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1 Using Google Webmaster Tools to Verify an Submit a Website Sitemap Kickstart Commerce Generate greater customer an revenue growth.

2 Open a web browser, an type in or copy an paste the following link: Sign in using an existing gmail or google account (highlighte ark blue box). Shoul you not have an account, click the sign up button an create an account (highlighte light blue box). 2

3 Once you have successfully signe in, you are taken to a ashboar page as shown below. To the left is your navigation bar (ark blue highlight) with the center being an area for viewing the websites you will manage (light blue highlight). Click the A A Site button to a begin the process of aing your website. You are presente with the following moal to enter your website. Be minful when entering you website that the URL nees to be exactly as you woul see it in a web browser. If your website uses then use If you website oes not use then use youromainname.com. Be sure to replace youromainname with your respective omain name for your website. Enter your website s omain name an click continue. 3

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5 You are presente with a few options as to how to verify your website. The recommen metho is ownloaing an html verification file provie in step 1. Simply ownloa this file an complete steps 2-4. This recommene approach is very simple for website owners not wanting to eal with coe or o not possess the coing skillset or enthusiasm to learn coe. Although the alternate metho of aing verification in coe is quite easy as you will view in the next step. Blue highlights have been place for security reasons to protect website use in example. 5

6 As iscusse in the previous step, there are alternative methos provie for verifying your website as shown below. 6

7 When selecting the HTML tag option, you are presente with meta tag coe for the google-siteverification. Simply copy an paste this coe into your website s home page as inicate in the instructions. The secon screenshot is a simple example of what the coe woul look like implemente (green highlight). As a company, we ten to implement this metho the most. 7

8 The next option is using the omain name provier or registrar provier your website omain name registration. As a company, we ten not to use this option but some o. But you simply sign in an verify ownership of the omain an follow the necessary steps. 8

9 The final option is verifying through the association of your Google Analytics account which we highly recommen you use Google Analytics to track web analytics for your website. You must have an active analytics account an it is imperative the coe must be in the <hea> of your website s home page. Choose the metho an option that best suits your technical expertise an click the Verify button to procee with the verification of your website. 9

10 Upon successfully verifying your website, you are taken to the ashboar page as shown below. The ashboar isplays any crawl errors encountere when search spiers crawl your website, shows the number of search queries, search impressions an search clicks for your website, an to the far most right is the sitemap. Now that you ve successfully verifie your website, it is time for you to submit a sitemap for your website. Why is a sitemap important for your website? Think of sitemaps much like having a map when traveling. Sitemaps are the architectural linking structure that can be use by humans (html formatte sitemap) as well as search engine robots (xml formatte sitemap) to fin specific information about your website. Sitemaps formatte for search engine robots instructs the search engine robots where you woul like it to go in terms of inexing content via linkage relationship. The biggest avantage of having a sitemap for your website is not having to rely on external links irecting search engine robots to your website. This greatly helps a new website that has low to no external linkage relationships with other websites. If you on t have a sitemap, as inicate below in the example, hea over to XML-sitemaps.com an create a free sitemap for your website an follow the instructions. If your website is greater than 500 pages, you ll nee to sign up for a pai account to receive an auto generate sitemap. Once your website sitemap has been create an uploae to the necessary area, click the Site maps nav bar or arrows as shown below. 10

11 Now click the A/Test Sitemap button as shown below. Enter sitemap.xml into the text box as shown below. If you woul like to test the sitemap, click test an it will try to verify the sitemap exists. Typically, one is okay to press the Submit Sitemap but it never hurts to test. 11

12 Shoul you test your website s sitemap an receive an error that the sitemap coul not be verifie, you ll receive the message as shown below. 12

13 Shoul you successfully test or submit your website s sitemap, you ll receive the message as shown below. Congratulations, you now have a verifie website, a sitemap, an sitemap submission to one of the worl s largest search engines, Google. Feel free to repeat the process on a monthly or quarterly basis. Google makes it easy by simply checking the checkbox on the sitemap liste below an pressing the Resubmit button. The more content you a to your website, you ll begin to notice that the number of submitte pages an inexe pages coul be ifferent. This is okay as it coul just be a slight elay in the last time your sitemap was processe which is shown below in the gri. 13