Google Search Console's URL Inspection Tool is a powerful resource that allows you to check a specific URL on your website to see the status of how Google Search views that URL. This tool provides detailed insights such as crawl, index, and information about your website's pages directly from Google’s index.

How to use the URL inspection tool in Google Search Console

Access the URL Inspection Tool

Sign into your Google Search Console account. If you don't have an account yet, sign up for one and verify your website. Once logged in, select the website (property) you want to inspect. At the top of the page, you'll find a search bar to enter the URL you want to check.

Enter the URL

Type or paste the URL you want to inspect into the search bar. This should be the exact URL that you want data on. Be sure to match the protocol (http vs https) and www or non-www version if applicable, as these are considered different URLs by Google.

Understanding the report

When you enter the URL, Google analyses and provides a report. The report has three main sections:

URL is on Google, or URL is not on Google: This shows whether the URL you entered is in Google's index. If it's not, it will explain why, such as "URL is unknown to Google" or "URL is not on Google: Indexing errors."

Coverage: This provides detailed information about the indexing status of your URL. You might see "URL is on Google but has issues" if the URL is in the index but has some problems.

Enhancements: This section gives information about any applicable enhancements that Google could identify for the URL, such as AMP or Mobile Usability.

Request indexing

If your URL is not on Google or you've changed your page and want Google to review it again, you can use the "Request Indexing" button. This will prompt Google's bots to crawl the page. Note this does not guarantee immediate or eventual indexing - it is simply a request that Google bots visit the page.

Explore issues and improvements.

If there are issues with your URL, the report will provide more details about what's wrong. These issues can range from server errors to problems with noindex directives. Click on each issue to learn more about it and get guidance on how to fix it.

If enhancements can be made, these will also be listed in the report. Examples of enhancements might be implementing structured data for rich results.

Inspect live URL

If you want to see the current status of a page (rather than the last time Google crawled it), you can use the "Test Live URL" button. This will give you information about the page as it is right now. This is especially useful if you've changed a page and want to see if it can be crawled successfully.

View crawled page

This feature allows you to see the HTML of the page as Google sees it, the HTTP response of the URL, page resources, and more.

Please contact us if you need more information on Google Search Console or would like some training.

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