New interfaces for disavow links and remove outdated content tools in GSC
After just over a year from the goodbye to the old version, keep on going the operations of migration of tools to the new Google Search Console, the free platform that Mountain View makes available to all those who intend to operate strategically on sites. The latest tools to perform the step are the disavow links and the remove outdated content, which on the occasion have also obtained a restyling of the interface and other changes of use.
Disavow links, what changes for the tool
The Google Disavow links tool is one of the SEO most talked about tools and should always be used with caution and only in extreme cases, as suggested by the search engine itself. Its new location is at https://search.google.com/search-console/disavow-links and, in addition to the new URL, the tool has also undergone some small changes to the interface.
In particular, you can now download a Disavow file as a text file and there is a new error report for uploaded files, no longer limited to 10 errors.
Disavow links tool, precautions for correct use
Even in announcing the innovations for the tool, Google pointed out once again that the tool to reject the links should only be used in very serious situations, as the algorithm is “able to establish which links are reliable without further guidance” and mainly tries to ignore these invalid links, instead of penalizing them algorithmically.
So “for most sites you do not need to use” the tool and you should reject a link only in two simultaneous circumstances: if there is a considerable number of links containing spam, artificial or low quality that address to the site E, at the same time, whether the links have determined a manual action on the site or are likely to cause it. However, you should first “try to remove such spam or poor quality links from the other site“.
The update for the remove outdated content tool
News also coming for the remove outdated content tool, the tool that allows you to update the results of Google Search related to pages and images removed or pages from which sensitive or fundamental content have been removed.
With this tool, anyone can request the deindicizzazione of pages on other websites, for instance when the SERP shows content no longer really present on a page; all requests are subject to Google’s approval, which you can reject if you believe that there are no reasonable reasons to remove the content from the search results.
What changed for the tool
Again, the first update is mainly of an “aesthetic” type: Google has changed the appearance of the tool to make it more consistent with the new interface of Search Console.
Now, in addition to that, the remove outdated content tool is better optimized for mobile devices, if the user realizes he wants to remove obsolete content while browsing from the smartphone.
When to use the remove outdated content tool
The Google Help guide explains when and how to use the Remove Outdated Content tool. First of all, two contemporary conditions must occur: the obsolete search results page must not be our property AND the page or image no longer exist or are very different from the current version.
If the obsolete page is our property, you can “ask Google to scan the page again or hide the page” using the other search console removal tools.
No need to use the tool in other cases, such as:
- Information on the page or image that appear wrong, invalid, illegal and so on, so we need different reporting interventions.
- Permanent removal of a search result related to a publicly accessible URL.
- Simple request to Google to scan a page again (if a page has not been removed or has no significant changes, such as the removal of important images or essential information, the request will not go through).
