Google Webmaster Academy: Google’s Webmaster Beginners Guide

Below is a small grouping of videos (out of 492 videos Google team members have created) that have been released over the years.

In May, Google announced a new section which details some web-mastering tips they want you to know about. Google’s got plenty of things they don’t want you to know, but these topics and processes are the things they do want webmasters to know and understand so that crawling and indexing your site (plus the web) could be done better which in-turn will yield better results for both you and Google.

There are 22 videos here. Some a little older, but still accurate while most are new. If you have no idea what your doing with your website, these videos are definitely for you. I still recommend watching them anyway though even if you’re experienced because sometimes you can forget the simplest things that matter most, and these videos serve as a fantastic refresher course.

Google has lots of areas where you can find information on search like:

• Google Webmaster Central
• Webmaster Help Center
• Google Webmaster Tools
• Webmaster Central on YouTube
• Webmaster Central China Blog
• Webmaster Central Japanese Blog
• Webmaster Central German Blog
• Webmaster Central Spanish Blog
• Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide

Below is a small grouping of videos (out of 492 videos Google team members have created) that have been released over the years.

 

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1. How Search Works

The life span of a Google query is less then 1/2 second, and involves quite a few steps before you see the most relevant results. Here’s how it all works.

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2. Finding your site on Google

Learn how to find if your site is in Google’s search results already, and if it’s not, how to get it included.

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3. Matt Cutts Discusses Snippets

Google guru Matt Cutts discusses how best to optimize your site for Google. Matt Cutts joined Google as a software engineer in January 2000. He is currently the head of Google’s Web-spam team

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4. Introduction to Rich Snippets

Rich Snippets are markup tags that webmasters can put in their sites in order to tell Google what type of content they have on their site so that we can better display it in search results.

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5. Creating Great Content That Performs Well in Google Search Results

What does it mean to create great, user focused content? How do you get started, and what are some great questions to ask yourself?

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6. Web-spam Content Violations

Understand more about our Webmaster Guidelines and ensure you are adding value for your users.

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7. How Malicious Parties Can Spam Your Site

Malicious visitors to your site can create spam through mechanisms such as comment spam, forum spam, and freehost accounts. Learn about these tactics and how to prevent them early on.

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8. How Can a Site That Focuses on Video or Images Improve Its Rankings?

A from San Francisco asks: “If search engines rely primarily on textual analysis, how can a site that focuses on audio, video, or other non-textual content improve its rankings?”

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9. Using Sitemaps to Help Google Find Content Hosted on Your Site

Site-maps help Google and other search engines discover your content so we can serve it to users for relevant queries.

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10. SEO for Start ups in Under 10 Minutes

Maile Ohye from Google advises your start-up as if she had only 10 minutes as your SEO consultant.

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11. Google+: There’s more to explore

Google+ gives you new ways to share the right things with the right people.

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12. Google Webmaster Tools – Introduction to Google Webmaster Tools.

Walks you through and answers the question of what is Webmaster Tools and how do site owners use it.

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13. Learn about the Google Webmaster Tools Message Center

The Message Center is one of Google’s primary partnerships with webmasters. Learn more about what this feature offers, and why it is important for you and your users.

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14. Setting a geographic target for your site in Webmaster Tools

Webmaster Trends Analyst Susan Moskwa talks about how you can use the geographic targeting tool in Webmaster Tools to associate your site with a particular region.

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15. Errors That Google May Find and Report While Crawling Your Site

Learn more about errors that Google’s system can encounter while trying to discover your content, and where to go to troubleshoot these problems.

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16. Understand Which Google Searches Are Driving Traffic to Your Site

The Search Queries page of Webmaster Tools provides great, actionable data about your site. Understand the terminology you might see there, and how to interpret the data.

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17. Authorship Markup (*Little old, I believe it influences search now, not soon)

Matt Cutts and Othar Hansson discuss how to connect authors with their content using authorship markup.

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18. Why Your Business Needs a Website

Now more than ever, consumers are looking online for goods and services. Discover how creating a website for your business can attract new customers and increase revenue.

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19. Google Places

Google Places allows business owners to claim their business and customize their listing on Google Maps. Updated business details will appear on Google Maps, Google.com search and mobile results, and GOOG-411. Advanced features, including coupons and impression statistics, allow business owners to enhance and monitor their online presence.

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20. Build a Community of Loyal Fans

Happy customers are the backbone of any business. Discover how to turn these loyal fans into a vocal online community.

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21. Learn How to Engage With Your Audience Using Social Networks

Learn the real-world implications that social medias can have on your business, and how to engage your audience and future users.

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22. For Webmasters: Google+, +1 Button, and Search

Maile Ohye covers the basics of Google+, the +1 button, getting started on Google+, and how social information can make products, like Search, more relevant. This video is for a range of webmasters — from personal bloggers to corporate marketers.

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