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Learn About Search Engine Marketing

March 9th, 2013 5 comments

Which Search Engine Marketing Tool Is The Best For You?

You created a website for your business and filled it with a lot of useful information. Great! Now you must get your website recognized and popularized on the World Wide Web index. In doing so you have three major options, they are: Organic search optimization, Paid Inclusions and Pay-Per-Click. These three web-marketing tools are a great way to get started and get identified. So you may ask, what exactly are these three Search Engine Marketing tools?

Organic Search Engine

If you like free, then Organic Search Engine Marketing is for you. Organics are found on the left side of the page and are ranked by keyword results. For example, if you search Google for ice cream the links that appear on the page are those with the keyword “ice cream” on the page a high number of times. Also, if a page has internal links with the keyword those will be included in the ranking.

Search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, and Dogpile are constantly changing their algorithms. These are specialized computing data structures or recipes that find the best websites that represent the keywords a user searches for. Other common names for algorithms are crawler or spider.

Organic Search Engines are the most trusted marketing search engine tool. This is because they are free and businesses are not influencing the search results by buying a spot. Organic results also portray a level of importance when the top 10 results appear.

Paid Inclusion

If you are willing to pay for a spot then paid inclusions are for you. These work as such: you pay money for a site indexed in the search engine, which is organized in a priority queue or organized sequence. Your link stays indexed as long as your pay for the subscription. This does not promise a particular ranking.

As stated above these are not as credible as the organic search results, but they do get your page, name, and material out on the results pages.

Pay-Per-Click

These links appear on the right side of the search engine results pages and are under the title “Sponsored Links.” These are advertisements and the businesses that pay for them get charged every time someone clicks on the advertisement. Pay-Per-Click links are also linked to keywords, meaning the link appears when the keyword is typed into the search engine.

Malerie Giaimo
http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/learn-about-search-engine-marketing-122020.html

Tips for Choosing a Search Engine Optimisation Company

March 5th, 2013 2 comments

The immense growth in the amount of time people are spending on the Internet, plus the rising cost of pay per click advertising has seen search engine optimisation become increasingly popular over the past 5 years. Many website owners today are investing in search engine optimisation which makes it harder than ever to achieve top rankings in search engines such as Google.

The traditional approach to search engine optimisation has been the process of selecting keywords, inserting meta tags and then building some links to achieve first page ranking results in Google. However, in today’s highly competitive online market this simplistic approach has been outdated due to increasing competition and the introduction of free tools such as Google Analytics which has made it easy to measure the impact of your SEO efforts.

On this basis Search Engine Optimisation should be considered as a strategy to drive qualified traffic to your website at the lowest cost. The definition of SEO success should be the amount “qualified natural search traffic delivered to your website” and not “rankings achieved”. There is no point being ranked in the Top 10 of Google if no-one is searching for or clicking on your search engine listing.

Are all search engine optimisation services the same?

The principles and promises of high rankings are all the same from search engine marketing companies however, like everything in business the results achieved from one company to another are considerably different. After all, search engine optimisation is a process of out-ranking another website, so your approach needs to be unique to be number 1.

When choosing a search engine optimisation you should ask the following questions:

– What are the traffic results the search engine marketing company has achieved for its clients?

– What SEO results has the company achieved for their own website?

– What is the company’s current client retention rate?

– What resources does the company have available to allocate to your project?

– What are the measures of success for your search engine marketing project?

– What % of the company is dedicated to search engine marketing?

Why outsource search engine optimisation to a specialist company?

The Internet is a serious sales channel today. Top rankings in Google and implementing a successful search engine marketing strategy can have a 6 or 7 figure positive impact on the profitability of your company. Asking your IT person or web design company to be responsible for your search engine marketing is a like asking your Office Manager to be responsible for business development and hitting sales targets.

Outsourcing your search engine optimization to a specialist company enables your business to cost effectively leverage the large investment that SEO company has made in developing its services. You can also access the intellectual property the SEO company has acquired from managing campaigns across their client base. These two factors alone make the business case very compelling for outsourcing your search engine optimisation campaign.

Last by not least when choosing a search engine optimisation company you should always negotiate a performance based contract, as this makes sure both parties work hard towards a mutually beneficial result.

Wishing you and your website online success in 2008

Ewan Watt
http://www.articlesbase.com/seo-articles/tips-for-choosing-a-search-engine-optimisation-company-288611.html

How to Design a Successful Search Engine Optimization Plan

March 2nd, 2013 4 comments

5 steps to create Successful Search Engine Optimization strategies and improve your website’s organic ranking.

