URL Inspection is a tool within Google Search Console that allows you to analyze a specific URL to understand how Google sees it. It provides insights into Google's indexed version of the page and lets you test if a URL is indexable.
Key Features and Information Provided by URL Inspection:
- Index Status: Displays whether the URL is indexed by Google. If not, it explains why (e.g., blocked by robots.txt, noindex tag, crawl anomaly).
- Indexability Test: You can request a live test to see if Googlebot can access and render your page, and whether it encounters any errors preventing indexing.
- Coverage Information: Reveals details about how Google found the URL, whether the page is mobile-friendly, and whether it has any indexing errors.
- Enhancements: Shows information about structured data detected on the page, including any errors or warnings. It also displays details about linked AMP pages, if applicable, and video indexing.
- Mobile Usability: Reports on the page's mobile-friendliness, highlighting any issues that might negatively impact the mobile user experience.
Why Use URL Inspection?
Here's why URL Inspection is a valuable tool for website owners and SEO professionals:
- Troubleshooting Indexing Issues: Quickly identify and resolve problems preventing Google from indexing your pages.
- Validating Fixes: After making changes to address indexing issues, use the "Test Live URL" feature to confirm that the problem has been resolved before requesting indexing.
- Monitoring Index Status: Keep track of how Google is indexing important pages on your website.
- Debugging Structured Data: Check if your structured data markup is implemented correctly and identify any errors.
- Understanding Mobile Usability: Ensure that your pages are mobile-friendly and provide a good user experience on mobile devices.
- Verify AMP Implementation: Check for issues regarding your AMP implementation.
How to Use the URL Inspection Tool:
- Log into your Google Search Console account.
- Select the property (website) you want to inspect.
- Enter the URL you want to inspect in the search bar at the top of the page.
- Review the information provided by the tool, including the index status, coverage information, and enhancements.
- Use the "Test Live URL" button to perform a live test and see if Google can access and render the page.
Example Scenario:
Let's say you recently published a new blog post, but it doesn't appear in Google search results. You can use the URL Inspection tool to check if the page has been indexed. If the tool indicates that the page is not indexed because it's blocked by a "noindex" meta tag, you can remove the tag, re-inspect the URL, and request indexing.
