Google Webmaster Tools is a Search Console that is available to all website owners. It is an absolute must for those wishing to understand how Google crawls their website, as well as access to valuable search analytics. This search console is a great way to gather valuable insight into how Google interacts with your website. And the best part about Google Webmaster Tools is that it’s totally free!
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Signing up is simple, you will be required to sign in at the Google Webmasters website with your Google username and password (or you can create one). Once you have access, you can add your website which will then require ownership verification. You can add more than one website to the same search console.
Once verification is complete, you will be able to access all of your websites within the search console dashboard. Selecting a website to review will take you to an array of features which include, crawl errors, links to your website, site maps, and other valuable SEO features and analytics.
If you have an online business, search engine optimization (SEO) can be an incredible way to generate traffic to your website. It can also assist you in choosing the right keywords for any specific online marketing campaign. Though Google Webmaster Tools may not have all the SEO tools you may need, it still is an important tool to use when analyzing website and search behavior.
Below are some of the most beneficial aspects of the Google Webmaster Tools console. It is highly recommended that you try the search console out if you haven’t as yet. The available options may be overwhelming at first. It’s best to sign up and to then focus on these important parts of the search console.
Crawl errors are usually associated with any form of indexing errors that Google would have encountered while trying to read (crawl) your website.
An example of this could be pages with an HTTP server error or pages that are not found. Pages that are not found could be pages or posts that may have been deleted by you. This could also be products that have been removed.
Crawl errors are common and can be caused due to various reasons. The penalties for having many crawl errors may not be that severe, but not doing much to rectify them can lead your website to decline in search ranking.
This is due to the fact that Google will find it difficult to index your erroneous pages onto their search. The last thing they want is to supply their users with web pages that have no content.
This is where you will be able to gather some of the most valuable insight towards the traffic that is associated with your website. When a user searches Google for a product (keywords) and your website appears (impression) in second place (position), the user can then choose to click on the link that will take them to your website (CTR - click-through rate).
Search analytics will show you the total clicks, impressions, and average positions related to the search keywords that are typed into the Google search engine. This is the type of info you need in order to pinpoint the keywords or phrases that people are using to find products and services that you are offering.
It also gives you an indication of how well your website ranks in search engines for a particular keyword. This information will allow you to optimize your website according to the needs of your potential clients. Understanding the exact phrases they use to search for services will help you to incorporate those phrases into your website and product descriptions.
Also within search analytics is a wonderful filter that allows you to view traffic statistics per website page. This way, you can analyze which pages are getting the hits as well as how high they rank in Google’s search engine.
This information can help you research which sales pages are currently successful in receiving impressions and page views from Google. You can add your sales figures and successful e-commerce transactions to help you determine which pages are working and which pages need to be tweaked.
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In this section (links to your website), you will be able to review the total amount of links from other websites that are leading back to your website. Backlinks are crucial to increasing and maintaining your websites rank with Google. Especially if the links are from other high authority websites.
This leads Google to believe that these websites acknowledge your content as being of legit high quality. Google prefers such quality, hence the increase in rank.
Links from other websites is also another great way to increase traffic to your website. People browsing a specific website can click on a link that leads them to your website. Having an understanding of who’s linking back to you can assist you in creating potential partnerships with these websites in the hopes of generating more targeted traffic back to your website.
You can select the target country for your website. If you select United States, then Google will mostly focus on indexing your pages in the US. If your website is aimed more towards a European niche, then you can select the appropriate country for Google to target.
You can submit, test, or edit the sitemap of your website. Google uses your sitemap to successfully crawl your website. An updated sitemap means that Google will be able to properly index your website.
Another filter available under search analytics is the countries filter. This allows you to filter your click results per country. Understanding which country favors the products of your online business can assist you in planning future advertising campaigns. You can target these campaigns towards the demographics of a particular country on that list.
Apart from the plethora of free SEO tools out there, there is also plenty of high quality paid variants as well. However, gathering search information directly from the source is an absolute winner. In a nutshell, Google Webmaster Tools is here to give you an understanding of how Google identifies with your website. Optimizing your website to suit Google’s needs will ensure success in your Online Business.