Google Webmaster Tools Gets a Facelift

Google Webmaster Tools has a slightly different look. The new look augments the new functionality Webmaster Tools added last month. The changes include a new look to the dashboard, redesigned menus and a style that more tightly integrates with other Google properties.

The Google Webmaster Tools home page lists all the sites you’re authorized to manage in Webmaster Tools.

The large gray and white interface recently adopted by search, Gmail and other properties is very prevalent.

When viewing your list of sites, you can select a “Comfortable” or “Compact” view modes for controlling the how compact the lines appear on your screen. Google calls this the “Display Density” settings.

You also now have the ability to sort sites not only alphabetically, but also “By site health.” Meaning, you can view the sites that have the most issues first. With all the recent concerns over link profiles and notes Google has left for Webmasters, this is a very helpful feature. It also might underscore the importance of the recent algorithm changes.

The dashboard is the first page you typically see when you click through to manage a site. The new Webmaster Tools dashboard looks more like a dashboard rather than a bunch of textual information. Crawl errors have been expanded to be more visually appealing, as have search queries and site map URLs.

Most prevalent is the top message center labeled “New and Important” so you can notice those nastigrams from the Webmaster Tools spam team when you get them.

Lastly, the left column menus have been redesigned to include groupings that are more meaningful. Each of the groups have tasks or reports that have more related functionality.

• Configuration: Things you configure and generally don’t change very often.
• Health: Where you look to make sure things are OK.
• Traffic: Where you go to understand how your site is doing in Google search, who’s linking to you; where you can explore the data about your site.
• Optimization: Where you can find ideas to enhance your site, which enables us to better understand and represent your site in search and other services.

What are your thoughts on the new look and reports? Let us know in the comments below.