Google Search Console (previously known as Google Webmaster Tools) is a premier web service from Google, that helps it to communicate with webmasters. Through the Search Console, webmasters can check their site’s indexing status, identify different issues and optimize its visibility. And the best part is that using Search Console is absolutely free.
For any webmaster, utilizing the Search Console features has become a highly essential and imperative step in today’s times to optimize the site efficiently. If your site is managed by an SEO company in India, or anywhere else, then you need to ensure that they are using Search Console for site’s optimization process, for desired results.
Search Console Features – ‘Fetch’ & ‘Fetch and Render’
Amongst the various functions that Search Console offers webmasters, two of the most useful are Fetch & Fetch and Render. Although they sound similar, they have significant differences in their functioning, detailed in the table below:
Fetch:
- This feature lets the webmaster fetch a specified URL from the site, and present the HTTP response.
- This feature is specifically used to check security and network connectivity issues with the site, based on the success or failure of the response.
- Fetch does not run or request any other related resources from the URL, like scripts or images.
Fetch and Render:
- This feature is similar in functionality in the initial step, where it fetches a specified URL from the site and publishes the HTTP response
- Unlike ‘Fetch’, this feature also renders the page in accordance with the platform, like desktop or smartphone.
- It requests and runs the scripts and images associated with the page.
- It provides a more detailed visual view of the page and helps the webmaster to detect how the Googlebot sees the page, and how a user sees the page.
In simple terms, we can define that ‘Fetch’ provides the HTTP response only, while ‘Fetch and Render’ apart from looking for the HTTP response, also renders the page like on a desktop or smartphone platform.
So, in order to optimize your website in the most efficient manner, your web SEO services provider must know the basic difference between these two features in Search Console and utilize them effectively.
