Website Optimization & Analytics Tools

Introducing Website Optimization Tools

Most of the major search engines (Yahoo!, Bing and Google) provide free tools for Webmasters to monitor the performance of their Website that was crawled and indexed by the search engine. These tools provide Webmasters with detailed information about their Website's visibility on the search engine. These tools can help identify and diagnose problems, discover link and query traffic and be used as a portal to share information about the Website (with the search engine). 

To see a one minute video overview of one of these free tools (from Google), see the You Tube Video "Introduction to Google Webmaster Tools"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COcl6ax38IY

 

Trends in Website Optimization Tools

As noted in "Yahoo Gives In to Microsoft, Gives Up on Search" by Bloomberg-BusinessWeek (Reference #1), Yahoo! signed an agreement on July 29, 2009 to utilize Microsoft's Bing search engine to power the search results on its Website. What this means, as explained by the Yahoo! Help article: "Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance: Site Explorer FAQ" (Reference #5) is that Yahoo! will at some point discontinue their Site Explorer tools. And it appears that they have already discontinued development and maintenance of Site Explorer. 

Consequently, anyone wishing to utilize Yahoo! Site Explorer should instead redirect their efforts into learning the Bing Webmaster Tools. Although, as indicated in "Bing Webmaster Tools Now Providing Back Link Information" by SEO Moves (Reference #3), Microsoft has only recently begun to invest heavily in the Bing Webmaster Tools. As a result, Google's Webmaster Tools will likely be the leading application in this field for, at least, the next few years. 

Free (Search Engine) Optimization Tools

Links to informational resources and sign-up pages for the free tools provided by Yahoo!, Bing and Google are provided below.

Yahoo! Site Explorer

The Yahoo! free optimization tool is named "Site Explorer."

Introduction to Site Explorer
Yahoo! Site Explorer is a tool that lets Webmasters access the information about a Website's online presence. Site Explorer can be used to find which Websites and subpages are indexed, find inbound links or pages that link to any Website or any page or to submit and track feeds for the Website.
http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/search/siteexplorer/siteexplorer-01.html

Add a Website to Site Explorer
To get started, click on the "Add my site" button on the right side of the screen:
http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/

Bing Webmaster Center Tools

Bing's free optimization tools are simply named "Webmaster Center tools. The (Bing) Webmaster Center tools make it easy for Webmasters to ensure that their Website is being crawled and indexed by Bing, and helps identify any issues Bing encountered while crawling the Website.

Authenticate Your Website
Before using the Webmaster Center tools, ownership must be verified by placing a Webmaster Center-provided authentication code at the root of the website:
http://onlinehelp.microsoft.com/en-us/bing/gg132915.aspx

Sign Up for Bing Webmaster Tools
To get started, click on the "Sign in to use webmaster tools" button on the right side of the screen:
http://www.bing.com/toolbox/webmasters/

Google's Webmaster Tools

Google Webmaster Tools provides Webmasters with detailed information about their Website's visibility on Google. It helps identify and diagnose problems, discover link and query traffic and share information about the Website.

Sign Up for Google Webmaster Tools
To get started, click on the "Create an account now" link on the right side of the screen:
https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/

Adding a site (to Google Webmaster Tools)
The following two Webmaster Help Articles cover the options for adding and verifying a Website on Google's Webmaster Tools:

[1] Google Webmaster Tools Help article: "Adding a Site (to a Webmaster Tools account)"
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=34592

[2] Google Webmaster Tools Help article: "About Site Verification"
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35179

Website Analytics Packages

Web analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of internet data for purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage. Web analytics is not just a tool for measuring website traffic, but it can be used as a tool for business and market research. 

It can estimate how the website traffic changed after the launch of a new advertising campaign. Web analytics provides data on the number of visitors, page views, etc. to gauge the traffic and popularity trends which helps doing the market research.

 

Free Website Analytics Packages

Google Analytics
Google Analytics is an enterprise-class web analytics solution that gives you rich insights into website traffic and marketing effectiveness. To get started, click on the "Sign Up Now" link on the right side of the screen:
http://www.google.com/analytics/

 

Other References: Website Optimization Tools

GENERAL REFERENCES
[1] Bloomberg-BusinessWeek -- Internet: "Yahoo Gives In to Microsoft, Gives Up on Search"
By Peter Burrows and Robert D. Hof, July 29, 2009
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jul2009/tc20090728_826397...
In a long-awaited pairing aimed at taking on Google, Yahoo will handle ad sales while Microsoft gets the real prize: data on who's doing what online.

[2] CNET News -- Digital Media: "Justice Dept. clears Microsoft, Yahoo search deal"
By Lance Whitney, February 18, 2010
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10455708-93.html
Microsoft and Yahoo have cleared the final hurdles to their search outsourcing deal--approval from the U.S. Justice Department and the European Union.

[3] SEO Moves: "Bing Webmaster Tools Now Providing Back Link Information"
By John, December 20, 2010
http://www.seomoves.org/blog/link-building/bing-webmaster-tools-now-prov...
Overview and history of Bing Webmaster Tools

[4] Sausage Tools -- Analysis: "Yahoo! Site Explorer"
By admin, September 5, 2010
http://www.sausagetools.com/yahoo-site-explorer/
Checking a Website's Inbound Links with Yahoo! Site Explorer


YAHOO! REFERENCES
[5]Yahoo! Help: "Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance: Site Explorer FAQ"
http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/search/siteexplorer/alliance-7.html

[6]Yahoo! Search Help Topics: "Using Yahoo! Site Explorer"
http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/search/siteexplorer/


BING REFERENCES
[7] Bing Help, Webmaster Tools: "Verify Your Ownership of Your Website"
http://onlinehelp.microsoft.com/en-us/bing/gg132915.aspx

[8] Bing Help, Webmaster Tools: "Home (for users with Microsoft Silverlight)"
http://onlinehelp.microsoft.com/en-us/bing/gg132929.aspx

[9] Webmaster Center Blog: "A New Beginning: Bing Webmaster Tools"
Anthony M. Garcia, Senior Product Manager, Bing Webmaster Tools, July 21, 2010
http://www.bing.com/community/site_blogs/b/webmaster/archive/2010/07/21/...

[10] Webmaster Center Blog: "New Inbound Links Feature in Bing Webmaster Tools"
A. Garcia, December 14, 2010
http://www.bing.com/community/site_blogs/b/webmaster/archive/2010/12/14/...


GOOGLE REFERENCES
[11] (Google's) Webmaster Tools Checklist
http://www.google.com/webmasters/checklist/

[12] Google Webmaster Tools (Tutorials) on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/googlewebmasterhelp

[13] Google Webmaster Tools Help article: "About Our Stats and Data"
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=96568