Google Webmaster Tools
Google Webmaster Tools is a service that allows you to inform Google about the content on your website. Please note that Google Webmaster Tools is a 3rd party service that is neither managed nor endorsed by OPP in any way.
You can link your OPP Website to your Google Webmaster Tools using your Google Webmaster Tools Page. Setting up a Google Webmaster Tools Account and linking it to your OPP website allows you to create a sitemap of your site with Google. This will, in turn, help your website to be indexed by Google and will allow for a more accurate index of your website.
Additionally, your Google Webmaster Tools Account gives you a way to communicate with Google and to read their help sections. You should heck your GWT account occasionally to ensure that there are no messages from Google regarding your site.
- You may be looking at your Webmaster Tools account and asking “Now what?” There isn't much to see and there aren't a lot of graphs or tables like Google Analytics. Most of what happens in Webmaster Tools happens behind the scenes. Google will now be able to see changes that are made to your website more quickly and to get an overall view of the pages on your site. This helps them to index it and, along with careful management of the content on your website combined with good, quality links to your site from external sources, may help to increase your ranking for keywords that relate to you.
- There is no magic solution to getting your website listed in Google or moved up in their rankings (their ways are often mysterious!) but adding a Sitemap will help Google to learn about your website.
Linking your Website to Your Google Webmaster Tools
We know this looks complicated, but we make it as easy as we can for you. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes.
Creating a GWT Account and getting your Meta Tag:
- Sign in to your Google account or create one if you don't have one already. You may use any type of email address, not just Gmail.
- Type in your OPP website (without the www) where it says “Click here to add a site”. Click the “Add Site” button and you will be taken to a Verification Page
- Use the 'Recommended Method' (meta-tag) method.
- Copy this code from Google's page, so that you can go back to your Control Panel and add it in the appropriate place. Leave your Google Webmaster Tools account open as you will be right back, to click the Verify Button.
Adding your Meta Tag to your OPP website:
- In an new window or tab, log into your OPP Control Panel
- Click on the heading “Google Webmaster Tools”, under the 'Search/Traffic/Sharing' area of your Control Panel
- Paste the copied code into the field ”<meta> tag”
- Click “Update”
- A message will confirm that you have added that code
Verifying your website and Adding your Sitemap to your GWT Account:
- Return to your GWT account window
- Click the “Verify” button
- Google should respond that your site has been verified: “You've successfully verified http://...”
- Now, add the sitemap to your Google Webmaster Tools Account.
- Click the “Site configuration” link on the left under “Dashboard”. Then click the “Sitemaps” link that appears under “Site configuration”.
- Click the button labeled “Submit a Sitemap”. In the textbox that appears, enter the following exactly: sitemap.xml. Then, click the “Submit Sitemap” button to the right of the textbox.
- Yay, you're done!
Connected to Google Webmaster Tools
If your OPP site is already connected to Google Webmaster Tools, this area of your website will look like this.
Not Connected to Google Webmaster Tools
If your OPP site is not yet connected to Google Webmaster Tools, just follow these steps and place the personalized meta tag provided by your Google Webmaster Tools Account in the empty text box.