Understanding key metrics enables you to make data-driven decisions that enhance website performance. These insights may include optimizing content or fixing technical issues.
An extremely high bounce rate on any page could indicate that it does not satisfy visitor needs; in such instances, it would be wise to work towards improving either its content or design.
1. Sitemaps
Sitemaps are XML files designed to assist search engines with discovering and indexing your website pages. Google can use sitemaps to quickly index important pages from your website so they’ll appear correctly in searches.
If your website is large, using a sitemap to help Google index its content is essential. Webmaster Tools’ new Coverage Report also gives an accurate count of which pages have been indexed by Google.
To maximize the effectiveness of a sitemap, it is important to follow best practices. For example, prioritize high-quality content over pages that don’t offer good user experiences through search (e.g. investor information or login/account pages). Furthermore, loc> tags can help specify page locations; additionally it may be beneficial to utilize an XML Image Sitemap and an XML Video Sitemap for maximum effectiveness.
2. Crawling
Webmaster Tools’ Crawl section gives a detailed account of how Google bots have navigated your website, helping to track crawl errors that might be negatively affecting SEO and giving insight into server status.
Googlebot also allows you to set the crawl rate, which determines how often it visits your site. This feature can help keep search engine results fresh while preventing “overload” effects which could cause it to be unavailable due to excessive crawling.
The Coverage report allows you to submit XML sitemaps for your website so Google can index each of its pages more quickly and efficiently, which can be especially beneficial when your content changes frequently or newly published pages need indexing more quickly. Furthermore, this can also serve to detect duplicated pages within your site and ensure each one stands alone as distinct pages within one.
3. Indexing
Search engines utilize an index, similar to database management systems, in order to quickly provide results when certain keywords are entered. This ensures they provide quick responses without searching the entire internet each time a query is made.
Indexing is an integral aspect of SEO, but can be challenging to manage successfully. With the Index Status report you can keep tabs on all of your website pages and posts while monitoring for potential issues – for instance pages without internal links should be demoted so they do not appear in search results unless essential for business or brand purposes.
Use this tool to encourage Google to index or re-index specific pages more quickly – this can be especially helpful for new pages with fresh content that need to be indexed promptly.
4. Mobile Usability
Mobile usability refers to how easy it is for smartphone and other mobile users to access websites or apps on smartphones or other mobile devices, including features such as legible text, intuitive navigation and an enjoyable user experience on various operating systems. Companies that prioritize mobile usability are likely to create happier customers that stick around as well as stand out from competitors in the marketplace.
Google released a new Mobile Usability feature in Webmaster Tools on October 29th in an effort to promote mobile-friendly sites, and view any errors related to Flash content, missing the meta viewport (a key tag for mobile pages), small fronts with fixed width viewports or clickable elements too close together, etc. Google will notify you if there are any significant issues that adversely impact user experience on your website.By check out here, you’ll gain insights into Webmaster Tools in no time.
5. Sitelinks
Sitelinks are an excellent way to increase your website’s real estate in search results and quickly navigate users towards content that matches their search queries.
For your sitelinks to appear in one-line or column format, it must rank first for searches containing your brand name and be recognized by Google as relevant and an authority in your niche. In addition, your website structure must feature consistent physical links as well as structured data (e.g. schema markup).
With generic or ambiguous brand names, ranking high enough for Sitelinks may prove challenging. To stand out in search results and increase brand recognition through social media and digital PR activities.
