Webmaster Tools Checklist



Ready to get started with Webmaster Tools? We've brought together key information to help you get up and running quickly. (Curious about how Google works? Watch a video about how Google finds your site.)


Step 1: Create a Webmaster Tools account and verify your site
If you have a Google Account, you can sign in to Webmaster Tools straight away. No Google Account? Get one here.


Add your site to Webmaster Tools. We recommend adding every version of your site (for example, both http://www.example.com and http://example.com). Because Google can send you information only about those sites we know you own, we'll ask you to verify your ownership by making a specific change to a web page, or uploading a file. If you can make those changes, we know you're a site owner.


Step 2: Update your settings
To Google, http://example.com and http://www.example.com are completely different sites and can display completely different content. You can avoid potential problems (and get a better view of your data) by specifying your preferred domain. (Make sure you've added each version of your site to your account.)


If your site is aimed at users in a specific geographic region, tell us about it. This will help us in determining the relevancy of your content to users' searches. (Watch a video about geotargeting.)


Step 3: Monitor and manage your site
Once you've added your site to Webmaster Tools and verified ownership, you'll be able to access detailed information about it. With Webmaster Tools, you can diagnose potential problems that may impact your site's ranking in search results.

Diagnose potential problems with your site


See links to your site from other sites on the web


See the top search queries bringing users to your site


Get suggestions for improving your site's HTML


Check if your site's been hacked


Step 4: Add a Sitemap for each site in your Webmaster Tools account
Adding a Sitemap is optional, but we strongly recommend it. Sitemaps are a great way to tell Google about the pages you own, and how often they are updated or changed. Get started with Sitemaps.


Step 5: Keep up to date
Webmaster Central blog: The official blog of the Webmaster Central team (plus the occasional special guest), and a great source for tips and advice on building Google-friendly sites. This is where we announce new features and share the latest information we think will be useful to webmasters.


Webmaster Guidelines: Google's definitive advice and recommendations for webmasters. Follow these broad guidelines, and you won't go wrong.


Webmaster Tools Discussion Forum: If you have a question, chances are somebody else has asked it already.


Google Webmaster Help channel on YouTube: Helpful videos on all aspects of Webmaster Tools. We add new videos frequently, so check back often.


Google's Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide: A detailed guide to best practices in search engine optimization, with plenty of illustrations and examples.


Google for Webmasters: A detailed overview of how Google crawls and indexes the web, and serves search results.