It’s no secret that having your business show up on the first page of a Google search is essential to driving traffic and customers to your website. But what if you’re not appearing in searches at all? We’re here to give you four reasons why your website may not be showing on Google, along with ways to fix it.
1. Your Website Isn’t SEO Optimized
The main reason for poor visibility on Google is an ineffective SEO strategy. If your website isn’t properly optimized, then it’s likely that it won’t appear in searches. Some ways to optimize your SEO include:
Keyword Optimization
Be sure to include target keywords throughout your website. If you’re running Google Ads, you also need to include your target keywords in your ad copy, headings, and landing pages.
Mobile Device Optimization
Google ranks websites with great landing page experiences for the user. If your website isn’t mobile-friendly, it’s unlikely it’s going to show on mobile search results – which is about half of Google traffic.
Be Sure Your Website Loads Quickly
People don’t want to wait more than a few seconds for a webpage to load. This can lead to a high bounce rate which will hurt your ranking on Google and make it harder for people to find your site in search results. You can make sure all pages are loading quickly by compressing images and including ALT tags, reducing plugins/scripts, and streamlining HTML/CSS code where possible.
2. Your Website Doesn’t Provide a Valuable User Experience
Keep in mind that Google only ranks websites with quality content in search results. You want to create content on your website that will be exactly what your customers are searching for. As mentioned before, be sure that your ad content, headings, and page titles are all directly relevant to your keywords and the information that your target audience will be looking for.
The same concept applies when linking to other sites from yours. Make sure the links are relevant and useful for users who are looking for more information about the topic on your web page. This helps build trustworthiness from both Google and other websites, which in turn helps Google rank your website’s quality. You should also utilize the same tip when other websites build links back to yours.
3. Your Google Business Profile Isn’t Verified
If you’ve created a Google Business Profile, one of the finishing steps is to verify the account. If your account is not verified, your visibility will be affected on Google. The different ways to verify your business include instant verification (the easiest and fastest option), by mail, phone, or bulk certifications (this only applies if you have 10 or more locations). You’ll also want to double-check that all of your information is correct. Google uses this information to make sure that your account is accurate so that it can provide users with the best local results.
4. Your Website is New
Finally, if your website is fairly new, keep in mind that it can take up to several weeks for Google to index your website. Google must review and analyze the relevancy of your content, links, etc. It takes time to build website authority, so if your website doesn’t show on Google yet, be patient. It should show up eventually.
Still Having Trouble?
Now that you know how to fix these four common reasons that impact your website’s visibility on Google, what if your website still isn’t showing up? There are so many different variables that come into play with search engine result rankings. Sometimes it can be tricky to figure out the exact reason. Maybe you don’t have the time to make sure your website is optimized correctly and efficiently. Or maybe there are a number of local competitors that are showing up before your business. It’s time to let the experienced team at Sera Group help you. We’ll conduct a free website audit and give you our professional recommendations on how to improve your ranking on Google. Get in touch with our local team today for tailored solutions that are guaranteed to drive results.
