Zorly Co.

Top Web Site Tools for SEO

Checklist of some of the best tools to use in making your website or business easy to find via search engine optimization (SEO).

Google Inc. logo

The Basics: Google offers an excellent "SEO Starter Guide" for webmasters wishing to review or refresh on the basics. Also, check the following list to verify Google is including you in their search results in a favorable way. Submitting blogs vs web sites may differ slightly.

Include your web site with Google:

Add site to Google - Google will find your site, but you can optionally submit it here also. This is for new sites.
Verify site with Google - This method of verification simply involves searching for YourSiteName.com with Google search.
Submit a site with Google Webmaster Central tools - This involves either adding a DNS record with your domain registrar, uploading an HTML file to your server, or adding a meta tag to your home page.
Make a Sitemap - There are many other tools available to make Sitemaps.
Submit a Sitemap - First you upload the .xml Sitemap file to your server. It includes URL and other information that might be missed when Google crawls your site. After uploading, go back to Google Webmaster tools > Click on the site you submitted above, then go to "Site configuration" > "Sitemaps" > and on to "Submit a Sitemap". Also, later, after adding pages or content to your site, make, upload, and resubmit a new updated Sitemap.

More about sitemaps in this excellent article

Advanced Tools:

Google Keyword Tool - Use this commercial tool to transform your word or phrase into what search engine keywords are related to it, and their importance, in terms of monthly search volume.
Google Analytics - This tool allows you to explore statistics about your traffic or website visitors, such as where they came from, how long they stayed, and how your site was explored.
Google Alerts - Pick your keywords or phrases of choice for automated search and delivery of the results to your email inbox.

DMOZ open directory project

The DMOZ is a human edited web directory, as opposed to the others which use web crawler computer program methods like Bingbot, Googlebot, and Yahoo! Slurp. It generally takes the DMOZ some time to get to your submission (often months). Follow the submission guidelines closely. To many, being included in the DMOZ is a badge of honor.

Bing by Microsoft logo

Bing by Microsoft has a simple Submit your site to Bing web page you can use if you find your site is not showing up on their search engine. Bing now powers Yahoo search. You can read about it on Wikipedia

Bing Webmaster Center (Tools) - The Bing Webmaster tools gather all kinds of data about your website traffic. This is similiar to the Google Webmaster tools.
Microsoft also offers a free SEO toolkit optimized for Bing, Google, and Yahoo. Note: This kit is generally for advanced users.

Yahoo! company logo

Help Yahoo find your website:

Yahoo! Site Explorer - Similar to the Google Webmaster Tools. Explore your popular pages, links, and Sitemaps.
Submit your site - Enter your site into Yahoo! Search.
Mobile Submit - Submit your mobile site to Yahoo search for mobile phones.
Yahoo! Directory Submit - A paid (yearly fee based) inclusion service into the business (commercial) oriented listings on Yahoo.

Yahoo! and the Microsoft Search Alliance - Remember that Yahoo! Search is being absorbed by Microsoft Bing. View the Yahoo statement about their Site Explorer.

Arguably, on the internet today, it is not even necessary to list your website with the search engines, as they will discover your site by themselves. Many online businesses list their site with Google and let the rest discover them from there.

Please feel free to add to basic search engine optimization checklist in the comment section which follows, for the good of us all. This article is constantly expanding.

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