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Tuesday, November 29, 2016
In the early days—back when
Search Console
was still called Webmaster Tools—the content keywords feature was the only way to see what
Googlebot found when it crawled a website. It was useful to see that Google was able to crawl your
pages at all, or if your site was hacked.
In the meantime, you can easily check any page on your website and
see how Googlebot fetches
it immediately,
Search Analytics
shows you which keywords we've shown your site in search for, and Google informs you of many kinds
of hacks automatically. Additionally, users were often confused about the keywords listed in
content keywords. And so, the time has come to retire the Content Keywords feature in Search
Console.
The words on your pages, the keywords if you will, are still important for Google's (and your
users') understanding of your pages. While our systems have gotten better, they can't read your
mind: be clear about what your site is about, and what you'd like to be found for. Tell visitors
what makes your site, your products and services, special!
What was your most surprising, or favorite, keyword shown? Let us know in the comments!
Posted by John Mueller,
Webmaster Trends Analyst, Google Switzerland
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],[],[[["\u003cp\u003eGoogle is retiring the Content Keywords feature in Search Console as it's no longer the primary way to understand Googlebot's crawling and indexing.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eSearch Console now offers other tools like Fetch as Google, Search Analytics, and automatic hack detection which provide more relevant and comprehensive insights.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eWebsite owners should continue focusing on clear and relevant content that accurately reflects their site's purpose and offerings for both users and search engines.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["Google's Content Keywords feature in Search Console, formerly Webmaster Tools, is being retired. This feature allowed users to see what Googlebot found when crawling a website. Users can now see how Googlebot fetches pages and analyze keyword performance through Search Analytics. The feature was retired because users found it confusing. The information recommends to be clear on the content of a website, as keywords still are important to help users and Google understand the website.\n"],null,["# Saying goodbye to Content Keywords\n\nTuesday, November 29, 2016\n\n\nIn the early days---back when\n[Search Console](https://search.google.com/search-console)\nwas still called Webmaster Tools---the content keywords feature was the only way to see what\nGooglebot found when it crawled a website. It was useful to see that Google was able to crawl your\npages at all, or if your site was hacked.\n\n\nIn the meantime, you can easily check any page on your website and\n[see how Googlebot fetches](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/6066468)\nit immediately,\n[Search Analytics](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/6155685)\nshows you which keywords we've shown your site in search for, and Google informs you of many kinds\nof hacks automatically. Additionally, users were often confused about the keywords listed in\ncontent keywords. And so, the time has come to retire the Content Keywords feature in Search\nConsole.\n\n\nThe words on your pages, the keywords if you will, are still important for Google's (and your\nusers') understanding of your pages. While our systems have gotten better, they can't read your\nmind: be clear about what your site is about, and what you'd like to be found for. Tell visitors\nwhat makes your site, your products and services, special!\n\nWhat was your most surprising, or favorite, keyword shown? Let us know in the comments!\n\n\nPosted by [John Mueller](https://twitter.com/johnmu?rel=arthur),\nWebmaster Trends Analyst, Google Switzerland"]]
