I was recently hit hard by the Penguin update and I'm wanting to know the pros and cons of installing Webmaster Tools on my site. I don't like the idea of getting too close to Google, but I need to do something. I'm afraid if I invite the 800 lbs monster into my living room it might become the thing that won't go away. Could someone shed some light on this- the good, the bad, the ugly? Thanks
Well, you wouldn't be installing WMT on your site. You would actually be registering a WMT account to view gathered statistics on your sites profile and activities associated with your site on the Internet. Yes, you might be giving up some privacy, but you would be the one to weigh the pros and cons very easily in terms of whether it's of value to you obtaining site data and deciding how to utilize it.
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Is your site OK? Is it decent? Does it take part in any shady activities? Are you spamming?
If not and none of the above then there's no harm or danger in registering your site through Webmaster Tools - you may even find out some things about your site that you didn't know.
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So it's just registering and account with Google and no uploading of anything to my site?
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Ok, I thought I had read somewhere where I had to upload something to the root directory on my server. Thanks!
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OK, I thought I had read where you would need to upload something from Google to the root directory on my server. Thanks!Originally Posted by LD
I've enjoyed top 10 rankings for almost a decade until this happened. I survived the Panda updates, but the Penguin update spanked me real good. I'm now in the 30's and 40's. I haven't done any linking to speak of for a couple of years. I would get a lot of people linking to me, though. Thanks!
I believe there is a text file to upload to the site to validate you are the owner or site manager. If you want Analytics, then you also have to add the code to your site pages.
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Yes there's a pretty basic HTML file you can upload to the main directory of your server (website) and/or you can PASTE a line in the HEAD of your home page, between <head>...</head> something like this:
the "content" part of that string you will obtain within the verification process of your Webmaster Tools account - that and/or the HTML file...Code:<meta name="google-site-verification" content="-6LxBhyBfdfdfdiLJj-AfdfdfsggjI0hywgw4L4" />
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I guess I will do what I have to do, I'm going nowhere fast. Thanks for the advice.
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I guess I will have to jump on the bandwagon. Can I delete this at a later date without any complications from Google if I decide to do so?
Sure, you can delete the website in question from your WMT and remove analytics and any other code on your pages if you wish.
I have many clients sites registered in my WMT. If a client decides to shut their site down or decides to move on, for what ever reason, I just remove their sites within WMT.
Last edited by LD; 06-08-2012 at 07:40 PM. Reason: add
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To clarify, the various methods of validating a Domain Name for viewing within WMT have nothing to do with Google acquiring any additional data over and above what it already has and can acquire, but rather confirming that you are authorized to access such data by way of your demonstrating that you have write privileges for said DN.
Thus, there is no privacy issue involved re. the use of WMT.
Google Analytics, on the other hand, does entail your placing various scripts on your pages, which allows Google to collect data re. your visitors' activities that it otherwise cannot observe, data of the sort that are captured in your server logs. While this does of course provide Google itself with more data, such are not of a nature that is amenable to being used to your disadvantage.
Google's only use of such data is for gathering aggregated statistical data; and, unless there has been a policy change which was not communicated to me by Google, then only with your explicit permission.
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