Many business owners ask, “Why is my new website not on page 1 of Google?”
You have paid good money to have a website built or built it yourself and it looks great but why isn’t Google listing it? There is no simple answer to this question however in my experience of over 10 years building websites there are often common things that you can do to help Google find your website, so let’s get started.
Firstly
Does Google Know Your Website Exists?
The easiest way to let Google know about your website is to get a free Google account where you will be able to access Google Console (which also includes webmaster tools) and Google Analytics. With these Google tools you are able to let Google know that your website is ready to be listed. Don’t be daunted by the names, there are lots of simple things you can do with them and plenty of good tutorials if you want to go deeper.
The first thing you should do after setting up your Google Console account is Submit your URL to Google. Your URL is the address of your website and is found at the top of your browser.
Here is an example of my URL using Google Chrome browser.
How New is Your Domain Name?
If you have only just registered your domain name, then Google doesn’t have any history on your website; that is why very old domain names with a bad website will still rank well. If you have an older domain name for your business, maybe something that was really long, make sure you still point it to your new website. If your domain name is very new there is nothing you can do about it, read on to follow these other tips on factors that you can control.
Have You Told Your Friends?
Make sure you tell everyone including your friends about your new website. Your friends aren’t generally going to be your target audience, however in the beginning, the more eyeballs (traffic) you can get to your new website the better. Plus, often our friends don’t really know what you do and it can be a good refresher to remind them and a good way to get referrals from their friends.
Are You Sending Traffic to Your Website?
What email address are you using for your business? Are you still using a Gmail or Hotmail address? If so STOP.
By using an email address that is associated with your website you are creating a more professional business impression plus you will also be advertising your website address (URL) every time you send an email.
Does your email signature contain a link to your website? Make it easy for people to find you and do business with you. Add your website address to everything you can, your business cards, stationery, invoices, promotional material, social media pages, car and building signage.
Do you have a Frequently Asked Questions page, so you can send customers there when they have common queries? That is another great way to drive traffic to your website and can free up your staff having to answer the same questions over and over.
Has Your Website Been Written With Your Customers in Mind or You?
How is your website written? Is it friendly and jovial or dry and technical? Write with your customers in mind.
No not the business, the customer!
After all, you know all about your business, however you need to convey what makes your business special and how you stand out from your competitors to your protentional customers.
Language to use!
Different websites will be written in different ways depending on the customers – think about the type of language they use.
There is no point ranking for page 1 for a search term that your customers will never use. For example, if your website talks all about “Junior Slacks” and your audience is searching for “Kid’s Pants” unless you have a huge website with a very large budget your audience are unlikely to ever find you, for that term even if you are on page 1 because it is not a term they are looking for.
The style, tone and look of your website should be governed by the type of business you are in and what your audience expects.
Is Your Website Helpful to Your Customers?
Google likes to send traffic to websites that help its search clients.
When a visitor enters a search query and arrives on your website, Google wants to know that you will help them. If the visitor bounces straight back out of your website and looks for another search, Google won’t be happy. Google will probably send the next visitor with that search term to someone else’s website. One of the many ranking factors Google looks at is time spend on your page/pages of your website and then where your visitor goes when they leave your website.
If a keyword on one of your website pages is “How to get high quality parts for a xxxxx”
You may rank well for “How to get high” however it will be for a very short time because people with that search people would bounce straight back out of your site when they realise your content is not what they are looking for.
Google is very focused on giving its customers the best user experience they can and returning the search result they are expecting. Your website can help Google do this by being customer focused and giving your visitors helpful information.
Does Your Website Have Any Content?
Minimalism is all the rage, especially in website design. We are told to keep it simple. Yes, this can work if you have a large Facebook or social media following that you can send to your website, or if you have a large budget you can use to drive traffic to your site.
If you are looking to rate organically on Google Search, then you will need to have content. Information on your page which tells your customer what the page is about and how you can solve their problem. Not just a page of feel good gibberish (because people won’t stay) but actual valuable information that helps them work out how to solve their problem. You might be offering a product to solve their problem, or a service or just additional information. It could be as simple as having your phone number easily available now they know you are the correct solution for them. If you don’t have any content, then they are unlikely to have found you in the first place and if they do they will not know if you can help them or not.
Does Your Website Have Very Large Images?
People are visual.
Would you have kept reading this article if there weren’t any pictures? Probably not because your mind would have got to overwhelmed with all the text. Our brain processes images 60, 000 times faster than text, so images are really important on your website.
If you have image file sizes that are large they will slow down your page loading time and people won’t wait.
Did you know in 2015 the average attention span of a person dropped below the that of a goldfish?
In 1980, a person’s attention span was approximately 20 mins and by 2015 it is 8.25 seconds1 .
Your website needs to load fast or your bounce rate will be too high for Google to take your seriously and they are unlikely to give you quality leads from their search results.
Why Is My New Website Not on Page 1 of Google?
What to do next . . .
Go back through this article, check your website and habits; are there things that you could be implementing to get your website to rank better?
Want to know more? Download our free eBook for more tips ranking your website better on Google Search.
Need help?
Cathy Smith and the team at CATCO Enterprises can assist with SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) advice and implementation. Maximising traffic, reach and engagement with your website can be difficult to master. If you would like to have the most of organic search engine marketing strategies and other techniques contact us.
At CATCO Enterprises our emphasis is on relevant quality content and marketing strategies for your business. Call Cathy on 9797 0889 today.
