"... big issue as it prevents businesses and websites from becoming discoverable."
When it comes to SEO tools in the U.S, two very important tools come to mind: Bing Webmaster Tools and Google Search Console. They are both so vital because they can help your site and pages show up in their search results, help you understand what might be wrong with your website, and provide reports on how your pages are performing on their engine. Each platform requires a quick setup and verification process. Guides for verification are posted in the references section.
When a website is first created, and several sources do not link to its URL, it can take a very long time to appear in search engine results. This is a big issue as it prevents businesses and websites from becoming discoverable. With Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools, after verification, you can request indexing on a website and specific pages. This can greatly expedite a page's appearance in search engine results.
A webpage can also be indexed but not show up in search engine results, and these tools can help you diagnose what might be going wrong. A common issue can be a wrong canonical URL or incorrectly marking a webpage for search engines not to index. If you find that your webpage is not showing up, even after requesting indexing and waiting for a sufficient period of time, checking the page in the tool may reveal potential issues.
Performance-wise, these tools can help you see how people are finding your webpages organically, which pages are performing well, and which pages don’t have traffic. These can be strong determining factors whether to adjust content, optimize SEO, or diagnose potential issues.
The current blog only touches the surface of what these two tools can help you with, but if you own or manage a website, ensuring you have access to these platforms can be vital for SEO purposes and beyond.
References
1 Bing Webmaster Tools.
https://www.bing.com/webmasters
2 Google Search Console.
https://search.google.com/search-console/
3 Bing Webmaster Tools Guide for Verification.
https://www.bing.com/webmasters/help/add-and-verify-site-12184f8b
4 Google Search Console Guide for Verification.
https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9008080?sjid=9192075650878648914-NC
