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What is Sitemap | Different Types of Sitemaps

Leave a Comment / GA 4, Search Console / By sanoopbalan

What is Sitemap | Different Types of Sitemaps When you heard the world sitemap, Most probably you have started your SEO Journey in Digital Marketing. In simple words, We can define sitemap as a file used only for search engines like Google to crawl your website using the list of URLs on the sitemap file. It is a text file basically used to provide information about the Pages, Images and Videos on your website. A sitemap file is used to communicate with bot who will crawl your website to get indexed on the SERP Pages. A sitemap file informs bots about the pages and other files which are important to get indexed and also you can tell which page is most important. There are four types of sitemaps 1. Normal Sitemap 2. Image Sitemap 3. Video Sitemap 4. News Sitemap Normal Sitemap This is the most common sitemap used by SEO to tell bots which pages should be crawled, In normal sitemap, the URL includes webpages, images, video etc. Image Sitemap This is like a catalogue that helps search engines find and index images on your site. If you run an e-commerce site selling sarees, an image sitemap will help search engines index images of the different saree designs. Video Sitemap This one is for videos. If your site has tutorials on preparing Indian dishes, a video sitemap would help search engines index these videos, making them more likely to appear in search results. Mobile Sitemap This is specifically for mobile-friendly pages. If your site has a version optimised for mobiles, this sitemap helps search engines find and prioritize these pages for users on mobile devices. News Sitemap If you’re running a news portal that publishes daily news about India, a news sitemap will help search engines quickly find and display your articles in news search results. Is Sitemap Really Important In general, If you have proper structure of website and each pages are properly interconnected using internal links there is not need to create a sitemap file, but if your site is large and having 1000’s of pages it is always a good practice to create a sitemap file for an error free indexing of your pages. Generally huge sites with 1000’s of pages, it is more difficult to analyse and track the internal linking of each page. It is more likely that google or other search engine bot might miss your page while indexing. If your website is new and there is no link coming to your site google bot might not crawl your URL Advantages of Sitemap Sitemaps offer several benefits, such as: Improved Crawling: They help search engines crawl your website more effectively, especially if it’s large or has a complex structure. Better Visibility: They can lead to better visibility in search engines, as your content is more likely to be found and indexed. Faster Indexing: New or updated pages are discovered faster compared to normal indexing, which is crucial for time-sensitive content like news or events. Content Categorization: Helps in classifying your content type, which can be beneficial for specific queries in search engines Conclusion Sitemap is the best mechanism to get indexed easily. If you are not using any kind of sitemap listed above there is a high chance of missing your URL for indexing. Bot can easily identify the URL’s listed on the sitemap file, So it is better to use whether your site is small in size or having 1000+ pages

How To Verify Google Search Console Using DNS TXT Record

Leave a Comment / GA 4, Search Console / By sanoopbalan

How To Verify Google Search Console Using DNS TXT Record Verifying your website in Google Search Console (GSC) is crucial for monitoring and maintaining your site’s presence in Google Search results. Today, we will discuss one reliable method to verify site ownership: using a DNS TXT record. Follow the step-by-step guide for error-free verification. Step-by-Step Guide to DNS TXT Record Verification Step 1: Log in to Google Search Console Go to Google Search Console and log in using your Gmail account. A Google Mail ID is required to log in to the GSC account. If you don’t have a Gmail account, you can easily create one for verification. You can also use Google Workspace-configured business email IDs Step 2: Add Property Once you log in to GSC, you will be automatically redirected to the dashboard. In the top left corner of the dashboard, select the option “Add Property,” as marked in the screenshot below. Step 3: Select Domain Verification Once you select the property option, you can see two options to get verified. Choose the Domain verification method. Step 4: Proceed to DNS Verification Click “Continue.” You will then be redirected to the DNS verification option. Step 5: Copy the TXT Record Copy the TXT record provided. This record is unique to each GSC account, and the code starts with “google-site-verification***************.” Step 6: Login to Your Domain Provider Account Now log into your domain provider account. Ensure you have access to the domain account for DNS verification; this type of verification can only be done for those with access to the domain. Look for options related to DNS or Nameserver. The options may vary by provider, but generally, search for “DNS Editor” or “DNS Zone Editor.” Step 7: Add the TXT Record Once in the DNS menu, select “Add Record”, and create a new record with the type set to TXT. Paste the unique TXT record you copied from GSC into the TXT value field and save it in the screenshot below; I’m showing the details on how to edit the DNS record and Create a new TXT record in Hostinger. Step 8: Verify in Google Search Console Return to your GSC account and click “Verify.” If the DNS changes have propagated correctly, your account will be verified. Conclusion Verifying your website using the DNS TXT record method is straightforward and ensures you have control over your site in Google Search Console. Follow these steps to complete the verification and leverage GSC’s powerful features to monitor your site’s performance.

