Tools

The console’s tools work on any site, though limits are lower without verified ownership. Each replaces an assumption with a measurement, which is why most technical arguments end when the relevant one is run.

What is available

• Robots.txt analysis — validate the file, test whether a specific URL is allowed, and review six months of change history.
• Sitemap validator — check a file before publishing it.
• Server response check — what the robot actually receives, per robot, including SSL certificate status and conditional-request handling.
• Removing pages from search results — accelerate removal of a page, a directory or a whole site.
• Audit pages for mobile compatibility.
• XML validator — feed structure for the partner programmes.
• Structured data validator — microformats, Schema.org, Open Graph, HTML microdata and RDFa.
• IP address check — whether an address belongs to Yandex.
• Certificate check — SSL/TLS certificates issued for the site, including those from the National Certification Authority.

The three that earn their place in a routine

Server response check, run on the specific URL in dispute and as the specific robot in question. Robots.txt analysis, run with real URLs rather than read by eye. Structured data validator, run after any template change, because markup breaks silently.

The one to use with care

Page removal is fast and its scope extends to entire directories. It is the right instrument for content that must leave search quickly, and the wrong instrument for tidying up — pages removed this way have to earn their place back.

The habit worth forming

Run the relevant tool before writing the ticket. “The page looks fine” and “the robot receives a 200 with an empty body” are different statements, and only one of them can be acted on.