So, you’re using our 5-Part Recipe for a Fully Optimized Website and ways to become successful in SEO. After following those steps, hopefully you’re starting to see some changes and increases in your traffic and leads. That’s great! But the work doesn’t end there. Incorporating Google Webmaster Tools into your website development process is vital for continued growth and success.
When your site is ready, there are certain important steps that need to be taken (along with SEO) to ensure your website’s success. Using Webmaster Tools can lead you to website domination.
1. Register your site with Google Webmaster Tools and Google Analytics.
Registering will lead you to receive important notifications of any inbound links you’re getting, and will show you thorough data and an analysis of your website traffic and growth.
- With Webmaster Tools, make sure you register for updates and email forward via their blog to receive vital information about your site.
- Google Analytics shows the user experience (i.e. how long the visitor is staying on a page, where they started, and where they went, etc.). In-depth web data and analytics are revealed.
2. Set up and submit your sitemaps using Webmaster Tools.
This is the way to tell Google about the pages on your site that they may not know or see. The sitemap is used to learn about the structure of your site and to increase the coverage of your pages. Submitting your sitemap is your way of asking Google to crawl your website. There are 3 sitemaps that should be submitted:
- Regular sitemap – shows site architecture and pages
- Image sitemap
- Video sitemap
The image and video sitemaps tell Google that they’re in the site. Submitting these can help to improve SERPs (search engine results pages) and it’s easier for Google to find, crawl, and index the images and videos.
3. Eliminate any website errors.
Once you are set up in Webmaster Tools, check on your Site Health and see what errors (if any) are appearing. Error that may appear include:
- 200 – server successfully returned the page
- 404 – requested page doesn’t exist
- 503 – server is temporarily unavailable
It is important to continually check the health of your site and fix any errors so that you’re site is running efficiently and effectively for your visitors. Sites that have errors may not get revisited.
Building a website that promotes brand growth and identity is no easy task, but it is possible – with the help of Google Webmaster Tools. Staying on top of your website, keeping it updated and healthy, will keep your visitors coming back, eventually turning them into leads and customers.
Are you using Webmaster Tools? What tools do you use to measure your website?
