What are the first SEO steps for improving website visibility?

When we talk about SEO, we are primarily talking about the website itself and the content on it. Seems simple, right? The reality is much more complicated. In this chapter, I will talk about websites that already exist, since most companies already have a website, in which large resources are often invested.

Facts lead the way

To be honest, my almost twenty years of experience in the field of SEO confirms that there is no fixed rule on where to start and how to proceed. Your website is unique, just like you, because different methods, technologies, and content were used to create it. It can be said that every website has its own body, i.e. technical solutions and the spirit or message it conveys. That's why every website must be analyzed before starting SEO work, just like a family doctor does with every person before prescribing a treatment. Therefore, the very first step would be to do a website SEO analysis to find out what to pay attention to.


In this article, I will introduce a tool that you can use to get information about the SEO status of a website directly from Google. The most important thing about this is that it provides information about changes in the Google search engine algorithms and the circumstances preventing the indexing of the website. We are talking about Google Search Console (formerly Google Webmaster Tools).

Let Google help you improve your website's visibility

Google Search Console is a free web service that helps website owners and administrators monitor, analyze, and improve their website's performance in the Google Search Engine.

Here are some of the key features and benefits of Google Search Console:


1. Performance Analysis: You can analyze your website's search performance, including clicks, impressions, click-through rates, and average position, and identify which search queries are driving traffic to your site and which webpages need more SEO attention.


2. Index Coverage: You can check the indexing status of your pages, identify indexing errors, and see how Google crawls and indexes your site.


3. URL Inspection: You can inspect any individual page on your website and see its indexing status in Google Search Engine, can the page be indexed or not, and any errors or issues that may be affecting its performance.


4. Sitemaps: A website sitemap is a file that lists all of the pages on a website and their relationship to one another. Its purpose is to help search engines crawl and index a website more effectively and efficiently, ultimately improving the website's visibility and search ranking. You can submit and monitor your website's sitemap to ensure that all pages are being crawled and indexed correctly.


5. Security Issues: You can identify any security issues or malware that may be affecting your website's performance or ranking in search results.


6. Mobile Usability: You can check how your website performs on mobile devices and identify any issues that may be affecting the user experience for mobile users.


By using Google Search Console, You can gain valuable insights into Your website performance in Google search results and take steps to improve Your website's visibility and search ranking.

Just create the account

  1. To start using Google Search Console, the only thing You need is a Google account. Go to https://search.google.com/search-console/about , and click “Start now”.

  1. Sign in to Your Google account. As soon as You are logged in, You will be asked to Select a Property type. Chose the URL prefix, because this is the easiest way. Add the full website domain name of Your website, like in the picture below, and click “Continue”.

  1. Now You have to verify Your website ownership. You will see the following:

You don't have to do here nothing.

  1. Now You have to install a Google Site Kid plugin to Your WordPress website. Please read the following instruction how to verify Your website with this plugin. It is really easy.

  2. After You have finished installing and setting up the Site Kit plugin, go to the Search Console and refresh the Search Console page.

  3. Now You should see this:

  1. It may be that Google has already some statistics to show, but in most cases, You will see no stats for about 2 days.

  2. The next step is very important to improve website visibility in Google Search. Click left on the “Sitemaps” link and add the sitemap URL as shown on the image below:

The sitemap of Your site can have different URLs. To find out the correct URL just go to Your website homepage and type sitemap.xml to the URL in the browser's address bar.


Example: https://www.yourbusiness.com/sitemap.xml


WordPress will redirect to the correct URL automatically. In case, this is not happening like I described just write a comment below what happened, and I can investigate the situation.


In some cases, Search Console fails to read the sitemap file on the first try. In this case, repeat the process and in most cases, the second submission will be successful.


Don't forget about Bing

Google has the leading position in the Search Engine market share in the United States but Search Engine Bing has almost 7% market share and can bring additional quality traffic to Your business website. That’s why it would be wise to create also Bing Webmaster Tools account for Your website. 


Fortunately, it is even easier to create an account and verify Your website in the Bing Webmaster Tools web application when You already created a Google Search Console account for Your website.


  1. To start follow this URL: https://www.bing.com/webmasters/about

  2. Click on the “Get Started” button

  1. You will be asked to sign in. Sign in with the same Google Account with that You created the Search Console account.

  1. Next, You are given two options to add Your website to Bing Webmaster Tools. Chose the Import from Google Search Console.

  1. An informational window will show up, where the application informs You what data will be imported from Google Search Console. Click on the “Continue” button.

  1. Next, You will be asked to choose with which Google account You wanna sign in. Choose the account with that You have created the Search Console account for Your business website.

  1. Now You must allow Bing to allow access to Your account. It will only get access to Your Google Search Console account and website data. Click “Allow”.

  1. Now You have to select the website or websites, that You wanna import to Bing Webmaster Tools. By default, all websites are selected. If this is ok, click the “Import” button.

  1. It can take some time until the information is imported. When everything went ok, You will see the “Success” message. Everything is now set up. Click the “Done” button.

Let Bing make a free SEO audit

The coolest thing about Bing Webmaster tools is, that You can do Website’s SEO audit. You can find this tool under the “SEO” menu on the left sidebar. 


  1. To start the SEO audit click on the “SEO” link. A drop-down menu will open there. Click on the “Site scan”.

  1. Next, give a name to the scan. You also have to set a limit on how many pages You wanna scan. Bing gives a maximal scan quota of 1000 pages, so use it wisely.

When the scan is complete, You will receive a notification from Bing with the link to the results.

You can read more about the setup of the scan, what elements are analyzed, and how the report looks here: https://www.bing.com/webmasters/help/site-scan-623520c9 

You can even make keyword research with Bing’s Keyword Research tool

This is my second favorite tool from Bing, which really helps in Your SEO efforts. You can use this tool to find out what keywords (search terms) people are using when searching for services or products related to Your business. 


You will find this tool in the same SEO submenu where the “Site Scan” tool was.

  1. Click on the “Keyword Research”

  2. Type the keyword related to Your service or product (product or service name, product category, what problems or needs your product or service can resolve).

  3. Select Your Country.

  4. Click on “Get details”


Well, You have to remember, that this tool shows search statistics only for Bing Search Engine and in many cases Bing does not have enough data, mostly for queries with low search volume.


But if there is enough data You can get great ideas for optimizing Your website’s content with the right keywords. This tool shows You related keywords, question keywords and newly discovered keywords.

… and if You scroll down You will see the Top 10 webpages for this query and topics information:


Well, hope this information is helpful for Your DIY SEO journey. In any case, this much I can say based on my almost 20 years of SEO experience, that creating and setting up Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools accounts for the website has always improved the visibility of the website and helped the website grow organic search engine traffic.


If You have any questions, please leave a comment below. Have a nice day!

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