How to Boost Your SEO Using Google Webmaster Tools
- If you have an issue with your website, request Google.
Google created Webmaster Tools to help users interact with webmasters more effectively. Due to a large number of webmasters, one-on-one interaction is difficult, so webmaster tools are the only way to get information about your website from Google.
If there is any problem with your website (server down, hack, malware infection, etc.) then Google can give you an email. To receive these emails, go to SETTINGS (top right gear style icon) and then check the box for WEBMASTER TOOLS PREFERENCES and email updates.
- Tell Google who your target audience is.
Tell Google which audience you are trying to reach. Let’s say you own a.com or.net domain, but your target audience is located in the United States. You can tell Google about your target users by choosing TARGET USERS IN and selecting the United States as the destination in Webmaster Tools’ SITE SETTINGS (under SETTINGS).
As a result of this setup, the website will perform better on Google.com.us than on Google.com.
- Choose your preferred web address.
You can also decide whether Google should use the www or non-www version of its domain in the Site Settings screen. To do this you must check both domains verified with your account.
This means that if you choose www.yourdomain.com as your chosen domain, Google will handle all links leading to http://yourdomain.com in the same way as the link www.yourdomain.com.
- Determine which keywords drive traffic to your website from Google.
The search query function of Webmaster Tools has become one of the most popular functions, even when Google erases the keyword data provided by Google Analytics, you can find it in the left menu under search traffic.
- Keep a record of incoming links.
It is necessary to know the number of links pointing to your website (homepage or internal page) for several reasons:
- You are aware of the websites that link to you.
- You are aware of the words they use for your reference.
- You are aware of which pages of your website have more links.
- If there is an unexpected problem with the incoming link, you can use the DOWNLOAD LATEST LINKS feature to see which links may be causing the problem.
- You will use the data to determine whether you have a “bad link” that needs to be deleted.
- Try to see if your website is being penalized under manual penalty.
Google has two types of penalties that may apply to websites. The first is a manual penalty, meaning a website was checked by the Google quality team and decided to impose a penalty.
In such circumstances, you must submit a reconsideration request, after which the Google representative can examine the website again and determine whether the penalty can be withdrawn.
The second form of penalty is algorithmic punishment (think panda or penguin). In this case, it states that one or more ranking algorithm rules have been violated by your website. To overcome the penalty, you must first identify the underlying triggers, take corrective steps, and then wait for the next Google update to see if you have recovered (at least partially).
If a manual penalty has been imposed on your website, Google will notify you under the MANUAL ACTIONS option. It is also worth noting that manual actions have an expiration date, so you can see penalties go away without filing a reconsideration request, but if you don’t take corrective measures, this will most likely come back.
- Check to see if the Google crawler can manage your website properly.
If Google is unable to navigate or read your website properly, your chances of getting a good ranking also decrease. There are two very useful features under the CRAWL section that help you ensure that crawling is not a problem:
- Crawl Errors – This report will help you to find out if there are any broken links in your website, whether any links are leading to sites that don’t exist. Fix broken links or use 301 redirects to fix these errors.
- Fetch as Google – Curious about how Google looks at your site? Use the FETCH AND RENDER feature to bring you in the form of Google, to see how Google looks at your website, and more importantly, whether there are any blocking tools (JavaScript, CSS, etc.) that prevent Google from viewing the entire image of your website.
- Submit and review the status of your sitemap.
An XML sitemap is a collection of URLs that Google may consider when crawling your website. If you don’t have a sitemap, Google can always find out about your website and pages, but a sitemap, among other items, makes their job easier.
You can check the status of your sitemap and look for any possible issues under the SITEMAPS feature. You can test and upload new sitemaps, as well as see how many pages of your website are indexed by Google.
- Does your website have malware?
Your website can be hacked and malware code can be inserted if it is not secure enough. This means that as you browse the website in general, visitors from other places may see pop-ups promoting various products or connect to Viagra-related websites or gambling or casino sites.
This is a terrible experience for the webmaster, and Google will inform you if they notice anything unusual on your site.
Conclusion
Google Webmaster Tools are very powerful. Every website must have a google webmaster account so that they can handle their websites more effectively. Without GMT, you can not properly know how google manages your website. By this, you can improve your website presence. If you don’t have proper SEO knowledge or are not able to implement GMT tools to your website then you can contact the Digital Marketing Company that provides you such services.