How to Set Up GSC Property Using HTML File Upload

Leave a Comment / GA 4 / By sanoopbalan

How to Set Up GSC Property Using HTML File Upload Google Search Console (GSC) is an essential tool for SEO experts and executives or those who want to know information about the website’s performance on the Google Search Engine Result Page. It helps you monitor and maintain the website’s presence in SERP. In this step-by-step guide, I will help you on how to set up a Google Search Console property using the HTML file upload method. This method is very easy and simple to implement, especially for those starting their SEO journey or not that much into the technical side of SEO or the website. Step-by-Step Guide to Verify Site Ownership: Step 1: Sign In to Google Search Console Begin by signing in to Google Search Console. If you don’t have an account yet, you’ll need to create one. Visit “https://search.google.com/search-console/about” and click the Start or Sign In button. If your Gmail Account is already logged In, you will be automatically redirected to the GSC. Step 2: Add a Property Once logged in, you can see two options, as shown in the screenshot below. If it is not showing, click on the “Add property” button in the left top corner of your window. You will see two options: Domain and URL prefix. Select the URL prefix option because today, we are discussing the verification method that can be done using the URL Prefix method, which is simpler and more direct. Enter your website’s URL in the URL prefix field and click “Continue.” Step 3: Download the HTML Verification File Once you click the continue button in the second step, you will be redirected to another option. In the verification methods list, select the HTML file as the first option. Click the download link to get the HTML verification file and save it in your system. Step 4: Upload the HTML File to Your Website Once you downloaded the file, Next, you need to upload this HTML file to your website’s root directory. So here I’m discussing a general method that can be used to upload the file to the root directory because many of you might be using different hosting providers to host your website. This method will work irrespective of your hosting provider; for that, Use an FTP client (like FileZilla) or your web hosting service’s file manager to upload the file. Ensure the file is placed directly in the root directory (e.g. sanoopbalan.com/google1234567890.html). I have attached the Filezilla dashboard below. Always paste the file into your server’s root directory. For the WordPress website, there is a common root directory named Public_HTML; you have to paste the file inside this folder. Step 5: Confirm File Upload Once you upload the file to the root directory, it is always better to check whether you uploaded the file properly. You can confirm the upload by visiting the file’s URL in your browser. The file name will be the URL, so you can copy and paste the file name and check if it is live. (e.g., yourwebsite.com/google1234567890.html). If the file is accessible and displays correctly, proceed to the next step. Step 6: Verify Ownership in Google Search Console Once you are verified, the Verification remains valid as long as the Search Console can confirm the presence and validity of your verification token using any of the methods explained above Step 7: Verification Success If everything is set up correctly, you will see a success message confirming that your site has been verified. Step 8: Remove the HTML File (Optional) If you don’t like any third-party files on your server, you can remove the HTML file you have copied. However, keeping the file in place will help in future verifications if needed. Conclusion Setting up a Google Search Console property using HTML file upload is a fundamental step for SEO professionals. This method is reliable and ensures that you have full control over your site verification. By following these steps, you can efficiently manage and monitor your website’s performance in Google Search.