Dear Reader,

You are reading this article probably because you want to learn about Search Engine Optimization techniques and tricks. Perhaps you want to promote your site and generate more leads, increase the revenue, and ultimately bring more business for your site.

Therefore, I gathered some information about search engine optimization subject which I hope you will get benefit from reading it.

Search engine marketing is using the search engines to drive traffic to your website. Consumers are using the internet and for the most part “search engines” to find what they are looking for. Therefore, it’s important for your business to have a website that has a good ranking in search engines.

There are numbers of method you can use to market your website using the search engines; however, I will only cover those that are free of charge in this article.

Organic Search Engine Optimization

This is probably the most common search engine marketing strategy for your website. There are enormous amount of information on the web about organic search engine optimization; however, which one will work for your site?

Learn from my mistake. It won’t happen over the night. You must have a good plan for your website optimization process and dedicate yourself to that plan. Therefore, it’s important to have a well-planed search engine optimization strategy to reduce your chance of failure. Today, there are so many FREE TOOLS available to you that you can use to create a successful plan for your site such as Google Webmaster Tools, GoodKeyword and many more.

I have divided the search Engine optimization planning into 5 major steps.

1. Decide which search engine you want to focus on. I would suggest start with Google, Yahoo, MSN respectively and Lean as much as you can about these search engines. For example, learn what is important to Google and use it your advantage. These information are usually published at their sites and it’s available to the public. In addition, there are thousands of methods that have been patented by USPTS and it’s available to you for FREE which you can study and learn from it.

2. This is an important part of your plan. You have to be realistic. Select your target keywords as narrow as possible. Why? Because if you choose very wide keywords you are diminishing your chance of being successful in your project. Remember, you are not the only one that is trying to optimize his or her site and those who started before you are ahead of the game. So be patient and start from the button and get to the top.

3. Identify you competitors and find out about their strategies. By doing a simple search on Google you can find your competitors and discover their strategies and secrets. Using methods like number of incoming links to the website, website’s contents, number of pages and…est. learn as much as you can about them.

4. Once you have identified all the search-terms it’s time to start the optimization process from your home page and other important pages on your site. In this step prepare the Meta tags, keywords, heading, contents, link tags… Remember, search engine optimization is divided into two major parts; inside optimization and outside optimization. Please note; do not neglect to put relative Meta tags and content for your pages. Although, search engines such as Google, and Yahoo do not put a high value on Meta tags anymore, however not-having Meta tags can reduce your ranking up to 1%. Don’t say 1% doesn’t matter, when you are competing with more than one million pages.

5. Once you have figure-out your Meta tags, Keyword, and contents, it’s time to start the real and more challenging step “outside optimization”. The best and most effective method which so fare has been proven the top strategy for search engine optimization is linking strategy. But be careful of who you are getting link from and to whom you are linking from your website. I suggest link to those sites that offer something valuable to your visitors and exchange link with websites that are in the same market as you are. Link exchanging is beneficial but it can also be harmful. Search engines such as Google puts value on all incoming links to each web page and recognizes them as a vote from one site to another site. Linking strategy is a very complicated and critical subject and I would suggest that you do some research on your own before starting this process and find the best strategy for you site. I have another article “A successful linking strategy” which you can download from my site and in that article I will go over the details of a successful linking strategy.

I hope that by now you have a better vision of how a successful optimization plan should be designed and If you need any information you can always go to my website http://www.websitedevelopmenttech.com and click on learning center, or you can subscribe to my “6 weeks FREE optimization workshop” and get all the details you need to optimized you site.

Wish you all the Best.

Shawn Davari

Shawn Davari
http://www.articlesbase.com/seo-articles/how-to-design-a-successful-search-engine-optimization-plan-126837.html

The Power Of The Internet Search Engine Never Ceases To Amaze Me

February 27th, 2013 8 comments

If you think about it, the computer has completely changed our world. Infinite things that we used to do outside of the home are now accomplished in cyberspace. The convenience is outstanding. With the speed of cable Internet we are able to watch movie trailers, download music, and make quick business transactions with hardly any effort. How often do you pop open an Internet search engine on any given day? Well, if you’re like most of us, probably a lot. The information, photos, downloads, and products that can be found through an Internet search engine are phenomenal. These trusty digital tools have become part of our daily lives.

