Google Webmaster Tools

An invaluable free resource, GWT provides a range of information about how Google sees your site.

Google Webmaster Tools (GWT) provides a peek into how Google is viewing your site – it’s Google-specific but does provide some information that apply to other engines too. The first step to getting your site analyzed is to sign up using a Google Account (you can create one for free if you don’t have one).

Once you are logged into GWT, the first step is to add your website to your profile. In order to do this, you have to show you have administrative rights over the website (which prevents users from randomly adding any site). Click “Add a site”, enter your domain name and click “Continue”.

This leads to the ownership verification page, where you must complete one of three tasks:

  • Add a meta tag: to do this, you need access to the source code of your home page (usually index.html). Simply copy and paste the text provided into the section. This entry has no effect on the appearance of your site.
  • Add an HTML file to your web server: first, download the HTML verification file provided. This file is empty but contains a specific name GWT is looking for. To upload the file to your web server, you need the FTP username and password to access the file system. One you have these, use an FTP client such as FileZilla (http://FileZilla.com) to copy the file to the public_html directory.
  • Add a DNS record: you will need access to the domain name control panel at your domain registrar to add a TXT record with the random code provided. DNS records can take from several minutes to several hours to propagate throughout the Internet, so verification may take some time.

The method you choose will depend upon your level of access to your site and your technical knowledge: for most people, adding the HTML file is the simplest of the three, and the one least likely to lead to errors that cause site unavailability. Whichever you choose, click “Verify” after you have performed the steps and the site will appear on your GWT dashboard.

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