Google Webmaster Tools: How to use for Blog?

I guess your website is ready and awaits Google indexing! Yet, you failed to fetch link from top notch sites where your competitors get links to their websites. If you wish to start independent SEO for your site, it is a must to have Google Webmaster Tools account. Simple as that, you need Google Account to avail the service. Adding website to search console is optional. If your site is famous blog then you don't need to worry much about indexing or getting traffic through SERP. But in most of our case, the blog start with zero i.e, zero visitors! So as a blogger, it is our duty to make the world know about our new blog. You find yourself most of time marketing your blog than creating blog post. As always you is awful to perform in an empty opera! Get audience, perform your drama. All we do is advertise about your perform on that particular day! So do we do it in Search Console! It is letting Google Search Know there exist a blog.

What you got in Search console!

Well, using Google Webmaster tool must have its own purpose! Know well how to enable right options and analyze search data available from the search console.

• At dashboard, you will be greeted with important stats indicating health of your blog.

  

  Stats Indicate Health of the Website

  As the image shows, the important statistics for any website in the webmaster tool is Crawl Errors, Search Analytics, Sitemaps. Crawl error make sure your blog is healthy and free from any defects! Any error reported during crawl must be rectified in no time. Though, it may stat that particular error will not affect your search engine result ranking, it is not good to have so many errors unattended for longer time. Search Analytics, though it claims to be in beta phase, it is an important measure for website optimization. It shows for which keyword phrase your blog came up in SERP. And the Sitemap, we will come later!
• Messages: Google will send you messages regarding improving your presence on Google search engine results. It would recommend few settings and options that are handy to make it target users from country and analyse audience data. Though, recommendations made are not mandatory, yet it is good to heed advice from Google webmaster for such matters. For every update, Google Webmaster Tool will come up with new message confirming the change or update made to your blog.
• Search Appearance:
  Structured Data: Important section if you miss structured data from schema.org. Schema.org is collaboration project from major search engine indented to create standards for rich snippets in search result.

  

  Structured Data

  Data Highlighter: Well, if you are lazy enough to add microdata from schema.org, then Data Highlighter will be your friend in Google Webmaster Tools. 

  

  Data Highlighter

  You can just highlight text as you do in PDF documents to tell Google that it belongs to a property so that it can product rich snippet in SERP.
  HTML improvements: It would list the improvements needed in your blog template. If Google Webmaster Tools find any possible improvement, it will be reported in this section.
  Sitelinks: 'Sitelinks are automatically generated links that may appear under your site's search results. Learn more. If you don't want a page to appear as a sitelink, you can demote it. Only site owners and users with full permissions can demote sitelinks.' -Google Webmaster Tools

  

  Example of Sitelink

  If Google automatically creates sitelinks then, you select which sitelinks to be demoted i.e, removing them from SERP. But remember, Google must generate sitelinks so if you don't find sitelinks in SERP, don't try pushing hard!
• Search Traffic:
  Search Analytics: Here comes the stats which are most useful for optimizing your website for search engines. It provide data regarding clicks, impressions, Click through rates, position of your web page in search result

  

  Search query

  The very important metric which one must take into account is 'search queries'. It shows up for which keyword phrases web page from your blog showed up in SERP. So it is good check them often to know the keyphrase for which your web blog comes ups. Not only that! You must try optimizing your web blog for the keyword phrases and improve your SERP position.
  
  Links to your site: It will display all inbound links to your web blog! If you are planning link building as your SEO strategy, then Google Search console will produce statistics of web sites that are pointing to the web blog! It is very useful if you are planning for link quality assessment.
  Internal Links: It collects statistics regarding interlinking of web pages in web blog. Give it some time to collect stats, it will provide ample data to meddle with!
  Manual Actions: If Google Webmaster Tools reports any spammy activities in your web blog, it would mention 'action to be taken' by the corresponding web masters.
  International Targeting: It is must option if you are in marketing and looking for sale in specific country or region! Say to which part of the Globe, your blog must be listed in SERP. Not only marketers, but also who are all in PPC ad networks could target their web blog to a country which has high conversion rate!
  Mobile Usability: Whatever your blogging platform maybe, it is good to use responsive web blog template which adapts with viewport of the device. If Google Webmaster Tools finds any errors, it will be listed for rectification by the corresponding web masters.It is good to keep these metrics happy to get high ranking in Google SERP.
• Google Index: When you enter Google Webmaster Tools, your first day worry would be when will Google index my blog! Of course, most of them feel the same. At time, it would take even weeks to index web blogs. But sure, Google will crawl your blog once you have submitted your site with Webmaster Tools.
  
