Beginner’s Guide to Google Webmaster Tools

when was the last time, we heard a simple word "web master" its a just old school,

Google Still use the terms.

You Know? there are many free tools are hidden inside Google Webmaster tools, that tools can help to improve and grow your business/personel blog.

Table of Contents:

• Get everything ready
• Add and verify your website
• Add your Sitemap & wait a few days
• Check out your Search Queries
• Fix your Crawl Errors
• Fix your HTML Suggested Improvements
• Preview your Structured Data
• Find Incoming Links and Keywords
• Check for malware
• Check out your Content Keywords
• Extras: Maintenance, Sitelinks etc
• Add your Google Authorship

I get  asked SEO quite often – “How do I do SEO?”, “How am i able to improve my SEO”, “can’t I simply ignore SEO?” etc. My short answer to these questions: 

#1. specialise in quality. produce quality content/art (whether that’s words, design, music, videos etc) and relationships. 

#2. If one amongst the largest ways that folks find all that stuff you spent so much time making is through Search, why would you ignore how to optimize it?

Google Webmaster Tools is just like the Google Gods oral communication “Hey guys, here square measure the foundations we tend to play by. Here’s what you’re doing wrong, here’s what you’re doing smart, and here’s what you'll optimize.”

Google Webmaster Tools is overwhelming, thus here’s wherever to start:

• Pull up your Business website.
• Log in Google Analytics (or sign up for one if you don’t have it. On WordPress? There’s a quick and easy WordPress plugin for that – #3 on this list.

Sign in to Webmaster Tools (your Google Account).

Step 2. Add your website to Webmaster Tools

very first thing that we need to do in Google Webmaster Tools is add your website

Click the red Button “Add a site”, and put your website url in the box. The next screen, you’ll verify that, you indeed own that domain name. You have the option of uploading an HTML file for verification or clicking the “Alternate methods” tab. My preferred method is to sync with your Google Analytics account.

You have the option of verifying with your domain name provider, through Google Tag Manager  HTML tag, or . There’s also a brand WordPress plugin from Google that is called Google Publisher Plugin. which may build it easier for you to validate and acquire up and running with Webmaster Tools (and AdSense too)

Step 3. Add your sitemap then wait a number of hours or days

It will take a number of hours or days for Google Webmaster Tools to begin displaying helpful data. therefore certify that you’ve pointed them toward your content by adding a Sitemap. Click on Crawl>Sitemaps then the red “Add/test sitemap” button. If you utilize the Yoast SEO plugin (#2 on this list), you’ll notice your XML Sitemap at YOURSITE.COM/sitemap_index.xml.

Step 4. verify your Search Queries

If you pay to a small degree of your time in Google Analytics, then you already recognize that Google took away the power to examine most of the keywords that brought guests in. currently most say “not provided”. Not cool Google. the nice news is that you simply will still see a number of this information from at intervals Webmaster Tools. you'll even link this information into your Google Analytics account. (In Analytics, you’ll realize this underneath the Acquisitions>>Search Engine Optimization>Queries tab). this can be what it's like

Another cool advantage of this can be seeing:

• the Queries (what individuals searched for)
• the impressions (roughly what number individuals saw it)
• the clicks (how many of us clicked your site)
• the ranking (how so much up the page you were after they clicked)
• the click-through rate (often referred to as CTR – of all the those who saw it, what is going to clicked)

• Why will all this matter? the upper your click-through rate the upper perceived relevancy you've got on it topic. What an excellent thanks to grasp what individuals area unit finding helpful on your website. What else you may write therein veign. Low click-through rate? From the title, image, and meta desc, individuals aren’t finding your very little snipping too compelling. What are you able to change?

What you’re seeing within the on top of image is that the prime Pages read within the Search Queries dashboard. you'll be able to cross-check prime queries or the highest pages then slim down the queries hooked up to every “top page”. There’s a large amount of information in here. What may be particularly helpful is chase those posts that you just spent lots of your time making, and that you hope are helpful for a few time. as an example, last week’s post on making a commentary calendar, is already seeing some visibility on Google. during a month just about, I will look and see however it's improved. The “with changes” button is additionally a fast thanks to visually see the increases/decreases in impressions, clicks, click-through rate, and position over time. keep in mind that you just also can amendment the date vary at the highest right.

This differs from keyword information found in Google Analytics. Analytics keyword information shows you the way individuals created it all the thanks to your website. In Google Webmaster Tools you’re seeing the larger image – the incomprehensible  opportunities. you'll be able to understand the amount of individuals WHO saw then either clicked – or didn’t click – through to your website.

Have nice|an excellent|a good} click through rate on a question  however lower average position? This can be some great content. you'll meet up this content around your diary, re-promote it on social media or see if there’s in a different way you'll be able to get a lot of individuals to that (through linking or guest blogging etc.).

