You’ve hit publish on your new website or blog piece and are wondering why isn’t it showing up on Google? What’s going on?
We’ve put together a list of reasons why this might be.
Password Protection?
Some CMS systems have a password that stops the site being visible and ranking. Check that this doesn’t apply to you, particularly if it’s a brand new site.
Search Engine Visibility Button
On WordPress websites, check that the Search Engine Visibility button is unticked. Sometimes a developer may tick this box whilst the site is in development, particularly if the content is sensitive or time-bound. Don’t forget to “save changes”.
Your Website Is Too New
If you’ve only just launched your site, it can take up to a couple of months or so for everything to show and be tidied up. We’ve noticed that although a brand new first site can show quickly, it takes time for the organic search results listings to tidy up. What this means is that the meta descriptions or titles can need a couple of months to re-jig. Worth the wait though!
If you’re replacing an existing site, it does take time for existing content to update, if you’ve made changes.
Keep checking every week by entering in the search bar:
site: yoursitename.com – so to check TPG Design, we would type in:
site:www.tpg-design.com then hit return.
You should then see the pages that have been “churned” to date.
Site Maps
Submit your site maps to search engines. All sites should have a site map that auto-generates. Set up a Google Search Console account to help push the map through. This is a great tool that can help you with information on how your site is being found and what search queries are used.
If your site doesn’t get huge volumes of traffic every month, it will most likely take 3 months or so to get any meaningful data.
Keywords/Intent
Your site is up and running and you’ve published a blog article but it’s not ranking in your keyword search. It may be that there isn’t enough “intent” behind the copy. This means that the search engine doesn’t consider the article to be authoritative enough in a competitive product or search market. For example, if you have based your article on men’s shoes, that’s a huge topic with some big hitters in the market place.
Focus in on what makes your product or service special and use longer tailed keywords. Looking at the example above, something like men’s blue dancing shoes or men’s blue ballroom shoes.
Keyword research is one of the most important jobs you can do for your website. Once you’ve done your research and organised your content around it, it can be tempting to overstuff your content with keywords, but keep the reader in mind first.
We’ve noticed an increase in clients becoming more aware of how important their site rankings are. In particular, commissioning us to do a Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) review of their site that highlights any strengths and weaknesses.
An SEO review of your site, is a valuable bench marketing tool, particularly if you haven’t really done much to your website for a while, have re-jigged your services/products or are thinking of re-designing your site – may as well get it right from the start!
TPG Design offer a site SEO review which includes a report that you can then action any points yourself or commission us to.
Why not get in touch and get your SEO tip top!
You Might Like To Read:
Why Choose a Local Web Designer
How To Promote Your E-Commerce Website
