So, you built yourself a shiny new website, sat back, popped some bubbly and congratulated yourself on crossing something else off your to-do list. You tell your friends/colleagues, share it on Facebook and send a newsletter to all your customers (top tip – tip of the iceberg that is..)
Just one problem then, no one can find our new website.
Bummer.
Build it and they will come..
Um, actually, no. No they won’t. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news and all but it’s not that simple. Google won’t have a bar of it. And they don’t care how much it cost, how long it took and how stunning you think it looks. There. I said it.
So, how do you get your new website to show up in Google?
Well, there’s a story. I could write a book. But that’s not what you were expecting so i’ll keep it short (-ish) and sweet as all good blog posts should be. We’re going to assume that your site is built reasonably well, has no dodgy antics and is packed to the rafters with well-written and interesting content. If you can’t tick these boxes, do not pass go. Go back to the start and join us when you’re ready.
Here are few things you need to check (if your webmaster hasn’t taken care of it, or you don’t have a webmaster) to get your website to show up in Google search results:
-
Make sure Google can see your site
-
Submit your site to Google
-
Claim/update your Google My Business Page
-
Write more awesome and engaging content
I kid you not, there are times when you don’t want Google to see your website. You certainly don’t want them poking around before you’ve finished. That would just be embarrassing. So, when you are ready to show them, make sure you’re not blocking the bots. Check that your site isn’t set to noindex (a.k.a ‘go away Google, we don’t want you to see this’) and take a look at your robots.txt file to see if there are any stop signs there. If Google can’t see it, they can’t index it. If they can’t index it, you’re dooommmmed! (Drama Queen much?)
First, check this isn’t already taken care of. Type ‘Site:yoursiteurl.com” into Google. If you’re not there, well, you’re not there. Onwards then.
If your site is brand new, you’ll need to verify it’s yours via Google Search Console. Then, you can submit your website to Google. You’ll also want to submit your sitemap, so Google can see the structure of your new website.
Oh and while you’re at it, make sure you have Google Analytics installed. Even if you have no idea what that is or why you need it. I assure you, you do. Your next web developer will really struggle to make your site better if he/she cannot see what your users have been doing for the past however-long-it-takes till you’re ready to rebuild/refresh.
If you haven’t done this already, stop reading this post immediately and claim your Google My Business listing. It’s free. Yay. I won’t go into detail in this post, but feel free to go straight to the source and read how Google My Business works.
And make sure it’s full of the keywords you want to rank for. But there’s more. It also needs to be informative, useful and relevant. Something that will help your visitors out, resonate with them, solve their problem. Be helpful. Blogs/news feeds, call them what you will, are a great way to keep adding content to your site in a structured, useful and user friendly manor. Again, we’re assuming you have your cornerstone content sorted.
Summary
Ok, so that last one is moving into Search Engine Optimisation territory, but you get the idea.
There’s more you can do at the beginning of course, but these tips will give you a head start. Start as you mean to on. If you want people to find your website you have work at hard at it. You have to give value and listen to what Google tell us in order to get your new website to show up in Google search results. Good luck!
If all else fails, ask about our SEO Launch Pack. You just say the word and we’ll take care of it for you!