How To Be Found On Google

In this blog post, How To Be Found On Google, I will show you some very important steps to take to get those valuable customers signing up for your services.

You have your shiny new website!  It looks great, but it's lacking something....

Traffic! And, potential customers.

The power that Google holds in our daily lives is pretty self-explanatory. The fact that we do not even say “looking up on a search engine”, and instead use the term “Google it”, means that this is the ultimate platform for anyone to find anything.

Whether you want to look at DIY videos, search for your fever symptoms, finding movies and TV shows or look for any of the other million things on your mind, you simply head over to Google. While that is the perspective of someone finding stuff online, businesses need to look at it from their angle too. They need to discover how to be found on google. 

If you currently do not know how to be found on google then you need to pay close attention to everything shared here. And even if you are not new to these things, it is never a bad idea to refresh your memory. Also, with the constantly changing landscape of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and other factors affecting your listings, you might end up learning something new. Here are the things that we will be focusing on in this article:

1. Say Hello with Google Search Console

Google’s ability to find things across the vast expanse of the internet is no joke. However, regardless of its capabilities, it is still just a tool and it too needs help sometimes. And if you think about it, wouldn’t you want to provide as much help as you can? If you are figuring out how to be found on google then you have to bring everything to the table. Yes, Google will be able to find your website somehow on its own but with a few quick steps, you can make the process a lot easier. The direct result is a better ranking for your website on Google.

Google has a dedicated setup called Google Search Console where you can provide information about your pages to Google. This is pretty much like taking the first step and introducing yourself to someone. That someone is Google’s search bots that are responsible for finding your site when someone raises a relevant query. You can submit the complete sitemap to Google Search Console and let it worry about giving you a bump.

When I create a website for a client I always use the plugin Yeost SEO which helps with this, and many other aspects of getting found on Google.  You can read their article on how to submit your sitemap Google Search Console here.

2. Spread the word (links, actually)

Of course, submitting your site is not the last step in your efforts on how to be found on Google. To promote yourself properly, one of the tried and tested methods is to leave bread crumbs all over the internet. These figurative crumbs are links to your website’s pages that you leave on other websites and forums. There are many ways to do that and one of them is to simply ask for help from influential sources. We are not asking you to approach the president himself but maybe someone who has some credibility on the internet.

If this is someone who you are friends with then you can benefit from it a lot and also save money. However, even if that is not the case, you can find famous blogs, YouTube channels, and social media profiles who have followings in the millions. These people charge a fee for promoting your content on their platforms. With millions of people listening to it all the time, some of them will come your way eventually.

3. Effective keyword strategy

Look anywhere and you will find every other person talking about keywords in relevance to how to be found on Google. That does beg the question of what they are and what relationship they have with how to be found on Google. Keywords are phrases of about 3-6 words on average that people mostly type on Google’s search bar.

These phrases tell you exactly what a person wants to look for on the internet. Let’s say a person is looking for cat food and you sell cat food too. However, there are so many other cat food sellers as well so how to be found on Google first?

The answer is quite simple; a keyword strategy that lets Google know that you are a cat food seller who is suitable for the person searching for it. You have to use the phrase that your customer will write to look for cat food. However, it is not as simple as adding the word “cat food” a few times on your website. You have to think like a customer too and imagine how you go about looking for things on Google yourself.

Often, the customer is looking for something very specific but writing generic words, so you have to figure out how you can attract them to your site. This often involves using multiple relevant keyword iterations to let Google know repeatedly that you have what the person needs. Once Google sees you as the most relevant website, you will automatically reach the top page results. There are also some key places where you should always put keywords, especially if it is a blog. These include the following:

The list goes on as well but covering these key places should give you the maximum boost.

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4. Meta tags are important

You may scream keywords at the top of your lungs but isn’t there a better way to get Google’s attention? Well, there is one way for you to get Google to notice you better and that is through meta tags. The blue colored text you see in Google is a combination of meta tag information.

Another thing that you see is the small text passage under the blue heading. This part is the meta description. This is not something that you will see on any of your web content. However, it is very useful for the person searching for your content as they see it on Google’s results.

The right description will let the reader know that you have what they are looking for. On the other hand, adding keywords to this part allows Google to rank it higher as well, thereby increasing the chance of the reader actually seeing your link.

Yeost SEO let's you compose your own meta description using their free plugin.

5. Prioritize mobile users

There is a big chance that you are reading this article about how to be found on Google, on a mobile phone right now. Statistics show that approximately half of all internet traffic around the world comes from different mobile devices like smartphones, tablets, etc. With a much smaller display as compared to a full PC, a mobile user wants information presented in a “mobile-friendly” manner.

No one can zoom in on different parts of a desktop-sized page as that would be too much effort. The solution is to simply make your website mobile friendly and there is native support in a lot of website development tools like WordPress, Joomla, etc.

However, you cannot stop simply by enabling the “mobile-friendly” feature on your website management tool. You have to make sure that everything looks the way it should on the phone and then go for the next step. Called the “micro-moment”, it is when a person suddenly picks up their mobile device to get an instantaneous solution to a need or want. If they visit your website and you present the perfect looking solution to them, you are likely going to get a sale as well.

Here is a list of things to do to make your content mobile friendly.

6. Display Quality, Optimised Images

Images can be an important addition to your website, when used correctly.  

They can improve the user experience but only if they are appropriately optimised for the web.  I created an entire blog post dedicated to showing you how to find and display great images on your website so I won't repeat myself here.

7. Your location makes a big difference

If you are a business that provides services in your local area, letting Google know can be very helpful for your business. Also called local SEO, this is when you add geographical elements in your keyword strategy and register your location.

Google has a complete section called Google My Business (GMB) where you provide the location, and many other details of your business to Google. So if we continue the search for cat food, if a person wants to look for cat food in Killarney and that is where your business operates, providing your information to GMB can give a huge boost to your ranking.

To take full advantage, make sure you provide every information that you possibly can. This includes business name, location, phone number, web address, timings, and some other elements.  

Let's summarize the most important take actionable tips:

Stay up to date

The points described here are the things that provide a good foundation on how to be found on Google. Implementing them properly will benefit you and your business/blog a great deal. However, always be on the lookout for new information because this landscape changes continuously.

Observe any successful business and you will end up seeing all of these things implemented in one way or another. So if you want to take the lead, start planning on how you can take this all the way and create the perfect strategy on how to be found on Google by your prospective visitors and customers.

Check out my other useful posts to help you create or improve your website.