OtherPeoplesPixels Help
How can I setup Google Webmaster Tools (GWT) for my website?

Creating a GWT Account and getting your Meta Tag:

  • Go to: www.google.com/webmasters/tools
  • 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
  • Click "Verify your Site" under "Next Step"
  • Choose the verification method "Add a meta tag" from the drop-down menu
  • Google will display a Meta Tag which you must add to your OPP website
  • Copy this code from Google's page, it looks like: <meta ... />

Adding your Meta Tag to your OPP website:

  • In an new window or tab, log into your OPP Control Panel
  • Click on the heading "Verify your website for Google Webmaster Tools"
  • 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:

  • Return to your GWT account window
  • Click the "Verify" button
  • Google should respond that your site has been verified: "You've successfully verified http://..."
  • Click the "Sitemaps" heading on the left
  • Click "Add a Sitemap"
  • Choose "Add General Web Sitemap" from the drop-down menu
  • Enter the following text in the box, exactly: sitemap.xml
  • Click "Add General Web Sitemap"
  • Yay, you're done!

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.

Remember: There's no magic solution to getting your website listed in Google or moved up in their rankings -- but adding a Sitemap will help Google to learn about your website.