SEO is the process of getting traffic from the “free,” “organic,” “editorial” or “natural” search results on search engines. All major search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo have primary search results, where web pages and other content such as videos or local listings are shown and ranked based on what the search engine considers most relevant to users. Payment isn’t involved, as it is with paid search ads.
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Google Site Seo Tools
Google offers a constantly updated suite of tools that are useful for SEO.
These tools help publishers understand why a page is underperforming and guide them with specific advice for improving webpage performance for the purpose of ranking better.
Here are Google’s top five SEO tools.
1. Lighthouse
Lighthouse is a web page performance improvement tool that is built into every browser that is based on Chrome. The tool is accessible within the Chrome Dev Tools panel.
Multiple Ways to Access the Google Lighthouse Tool
- On a Windows machine, press the F12 function button.
- On Windows or Mac right-click the page and choose “Inspect” then choose the “Lighthouse” tab.
- On Mac press: Command+Option+C
- On Windows, Linux, and Chrome OS press: Control+Shift+C
- In Chrome, click the 3-dot menu on the top right corner then, More Tools > Developer Tools
Screenshot from Google Search, August 2021
Screenshot from Chrome Dev Tools, August 2021
Lighthouse Offers 5 Feedback Categories
It currently provides five categories of SEO performance feedback:
- Performance.
- Progressive Web App.
- Best Practices.
- Accessibility.
- SEO.
While accessibility isn’t strictly an SEO-related metric, it is related to good user experience for disabled site visitors.
Using the feedback from these five categories will help improve the search visibility of most webpages.
The SEO section of Lighthouse provides 10 points of feedback on factors that matter for Google.
Some Metrics Chrome Lighthouse Reports On
- Viewport Meta Tag.
- Title Element.
- Meta Description.
- HTTP Status Code.
- Descriptive Text on Links.
- Page Status for Successful Crawling & Indexing.
- Validates Hreflang.
- Validates rel=canonical.
- Checks mobile-friendliness.
- Validates font legibility for mobile devices.
- Checks mobile tap targets.
- Checks if document avoids browser plugins for viewing.
- Checks crawling and indexing.
- Checks the Robots.txt.
- Checks if the page sends a successful HTTP status code.
Why You Should Use Lighthouse SEO Tool
I won’t deny it, Lighthouse is a lightweight site review tool.
But it’s an important site review tool because it represents Google’s opinion of 10 metrics you should be looking at.
If Google feels that these metrics are important, then you should, too.
To make the most of this tool, be sure to check out A Technical SEO Guide to Lighthouse Performance Metrics.
2. Test My Site
Google’s Test My Site auditing tool offers two metrics:
- Estimated loading time on a 4G mobile network.
- Recommendations for speeding up the website.
Screenshot of Test My Site, August 2021
This is a good tool for obtaining a quick snapshot of the speed health of a website.
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It’s a good starting point for obtaining an overall picture of mobile optimization.
The tool also offers to email a full report containing suggestions for speeding up the tested webpage.
Why You Should Use Test My Site
You can obtain similar information by using Page Speed Insights.
But the Test My Site tool provides the information in an easy-to-understand manner that’s easy for non-developer stakeholders to gain an understanding of what may be wrong with the mobile site performance.
Yet it’s also good for developers to get a quick overview, as well.
If you want granular details about what needs fixing, then head over to Google’s Page Speed Insights.
3. Page Speed Insights
Page Speed Insights is the tool that provides lab Core Web Vitals performance scores.
Core Web Vitals are important metrics created by Google to represent what a user experience on a webpage is.
This information is important because fixing the highlighted problems will improve SEO, sales conversions, ad clicks, and (if successful in fixing performance bottlenecks) give a small ranking factor boost.
This online tool provides specifics on what is causing the slowdown and gives suggestions for how to fix the problems.
It tells which scripts and style sheets are slowing down the site, which images are too big, and offers numerous other tips for speeding up affected webpages.
Why You Should Use Page Speed Insights
Page Speed Insights not only offers useful solutions for hidden technical issues impacting page speed, but it is also a resource for learning what those issues are.
Each highlighted issue links to a Google Developers page that offers more in-depth background information and an explainer of how to fix the problems.
4. Safe Browsing Test
Google crawls billions of pages every day to check for malware. This tool reports if there is any malware on a site.
