Google's Webmaster Tool

What is it and why should we care?

Google's search engine depends upon two tasks:(1) Create an index for every page within each site.

The index is made up of the keywords that Google detects from each page's text.

(2) Combine the indices from all the sites and create a priority level showing the most important site+page first, then the second most important, etc. This ranking, or priority, will be discussed on another page.

The Webmaster Tool provides an option to trigger an examination (called a "crawl") through each site and every page. This creates the index described in (1). The resulting information is available and stored in the Cloud. The information shows how Google indexed the site and allows one to make corrections at the site and then have the site reindexed.

Is this important? You bet it is. If Google does not crawl through your site, it can not be seen with queries (searches). And if the main words/phrases that Google interprets from your site do not match what you think they are, then again, your site won't be seen when someone does a search based on the key word or phrase that you want them to have available to get to your site.

What controls are available to showcase the proper keywords and phrases for Google? Google provides an excellent guide book on search engine optimization, or what is called SEO, to show the key elements that needs to be available when a site is crawled. The booklet is not very technical. It should be at least read one time by everyone involved with websites.

At Gold Ray Web, we think examining Google's crawl results are critical. It shows us what Google thinks of a site and provides us with options how to improve. We normally work jointly with web designers to obtain the best possible results.