I recall the first time I popped open an Internet search engine. I wasn’t exactly computer savvy at the time. I had just heard that I could look up anything I wanted. It’s amazing how these websites can take us on a ride to places around the world. In cyberspace, travel is so quick and inexpensive. With the number of Internet search engines at your beck and call, you’re surely to locate whatever you desire. From Yahoo to Google, and Lycos to AskJeeves, the list of Internet search engines is rather profound.

With the Internet, we are clearly able to shop for any and all products. It doesn’t matter if you’re looking for baby supplies or rare Baseball cards, the World-Wide-Web will provide you with some results to tickle your fancy. After testing out a number of Internet search engines in college, I honestly found Google to be the most helpful. When researching literature and historical writers for papers, Google typically came up with the best results. I’m sure that each Internet search engine has something substantial to offer a variety of people and needs. I found that it is wise to take advantage of various Internet search engines when doing an important search. You may find that some have additional sites to offer.

When it comes to the Internet, you can’t lose. These magnificent innovations have certainly made life a great deal easier for all of us. If you don’t typically browse the web, hop online and see what you can find. There is a whole cyberspace out there that can put you in touch with places around the globe. Once you find that perfect Internet search engine, anything is possible. There are too many incredible things at your fingertips, not to give it a try.

John Mailer
http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/the-power-of-the-internet-search-engine-never-ceases-to-amaze-me-114527.html

Search Engine Optimization & Search Engines

February 24th, 2013 7 comments

So you have your site optimized for search engines with quality content, navigable links, and keywords specific to your industry. But it has been several months and you still are not showing up on the first or second page of results in Google, Yahoo, or MSN.

There are several things you need to do to get better results in the organic listings.

You need to submit your site to the 3 biggest search engines Yahoo, Google, and MSN. You will need to go directly to their site submission pages and submit your site manually. Google and MSN both require a code be typed in for submission. Yahoo requires you have an account with them to submit to their directory. All three are free and only take a few minutes to submit per search engine.

If you can get your website link on a Google PR4 or greater site home page, Yahoo will almost immediately start indexing your information. Msn and Google will follow not much later.

Search for free directories that include your business category and submit your information to as many as possible. Make sure you utilize the description section with keywords that are specific to your industry.

Write articles and submit them to the free article directory services. Include a detailed bio of you and what your services are. Use a valid link to your website. The more original your content, the greater your chance for exposure.

Revisit your title, description, and keyword metatags to ensure you are utilizing this information for the best description of your services. Use only keywords in the title; don’t waste valuable character space on your business name unless it is a major keyword. Take advantage of the description tag as it explains what your business offers and will determine who visits your site when it does show up.

If you offer a local service, post your information in Yahoo Local, Yellowpages.com, and Superpages. General listings are free to post; allow a link to your site, and your business phone number.

Keep your website content fresh. Update your page content at least once a month. You don’t have to go over board, just add something new every once in a while.

Create XML sitemaps. There are free sitemap generation tools that will create a sitemap.xml file of indexed pages of your site. You can then upload this file to your server and submit to Google sitemaps for indexing.

Watch your website competition and where they stand in the search engines for current keywords you are using. Look at their title, description, and keyword metatags.

When you pull up the free listings you will see a link below the listing titled cache, click on it. It will show you where the keywords show up on your site, how many show up, and when the search engine lasted visited your site.

Get creative, be unique, and have fun. The search engines will reward you for it. Just remember the search engines only want to post relevant information on the keyword being searched. Make sure the keyword you are trying to be listed for is relevant to the information on the webpage you are trying to have indexed by the search engine spiders.

Until next time…

Shawn Hickman
http://www.articlesbase.com/seo-articles/search-engine-optimization-ampampamp-search-engines-81380.html

SEO and Positioning your Website for Top Search Engine Rankings

February 21st, 2013 6 comments

SEO and positioning your website to grab top positions in search engines for targeted keywords require both good on-page and off-page optimization. On-page optimization refers to how you tweak the webpage itself, ie the meta-tags, webpage title, content, navigation sitemap, etc. It has everything to do with the web architecture. Off-page optimization is more of a technique applied beyond your website, without involving any change to your website. Let’s take a look at some important elements of SEO and positioning that would boost the ranking of your website.

First of all, we need to understand a bit more about the role of on-page optimization in SEO and positioning. In summary, on-page optimization requires you to craft the web page structure such that it is optimized for a particular keyword that you are targeting. Never build a site first before knowing what you hope to achieve, ie whether your aim is to drive maximum traffic and sell more products or just as a hobby.

