Open Console — Helping Search Engines

How can you help search engines to index your content better? You may use a robot.txt file and sitemaps. You (or your SEO expert) may use Google's Search Console to improve your visibility. Maybe you also configure Microsoft Bing Webmasters. But what about smaller search engines? What about special purpose searchers? The first purpose of Open Console is to create one place where all search engines can learn about your website.

Current situation

In the (2022) internet market, there is one big market leader: Google, which has a global market share of over 90%. Search Engines crawl (collect data from) webpages rather slowly: months between visits. But you can help them indexing your website better.

When you have put-up a new website, it is useful to understand how Search Engines discover your website. You should actively promote your site, which starts by proving your ownership and then fill in some forms. For every Search Engine separately and in a different way. So: most people only give Google their best.

Role of Open Console

Open Console can be used to level the playfield: an alternative to Google's Search Console is a module in the Open Console web-interface. Your prove your identity and site ownership ones, and all Search Engines can get the same configuration you entered.

Among many other things, Open Console will offer configuration of the usual set of meta-data which often finds its way in <meta> fields, like keywords and OpenGraph records. This can be "auto-configured", where Open Console monitors changes (via notifications, push or pull). Consumers may need to see these changes happen to decide whether they gained of lost interest in the website's content.

Implementation

This part is under construction; currently being designed in cooperation with smaller Search Engines:

  • The Open Console infrastructure has generic support for proving identities and describing the website structure.
  • Which information can be configured to help Crawlers;
  • Mock-up of the Search Engine web-interface modules for the Human Interface component of Open Console;
  • Cooperation with the Open Search Foundation.