Webmaster tools are SEO platforms that show how search engines crawl, index and display a website. As of ****, the two main platforms covered here are Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools. They provide search data and technical reports that website analytics alone do not reliably provide.
Webmaster Tools in SEO: At a Glance
| SEO task | What webmaster tools help you do | Typical outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Monitor search performance | Review impressions, clicks, queries, click-through rate and average position | Find pages and keywords that need attention |
| Check indexing | See whether search engines have discovered and indexed pages | Find pages missing from search results |
| Fix crawling problems | Detect server errors, blocked resources, redirect problems and robots.txt restrictions | Make important pages easier to crawl |
| Submit URLs and sitemaps | Submit XML sitemaps and request crawling for updated pages | Help search engines discover content |
| Review technical SEO | Check Core Web Vitals, mobile usability, structured data and security issues | Improve search access and page experience |
| Analyse backlinks | Review links pointing to your website | Understand link sources and possible problems |
| Find keyword opportunities | See the searches that generate impressions and clicks | Create or improve content around relevant queries |
What Are Webmaster Tools?
Webmaster tools are search engine platforms that show how a search engine discovers, crawls, indexes and displays a website.
Google Search Console helps website owners monitor their presence in Google Search, investigate indexing problems, analyse search traffic and review issues involving spam, security and structured data.
Bing Webmaster Tools offers similar functions for Bing, including search performance reports, URL inspection, sitemap management, site scanning, keyword research and backlink analysis.
1. Webmaster Tools Show How Your Website Performs in Search
The main SEO use of webmaster tools is measuring how pages perform in organic search.
Google Search Console reports:
- Impressions: how often a page appeared in Google Search
- Clicks: how often users visited the site from Google Search
- Click-through rate: the percentage of impressions that produced clicks
- Average position: the average position of a page or website for reported searches
- Search queries: the terms that caused a page to appear
- Top-performing pages: the URLs receiving the most search traffic
These reports can reveal:
- Pages with many impressions but a low click-through rate
- Keywords where a page ranks near the top of page two
- Queries that generate traffic but are not clearly addressed in the content
- Pages that lost clicks after a site change or algorithm update
- Differences in performance by country, device or search type
Google states that Search Console is the main source for Google Search performance data. Google Analytics is more useful for analysing what visitors do after they arrive on the website.
2. They Help Search Engines Discover and Index Pages
A page cannot receive organic traffic if a search engine cannot access or index it.
Webmaster tools help you check whether:
- Googlebot or Bingbot can access a URL
- A page is indexed
- A page has been excluded from the index
- A page is blocked by
robots.txt - A
noindexdirective prevents indexing - Google or Bing selected a different canonical URL
- A server error prevented crawling
- A redirect or duplicate page caused an indexing problem
Google Search Console's URL Inspection tool provides page-level information about indexing. It also lets site owners test a live URL or request crawling after an important change.
Bing Webmaster Tools also includes URL inspection. It checks indexing status, crawl issues, SEO errors and markup information.
3. They Help You Submit Sitemaps and Updated URLs
An XML sitemap tells search engines which URLs are important on a website.
Submitting a sitemap through webmaster tools allows you to:
- Confirm that the sitemap was received
- Identify sitemap processing errors
- Monitor discovered URLs
- Check whether submitted pages are being indexed
- Help search engines find new or updated content
A sitemap does not guarantee indexing or rankings. Its main purpose is to support URL discovery and give search engines a clearer view of the site's preferred pages.
Google recommends submitting a sitemap when appropriate. Google can also discover pages through internal links without one.
Bing Webmaster Tools supports sitemap submission and monitoring. Bing also provides IndexNow, which allows participating search engines to receive notifications when URLs are added, updated or deleted.
4. Webmaster Tools Identify Technical SEO Problems
Webmaster tools can alert you to technical issues that affect crawling, indexing or search appearance.
Common problems include:
- Broken pages returning 404 errors
- Server errors such as 5xx responses
- Pages blocked by robots.txt
- Incorrect canonical tags
- Duplicate or missing structured data
- Mobile usability problems
- Slow or unstable page experiences
- Security breaches, malware or hacking
- Manual actions caused by violations of search engine guidelines
Google Search Console includes reports for indexing, Core Web Vitals, structured data, manual actions and security issues.