You need to pay attention to the keywords you are targeting first, and do detailed researches before you start building your webpage and optimizing it for the keywords. A lot of webmasters fail to realize the importance of keyword research in SEO and positioning for top search engine ranking. They often do it the other way round, targeting popular and extremely competitive keywords and keyword phrases. You may have realized that competitive keywords like “search engine optimization” or “web traffic” are simply out of reach for a new or amateurish website. SEO and positioning your website for such keywords would only bring you disappointment as you realize that even with a fully optimized page, you are still on page 1000 of the search engine results.

One hint for you is to go for any keyword phrase with less than 1 – 2 million search results and fewer than 1000 competing websites in Google. How do you check the number of competing websites? Simply type in “Allintitle: Target Keyword Phrase” into Google search box and all the websites containing the specific keyword phrase would be displayed. It is common sense that any website targeting a keyword phrase would include it in the webpage title, isn’t it? Looking at the search results alone is vague and difficult to determine the level of competition. Once you have found the keywords for optimization, remember to include them in your page title, sub-headers, and meta-tags.

Off-page optimization looks more at the popularity of your website. The search engines are constantly changing the landscape of the internet but one principle stays constant, that is to give users relevant results. Other than meddling with the on-page factors, you need to be aware of how search engines measure your website popularity and keyword relevance. One major yardstick of SEO and positioning is using link popularity. Search engine spiders are not humans and can only understand web content to a certain logical extent. A human may see a web page as rich in content but a search engine spider may deem it as spam.

The unbiased and more accurate way of judging the importance of a web page in terms of keyword relevance is to leave the decision to fellow webmasters and search engine users, or in short, votes of confidence. A link to your web page is a vote declaring that your web page is worth mentioning for that specific topic. But I must emphasize that not all links are equal. Find out why at my blog and also learn basic and advanced tips and tricks about SEO and positioning your website for top rankings either manually or using tools that would conveniently and quickly rank your website.

This article may be freely reprinted or distributed in its entirety in any ezine, newsletter, blog or website. The author’s name, bio and website links must remain intact and be included with every reproduction.

Davion W
http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/seo-and-positioning-your-website-for-top-search-engine-rankings-99565.html

California Search Engine Optimization Services

February 18th, 2013 6 comments

Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the most widely used terms in website implementation and is closely associated with the effective running and success of ecommerce websites of business firms. Along with user friendly design, effective optimization is essential to keep websites visible to major search engines and thereby have more customers and global reach of services. To satisfy the needs of California based companies, a number of reputable search engine optimization service providers offer their services in California, aimed at prospering the growth of online companies in the state.

Most of the SEO companies in California have experienced professionals in search engine optimization. Their experience combined with modern optimization tools yields positive results for their clients. Almost all these companies have their services aimed at helping client websites achieve a position among the top ten search rankings and hence implement their optimization techniques to be highly compatible with search algorithms of search giants such as Google, Yahoo, and MSN.

To remain competitive in the field, most of these SEO firms often take great care to update their optimization tools and the knowledge level of their professionals, thus getting themselves adapted to the changing trends and developments in the field. The web development teams in these firms consisting of graphic designers, copywriters and programmers also contribute their services to these search engine optimization processes.

Keyword research and competition analysis forms a key part in their search engine optimization services and for ensuring long lasting results in their optimization jobs, most of these SEO firms utilize only ethical methods. These ethical methods or ‘White Hat Techniques’ are organic methods used to achieve natural top search results. The top rankings achieved through organic methods can be maintained for a longer period, and are less affected by frequent changes in global search engine algorithms.

With constant improvements in their services, all California based search engine optimization firms are highly competitive in their services, guaranteeing time bound and affordable services. To cater to increasing demands in optimization, most SEO firms are now expanding their services to cover all cities in California including Albany, Beverly Hills, Belmont, Dublin, Fremont, Huron, Los Angeles, Mountain view, Pittsburg and Richmond, to name a few.

Rajeev Rajagopal

Search Engine Marketing Company Can Make Your Company Boom

February 15th, 2013 5 comments

If your business has a website, you are probably wondering how to draw more customers to it. Many companies assume that being on the Internet is the be all and end all to having a web presence, but once they establish that online presence, they quickly realize that there is a lot of competition for attention online. Even good websites can sometimes be completely ignored and figuring out exactly how to attract more attention, and more money, is not easy. That’s exactly where a search engine marketing company can help. The company can provide your business with the right tools to increase web traffic and generate income for your site.

