Use Fetch & Render for Most Accurate Google View of Webpage

May 31, 2017 at 6:02 am PST By Jennifer Slegg Leave a Comment

A question came up on Twitter regarding how Googlebot sees a page and whether the fetch and render within Google Search Console is the most accurate or if using the cache view from within the Google search results is more accurate.

John Mueller answered, and he said that fetch and render will be the closest.  If Googlebot can see it in the render, then it would be indexable.

Fetch & render is closest – if it works there, it'll work for search. Cache = just raw HTML.

— John ☆.o(≧▽≦)o.☆ (@JohnMu) May 29, 2017

He does add that cache is simply the straight HTML, so it doesn’t necessarily render the page properly, as it would if fetch & render is used.

The cache is the raw HTML. Without the raw HTML, the image won't be loaded. If the layout doesn't look perfect, that's usually OK.

— John ☆.o(≧▽≦)o.☆ (@JohnMu) May 30, 2017

Of course, this doesn’t work if the site is not your own.  In those cases, you are stuck with either using Google’s cache to check, or use a Googlebot spoofer, although be aware that some sites do block those spoofing Googlebot.  But cache is an easy way to spot check pages, especially competitor pages, when you do not have access to the account in Google Search Console.

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Jennifer Slegg is a longtime speaker and expert in search engine marketing, working in the industry for almost 20 years. When she isn't sitting at her desk writing and working, she can be found grabbing a latte at her local Starbucks or planning her next trip to Disneyland.She regularly speaks at Pubcon, SMX, State of Search, Brighton SEO and more, and has been presenting at conferences for over a decade.

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