As with trying to find a definition for a webmaster, it can be next to impossible to find a definition for webmasters tools or software, simply because there are so many different types, all doing different things for the webmaster.
Essentially both are simply pieces of software that fulfill a function that the webmaster wants them to, whether it be adding function for users of the site or making life easier at the backend for the webmaster to control parts of the website.
There are a number of different types of webmaster tools and webmaster software that you should become familiar with.
Analytical Webmaster Tools
These set of tools are software that help track various visitors and actions on the site. They can come in the form of scripts, software, plug in tools or pretty much anything you can imagine. But the idea is that you are able to analyze how visitors come to your site and what it is they do there – allowing you to better decide what is working and what isn’t, and how to take things forward.
Content Webmaster Tools
There are a huge amount of different types of webmaster software that can be used to effect the content of websites. They can vary from tools for easily adding videos to the website to tools for bringing in an RSS feed to constantly, and automatically, update content for you.
The idea behind such tools is to make the content easier to manage and present in an attractive manner, and to automate as much as possible.
Interactive Webmaster Tools
These tools are designed to allow the webmaster to let the visitors interact with the site – to move it from a passive site to a social or web 2.0 site. This can dramatically increase the user experience, stickiness and repeat visits of site users.
Such tools include those that add the ability for users to add comment to web pages, a valuable tool that will allow users to feel part of the conversation, not simply dictated to.
SEO Webmaster Tools
This is software designed to help increase the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) of your site, to ensure that your website is always finishing high in the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) for the keywords that you are targeting. Important because obviously the higher or site ranks in the search engines the more organic search traffic will be visiting the site.
Tools for improving SEO include such scripts as the ability to add a tag cloud to the site – increasing the interlinking and keyword saturation of your site, gaining it a higher position in the search engines.
It is important that you assess what it is that you want from your website so that you know which webmaster tools you need. But now that you have an understanding as to what webmaster tools and webmaster software are – and can do for you, you are half way there.