An SEM company is simply a company with experience in promoting your business online through major search engines such as Yahoo! and Google. Basically, the way the search engines operate on the consumer end is that a customer seeking a specific item will enter major search keywords when surfing for a product or service. A site like Google will give the customer a list of millions of possible web pages that may interest them. Since there are millions of results, the customer will usually only glance through the first page or two of results before deciding which website to actually visit. This means that if you are a shoe retailer in Boston you want your website prominently listed among the first few results on Google. A search engine marketing company can help you learn how to make that happen.

Figuring out how to get great results or rankings with major search engines is both a science and an art. A good search engine marketing company spends many hours determining what works and what does not so that they can help your business get the best results. There are many things that affect rankings, so a quality SEM company may take a multi-pronged approached to ensure that your business gets the attention it deserves. This approach may include:

Adding content to your website
Search engines rely on words on a website to decide how relevant a website is to the search. By creating just the right amount of content with the right density of the right words, you will be able to attract more customers.

Your website may become part of a network of links
Having other web pages linking to your website often increases your rankings and gets you a more prominent spot on search engine results. Your website might benefit from having additional pages or having links from online articles linking back to your website. An online marketing professional can help you decide how many links, and from where, you need in order to get the best results.

Your website needs to appeal to a specific customer
Online marketing experts will help you determine what your potential customers are looking for online. They will help you design a website that attracts those customers like a magnet. For example, in the case of the customer looking for shoes in Boston, you will identify that your customer is a shoe-buyer in Boston and look at what site design and keywords would be appropriate for that customer base. A professional working with an SEM company can help you to determine which strings of words customers are entering into search engines and therefore which words you need to be able to integrate correctly into your website.

You have likely invested a considerable amount of money and time into your website in the hopes that it will bring your company more success and more business. This can only happen if your customers and clients actually get to see your website. A good search engine marketing company can help you figure out how to make your website more visible. Many companies will even do all the work for you, providing you with the right links and content that you need in order to make that first page of search engine results.

Andy West
http://www.articlesbase.com/sem-articles/search-engine-marketing-company-can-make-your-company-boom-98313.html

Search Engine Marketing Can Accelerate Home Business Growth

February 12th, 2013 No comments

If you are operating a home business, your website plays a critical role in the success of that business. You may have developed the best-looking website on the Internet, but if no one is visiting your home business website, you are not going to see any results. Eighty-one percent of consumers use search engines to find the products, services and information they need. If you are not using search engines to market your home business, you are overlooking one of the best marketing tools available and you may be setting your home business up for failure. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Getting in the Search Engines 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you want your home business to show up in the search engines, you need to get your website listed. You can do this in one of two ways. You can either optimize your website with a technique called search engine optimization, also referred to as SEO, and submit your website to the different search engines or you can pay to have your website listed in the search engines using pay-per-click advertising.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Search Engine Optimization and Submission

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you do not want to pay for each and every visitor to your home business website, you are going to want to utilize search engine optimization and search engine submission tools and techniques for your home business. If you want to utilize search engine submission to get your home business website listed in the engines, you first need to know a little bit about SEO. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When someone refers to SEO, they are talking about optimizing your website so it is friendly to the search engines. Websites that have been optimized for search engines get higher placement in search engine listings than websites that have not been optimized.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you want your home business website to be search-engine friendly, you are going to want to make sure that the design and programming of your home business website does not involve frames, flash, dynamic URLs, or image maps and javascript for site navigation purposes. You should also make sure that your home business website has proper keywords, meta tags and search-engine friendly copywriting.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If search engine submission is going to be your main avenue of search engine advertising for your home business, you may want to consider hiring an SEO consultant to help you get top rankings for the keywords that relate to your site.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once your home business website has been properly optimized, it is time to submit it to the search engines. To do this, you will need to look into the submission requirements for each search engine you want to be listed in and follow the instructions found at those search engine websites.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 It is important to note that, when using this technique to get your home business listed in the search engines, you will not see your website immediately after you have submitted it to the search engine. Some search engines can take up to two months to list your home business website once you have submitted it and some search engines may not accept your submission at all. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pay-Per-Click Search Engine Advertising

