An SEOs Introduction and Tutorial to Google Webmaster Tools
For the past few months I have been advocating the use of Google Webmaster Tools to clients and friends looking to learn more about their web site. In that time, I’ve gotten a number of questions around what various areas of the tools mean, how they can be used for SEO purposes, etc.
To help address potential questions, I decided to create a resource for anyone looking to get started. This isn’t exactly Earth shattering materials, but I do hope that it can serve as a guide for those interested in SEO to get started with using Webmaster Tools.
The purpose of this resource is to familiarize those new to the system with the integration process as well as the various tools available. These tools include:
- Diagnostics
- Statistics
- Links
- Sitemaps
- Tools
The full presentation can be downloaded as a PowerPoint Show at the following URL:
http://ericlander.wpengine.com/webmastertools.pps
Below, you will find a smaller graphical version of the presentation on a slide by slide basis.
Finally – please understand that I have no connection to Google, and this document was created based solely on my experience with these tools. As the tools change, this resource may become dated. If that’s the case, or you just have questions – please do not hesitate to email me at eric@ericlander.com.
13 thoughts on “An SEOs Introduction and Tutorial to Google Webmaster Tools”
Hey Eric,
Nice writeup.
I’m curious why you “strongly recommend that only one Webmaster Tools account is verified per domain”?
Also, your slide on Subscriber Stats is inaccurate: these statistics do not include Feedburner stats, so whether or not a site uses Feedburner has no effect on its Subscriber Stats. More info here: http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=73026
Susan, you’re absolutely right.
First, my apologies on that. At the time I created this resource I made some assumptions to help those unfamiliar with the tools to realize it’s potential. Of course in this case, the assumption has since been proven incorrect.
I’ll do my best to go back and replace the above materials in the next day or so. It’s poor practice to leave inaccurate information in place like this.
Thank you for noticing and commenting!
I think it would be worth your time to copy the content from the slideshow as text rather than images (for the search engines).. or maybe that would be too much work?
Anyway, yes this is a great introduction to WMT. I too am curious of the answer to Susan’s first question…
Hey Eric,
Great stuff my man…
~Brett
http://www.FreeTrafficBigProfits.com
Great write-up Eric.
The webmaster tools sure can give you a lot of good info about your site. I never thought about making changes to the site by looking at the crawl rate schedule. Good Tip!
Eric,
Thanks for taking the time to put that together – great resource for those looking to learn about Google webmaster tools!
Matthew
http://www.SmallBusinessOnlineCoach.com
Eric, I too am curious as to why you recommend multiple tool accounts for each domain? Otherwise good stuff!