It is a single-use tool: it tests mobile usability of a website or code snippet. This is useful before, during, and after the development process. So, if you are developing a website, then the mobile-friendliness tool is a necessity. Its also useful (in conjunction with Page Speed Insights and Search Console) in developing a full idea of site performance and how it relates to SEO.
If you just want to understand how much traffic you're getting from Google organic search results, and study the queries and landing pages that make up this traffic, this is a great tool. If you also want to figure out where you may be missing opportunities or making it hard for people to find your site, this can help with that. However, GSC is not going to give you step by step instructions for how to fix SEO issues, and won't help prioritize anything either. It's essentially like a car dashboard, but doesn't do any driving or tell you how to drive.
Google does not cross-check the results from other search engines in the creation of the tool. Bing and Yahoo might not consider your website mobile-friendly, even if Google does.
Some devices and screen resolutions were not thought of when Google created the tool.
The output of the tool is not specific enough, at times, for web developers.
I'd like more instructions about how to respond to certain errors I see - it can be difficult to understand when you see a red error message what it really means and how to fix it.
I'd appreciate warnings being 'ranked' somehow to understand what's really a big deal, and what might be a minor issue.
Search analytics is helpful but not comprehensive - you can only go back so far in the data, and can't see all the search terms that are sending traffic to your site.
It's easy to use, but some features are lacking a clear explanation. Somethings don't always match up. For example, the Core Web Vitals often doesn't match what you would see in the Chrome Lighthouse report or the Google Page Speed Insights tool. The tool itself is a little too basic and has to be used alongside other SEO tools and other Google properties such as Analytics
As with all Google software, your primary source of help is their forums, their knowledge base articles, or whatever tutorials you can find on the web. Often answers on their forums are not straightforward and may not address the actual issue you're experiencing. The KB articles are typically written like instruction manuals - for better or for worse. Tutorials on the web may vary, but the odds are good someone out there had the same questions as you and was kind enough to document their experience.
The Google Mobile-Friendly Test is much better than Bing Webmaster Tools to ensure our clients' websites are mobile friendly responsive. Google's tool is created specifically for most of the online searches from the internet, and most modern devices, modern browsers, and screen resolution settings. Bing is not as technically advanced as Google and not as specific in their tools, to ensure the creation of mobile-friendly responsive devices.
We are using Ahrefs and SEMRush along with the search console. Ahrefs helps in creating our backlink strategy while SEMRush for content gaps and opportunities. Search console is more preferred as it is completely free and data comes straight from Google. But you cannot see backlinks and ads in search console.