How to Verify Your Site Ownership in Google Search Console

Leave a Comment / GA 4 / By sanoopbalan

How to Verify Your Site Ownership in Google Search Console Most probably you heard about Google Search Console or GSC in your SEO Journey? Basically GSC is a free tool released by Google to Track and analyze your website user behaviour in Google SERP. So, If you are looking on how to verify your site ownership using GSC in easy methods, Don’t worry I will be explaining about different ownership verifications available on GSC in this blog. Before that let me tell you what ownership verification is. GSC Site Verification is nothing but telling Google that you have full access to the domain and you are the authorised person to claim the Google Search Console Account. So now let’s talk about why Ownership verification is important for your SEO Activities. Why is Ownership Verification Important? As you know, While doing Search Engine Optimization for your website you have to analyse how your site is performing in Google SERP results. GSC helps site owners to analyse the interaction rate and impressions gained from google. Therefore it is always important to verify the ownership in GSC or else you will be missing some valuable insights about your site which will then help you to plan SEO strategies in future Step-by-Step Guide to Verify Site Ownership: Step 1: Access Google Search Console: Go to Google Search console by entering the name in google search, Upon clicking you will be asked to Sign in to your Google account or create a new one if you don’t have an existing one. Navigate to Google Search Console and select “Add Property” to begin the verification process. On a general note, Properties is a search console term for identifying which website is connected and it represents a website’s data Step 2: Select Property Type Once you login you can see multiple options in property. Domain and URL prefix are the two types of properties available to get your website verified. Each property type has its own pros and cons, for example if you select the domain property every subdomain created within the domain will be automatically added to the newly created property where it is not possible in URL Prefix property where the exact URL will only be tracked. Step 3: Choose Verification Method Select the website you want to verify ownership for or add a new property if it’s not already listed. Then, choose one of the available verification methods recommended for your site. Options include HTML file upload, HTML tag, domain name provider, or Google Analytics verification. Step 4: Implement Verification Method Follow the instructions provided by Google for your chosen verification method. This may involve uploading a specific HTML file to your website’s root directory, adding a meta tag to your site’s homepage, or verifying through your domain name provider or Google Analytics account. Step 5: Verify Ownership Once you’ve implemented the verification method, return to Google Search Console and click the “Verify” button. Google will verify the presence and validity of the verification token or code. If successful, you’ll receive confirmation that your site ownership has been verified. It is always better to use Multiple Verification Methods which will help you to enhance the security of your website and a smooth flow of your data, if any of the verification fails due to any unforeseen issues like theme modification or any changes in your website code How to Verify Child Properties When you verify ownership of a parent property, any child properties you add will be automatically verified using the same method. This streamlines the verification process for subdomains or specific paths within your website. Which means if you verify examples.com using GSC, the subdomains like blog.example.com will be automatically verified and start recording the data in your verified property Once you are verified, the Verification remains valid as long as the Search Console can confirm the presence and validity of your verification token using any of the methods explained above By implementing site ownership verification in Google Search Console, you can unlock a large set of actionable insights to optimise your website’s performance and improve the visibility in search results

Difference Between Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics 4

Leave a Comment / GA 4, GTM, SEO Blogs / By sanoopbalan

Difference Between Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics 4 Introduction When I started my Journey in Search Engine Optimization the name Google Analytics was familiar to me where GA is considered as a part of any SEO Experts daily seo activities from tracking the number of visitors, analysing the page performance, The country where most of the visitors are coming from, Bounce rate and Exit information which are used to analyse the performance of our website, and so on. When I started my SEO career in early 2017 only Google Analytics was familiar. When I first heard about GTM aka Google Tag Manager, It was a bit confusing for me. I had no idea that GTM is considered as one of the best and Top most tools with respect to SEO Activities and especially for using third party tracking tools. So I’m writing this blog for beginners, those who wonder what is the difference between GTM and GA 4 and to solve the mystery by explaining the uses of each tool. What is Google Analytics 4? Before we dive into Google Tag Manager, Let me explain what Google Analytics 4 is, and why it is used. Google Analytics is categorised into a web analytics tool released by Google to Help webmasters to analyse the traffic flow on their website. This is a free tool released by Google and GA 4 stands for Google Analytics 4 where 4 denotes the Version of the tool. Earlier the tool was known by the name Universal Analytics or UA and after a decade of the release of UA, Google released a latest version of Universal Analytics and completely changed the dashboard of the Tool and named it as Google Analytics 4. So basically GA 4 is termed as analysis tools to track and monitor the visitor’s details including, Location, device, pages they visited. And there are many more dimensions and metrics that can be analysed using GA 4 but I’m not going deep on the different options available in GA 4, But we will be discussing each dimension and metrics in detail in the upcoming blogs. What is Google Tag Manager Google Tag Manager is also a free tool released by Google that will allow you to add any kind of third party code without altering the original code of the website, thus allowing anyone with less experience with programming language or coding can implement code related tracking tools without affecting the website Code. GTM is mainly used for conversion tracking for Google Ads and for creating custom Events on GA 4 to track and measure different events in your websites. In other words GTM lets you manage Java Scripts tracking codes on your website. Like Google Analytics before using GTM you have to manually install a tracking code into your website.

Author name: sanoopbalan