Google Search Console Series: URL Inspection — Diagnose Any Page in 60 Seconds

The URL Inspection tool in Google Search Console is the most precise diagnostic tool available for any single page on your site. It tells you exactly what Google knows about a URL, whether it’s indexed, what it looks like to Googlebot, and lets you request priority crawling. Every WordPress site owner should know how to use it.

How to access URL Inspection

In Google Search Console, click URL inspection in the left sidebar — or simply paste any URL from your site into the search bar at the top of any Search Console page. Google will run a live check on that URL.

What the results tell you

URL is on Google ✓

The page is indexed. Google has crawled it and added it to its search index. You’ll also see when Google last crawled it, the discovered canonical URL, and whether the page is eligible to appear in search results.

URL is not on Google

The page is not indexed. The tool will give you a specific reason — noindex tag, blocked by robots.txt, 404 error, redirect, crawl anomaly, etc. Each reason has a specific fix. See our guide on noindex in source code if that’s the reason shown.

The Coverage section — reading the details

Discovery

How Google found the page — via sitemap, via a link from another page, or via a direct request. If your important pages show “not in sitemap,” make sure your RankAlSEO plugin sitemap includes them and your sitemap is submitted to Search Console.

Crawl

When Google last crawled the page and what Googlebot version was used (smartphone or desktop — Google uses mobile-first indexing, so it primarily crawls as a smartphone). If the last crawl date is months ago on an important page, that’s a signal the page has low priority in Google’s eyes.

Index

The indexing status and the page’s canonical URL as Google sees it. If Google’s chosen canonical doesn’t match the URL you inspected, Google may be indexing a different version of your page than intended. Check your canonical settings in the RankAlSEO plugin → post Advanced tab.

View the crawled page

Click View crawled page to see exactly what your page looks like to Googlebot — including the HTML source, a screenshot of how it renders, and any HTTP resources (JS, CSS, images) that were blocked or failed to load.

This is especially useful for diagnosing:

• JavaScript rendering issues — if your content is rendered by JS and Googlebot can’t see it
• Blocked resources — if your robots.txt is blocking CSS or JS that Google needs
• Content differences — if what Google sees is different from what users see

Request indexing

At the top of the URL Inspection result is the Request indexing button. Clicking it adds the URL to Google’s priority crawl queue. Use this whenever you:

• Publish a new important page or post
• Make significant updates to an existing page
• Fix a noindex or canonical error on a page
• Update a meta title or description and want Google to pick it up faster

Google rate-limits this — you can only request indexing a limited number of times per day. Use it for your most important pages, not every single post.

Enhancements section

Below the coverage section, URL Inspection shows any structured data (schema markup) Google found on the page and whether it’s valid. If your RankAlSEO plugin is outputting schema correctly, you’ll see it listed here — Article, BreadcrumbList, FAQPage, Product, etc.

If schema errors are shown, go to the Rich Results Test (search.google.com/test/rich-results) for a detailed breakdown of what’s wrong. Most schema errors from the RankAlSEO plugin are caused by missing required fields — like a Product schema without a price, or an Article without an author.

Common use cases

“My new post isn’t showing in Google”

Inspect the URL → check the status → if “Discovered, not indexed,” click Request indexing → wait 24–72 hours.

“I updated my meta title but Google still shows the old one”

Inspect the URL → click View crawled page → check the HTML source to see what title Google last saw → Request indexing if the new title is live. See our full guide: Why is my meta title not updating in Google?

“A page disappeared from Google”

Inspect the URL → check for noindex, canonical errors, or robots.txt blocking. Fix the issue and request re-indexing.

“I want to check my schema markup”

Inspect the URL → scroll to Enhancements → check for schema errors and warnings.

Action steps

1. Open URL Inspection in Search Console
2. Inspect your homepage — confirm it’s indexed and the canonical is correct
3. Inspect your most important post or landing page — check the last crawl date
4. For any new content you’ve published, click Request indexing
5. Click View crawled page on a key page and check the screenshot looks correct

Next in this series: Core Web Vitals — understanding Google’s page experience signals and what they mean for your rankings.