Bing Webmaster Tools includes Site Scan, Site Explorer, SEO Reports and a robots.txt tester for finding crawl and technical SEO problems.
5. They Reveal Keyword and Content Opportunities
Webmaster tools show the searches for which a website appears, including queries that were not part of the original keyword research.
For example, a page about "email marketing software" might receive impressions for searches such as:
- Email marketing tools for small businesses
- Best newsletter platforms
- Automated email campaigns
- Email marketing software pricing
These queries can reveal:
- New content topics
- Subtopics to add to existing pages
- Better title and meta description options
- Pages that should target a more specific search intent
- Internal linking opportunities between related articles
Bing Webmaster Tools also includes a keyword research feature with keyword phrases and search volume information for Bing searches.
6. They Help Improve Click-Through Rate
A page can rank well and still receive few clicks. Webmaster tools help diagnose this by comparing impressions, rankings and click-through rate.
If a page receives many impressions but few clicks, review:
- The page title
- The meta description
- Whether the result matches the search intent
- The clarity of the page's value proposition
- The use of dates, benefits or relevant details in the search snippet
- Whether another result provides a more useful answer
Changing a title or meta description does not automatically improve rankings. It can make a search result more appealing when the page already appears for relevant queries.
7. They Help Diagnose Traffic Drops
A sudden fall in organic traffic can have several causes. Webmaster tools help separate them.
Possible causes include:
- A page or group of pages becoming deindexed
- Crawling or server problems
- A decline in rankings
- Lower search demand
- Seasonal changes
- Technical changes to the website
- A manual action or security issue
- A change in the search results page
The Performance report in Google Search Console can show whether the decline affected particular queries, pages, countries, devices or search types.
Compare the affected period with an earlier period. Then identify which URLs and queries changed and inspect those pages before changing the wider SEO strategy.
Google Search Console vs Bing Webmaster Tools
| Feature | Google Search Console | Bing Webmaster Tools |
|---|---|---|
| Search performance data | Yes | Yes |
| Query and keyword data | Yes | Yes |
| URL inspection | Yes | Yes |
| Sitemap submission | Yes | Yes |
| Indexing diagnostics | Yes | Yes |
| Core Web Vitals | Yes | Limited or different reporting |
| Backlink reporting | Yes | Yes |
| Keyword research tool | Limited query data from your site | Yes |
| Site-wide SEO audit | Limited | Yes, through Site Scan and SEO Reports |
| IndexNow support | No direct Google equivalent | Yes |
| AI visibility reporting | Not a standard Search Console report | Bing AI Performance report is available for supported experiences |
Bing's AI Performance report can show how often a site's pages are cited in supported AI-generated answers, including Microsoft Copilot and certain Bing AI experiences.
What Webmaster Tools Do Not Do
Webmaster tools provide evidence and diagnostics, but they do not:
- Guarantee higher rankings
- Automatically fix technical problems
- Replace useful, original content
- Replace keyword and competitor research
- Show every ranking factor
- Provide complete conversion data
- Guarantee that a submitted URL will be indexed
The website owner still needs to improve content, fix technical issues, strengthen internal linking and measure business outcomes.
How Often Should You Use Webmaster Tools?
A practical schedule is:
- After publishing content: inspect the URL and confirm that the sitemap is current
- After major website changes: check indexing, redirects, canonical URLs and traffic
- Monthly: review clicks, impressions, ranking trends, indexing errors and important queries
- When traffic drops: investigate performance and indexing reports promptly
- During technical migrations: monitor errors, redirects, sitemaps and indexed pages closely
Google recommends checking Search Console about once a month for routine monitoring and using it after important site changes.
Bottom Line
Use Google Search Console as the main tool for monitoring Google Search visibility, indexing and technical SEO. Add Bing Webmaster Tools to review Bing performance, run site audits, analyse backlinks and use Bing features such as IndexNow.