Webmaster Tools Redesigned and Improved

Some changes we like, some we don’t, but as far as I’m concerned, any update to Google Webmaster Tools is a welcomed update, especially if it’s goal is to improve usability.

Google just released a few changes to Webmaster Tools[1]. The most notable change is the dashboard layout, but there are also different names for some of the navigation and the possibility of using compact view for the home page list of sites instead of the large preview images.

The first change you will notice is the possibility to remove the website preview images for the list of sites in your GWT. By clicking on the options in the right panel you can select the compact view.

Once you select a site you will be taken to the new dashboard. The dashboard looks better, everything important is in one place as you can see from the image below, including important messages at the top followed by health issues, search queries and sitemaps.

The last change reflects the right sidebar navigation. Some of the links there have been reordered, but more importantly, they have been renamed. The sections you should take not of are Health, Traffic, Optimization and Configuration.

References:

1. Navigation, Dashboard and Home Page - http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2012/05/navigation-dashboard-and-home-page.html