One of the nicest tools around is the webmaster tools from google. They are free to use and give a fair amount of information. Google although being tight fisted with their information are always ready to encourage good webmasters with help and information. They tend to release more information when they have figured out how they can possibly stop the bad people from manipulating the search results.

 

Recently google have increased two areas that are good for webmasters.

1. They are updating the PR on sites more often

2. They have included backlink information in their webmaster console

 

The PR once regarded as the holy grail and the thing to work for has been down graded to an almost worthless green bar. However as its importance in the eyes of every one else has diminished so google as been able to add some more relevance back into the little green bar. It will never again become the mesmerizing icon it once was but is valuable in gaining a quick idea of the importance of a site.

 

The webmaster tools which are free and available with a free google logon adds a few extras that are useful in helping to see how google views a site. To get most of these statistics it is needful to prove to google that you are the owner. This is done by verifying your site through a file on the site or a meta tag.

 

Recently google have added a fourth tab to the tools provided in their webmaster suite. The link tab shows internal and external link data with regard to a site. To the general world this information is not available. How ever it does give insight into where links are coming from as google see it. Matt Cutts from google gives a good explanation of what to expect from googles backlink tool and how to use it. The google blog starts off by saying that they have extended backlink support beyond the link: operator

 

I think every webmaster should spend a small amount of time each week at least looking at the way google sees his/her site. Draw conclusions, make changes to rectify or capitalize on a given situation. This will help create a better search engine experience which is one of the aims of most websites. Helping to fulfill one area of the three fold aim � You(webmaster) your customer and the search engine all need to win.