  Index status: Know how many resources are indexed by Google! Once you submit sitemap, Google will crawl your blog periodically. Google may add new contents to the index and remove inappropriate contents from index. So it is continuing process.
  
  Content Keywords: It will list keywords according to the number of appearance in your web blog. And also it would provide LSI form of each keywords and occurrence such LSI.
  Blocked Resources: It will list blocked resources. To know more about blocked resources.
  
  Remove URL: You can manually remove URL from SERP.
• CRAWL: The objective of submitting web blog to Google Webmaster Tools is make Google crawl your web blog and index contents. So this option lists crawl information.

  

  Crawl Errors

  Crawl Errors: It is good to maintain an error free blog. Crawl error will state about robot.txt errors and broken links (404). It is good to fix the problem as soon as possible.
  
  Crawl Stats: It will provide data based on past 90 days. It includes how many times Google crawled your blog and web page loading speed.
  
  Fetch as Google: It is time to test your site! You could choose any of the options to test link from your web blog. You could fetch either as Desktop or mobile! You will know how Google understands your web blog.
  
  Robot.txt tester: If you have not come across robot.txt file in your life, then it is good and safe not to touch this options. Any mistake will make Google ignore your blog for good! For those who are good at creating own robot.txt file then it is the place to test your robot.txt files. Once the test is done successfully, you can update the robot.txt in your web blog! Not only texts, but also videos, images, news everything could be manipulated with your own robot.txt file.
  
  Sitemap: Do you remember? When I started this blog post, I mentioned about sitemap. It is important parameter to measure health of your web blog. So submitting sitemap make Google understand your web blog with ease. It would be like providing a map for a navigator. The Google Bot will crawl your website without missing any content that you wish to be indexed.
  
  URL Parameters: Here you can add parameters to URL of your web blog. But be sure before making any change as Google will miss many pages if found with mistakes. Learn more about URL Parameters
• Security Issues: Well, if your web blog is found with security flaws or got hacked by hackers, it will be reported here.Not just hacking issues, but also you will warned if malware activity is found in the web site.
• Other Resources: Time to explore! Not only webmaster tools, Google will provide you with other infant and beta tools to play with. If you got time, explore them.

  

  Other Resources from Google Webmaster Tools

So far made my best effort to make this simple guide on Google Webmaster Tools for Blogger blog. If you have queries, just leave them in comments. You feedback is always welcomed. Do not forget to share this.

Google Account creation

Through out your Google experience, you have encountered so many places that need Google account. Previously, google account is nothing but your gmail id. If you have gmail then you can get access to ask Google services. But with loyalties around email providers, official email accounts has kept large number of users from Google account's benefits.
As Google has made Google account mandatory for almost all Services, it is now must to have id. No more gmail.com. You can create Google account with your existing email id.

All you have to do is select the check box before clicking sign up button on Google account creation page. You are good to go with Google. You can access gmail, Google+, blogger, drive, Google Search console, play store, maps and all with single id. That too with your existing mail id.

Though you won't receive gmail messages or any messages relating to Google to you existing email id except for Google account information and confirmation.

Google Account Creation

But still you have to use gmail id if you are wish to use gmail service. That's different story! You get all major Google service with your existing email ID if you wish to keep it so.

For user who mind privacy, your one stop privacy settings in one place. Visit myaccounts.google.com to manage your privacy settings.

One Stop place to Manage Google Account Settings

With myaccounts, you can manage every aspect of your Google Account. It would provide easy way to manage your privacy for each service through myaccounts!

Google Webmaster Tools + Blogger

Time to improve Search Engine presence of your Blogger blog. Now, we will do it for Google Search Engine! What's special with Google? Well, it is most popular search engine around the world makes it special! So your presence in Google index is far more important for the business. That too making top 10 of the search result will be priority sooner. But you need not worry about it yet. Google Webmaster Tools is a vital tool each webmaster must know to handle. It was renamed as Search console, yet, still Google Webmaster Tools terms bring up search console in the SERP. No matter what it is name! Functionality remains same. 

Now login to the Search console using any of the Google Account. It is recommended to use Google account used in the Blogger.com. Still, it is your preference use any Google Account as you wish. Once logged in, you will be presented with Search console Dashboard where you could manage websites you add to Google Webmaster Tools.

Adding Website to Google Search Console:

Add a property

1. Login to your Google Webmaster Account. Now from the dashboard, click on 'Add a property' button.
2. A dialogue will open stating to enter the web address of the blog which you wish to add in Webmaster tools.
   
3. After you enter the Blog web address, Webmaster tool dashboard gets updated and list your blog in the dashboard. Now, give some time to Google to find your blog. It would take at least a day or two. And you must be good when you search your sub domain! If not found in top 10 results, it must be found in top 30. (The idea of this post not about improving SERP ranking, those who are interested in SERP must read about SEO). 

