Google Webmaster Tools

We have all heard of Google Webmaster Tools, a great resource from Google that helps drive traffic to your website.

Google Webmaster Tools is a one stop shop for webmaster resources helps you enhance and increase traffic to your website and connect you with your visitors. You can:

• Improve website traffic
• Submit your content to Google
• Check out the Webmaster Central Blog
• Learn more about your site
• Enhance your site's functionality
• Get Help From Webmasters Help Centre
  

Webmaster Tools can have a positive impact on visitor numbers and sales on your website. For example, you can find out:

• Crawl info - View URLs that Google may have trouble crawling and fix any problem accordingly.
• Robots.txt file validation: See if Google is having trouble with your file and carry out any test before changing it.
• Website content: View the top web pages from your site and see the words that other sites use to link to them.
• Top keyword searches : Find the top queries that drive traffic to your site and where your site is included in the search results. This will allow you to learn how users are finding your site.
• Indexed information: See how often your website is indexed and which of your pages are included in the index.

The Keyword search tool is one of the most valuable features in webmaster tools. It allows you to see and what search terms are driving traffic to your website and also highlights the position of your webpages on the search engines as this example indicates.

We do use webmaster tools on behalf of clients and have to admit that it does help in maximising the potential of their websites online through increased traffic, sales and ROI.

Another reason to drop by Google Webmaster Tools is the price. Its free!

Site Search Reporting & Event Tracking - New From Google Analytics

The Google Analytics team has just announced recent updates to their software that will be rolled out over the next few months.

Two of the new Google Analytics features include:

1. Site Search Reporting
2. Event Tracking

Site Search Reporting
Google Analytics currently offers you the opportunity to track what your visitors are searching for and where these searches lead. The new Site Search Reports will offer even more information and will be located under the content section of Google Analytics reporting software.

They will:

• Identify the keywords and search refinement keywords visitors use within your website.
• Highlight the website pages from which visitors begin and end their searches on your website.
• See how search on your website affects areas such as site usage, conversion rates and e-commerce activity.

This will be useful information to know, as the findings will allow you to update and change your website to be much more visitor or consumer focused.

If you don’t have a search facility on your website then have a look at Google Custom Search. Custom Search allows you to host a Google search box on your own website - follow this link to find out more – Google Custom Search

Event Tracking
The Event tracking reports will help website owners understand how visitors use and interact with multimedia aspects of their websites i.e. areas such as flash, java scripts, Ajax and video.

This again will allow you to find out whether theses types of applications offer value to your visitors, whether you need them or if indeed your visitors to notice of them at all.

The Event Tracking application has a new tracking module called ‘ga.js’ which will have to be installed on your website. The event tracking addition is still being tested and available only to visitors who attended the recent eMetrics Summit.

More information on these and other changes can be found on the Google Analytics Blog.