The new Google Search Console (GSC) is an indispensable tool for tracking your SEO strategy. The latter allows you to have an overview on indexing your site and how it is referenced.

It also tells you about the technical problems encountered by Googlebot when indexing or crawling your website. It then allows you to undertake SEO improvement work.

In 2018, Google is renewed with an improved version of Search Console, which continues to improve. We explain what has changed and what it can bring you.

Traffic performance and tracking of keywords

The GSC already made it possible to track the traffic of a website generated by the pages of Google search results: it is possible, for example, to know the number of impressions, (that is to say the number of times a user see your site while searching), but also the total number of clicks from a Google search.

Google also automatically calculates your clickthrough rate and gives you the average position of your site on the results pages. Before, it was possible to consult on the GSC only the last 3 months, now the tool keeps all your data. You can get an overview of 12 months or more.

From now on, you will also have access to a list of keywords most typed by Google users, on which you are referenced. Clicking on a keyword displays your location and traffic generated by it. It is a very useful tool to perfect your SEO positioning. It is also possible to refine the results by country, by page and by device (smartphone, tablet, desktop).

URL inspection

The URL inspection tool allows you to have a general view of indexing your site by google:

• By submitting the URL, it is possible to know if the page is known and indexed by Google;
• If the page has actually been indexed, you will have in "Cover" an inventory of pages on your site that have been crawled or not by the Google robot. It also lets you know why some of them could not be indexed (e.g. too long response time, no index tag, etc.). If your site has not yet been detected and / or indexed, you will be able to submit your sitemap to Google to facilitate crawling;
• Under “Mobile Ergonomics”, GSC also allows you to know, from its URL, if a web page is responsive, that is adapted to mobile screens. By clicking on the tab of the same name on the left column, you will see the possible errors on your mobile version (text overlay, off-screen element, button too big...), to correct it.

Google also tells you the date of its latest exploration on mobile and desktop. If you make a substantial change to a web page, you can request a new index from Google.

Finally, before indexing, you can test your live URL to see if it meets all of Google's SEO criteria.

Coverage of indexing your site by Google

In the "Coverage" tab, you will find:

• Errors on your web pages that prevent indexing;
• Pages that have been indexed but have a problem detected, but Google does not know if it is an error or an intentional act;
• Valid pages, detected and indexed by Google;
• Pages detected by Google, but not indexed by Google, because of a tag, a redirection or blocking by the robot.txt file.

This allows you to correct some errors, such as a page that has not been indexed but should be, or vice versa.

Submit Sitemaps

In the "Sitemaps" tab, you can submit your sitemap. A sitemap is a "map" of the different URLs that make up your site. This allows you to make the work of the Googlebot easier by giving him directions, pages to explore. You can also follow the progress of the treatment of your sitemap by Google, with the date of the last explorations.

Help with Link Building

Finally, in the "Links" tab, you will have the opportunity to monitor your internal mesh as well as backlinks to your site:

• you will have access to the list of pages linked to another page of your domain and the number of links to these pages;
• you will also have a view of the pages that are the subject of a link from another domain, as well as the number of these links;
• Finally, the GSC tells you the anchor texts, that is to say the texts that include a link to a page of your site.
• This feature gives you tracks to work on your Link Building strategy: it lets you know if your internal mesh is sufficiently dense or if you have enough links back. But the tool does not yet know where these backlinks come from and whether they are quality or not.

In conclusion, the new Google Search Console is essential for any SEO strategy. If you want to make the most of it, do not hesitate to contact us!