- 7 min. read
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Matthew GibbonsSenior Data & Tech Writer
- Matthew is a marketing expert focusing on the SEO & martech spaces. He has written over 500 marketing guides and video scripts for the WebFX YouTube channel. When he’s not striving to put out some fresh blog posts and articles, he’s usually fueling his Tolkien obsession or working on miscellaneous creative projects.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8gajmgCYSc If you want to increase leads, sales, and revenue, your business needs to get found on Google. But how can you get your website to rank in Google search results, so more people can find and contact you? In this post, we’ll look at nine of the best tips for getting your website found on Google — outside of submitting your site to Google directly.
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1. Target relevant, long-tail keywords
The first and most straightforward way to get found in more Google searches is to make smart use of keywords. Keywords are the terms people search when they look something up on Google. When you include keywords in your web content, you have a better shot at ranking for them.
But you don’t want to use any old keywords. You want keywords that take into account user search intent — why people look them up. For that, they should be relevant to your business.
If you sell gardening equipment, target keywords related to gardening. Also, don’t aim for one-word keywords like “gardening,” as those will have too much competition to beat. Try to target long-tail keywords — those several words long — since they have less competition, and because they’re more specific to user search intent.
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To rank and get found on Google, you need to have something to rank. That’s why your website should feature some fantastic written content. When people search for things on Google, they’re frequently searching for useful information about a topic.
If you provide that information in a helpful and easy-to-understand way, they’ll be more likely to click on your content. As a professional in your industry, you’re uniquely qualified to give expert knowledge on subjects related to it. Just make sure that your content addresses the user search intent for whatever keywords you’re targeting with it.
For example, if you sell batteries and you’re targeting the keyword “how do batteries work,” ensure that your content actually discusses how batteries work, rather than talking about what makes your company’s batteries the best.
3. Craft engaging titles
Your written web content should be genuinely informative and useful to earn Google traffic, but that’s not all For it to get clicked on to start with, it needs to have a compelling title. The title of a piece of content actually affects its search engine optimization (SEO), or how well it ranks. A great strategy is to include your target keyword in the title, putting it toward the beginning if possible.
You should also make your title compelling with numbers and descriptive adjectives (e.g., “5 Incredible Tips for…”). Numbers jump out at people scanning a Google results page, and emotive adjectives make your content sound engaging, making users more likely to click.
4. Become more authoritative by earning backlinks
Something else that will improve your reputation in the eyes of both Google and searchers, and help you get found, is earning backlinks. Backlinks are when third-party sites in your industry link to your content as a source for their own. You can earn backlinks by reaching out to those websites and requesting that they link to you in their content.
Sometimes you can do this by finding broken links on their site and recommending that they replace them with links to your content. When you earn backlinks from high-authority sites, Google will view your site as more authoritative and rank it higher.
5. Set up Google Business Profile to appear in local search results
Another great tip for how to get your website found on Google is to set it up with Google Business Profile. GBP is a tool within Google where you can get your company displayed in local searches. If someone searches for a keyword that includes the phrase “near me,” Google automatically lists a local SEO 3-pack with Google Business Profile results.
When you set up your profile, you’ll be able to put in your phone number, address, hours, and other information. Then, when someone in your area searches for a term like “car repair shop near me” — if you’re a car repair shop — you’ll appear in the GBP results.
6. Optimize images for Google search
We’ve talked about using your textual content to improve your rankings in Google, but what about your images? Google’s algorithms can’t read images to see what they depict, so it may seem that images can’t affect your SEO. However, if you optimize your images for SEO, they can benefit your rankings.
The main thing you can do to improve your images is to use alt tags to describe what they depict. That will provide a piece of textual information that Google can use to understand and rank image content. Google’s ability to put words to the image will help it rank in Google Images, which offers yet another way for you to get found via more Google searches.
And having alt tags will make your site more accessible for those with screen readers, improving your user experience!
7. Increase your page load speed
Even if plenty of people find you on Google, it may still not help you. The real goal is getting site traffic from Google. And for that to happen, it’s very important that your website provides a positive user experience.
Page load speed is a big part of that. Users expect pages to load within two seconds, so you need to make sure that all of yours meet that expectation. Here are a few ways to increase page speed:
- Cache web pages
- Compress images
- Limit redirects
When you implement these tactics, your page speed will go up, and so will your site traffic.
8. Implement responsive design
Another way to improve the user experience on your site is to employ responsive design — in other words, to optimize your website for both desktop and mobile formats. With so many people now surfing the Internet on their phones, this is an important step to get right. Beyond just improving the user experience, responsive design is a must for your SEO.
Google ranks websites based on their mobile format, so if your site isn’t optimized for mobile, you won’t rank and get found on Google.
9. Launch a pay-per-click (PPC) ad campaign
Getting site traffic from Google isn’t always easy to do. Sometimes, you may find yourself in a situation where the best thing to do is to pay to have your content displayed. This is especially true if you want quick results while you’re waiting to establish organic rankings.
Enter pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. When you set up a Google Ads account, you can bid on keywords you want to target with your ads. Whenever one of those keywords is searched, Google will display the ads of the highest bidders for that keyword.
You only have to pay for an ad when someone clicks on it. When that happens, users will be directed to a landing page you create for the ad. It makes for an efficient and cost-effective way to make your web content appear in Google results.
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Matthew is a marketing expert focusing on the SEO & martech spaces. He has written over 500 marketing guides and video scripts for the WebFX YouTube channel. When he’s not striving to put out some fresh blog posts and articles, he’s usually fueling his Tolkien obsession or working on miscellaneous creative projects.
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WebFX is a full-service marketing agency with 1,100+ client reviews and a 4.9-star rating on Clutch! Find out how our expert team and revenue-accelerating tech can drive results for you! Learn more
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Get your Free SEO reportTable of Contents
- 1. Target Relevant, Long-tail Keywords
- 2. Write Informative and Compelling Content
- 3. Craft Engaging Titles
- 4. Become More Authoritative by Earning Backlinks
- 5. Set Up Google Business Profile to Appear in Local Search Results
- 6. Optimize Images for Google Search
- 7. Increase Your Page Load Speed
- 8. Implement Responsive Design
- 9. Launch a Pay-per-click (PPC) Ad Campaign
- Get Found on Google with SEO.com — the Best DIY SEO Tool
Optimize Your Website Faster with SEO.com
Effortlessly find opportunities and monitor performance with this user-friendly tool designed by the SEO experts at WebFX!
Try it for FreeTry our new free SEO checker at SEO.com
Boost your site’s search performance with our free SEO Checker. Analyze your website for optimization tips on titles, headers, content, speed, and more.
Get your Free SEO report