Even if you prefer another search engine and don’t utilize Google’s search engine, you need to be aware of how Google is ranking your site if you want to develop an effective SEO strategy. Google Webmaster Tools will help you improve your site’s visibility in Google search results by acquainting you with exactly how it’s looking at your site. The tools will give you an in-depth look at how Google crawls and indexes your site, as well as help you to diagnose specific problems preventing access to crawlers.

Consider this your quick start guide to hooking up your WordPress site with Google Webmaster Tools. The great news is that you don’t even have to be a developer to get started. Setting up access for your site is easy and can be done in three simple steps.

How to Get Started with Google Webmaster Tools for Your WordPress Site

1. Sign in to Google Webmaster Tools with your Google account.

2. Add your site, as shown below:

3. Get your site verified.

Google offers three ways to get your site verified. The easiest way is to grab the meta tag and add it to your theme’s template files. Copy the tag that Google gives you and paste it right inside the < head > tag in your header.php file.

After you add the tag, click “Verify”.

Congratulations, you’re finished! Now you have access to all of the tools in the Google SEO arsenal, including an array of stats about your website, how many other sites are linking to it, keywords, search queries, and your subscriber stats. You’ll also have access to site performance and diagnostic tools for optimizing your site and finding 404 errors, crawl errors, SSL certificate problems, etc.

We’ll help you to get acquainted with these tools in upcoming posts and maximize them for use with WordPress. Stay tuned!