Users logging into Google Webmaster Tools may be surprised to see a new feature right away. The new multi-site feature, named, “Site Health” was announced by Google yesterday on the Webmaster Central Blog.
The central idea of the new tool is to give webmasters a basic overview of site profile's standing with Google in one quick glimpse. As of right now, the feature lacks several key components, but it's a usability perk for anyone managing multiple sites.
Site Health's analysis components:
- Robots.txt (are you blocking us from priority pages?)
- WordPress Update Needed.
- Malware detected?
- Important pages removed (content you do not want showing up)
Malware, robots.txt, and updates are definitely more “mission critical” than ranking incentives. However, Aaron Wall's SEOBook has had a Website Health Check tool for several years. It is much more SEO-centric, as it looks at things such as missing page titles, indexation issues, canonical issues, duplicate content, and error message consistency.
Let's hope Google continues to develop the key features of the Site Health tool outward and upward. At least this addresses the issue of knowing when old sites you may no longer maintain become infected with malware.
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