Everyone’s favorite question after a website is completed is: “so how do I make my website searchable on Google?!” We actually include initial SEO set up with all of our web projects, but in case you worked with someone else, here’s some tips on being found on search engines.
Please keep in mind SEO is a marathon, not a sprint, and you will not be at the top overnight, even if you follow this list to a T.
To make your website searchable on Google, you need to take a few steps (and have some patience):
- Submit your website to Google: You can submit your website to Google by using the “Submit URL” feature on Google Search Console. This will let them know that your website exists and will help it to start crawling and indexing your pages. Think of this as Google “reading and learning.”
- Use relevant keywords: Use relevant keywords in your website’s content, titles, meta descriptions, and image tags. This will help Google understand what your business and website is about, and will improve its chances of appearing in search results for relevant queries.
- Create high-quality content: Creating high-quality content that provides value to your audience will increase the chances of your website being shared and linked to by other websites. This, in turn, will help your website’s search engine rankings. Think of this piece like social media – share what your audience wants to learn from you/your business.
- Use header tags: Use header tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.) to structure your content and make it easier for Google to understand what your website is about. Header tags essentially help Google understand the order of importance of your copy.
- Build high-quality backlinks: Backlinks are links from other websites that point to your website. Google uses backlinks as a measure of the quality and relevance of a website. Building high-quality backlinks will improve your website’s search engine rankings but takes time. It is advised to work with an SEO professional or do plenty of research, as backlinks scams are everywhere.
- Use social media: Use social media to promote your website and share your content. This will increase the visibility of your website and help it to gain more traffic. Google knows way more than you’d think about your website traffic, and traffic builds traffic AKA, you need traffic to get more traffic.
Overall, the key to making your website searchable on Google is to create high-quality, relevant content and make it easy for Google to understand what your website is about. By doing this, you can improve your website’s search engine rankings and increase its visibility to potential visitors.
If you have questions and need a pointer or two, reach out. We’ve built hundreds of sites and are always here to help!