   

   Webmaster Tools Dashboard
4. That's it you are good to go with your Google SERP presence. For Google Webmaster Guide, check how to use Google Webmaster Tools

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Submit Blog to Search Engine

Did you know? Most of your blog traffic would be from search engines. If you can get your blog within first 10 results, then your blog will receive decent amount of visitors. But getting to top 10 in Search Engine Result Page (SERP) is not an easy task. You will find yourselves racing with other bloggers who blog on same passion and niche. So here comes Search Engine Optimization (SEO). But I am not going explain very complicated methods employed by webmasters. Still, you need to do some basic things to make Search Engines crawl your websites. Remember, first you have to say someone that I am on internet, so that one who hears would visit you. So, first thing is to make Search Engine visit your website .i.e, to make them crawl your blog post.

Know your Navigation Route in Search Engines

Though, submitting your blog to Search Engine is not the end, it is just a beginning of a new work. Just submitting web blog address will not make a search engine crawl your blog. It depends upon the frequency of updates and new articles you post in your blog. 

Moreover, whatever the blog post may deal with must get indexed in the search engine. But different search engine employ dissimilar methods when it comes to indexing. Google has unique highlighter feature which helps to markup each page so that you could save coding time with Schema.org. For those who are not tech savvy would able to benefit from Data highlighter feature in Google Webmaster Tools. While, the Data highlighter feature would not be available in Bing webmaster tools. So their exist no similarity and each search engine has its own unique way of indexing and ranking web pages in the internet.

No matter how good your blog is, without letting search engines know about your blog, it will not rank well in SERP. If you run a single author blog, then it is good to submit your website to Google and Bing manually than to wait for auto-index for which chances are remote.

Most other search engines do not need such submissions as they depend on data either from Google, Bing, or directory services or combination of all, to produce SERP. Example, DuckDuckGo has no separate Webmaster tool, yet you will find your blog in SERP if you submit them to Bing or Yahoo directory. To be simple, you need entry point for your blog as internet is web of pages. If you fail to get a link, you blog will stand separated.

It is not mandatory to submit your web blog through Webmaster Tools. But still, you need links to your site so that search engines may know that their exist a web blog i.e, your blog! For those who could not find a breakthrough with links, it is good to submit web blog address in various webmaster accounts manually. Moreover, you will find various options and tools at your disposal once you sign up for webmaster accounts.

Blogger + Google Adsense Integration

Spent time writing post for long time without thinking about ads. Then it is time to realize that your blog going to pay you. Google was so nice with Blogger users that it integrated Google Adsense with its popular Blogging platform. Monetizing your blog is just a click away! You will check out about earning & campaigns post which provided with clear introduction for beginners. But most of us know more about Google Adsense. History of ad network will not begin or end without Google Adsense. It is most popular ad network among any other Pay Per Click advertising. In short, it is considered as king of ad network.

Sign Up for Adsense

For anyone who has dilemma when to monetize your Blogger blog, then just follow the instructions in the earning menu of the Blogger dashboard. The 'sign up for Adsense' will be enable when six months elapse after creating your blog. You may own any number of Blogger blog, yet each blog has its own incubation period and need approval to display ads.

Signing up for Google Adsense:

1. Once the button gets enabled in your Blogger account, then just follow the on screen instructions to sign up for Google Adsense.
2. To sign up, you will be provided with two options, to use existing Google Account or create new account. It would be wise to use your Google Account which you use for the signing in into Blogger as you will find it convenient at later stages.
3.  Once you sign up, it takes some time for Google Adsense Team to approve your blog. During the waiting period, empty ad box will be displayed.
4. Once you sign up you are free to select the Ads that are to be displayed in your blog. Google Adsense will provide recommended Ad unit that adapts to responsive design.
5. Once you select your ad unit, you will be provided with the code of that ad box which you could place in your Blogger layout. 
6. To place your ad, login to your Blogger account, select the blog which was recently approved by Google Adsense-> select 'layout'-> select 'Add a Gadget' -> select 'HTML/Javascript' gadget. Now paste the code provided by Google Adsense. Your ad will start displaying.

Note: No images have been provided in this blog considering privacy of Google Adsense account. If you find any difficulty setting up Adsense to your Blogger blog then leave comment about the problem. Possible solutions will be provided at the earliest!

Most of the Bloggers will find difficulty getting approval of Google Adsense Team. It is true, that Adsense Team is serious about Blogger blogs that display ads from Google Adsense network. If you find difficulty getting Adsense team approval for your blog, mention them in comments, most of the problem which prohibit your blog from getting qualified for Adsense program would be silly. So you will find easy way to get approval for Adsense team in no time once you fix them up.