SEO Checklist

Google Search Console (GSC) provides a powerful tool called the Inspect URL feature that allows website owners, SEO professionals, and developers to analyze individual URLs in depth. This feature is essential for diagnosing indexing issues, understanding how Google views your pages, and ensuring your website performs optimally in search results.

What is the "Inspect URL" Feature?

The Inspect URL tool is a real-time diagnostic utility inside Google Search Console that provides detailed information about how Google crawls, indexes, and serves a specific URL from your website. It shows the current indexing status, crawl errors, enhancements, and more.

Why Use the Inspect URL Feature?

• Check Indexing Status: Verify if a page is indexed by Google or excluded, and understand why.


• Diagnose Crawl Issues: Identify crawl errors or issues blocking Googlebot.


• Request Indexing: Submit pages for re-crawling after updates or fixes.


• Analyze Enhancements: Review structured data and mobile usability status on the page.


• View Last Crawl Date: Know when Google last accessed the page.

How to Use the Inspect URL Tool Effectively

1. Accessing the Tool

Log into your Google Search Console account, select your website property, and locate the Inspect URL search bar at the top of the dashboard. Enter the full URL you want to inspect.

2. Understand the Inspection Report

Once you enter a URL, GSC returns detailed information including:

• URL is on Google: Confirms if the URL is indexed.


• URL is not on Google: Provides reasons such as "Crawled - currently not indexed," "Blocked by robots.txt," or "Noindex tag present."


• Coverage: Detailed status on whether Google can crawl and index the page.


• Enhancements: Reports on structured data errors, AMP status, mobile usability, and other enhancements.


• Live Test: Option to test the live version of the URL to see current status.

3. Diagnosing Indexing Issues

If your URL is not indexed or flagged with issues, the tool provides reasons that help you take corrective action, such as:

• Robots.txt blocking crawling.


• Noindex meta tags preventing indexing.


• Server errors like 5xx or redirects that confuse crawlers.


• Duplicate content or canonical issues.

4. Request Indexing

After making fixes or publishing new content, you can use the Request Indexing button to ask Google to crawl your page sooner than the usual crawl schedule. This helps get your content indexed faster and updated in search results.

5. Monitor Enhancements

The tool highlights errors or warnings related to structured data like schema markup, mobile usability issues, or AMP errors. Fixing these can improve search appearance and user experience.

Best Practices When Using Inspect URL

• Regularly check important pages: Monitor pages critical to your business or recent changes.


• Use live test wisely: The live test checks the current crawlability and rendering but might differ from Google's cached version.


• Investigate excluded pages: Understand why pages are excluded from the index and whether this aligns with your SEO strategy.


• Combine with other GSC reports: Use Inspect URL insights alongside Coverage and Performance reports for a holistic SEO approach.

Example Use Case

Suppose you published a new blog post but it doesn’t appear in Google search results after several days. By using Inspect URL:

1. Enter the blog post URL in Inspect URL.


2. Check if the URL is indexed or if errors are blocking indexing.


3. If blocked, fix the cause such as removing noindex tag or updating robots.txt.


4. Click Request Indexing to notify Google of changes.


5. Monitor the URL status over time for successful indexing.

Conclusion

The "Inspect URL" feature in Google Search Console is an indispensable tool for monitoring and optimizing individual URLs on your website. By leveraging its detailed insights, you can quickly identify and resolve indexing issues, submit pages for faster crawling, and ensure your content meets Google’s guidelines — all crucial steps toward improving your site's visibility and SEO performance.