Making the website easier to find in Google: 10 tips

Making your website easier to find in Google starts with the realization that it's all about the visitors. You want to appeal to the right people, help with information and have action taken on your site. If you keep the visitor in mind when setting up your website, then Google will follow.

In the Google Webmaster Guidelines Google clearly states: do not optimize your website for us, but for your visitors. The only thing Google wants is to give their users an optimal experience. That means that when you search for 'findability in Google', you get search results that really help you further. If you click on a search result and two seconds later you click back again, then Google knows: that site has not helped.

Google tip 1: register your website with Google Webmaster Tools

By that I do not mean to submit the URL of your website to Google, but to verify with Google Webmaster Tools. You can pass on all sorts of important information to Google, such as the country on which your .com website is targeted, for example. And you can submit your site index, so that Google can fully index your website.

Google tip 2: think of blind visitors

Almost two percent of the Dutch have a visual impairment. But they also used the internet. How do they do that? With software that reads everything. This is done smartly: first the title of the page, then the headers and then the text. From an image, the tag reads the alt image. However, if your image is called 'DSC345.jpg', then blind visitors will say nothing. A cup of 'Kaasmarkt' is less clear than 'Kaasmarkt Alkmaar' or 'Kaasmarkt Hoorn'. If you take blind visitors into account, you will automatically optimize your website for Google and you will be easier to find.

Google tip 3: visitors use smartphone or tablet

More than 50 percent of Google's search traffic goes via a smartphone or tablet: that is mobile traffic. Is your website mobile-friendly? That means that you have a separate mobile website version or that your website is responsive. Google has it this test in front of. If someone is looking for a mobile device and your website is not mobile friendly, then Google will not show your website as quickly. Also consider your images: detailed photos quickly become unclear on mobile. A better experience on mobile also ensures better findability.

Google tip 4: a fast website

A slow website: nobody will be happy about that. Reason for Google to place fast websites above slow websites in the search results. Google also has a super handy test for this: Google Speed Test. Specify your website and you will see how fast your website is via mobile and desktop. A score lower than 70 is really a reason for action. Send the link to your website builder to pick this up. Do it yourself? For WordPress the free helps W3 Total Cache plugin, this allows you to set the loading of the various components (caching), so that not everything is loaded immediately and the visitor sees your website faster.

Google tip 5: a secure website

What makes your website safe? An HTTPS in your URL, as you can see at the top: https://bloeise.nl. As a visitor you have a secure connection with this website. A hacker cannot see everything you do on a secure website. Google finds that very important and values websites with HTTPS higher than websites with only HTTP. Setting up a certificate is fairly easy with most hosting parties. Otherwise ask your website administrator. Bloeise can also help with this through partners.

Google tip 6: assume a need

Many websites want to sell something. You do sales by understanding your customer: what does he want to know? What questions does he have? What concerns does he have? What other solutions does he have for his problem? By filling in these questions, your website will improve. A good way to do this is to step into the skin of your visitor:

1. Think of your customer: is it a he or a she? Age? Education? Work? What problem does he want to solve? What questions are there about this need?
2. Search for your website as a customer. Which keywords does he use? Which websites are shown? Which search results best match the search? How does your own website come across?
3. Visit your own website. Are you directly addressed as a target group? Or are you confronted as a senior with photos of families? How quickly do you find answers to your questions? What information do you still miss? Would you buy something now on your own website?

Google tip 7: bring your information in the right form

Information has many forms. On this page you will find a blog with illustrative images. You can also tell your story in a downloadable PDF, in an infographic, an interview, a schedule, audio, video, an embbed tweet, a photo series…. Another form can make your story stronger and especially clearer. It also makes your website easier to find, because Google likes to show different forms of content such as images and video. There is also less competition on Google.

Google tip 8: make your information discoverable

Make your website easier to find in Google by making your information easier to find for your visitors. That means: a search bar at the top, being able to browse by category, tags to find similar blogs and not entire blogs on your blog page but only the title with intro. For an e-commerce site with products, that means multiple filter options based on price, availability, supplier and so on. And you make product pages clearer by working with tabs. All these extra ways to make your information easier to find, results in better visibility in Google. Is your website very outdated and you have no good options to make your content easy to find? Then it's time to get a new one to have a website made.

Google tip 9: use social media

Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are commonly used social media in the Netherlands that ensure relevant clicks to your website. But social media is also important for Google: it tells Google if your website is popular. Just think about it: Google wants to provide relevant information. An article that is widely shared on social media will be more relevant than an article that is not widely shared. With the free tool Hoot Suite for example, you can schedule tweets: useful for promoting a blog article in various ways.

Google tip 10: link building with relationships

Links to your website are like voting in an online election. Google finds inbound links to be very important, but they must come from relevant websites. So how do you get relevant links? When your links are considered a relationship, you can start by looking at your offline relationships. For an offline relationship it is logical to also design this online. So which partners, suppliers and customers do you have? Do they already have a link to your website? If not, you can easily ask them when you speak to them or in a friendly e-mail.

Outsourcing link building?

Do you want more links to your website? Link building is crucial, but also a profession in its own right. That's why many companies choose to outsource link building.

This SEO article was previously on MarketSun.com; that label was lifted from 1 May 2017;