More Google Search Console Changes Are Coming
Welp, Google Search Console changes are right around the corner. The Official Google Webmaster Central Blog recently posted about what's coming up later this year - in March, to be exact.
I don't know about you, but despite the fact that I pride myself on my personal motto - "Semper Gumby" - I don't always love or embrace change, and I still prefer the old Search Console version, but since I'm not on the GSC team, my thoughts don't matter.
With that being said, what is going to change? Here's what the crack team at Google has to say about that.
Here Are Those Google Search Console Changes
- Crawl Errors - apparently we will be able to find and fix errors faster. How so, the Big G does not say. Stay tuned.
- Sitemaps Information - we will be able to select and filter URLs in our sitemaps that matter the most to us. Details are lacking at this time. Stay tuned!
- URL Inspection Tool - you can use to do the old Fetch As Google function, which I actually like. There is a lot of good data, so this is fantastic. Score one for Google.
- User Management Interface - it's now in Settings, and unless you're a verified site owner, there's not a whole helluva lot to look at. I have a lot of properties where this is the case.
- Structured Data - you can now see your structured data markup for jobs, recipes and events, if you have them on your site. I'm a big fan of schema.org, so this is a good one as well. Go Google!
And Google Search Console Changes I Wish Would Not Happen
As is typical with Google, some of the changes they make don't always please folks, and for these two below, count me in as one of those who will piss and moan about them.
- HTML Suggestions - I've always loved this feature, because webmasters who are on tight budgets and can't afford SEO website audit or crawling software could find their on page errors through Search Console, but this one is going away. Boo, Google!
- Blocked Resources - one way I've been able to clobber web dev people over the head is with the blocked resources report. This handy function would tell you exactly which files were blocked, and it's almost always the ones that should not be blocked, so this was a great way to get the web dev team to listen to someone, since they usually don't want to listen to me. Sad to see this go, Google!
Alright, there you have it. Enjoy the old Search Console while you still can, because within about 30 days or so, there's a lot of stuff that's going "buh bye!"
Want to know more about how to use Search Console, Analytics and other SEO tools to keep your site search engine friendly? Join me in an Advanced SEO class and get mad technically advanced SEO skills and knowledge.
Until we meet next time, stay safely between the ditches!
All the very best to you,
Nancy McDonald
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