How Google (And Other Search Engines) Work
The first thing you should realize about Google is that Google is NOT the Internet. Just because your website does not show up on Google, does not mean it is not on the Internet. Your website can be published live on the Internet without being displayed in Google's search results for a particular keyword.
Don't like reading? Get the same info via video:
The way Google and other search engines display websites is this: Google has automated computer systems working around the clock that randomly visit websites all over the Internet, take snapshots of each page, and file them away in a massive database.
As part of taking a snapshot of each web page, Google's system reads every word and other content on a web page in order to determine the specific subject of the page. Google uses this collected data to determine which web pages to show, and in what order, for a particular keyword search.
In other words, Google's computer algorithms dynamically determine which web page on the Internet is the most relevant for a specific key word or key phrase and displays it first. It then displays the second most relevant page, and so on. The resulting list of web pages is known as a Search Engine Results Page (SERP).
A SERP can be made up of several sections:
- The top section usually consists of 3 or 4 paid text ads that relate to the keyword used to conduct the search
- If Google thinks the user is looking for a local business nearby, it will add a section below the paid ads called the Local Map Pack
- The main section in the middle consists of "organic" (non-paid) listing of web pages that are relevant to the keyword used to conduct the search
Example Google Search Engine Results Page (SERP)
Example Google Search Engine Results Page (SERP)
Example Google Search Engine Results Page (SERP)
How Do I Get My Site On Google?
First, you need to make sure your website has been indexed by Google. To find out if it is, type site:yourdomain.com into the Google search box, replacing yourdomain.com with your actual domain name. If you see a listing of your website's pages, then Google has already indexed your site and will continue to visit it occasionally to check for updates. If your website is not listed, submit it here: http://www.google.com/addurl. It will take 1 or 2 weeks for Google to visit and index your website.
Secondly, remember, Google will only display web pages that are relevant to the keyword being searched. The first step is to make sure your web page's text is related to the keyword in question. If it's not, chances are Google won't show it.
Third, just because your website does not show up on the first page, doesn't mean it is not showing up at all. Go to the bottom of the results page and click "Next" for page 2 and so on. Your website may be on page 2, page 82 or somewhere in between.
Okay, My Website Is On Google, But It's On Page 41! How Do I Get It To Show On Page 1?
Ah! You've asked the million dollar question. An entire industry has been built to answer this question and millions of dollars are spent each year to accomplish this! My first question for you is, "How much money do you have?" Just kidding, but seriously, the good news is you can pay to be on the first page of Google and it doesn't have to be a lot of money.
Paid Ads
The quickest and easiest way to get on page 1 of Google for a particular keyword is to pay for an advertisement. You sign up with Google, choose the keywords you would like to target, then "bid" (yes, like an auction) on how much you would like to pay every time your ad is clicked on. This is called "pay-per-click". The higher you bid per click, the higher your ad will appear to the top of the page.
You can also set a daily budget so that when your budget is met, Google will not show your ad any more that day so it won't be clicked on and you won't be charged. For most industries, this is a cheap and easy way to show up on Google's first page.
Be careful with Google AdWords. They make it very easy to sign up and start showing ads on their platform (Bing has a very similar platform). But if you don't know what you are doing, you can waste a lot of money with Google AdWords. Considering the fact that I happen to be a professional who is certified by Google in AdWords campaign creation, management and optimization, I suggest you leave it up to a pro to create and manage your Google AdWords campaigns.
If the professional or agency you hire knows what they are doing, they will more than pay for themselves when it comes to return on investment. For example, if your pro or agency charges you a fee of $1,500/mo to manage and optimize your AdWords campaigns, and they are doing things right, you should get much more than a $1,500/mo benefit from having hired them. There are literally hundreds of different settings and features you can add or tweak for any one AdWords campaign. If you don't get them all correct, you could waste or lose out on a lot of money each month. Hire a pro with proven results if you have the budget. If you don't have the budget to hire a pro to manage your AdWords campaigns, I recommend staying away from paid search advertising.
Getting on Google Organically
The other way to get on page 1 of Google and other search engines is the organic, or natural, method. These are the main results that show up below the ads or local map section on search engine results pages (see graphic above). These results cannot be achieved by paying money to Google - they are achieved with careful and long-term manipulation of many factors that Google uses when ranking relevancy. For example:
- Quality and Length of Your Page Content - Your website's pages should be full of unique and useful information that will benefit your ideal customer or client. The longer the better, as long as it is high quality.
- Quality and Number of Inbound Links - If other sites are linking to yours, especially big important sites that have content relating to yours, then Google will rank your site higher.
- Mobile Friendly Website - Are your website pages mobile-friendly? Your site should be optimized for mobile devices and easy to navigate so users on any device can find what they need fast.
- Page Speed - Your web pages should load fast on all devices. Slow loading web pages could negatively affect your ranking on Google.
- Keywords in Page Content - Obviously, if the keywords you are targeting actually appear on your site in the text and titles of the pages, you will rank better for those keywords.
- Authority of Domain Name - The longer you've owned the domain, the better. Also, include keywords in your domain name if you can.
- Secure Pages - Your web pages should load via https so they are secure. Google, and regular humans, like to see secure pages, even if you're not processing credit cards or obtaining personal information.
- URL Structure - "Pretty" URL's are better (https://cristersmedia.com/blog is better than https://cristersmedia.com/index.php&id=54). If your page URL's are human readable, that's a good thing.
...and many, many more!
Additionally, just because you rank well for one keyword or key phrase, does not mean you will rank well for a similar key word/phrase. And remember that Google is constantly updating their ranking algorithms so today's rankings may not equal tomorrow's rankings. Expect to see your site move up and down in the rankings on a daily or weekly basis - it may even drop from the rankings altogether. This is why SEO should always be ongoing.
Get a FREE Custom SEO Report for Your Website
This FREE 16-page report will give you specific insight on how to get your website ranking higher in as little as 30 days.
No more worrying about why your website is not ranking. Find out for sure here!
Comments
Post a Comment