Why Google is ignoring your website and how to fix it
/Do you know the most common question I am asked (after how can I grow my Instagram account - go here if you want the answer to that one!) is why isn’t my website on page 1 of google.
It is still a common question, because really - if you are not showing up on page 1, well as the saying goes, you are more or less invisible.
So I have created a quick post here on 5 things you can CHECK and CHANGE today to make sure you give yourself the best chance to appear on page one for your targeted search.
1. Check that your META data is in place and focus on the ONE key message for your page
This is where you can focus in on your key phrases, these are the items that people are likely to be searching on
- o you have a page title in place?
- Do you have a page description
- Are you using H1 tags around your page name?
- Do you have subtitles on the page and are you using H2 or H3 tags for them?
2. Are your images optimised correctly?
Images that are not at the right resolution, right size or load slowly cause 78% of poor on page SEO results according to a recent Raven Tools study.
- Are they too big and not correctly sized?
- Are you using ALT tags to describe them?
3. Does your page contain duplicated content?
Make sure that you aren’t repeating page content on ANY page of your website.
4. Are you linking to this page from other pages within your site? Do you link to others pages from this page?
Internal links are an often overlooked item on websites. Google treats sites favourably that link from one page to another within the body content. This is when we helpfully guide people where we want them to go, from a service page to a quote page, from a product page to the cart, from the about page, into the service page.
Make sure that you lead people where you want them to go - always. Pages should not just be a wall of text with NO link within them.
Just make sure that your links all work - Google doesn’t like broken links
5. Pages that have limited content
Google won't rank you well if you only have 1 page of content about an item. You can’t expect that just one paragraph of text will move your site above others that are more descriptive in their offers. So brainstorm a little more. Focus on the nature of the problem or question you are answering or solving.
You can write more - often you just have to sit back and give it a second (and maybe a third go!)
If you really want to dive into why your site is not working well - I recommend downloading and reviewing your site with Raven Tools. You can do this for free for up to 50 pages and often this is a great way to start your SEO journey.