See if you'll be able to come back up with a couple of theories or ideas to check from all the info during this dashboard.

Step 5. Fix your Crawl Errors

Homework time! It will feel pretty monotonous to wash up broken links around your website (especially if you’ve had your web site for years). after you initial hit the Crawl Errors dashboard, you may notice an enormous list of errors.

By clicking on every row, you’ll see a popup with additional information just like the one pictured on top of. If you click on the “Linked from” tab, this is often the world wherever you'll be able to see wherever the broken link traffic is coming from. is that the broken link returning from your site? excellent news, you'll be able to fix it! Not on your site? Request that they fix it, add a 301 send if it’s necessary, or simply let it go. You don’t have to be compelled to fix everything one by one either. With one amongst my purchasers, we tend to were ready to create one structural amendment that fastened thousands of errors on their web site in one go. currently that’s Associate in Nursing economical use of your time, and increasing traffic that was simply landing on a broken page before.

It helps to think about it from your reader’s perspective tho'. It is therefore frustrating to return across a broken link. If you've got a lot of those to wash up, set a continual calendar appointment to figure through these or set a timer for twenty minutes to urge started.

Step 6. Fix your HTML Suggested Improvements

Another nice feature of the Search look space is that the HTML enhancements section. this is often wherever you'll decide HTML enhancements which will facilitate your site’s performance on Google and user expertise. You’ll notice tips about meta description problems and pages that have title tag problems – either missing, duplicate, too long etc.

If you have got lots of steered enhancements during this space, i'd suggest adding them to your kerfuffle list of selection. Work on them incrementally over consecutive few weeks.

Step 7. Preview your Structured Data

Structured Data Testing Tool area is another feature in the Webmaster Tools. You can paste in a link and see what Google “sees”, including if they’re seeing your Authorship data. You can see some of this in the Crawl>>Fetch as Googlebot area.

Step 8. Find Incoming Links and Keywords

You can realize incoming links that bring you traffic among Google Analytics, however you'll be able to verify a lot of data concerning incoming links with Webmaster Tools. you'll be able to see World Health Organization is linking to you and in what context – what number links, what number domains, and what pages. you'll be able to conjointly realize the foremost common keywords Google found once creep your web site and what anchor text individuals area unit exploitation to link to you. You’ll realize these reports below Search Traffic>>Links to Your web site.

The Incoming Links dashboard has 3 main areas. You’ll see a listing of World Health Organization links the foremost (the # of pages), a listing of your most joined content, and the way your information is joined up.

Step 9. Check for malware

Sometimes your web site will get hacked by spammy malware and not even are aware of it. Google tries to assist with this by having a Security problems space in Webmaster Tools.

Step 10. Check out your Content Keywords

Do you recognize that what keywords you’re targeting? does one they match up well with what Google considers your high keywords to truly be? you'll be able to investigate your Content Keywords within the Google Index>>Content Keywords space. You’ll see the keywords, variants, and significance.

Step 11. Extras: Maintenance, Index Status, Sitelinks etc.

You could pay days winnowing through Webmaster Tools. during this step I’ve lumped along a bunch of attention-grabbing things which may not apply to everybody, however area unit still smart to understand about:

Index standing – what number pages has Google Indexed on your web site

Sitelinks – you'll request that Google take away a link if you don’t need it springing up in search beneath your different search results.

Blocked URLs – you'll edit your robots.txt file

Internal Links – need to understand wherever you’re linking internally the most? look into Internal Links.

Page Speed – Google’s PageSpeed Insights deserves a complete post of it’s own.

Change of Address – Did you alter domains names? you'll tell Google this victimization the “Change of Address” tools beneath the gear icon.

Step 12. Add your Google Authorship

Saving the most effective for last, Google Authorship is one in every of the foremost unmarked areas of the new Google Webmaster tools. Don’t pass up the chance to link your Google+ profile to your content. You’ll conjointly begin seeing a better click through rate on content that's coupled up. folks tend to click on results that show Associate in Nursing author profile image. this could conjointly facilitate grow your Google+ circles. There square measure 2 main ways that to link and verify with Google Authorship. Here’s Google’s facilitate article on the way to bang.

And you’ll notice your Author stats within the Labs>>Author stats section of Webmaster Tools.

Conclusion

And there you have got it – twelve ways that to urge started with Google Webmaster Tools. you may not want search is your biggest inward channel – instead pro email promoting or social media etc. But, with some tiny alterations you'll be able to set your website up to perform higher while not having to perpetually target SEO. Following Google’s recommendations for your website, is one in all the most effective processes to start out early. A method that may bring you a lot of traffic, community, and customers.