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 If SEO optimization and search engine submission sound like too much hassle and you feel like it would take too much time, you may want to opt for pay-per-click search engine advertising. By using pay-per-click search engine advertising for your home business website, you can get your site listed in the top positions for the keywords related to your home business. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The biggest search engines, such as Yahoo and Google, offer pay-per-click search engine advertising programs. With these programs, you bid on a keyword and whenever someone performs a search for that keyword or keyword term, they will see your listing in the search engine results. Where it appears in the search engine listings will depend on how much you bid for the keyword and what other advertisers are willing to pay for the same keyword. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If a consumer sees your pay-per-click advertisement and clicks on it, you will be charged the amount you bid for that keyword. For example, if your home business were a dog washing business in the Chicago area, you would want to bid on “Chicago dog washing” as a keyword term.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Let’s say the person currently listed in the top paying search engine position for that keyword were paying fifteen cents for each click. You would want to bid twenty cents for each click to have your home business appear first whenever someone searched for “Chicago dog washing” at that search engine.  If someone saw your ad and clicked on it, you would have to pay twenty cents for that click. If twenty people clicked on your ad each week, you would only be paying about $16 a month to get twenty visitors to your website each week.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you are going to go the pay-per-click advertising route for your home business, make sure you go with one of the top search engines. If you use a search engine that no one goes to, it is not going to do your home business any good.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Business Will Boom 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once you have implemented effective search engine advertising into your home business marketing plan, you will notice that business will start to boom and you may be surprised at how much business is actually generated from your search marketing efforts

Curt Miller

Free Google Tools That You Should Know About

February 9th, 2013 2 comments

If you have a website, there are a number of free tools available for webmasters through Google that are absolutely indispensable in helping you increase your website’s visibility and traffic. The Google search engine is one of the most popularly used search tools on the Internet. Ranking high in the results for keyword phrases that relate to your products or service is going to increase your traffic and increase your sales. Google provides a number of free tools that help you see exactly how well your website is doing and show you what you need to improve, what pages are not ranking and what is working for you.

Though Google offers a number of different tools for a small fee, for the purposes of this article, we will focus on Google Webmaster Tools. This free service let’s you know a number of pieces of valuable information about your website. First, you have to verify that you own the site by adding a specified meta tag to the header of your home page or upload an HTML file. Once you do this, you will be better equipped to optimize your site.

Google Webmaster Tools: Diagnostics

Googlebot is the web crawler that searches the Internet to find relevant pages that match up with the search terms people enter on Google’s search engine. The diagnostics section focuses on what Googlebot comes up with when it crawls your site as well as your site’s mechanics.

  • Web Crawl—This shows you if there are any errors or problems that Googlebot encounters when it crawls your site.
  • Content Analysis—Problems with your site’s meta tags, meta titles and descriptive information will show up here.
  • Mobile Crawl—Problems and errors on pages designed for mobile phone viewing are found here.

Google Webmaster Tools: Statistics

This set of tools focuses on the traffic that is coming to your site and how it is getting there.

  • Top Search Queries – Find out which keyword terms people are using that generate your site in the results list, the percentage of clicks you got when pages from your site were shown, and what number on the list pages of your site appear in the Google search engine.
  • Crawl Stats—This shows you a bar graph of how your pages are faring in PageRank as rated when crawled by Google’s Googlebot. They are shown as ranking high, medium, low or not yet assigned.
  • Subscriber Stats—If you have subscriber feeds like RSS or Atom available on your site, this will show you how many subscribers you have to those feeds.
  • What Googlebot Sees—This shows you what phrases and content are used in external links to your site. It helps if these phrases are related to the content, products and services on your site to help generate the appropriate traffic.
  • Index Stats—This tool lets you see what pages have links to your site and how your pages are indexed by Google.

Google Webmaster Tools: Links

  • Pages with External Links—Here you will see which pages on your website have inbound links coming from other websites.
  • Pages with Internal Links—Here you can find out which of your pages have links pointing to them from other pages on your site.
  • Sitelinks—This shows you which of your links may appear directly in Google’s search results.

Google Webmaster Tools: Tools

There are a number of other tools that you can utilize free of charge as well. For example, you can submit a site map with all the pages on your site to expedite the process of including every page in your site on Google’s search engine. You can also:

  • Analyze robots.txt
  • Generate robots.txt
  • Set Geographic Target
  • Enhanced Image Search
  • Manage Site Verification
  • Set Crawl Rate
  • Set Preferred Domain
  • Remove URLs

Before you invest in any pricey ranking tools or analytic software, check out what Google has to offer for free!

Tamara Field
http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-marketing-articles/free-google-tools-that-you-should-know-about-717541.html