search appearance filters in Search Analytics Performance report: Includes Web Light (the technology which converts web pages into an optimised version for slow networks) and Google Play Instant (which allows users to try apps without installing them across the Play Store, Google Search, and Social Networks).
