Google Sitemaps Series Part 5 - Getting More Information
In part 5 of this Google Sitemaps Series, I’m going to show you how to get even more information from the Links section of Google Sitemaps. But, in order for you to be able to do this, you have to be using the Firefox browser. If you don’t have the Firefox internet browser, use this link to download it for free: Firefox.
Once you have the Firefox browser installed, we need to add a new plug-in to it and do a little set up. Specifically, we need to install the Greasemonkey plug-in, which you can get here: Greasemonkey. Greasemonkey is a plug-in for Firefox that allows you to customize the way a web page shows up by using a little javascript. There are a lot of little scripts that you can use with Greasemonkey, but to get more information from Google Sitemaps we need the following script added to Greasemonkey: External Links ++. Once you’re on this page, just click on “Install Script” and add it to your Greasemonkey. You might have to restart your browser at this point as well to make sure that everything has been installed properly.
If it isn’t already, go ahead and turn Greasemonkey on by clicking on the little monkey logo at the bottom right hand corner of your browser. Here’s an example of what it should look like when enabled:
Ok, now we’re ready to see what this baby can do for you. Go ahead and log in to your Google Sitemaps account, click on the site you want to look at, and then go to the Links area. The first thing you’ll see is the pages that Google has found links going to. Go ahead and click on one of these pages. If Greasemonkey is NOT enabled, here’s an example of what you’ll see:
If Greasemonkey IS enabled, you’ll see something like this:
See the additional information? Now, instead of just seeing where the link is located you can also see what the PR of the page is, and also what phrase was used for the anchor text on the page. If the information is in red then Greasemonkey wasn’t able to find the link on the page. Sometimes you’ll also see the extra info in an orange font with a strike-through. This means that the link was found with the anchor text, but the link has a no follow attribute to it (this means that the search engines won’t follow it to your page).
So how do we use this information? Well, now when you log into your Google Sitemaps account you can see what links are being recognized by Google, but you can also see which of these links are most valid, get an idea of what the PR of the pages linking to you is, and you can also make sure that most of your links are using good anchor text.
That concludes this series about Google Sitemaps. I really do hope that you find it useful! Until next time…
This post is part of a 5 Part Series. Below are links to the other parts of the series:
Google Sitemaps Series Part 1 - Creating the Account
Google Sitemaps Series Part 2 - Creating the Sitemap
Google Sitemaps Series Part 3 - Adding Your Sitemap to Google
Google Sitemaps Series Part 4 - What You Can Learn From Google Sitemaps Data
Related Posts
Google Sitemaps Series Part 1 - Creating the AccountGoogle Sitemaps Series Part 2 - Creating the Sitemap
Google Sitemaps Series Part 3 - Adding Your Sitemap to Google
Google Sitemaps Series Part 4 - What You Can Learn From Google Sitemaps Data
SEO Link Analysis FireFox Plugin - AWESOME!
on June 20th, 2007 at 10:23 pm
Good Stuff. I often hear about greasemonkey in passing (usually on tech related blogs) but I never really looked into it, because I didnt understand the value it could provide.
This little bit, however, is brilliant. Very relevant info for anyone interested in SEO, and well formatted for easy analysis. Thanks!
on June 21st, 2007 at 5:57 am
Hi Peter,
Most of the Greasemonkey scripts are for more advanced things that you might not need, but there are a few here and there that really are useful. I’m hoping that eventually they come out with a script that will do this same thing with the Yahoo! Site Explorer, but I haven’t seen anything like that yet.
on June 26th, 2007 at 5:17 pm
I am with Peter. Have heard of this little item, but never really understood what it meant or how to use it. It makes one wonder how many other bits and bobs are out there waiting for our discovery? Thanks for pointing the way Dan.
on June 27th, 2007 at 5:51 am
David,
I’m glad the information was useful to you. As I think of and come across other little hints like this I’ll be posting them, so make sure to check back from time to time!
on August 9th, 2007 at 11:09 am
I never knew that you could get so in depth with a sitemap. This is some great information. Thanks
on August 9th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
Nickel Plating,
I’m glad you found the information helpful!
on August 14th, 2007 at 7:32 am
Dan, I can see where this tool will come in very useful for managing links for my website. Thank you.
What does it mean when in your example above that Greasemonkey returns a PR of -1 (negative one)? Is that a penalized site?
on August 14th, 2007 at 3:57 pm
Hey Sam,
That’s a good question, I hadn’t really noticed it before. I just did some looking in my own account and it looks like all the ones that have a -1 are the pages that currently have no PR. So that would be my best guess. I really don’t think it’s sites that are penalized because GreaseMonkey wouldn’t know that.