The question often asked - How do I get my website to come up in Google? |
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Well the answer could be a one liner "let me do it for you" - but this is a short article on the main things you can do for yourself or ask your web designer to help you with.
Proof of the Pudding
Before we begin, you know the old phrase "The proof of the pudding is in the eating" - well just to give some credibility to this article you might click here to search Google for Get my website found on Google
Google should inform you that it has found you "About 6,030,000,000 results" And you probably found this very article on the first page of Google (i.e. in the first 10 'organic' results). That's about a 0.0000002% chance!
Start with a good website
It's all very well putting in lot's of effort to getting your website found, but if the site is poor in quality and information it can have a negative effect on your business. Make sure that your website is packed with compelling and genuinely useful information for your relevant audience.
Make sure it is Search Engine Friendly
- Ensure each Page has a proper Title (seen in the bar along the top of the window and on the taskbar button along the bottom)
- Each Page should contain different Description Metatags (special hidden code that descriibes to Google what the page is about -use words people might search with to find your site)
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Use Search Engine Friendly URL - e.g. rte.ie/weather
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The website is regularly updated at least once a month with some change (e.g. news, or events)
Submit your website to Search Engines
You can go to Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc. and 'invite' them to come and 'crawl' your website (that means an automated programme will attempt to index the content of your website looking for text and metatags.
Continually Research your Keywords
Keywords are the words or phrases people might use to find your website. For instance typing the word easykey into Google will bring up this site in the number one position. Impressed? - You shouldn't be! Afterall easykey is an unusual word - so it is a rather large needle in a relatively small haystack. What if someone searched for word training essex ? (for people who have never heard of Easykey)
Find out what search phrases were used to find your website - you might be surprised e.g. in the last week the easykey website was found using the phrase What does Bcc mean? You need to keep changing the content of your website using phrases and keywords that are targeted at who you want, (there is no point in using keywords that no-one is searching with)
Get links to your website on other websites
There are many websites out there that offer free or low cost links to your website. With some careful selection, a link to your website on the right kind of site for your target audience can bring in some quality leads. What would you rather have - 12 visits a day from your relevant audience or 900 visits from anybody? There are many directory style websites - choose carefully
So if you are an estate agent covering a local area for example - sponsoring your local community website at with a banner will target an audience of people interested in that area. If you are paying, always check out the number of hits and particularly the number of unique visitors to the site.
Another strategy is to trade reciprocal links with your non-competitors. So think laterally - If you are a hairdresser your target audience is probably interested in holidays, new cars, garden design, distinctive furniture, beauty treatments, eating out etc... Now find popular websites in your geographical area and offer to link to their website if they link to yours. From experience we would strongly advise against any automated backlinking programs. Smart Search Engines like Google are getting wise to these techniques and it can result in significantly harming your website ranking. Think of your visitor and only offer them genuinely recommended appropriate and relevant links.
Use Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) services
Search Engine Optimisation (or SEO) describes the service of using a professional computer consultancy to do all the leg work for you. Don't be taken in by cold telephone calls or emails promising to get you onto the first page of Google. How to spot SEO Scams