The news comes a decade after Search Console first launched. Back then, users were given access to just four reports – while the current iteration of Search Console provides insight across dozens of report formats and tools for things such as structured data and AMP testing, the search engine says its redesign will better serve its users.
In its official post, Google said three aims were driving the overhaul:
A desire to provide more actionable insights
Any issues identified by Google will be grouped by the common root cause, so webmasters can see more clearly and more quickly where code needs to be fixed. The tasks will also be marked with a state, such as open or resolved, so the re-processing of affected pages is easier to track.
Better organizational workflow support
A sharing function will be introduced so multiple project stakeholders can have access to items that need to be auctioned.
Faster feedback between webmasters and Google
A new solution will be made available to Search Console users which will empower them to iterate quickly when problems have been fixed. This mechanism will cut out the wait between Google crawling a site and the webmaster then being told the issue still isn’t fixed. The faster feedback loop will allow for on the spot testing of fixes and will then automatically speed up the crawl when the search engine sees that the issue has been fixed.
Within this, Google says its testing tools will also now include code snippets and search previews.
In addition to outlining its vision for a more useful Search Console, Google has also previewed two experimental features it’s working on as part of the overhaul. It says a small set of users are now seeing BETA versions of two new tools; an Index Coverage report and AMP fixing flow.
The Index Coverage report will give users access to information such as the count of indexed pages, more details about why certain pages aren’t indexed and tips on fixing indexing issues. Within this report, a simple sitemap submission flow is also present.
The new AMP fixing flow includes an AMP Issues report, with problems grouped by error. The report will provide an overview of affected pages along with other data, making it easier for webmasters to resolve their AMP problems. Once fixed, the AMP fixing flow allows users to resubmit the page to be crawled, with progress reports from the search engine.
The full blog post from Google can be found here.
