“I have published my website, but why is it not appearing on Google?”
Whether you are using web builders such as WordPress, Wix, Webflow or Weebly or anything else out there, surely you have asked yourself this question. It can be frustrating trying to find the ultimate answer on why your website is not appearing on search engines such as Google.
Fret not, this article will cover 5 basic tips on how to make sure your website appears on search engines organically.
1. Set Up Your Google My Business Profile
What is Google My Business Profile? You may have come across this term before as if it sounded important – Honestly, it is very important to your business. Google My Business Profile is a tool that manages and optimises your Business Profile on Google. This is to ensure that your Business Profile appears on Google search locally, and it will appear on Google Map as well. That is the first step to get your business noticed on Google. Take a step at a time.
Most businesses have the assumption of using Google Adwords so that their website will appear on the first page of every search results. More details on what Google Adwords is about – It is a paid strategy which falls under Search Engine Marketing, which in turn more budget has to be allocated for such campaigns. While it is a good strategy, the site will not be appearing on the first page once the campaign expires. Lastly, we have seen businesses who execute campaigns on Google but have not had their Business Profile registered. A simple question – What is the point in that?
It is best to go through one step at a time, starting with setting up your Google My Business Profile. Let your business be registered and Google is able to locate your business on Google Maps.
Alternatively, you can check out What Is Google My Business & Why Do I Need It?
Most businesses have the assumption of using Google Adwords so that their website will appear on the first page of every search results. More details on what Google Adwords is about – It is a paid strategy which falls under Search Engine Marketing, which in turn more budget has to be allocated for such campaigns. While it is a good strategy, the site will not be appearing on the first page once the campaign expires. Lastly, we have seen businesses who execute campaigns on Google but have not had their Business Profile registered. A simple question – What is the point in that?
It is best to go through one step at a time, starting with setting up your Google My Business Profile. Let your business be registered and Google is able to locate your business on Google Maps.
Alternatively, you can check out What Is Google My Business & Why Do I Need It?
2. Page Title
Page Title or Title Tags are an important strategy in Search Engine Optimization (SEO). In this tip, we are not going into detail and explain the HTML functionality and how it works behind it. However, what you need to know is depending on the hosting platform that you are using, there will always be a setting in each page where it requires you to name your Page Title.
Now, search engines only display 60 to 70 characters of your Page Title. It is important to take note the number of characters you placed in your Page Title. Take a read on an article we found called SEO Title Tag Optimization.
Lastly, a good tip of naming your Page Title starts with your Brand Name + Business that you do in the country you are in.
3. Meta Description
What is the purpose of having a page title and there is no description about what the website is about? Naturally, for users like all of us, we tend to read at the links that appear on the first page of Google search. We looked at the different types of websites that appeared and scan through the descriptions. Those descriptions are what we called, “Meta Description”.
You might be given a set of instructions by using along with this statement, “Short and sweet”. After all, you are a creative person. Therefore, keep in mind that Google only displays up to 120 characters on search results. It is best not to exceed it.
We found a great article for you to take look that provides huge insights on how to write your Meta Description – 15 Meta Description Examples, Plus How to Write a Perfect Description
4. Keywords
Keywords. Keywords. Keywords. Remember the time when people around us kept on saying, “Hashtag … followed by whichever word that is on-trend during that point of time”. Technically, Google works the same way too.
Basically, keywords are characters that you used in your website content to increase relevant organic search traffic from Google. Keywords are also part of the SEO strategy used by all digital marketers or web designers – basically content creators.
Let’s turn this into a scenario where you set up a restaurant in Singapore that serves Mexican food. Your restaurant name is, “MexiFud”. Try to look at the perspective of users – Will you be on Google and type, “MexiFud” to search for Mexican food?
Unfortunately, that has never been the case for any small businesses. But to manoeuvre such issues is that we have to emphasize the keywords that reflect our business on our website. Take a read at an article we found SEO Keywords: What They Are & Why They’re Important
When we meant by emphasizing, we meant by definitive and specific keywords that reflect your business. Using the example above, MexiFud serves Mexican Food. To create a definitive and specific keyword, it would be converted to, “Best Mexican food in the west of Singapore”.
Sounds long and there might not be a lot of search volume looking for the best Mexican food in the west of Singapore. But instead, the converting traffic is much higher than placing “Best Mexican food in Singapore. This is one of the beauties of the correlation between Search Engine Optimization and the psychological factors are taken into play. We will cover this area of copywriting in our future articles.
5. Give it some time
You may have set up your Business Profile on Google, written an awesome Page Title and Meta Description on each of your web pages, and even emphasised on strong keywords that reflect your business. But if your website is not on the first page of search results yet, you have to give it some time.
Let Google do its job by analysing your website and helping you to rank your site on their search engine organically. However, if you are impatient and would like your business to be noticeable in an instant, you are able to advertise your business through Google Adwords, but that will be covered in our next post.
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If you need to seek help with digital solutions such as SEO Audit, analysing your current marketing strategy or reviewing your online business platform, feel free to email us at enquiry@apexmedia.com.
We are more than happy to provide a complimentary consultation with regards to your business!
References
What Is Google My Business & Why Do I Need It?
15 Meta Description Examples, Plus How to Write a Perfect Description