Webmaster Central Blog
Official news on crawling and indexing sites for the Google index
Making harmonious use of Webmaster Tools and Analytics
måndag, mars 31, 2008
Written by Reid Yokoyama, Search Quality Team
Occasionally in the
discussion group
, webmasters ask, "Should I be using Google Webmaster Tools or Google Analytics?" Our answer is: use both! Here are three scenarios that really highlight the power of both tools.
1.
Make the most of your impressions
One of my favorite features of Webmaster Tools is that it will show you the Top 20 search queries your site appeared for along with the Top 20 clicked queries. The data from the
Top Search Queries
allows you to quickly pinpoint what searches your site appears for and which of those searches are resulting in clicks. Let's look at last week's data for www.google.com/webmasters as an example.
As you can see, Google Webmaster Central is receiving a great number of impressions for the query [gadgets] but may not be fully capitalizing on these impressions with user clicks. Click on [gadgets] to see how your site appears in our search results. Does your title and snippet look appealing to users? As my colleague Michael recently wrote, it might be time to do some "
housekeeping
" on your website -- it's a great, low-to-no-cost way to catch the attention of your users. For example, we could
work to improve our snippet
from:
To something more readable such as "Use gadgets to easily add cool, dynamic content to your site..." by adding a meta description to the URL.
And what are users doing when they visit your site? Are they browsing your content or bouncing off your site quickly? To find out, Google Analytics will calculate your site's "bounce rate," or the percentage of single-page visits (e.g. someone just visiting your homepage and then leaving). This can be a helpful measure of the quality of your site's landing page and the traffic your site receives. After all, once you've worked hard to get your users to visit your site, you want to keep them there! Check out the Analytics blog for further information about "
bounce rate
."
2.
Perform smart geo-targeting
Let's imagine you have a .com that you want to target at a Japanese market. Webmaster Tools allows you to
set a geographic target
for your site, where you would probably pick Japan. But, doing so is not an immediate solution. You can confirm the location of your visitors using the map overlay of Analytics, right up to the city level. You can also discover what types of users are accessing your site - including their browser and connection speed. If users cannot access your website due to an incompatible browser or slower connection speeds, you may need to rethink your website's design. Doing so can go a long way toward achieving the level of relevant traffic you would like.
3.
Control access to sensitive content
One day, you log into Analytics and look at your "Content by Title" data. You shockingly discover that users are visiting your /privatedata pages. Have no fear! Go into Webmaster Tools and use the
URL removal tool
to remove those pages from Google's search results. Modifying your robots.txt file will also block Googlebot from crawling that section of your site in the future.
For more tips and tricks on Analytics, check out the
Analytics Help Center
. If you have any more suggestions, feel free to comment below or in our
Webmaster Help Group
.
Hey!
Check here if your site is mobile-friendly.
Etiketter
accessibility
10
advanced
195
AMP
13
Android
2
API
7
apps
7
autocomplete
2
beginner
173
CAPTCHA
1
Chrome
2
cms
1
crawling and indexing
158
encryption
3
events
51
feedback and communication
83
forums
5
general tips
90
geotargeting
1
Google Assistant
3
Google I/O
3
Google Images
3
Google News
2
hacked sites
12
hangout
2
hreflang
3
https
5
images
12
intermediate
205
interstitials
1
javascript
8
job search
2
localization
21
malware
6
mobile
63
mobile-friendly
14
nohacked
1
performance
17
product expert
1
product experts
2
products and services
63
questions
3
ranking
1
recipes
1
rendering
2
Responsive Web Design
3
rich cards
7
rich results
10
search console
35
search for beginners
1
search queries
7
search results
140
security
12
seo
3
sitemaps
46
speed
6
structured data
33
summit
1
TLDs
1
url removals
1
UX
3
verification
8
video
6
webmaster community
24
webmaster forum
1
webmaster guidelines
57
webmaster tools
177
webmasters
3
youtube channel
6
Archive
2020
nov.
okt.
sep.
aug.
juli
juni
mai
apr.
mars
feb.
jan.
2019
des.
nov.
okt.
sep.
aug.
juli
juni
mai
apr.
mars
feb.
jan.
2018
des.
nov.
okt.
sep.
aug.
juli
juni
mai
apr.
mars
feb.
jan.
2017
des.
nov.
okt.
sep.
aug.
juni
mai
apr.
mars
feb.
jan.
2016
des.
nov.
okt.
sep.
aug.
juni
mai
apr.
mars
jan.
2015
des.
nov.
okt.
sep.
aug.
juli
mai
apr.
mars
feb.
jan.
2014
des.
nov.
okt.
sep.
aug.
juli
juni
mai
apr.
mars
feb.
jan.
2013
des.
nov.
okt.
sep.
aug.
juli
juni
mai
apr.
mars
feb.
jan.
2012
des.
nov.
okt.
sep.
aug.
juli
juni
mai
apr.
mars
feb.
jan.
2011
des.
nov.
okt.
sep.
aug.
juli
juni
mai
apr.
mars
feb.
jan.
2010
des.
nov.
okt.
sep.
aug.
juli
juni
mai
apr.
mars
feb.
jan.
2009
des.
nov.
okt.
sep.
aug.
juli
juni
mai
apr.
mars
feb.
jan.
2008
des.
nov.
okt.
sep.
aug.
juli
juni
mai
apr.
mars
feb.
jan.
2007
des.
nov.
okt.
sep.
aug.
juli
juni
mai
apr.
mars
feb.
jan.
2006
des.
nov.
okt.
sep.
aug.
Feed
Follow @googlewmc
Give us feedback in our
Product Forums
.
Subscribe via email
Enter your email address:
Delivered by
FeedBurner