The tool also provides the date for the last time the site was checked for malware.
Some sites are tested more often than others.
Why You Should Use the Safe Browsing Test Tool
Many people do not consider website security an SEO problem.
But website security quickly becomes an SEO issue when Google starts dropping URLs from its index because the site is hacked.
That’s why website security should be considered a part of SEO. Failure to secure a site can severely affect search visibility.
5. Google Trends
Google Trends provides information about keyword popularity and also segments the information by time and geography.
The time segment can give you an idea of how seasons may affect keywords. It can also show you if a keyword is losing popularity.
If you see a downward trend in a keyword, this could indicate that a product or trend is causing searchers to lose interest in that search.
Why You Should Use Google Trends
Google Trends is also important for competitive research. It shows you how often people are searching Google with a competitor’s brand name.
The trend line by time will show you how steady this trend is – if it’s going up, down, or steady.
google webmaster tools
Google Webmaster Tools (also known as Google Search Console), is a powerful platform that website owners can use to monitor how their site interacts with Google.
GWT gives you a detailed insight into the health of your website, reporting technical issues such as crawl errors, mobile optimization problems, and security concerns. It’s also packed with a bunch of trackable metrics that are invaluable for SEO, providing you with the data you need to improve your website’s organic performance.
It’s also completely free and integrates with Google Analytics and Google Ads for PPC testing.
So, what features does Google Webmaster Tools have and how do they help you manage your website and SEO strategies?
Google Webmaster Features and Uses
There are many things that GWT can do. How useful each is will depend on your specific business needs. Below, we’re going to discuss some of the most universally beneficial features and uses of the platform.
1. Monitor your website’s performance.
GWT provides vital metrics for monitoring your website’s performance, including:
- Clicks – The number of times that people have clicked on your website through Google’s search results. This not only gives you an insight into the effectiveness of your page titles and meta descriptions, but is also a big indicator of how consistent your traffic is.
- Impressions – The “impressions” metric refers to how many times your website has popped up in Google’s search results, which is handy for identifying your ranking keywords. Sorting by page can tell you which pages rank for specific keywords, adding an extra layer of insight into your optimization strategy.
- Average CTR – GWT will show you the percentage of people who have seen your website on Google search results and have decided to click through. Basically, it is your number of clicks ÷ impressions x 100, and is definitely a metric that you want to keep a close eye on. Through GWT, you can identify your highest (and lowest) CTR queries and monitor them over time.
- Average position – Your average position highlights where you’re ranking on Google SERPs for specific keywords or pages.
For all of the above metrics, GWT offers 16 months of data and allows you to compare two date ranges. You can also filter by query, date, country, and device, providing you with a comprehensive view of your website’s performance.
2. Watch for indexing errors.
GWT lets you see how many of your website’s pages have been indexed by Google since the last site crawl.
More importantly, it highlights any indexing errors or warnings and gives you information for analysis. For example, you might have broken code, blocked URLs, or an issue with your site’s theme.
3. Submit a sitemap.
Submitting a sitemap to GWT can improve your site’s crawlability and reduce the risk of indexing errors.
It’s a great tool for large websites because it’s easy for Google to miss changes or additions, but new websites can also reap the benefits of being indexed faster.
4. Perform a URL inspection.
The URL inspection tool allows you to analyze specific URLs. You can see a side-by-side comparison of your live URL and the URL that Google has in its index.
This allows you to check for any errors or inconsistencies, and you can also see the date that the page was last crawled.
5. Keep track of your links.
With backlinks still being incredibly important for any SEO SaaS strategy, GWT’s links section is one of its most valuable tools.
Not only can you view your website’s total number of backlinks, but you can see which domains are linking to you and the anchor text that they use to do it.
The internal links section is a good way to analyze your website’s structure and ascertain that your cornerstone content contains the highest number of links.
6. Security and manual actions.
GWT will send you email notifications if any of your pages are not compliant with Google’s webmaster guidelines.
For example, if Google detects spam, cloaking or purchased links, it will penalize your site and provide further instructions via this tab. You can also keep track of any security issues here.
Conclusion
You can combine Google Webmaster Tools with Google Analytics best practices for a comprehensive analysis and overview of your website’s overall health.
Once you get to grips with how GWT functions, you can begin to use it to optimize your website, boost your site’s ranking, and increase your traffic.
Conclusion
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