Google Monitor Software

I posted a link and a couple of tips last to do with a piece of software called Google Monitor. Although it actually looks like a pretty simple tool, it did take some figuring out. I thought I'd write a few things down here to help anyone get started using it.

You will need to be connected to the Internet when using Google Monitor.

What is Google Monitor?

It's some free software which does not need to be paid for in any way. It's available to download here: Download googlemon.zip

It's a tool that works with Google (currently the largest and most important search engine out there). The software runs from your computer but then hooks up with google and asks it questions about your URLs. It then reports back to you with the information.

First thing's first - let's download and install the software.

Make sure you add a shortcut to it so that it's easy to get to.

Function One - listing all the pages that are in google from one URL

When you start the software, you'll see that there are two 'Modes' which you can swap between by clicking on the tabs at the top of the screen.

Maximise the software window so that it fills the screen. Some URLs will be pretty long and you'll need the space.

Make sure you're in Mode 1.

In the white box next to "your URL:", type the following:

site:www.domain.com domain.com

... but change domain.com for the domain that you'd like to check.

Example: I want to see how many pages from tomsnewbiebooster.com are listed in Google. Here's what I'd type:

site:www.tomsnewbiebooster.com tomsnewbiebooster.com

Good - now in box below that, where it says "Keyword" copy and paste the exact same thing that's in the box above.

On the drop down box where it says "Check first", set the number to 200. This will list 200 of our pages. If you find you have more than that in Google, increase this number accordingly.

Press "Google Search" just to the right of this drop-down box.

So what have we just done? We've just told the software to get it's butt over the the Google index and find out how many pages from our domain name are actually listed at Google. If there are any pages from that domain listed, they will be numbered and shown in the window below the boxes we've just been entering stuff into in Google Monitor.

The beauty of Google Monitor is that once you've entered those 2 weird lines once, they are forever stored in the two drop down boxes for future use. It also lists all the URLs in one place - nice and simple.

There's a section at the base of this 'Mode' where you can add notes. Something that would be quite handy would be to write:

domain1.com - 167 pages listed.
domain7 - 158 pages listed.

This will let you see how your empire at Google is growing, or if some pages have dropped out. Whatever you do in Google Monitor will be saved.

This form of URL tracking is all I'd advise using Google Monitor for. Keep it simple!

Function Two - Tracking positions for various URLs

Click on the tab that says, "Mode 2".

In this section, you can keep track of important URL's positions in Google. Here's how:

Click on the "Add URL:" button at the top of the screen.

Enter a URL that you want to check. It could be a domain or a page in a subfolder. It's not necessary to include the 'full' path. So you can just type in something like:

http://www.domain.com/sub-folder/

Enter a URL which you KNOW is listed in Google (the bit I covered in Mode 1).

This URL will now be forever available from the "Your URL" drop down box at the top of the page.

CHECK the URL you've entered by copying and pasting it into a browser. Make sure it's accurate and that it works.

Click OK when you're done.

Click on the "Add Keyword" button at the start of the page. Now enter a keyphrase which you either know this page is getting traffic for (from checking our referrer stats) OR which you optimized this page for.

It says 'keyword' but you can enter a keyphrase of any length here just the same.

Click OK to confirm.

You can add as many keyphrases as you like here - so include all the variations that you might have worked into the page - all the possible matches.

What you are doing here is building up a database of keywords and phrases which are particular to each domain. If you add a NEW url - you can add a new set of words for that URL. Google monitor remembers all of the words and phrases, and all the changes you've made, when the software closes. They'll be there when you start up again.

When you're done adding phrases and words, set the "Check first" part to 200. This tells Google monitor to check to see if you're in the top 200 pages returned under a search for any of those phrases. You can set it to more if you desire.

Click "Google Search".

The software will then go and research into Google for you. It gives you your current position, your best position under that phrase, and the date of the search. As time goes by, your best position will become an interesting figure to keep track of and should alert you to any problem's with your various pages' rankings without too much effort.

When you add a new URL, click "Clear" at the bottom of the screen. This will clear out all the keywords on screen and allow you add new ones. Whenever you add a new URL, the software duplicates all the keywords and phrases from another domain just incase you needed them for this URL. Just press clear and start again.

Advanced note: Editing Google Monitor's databases:

The databases for Google Monitor are ordinary text files which will be stored in the install directory that you picked on set up. They can be opened and edited in a text editor. The files are named:

mode2.dat
log.dat
cb2.dat
cb1.dat

If you open them up, you'll be able to read them pretty clearly. But back them up to another folder before you edit them. Or you could lose some valuable info.

You may need to restart the PC to see the changes you've made to the databases.

Summing up...

So that's about it really. The best thing to do is to play around with Google Monitor and see if you can find info on some of the URLs you have listed there. Once you've mastered it, it can save you time and build up a set of useful info and notes that should help make more money from Google.

Best of luck and hope you enjoy it...

TOM ^"^

Enter TOM'S NEWBIE BOOSTER

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