Check Index Status Data Using Google Webmaster Tools

Google Webmaster Tools  is an amazing inventory of tools not because it is a free tool but to help you monitor critical data about your website, and take evasive action (if need be). One of the many important features is the Index Status feature, which reports how many pages on your site are indexed by Google. This index status used to be pretty generic, and showed data from the website as a whole. Now, Google has upgraded it to track indexed URLs for individual sections of your website.

In the past, Google Webmaster Tools didn't show index status data for HTTPS websites independently, but rather included everything in the HTTP site’s report. These updates are based on user-feedback from the past few months, which indicated a growing demand to be able to use Webmaster Tools to track indexed URLs for individual sections of a website, including the parts that use HTTPS. This was not possible before, and data from HTTPS section was included in the HTTP site's report.

Almost 10% of all URLs use a secure connection to transfer data via the (secure) HTTPS protocol, and the trend is growing with the increasing security concerns. In wake of all this, Google has announced a refinement in the way your site’s index status data is displayed in Webmaster Tools: the Index Status feature now tracks your site’s indexed URLs for each protocol (HTTP and HTTPS) as well as for verified subdirectories!

Note: You can only see the refined data if your site's URLs are on HTTPS or has subdirectories verified, such as https://example.com/folder/. If you have a website on HTTPS or if some of your content is indexed under different sub-domains, you will see a change in the corresponding Index Status reports.

Index Status: HTTP Site

Index Status: HTTPS Site

Keep in mind that these updates won't affect the way your website URLs are indexed, not the total number of URLs indexed on your domain. It only affects the reporting of data in Webmaster Tools user interface.

In order to see your data correctly, you will need to verify all existing variants of your site (www., non-www., HTTPS, subdirectories, sub-domains) in Google Webmaster Tools. It is recommend that your preferred domains and canonical URLs are configured accordingly.

So, what are you waiting for? If you have verified sub-directories on your site, or are running a part of it on HTTPS, go check out this update! Hopefully, you will find it useful and it’ll help you monitor, identify and fix indexing problems with your website. As usual, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask us in the comments section below.