Getting Google to Notice Your Website. Again. And again.
If you are anxiously waiting for Google to take a look at your website, this post is for you.
You may have recently created a new free website, and you’re waiting for it to come up in search results. Or you have made some updates to your site, but are still seeing the old version appear in search results. What gives?
Getting Cached…and Re-Cached
Every time a search engine crawler arrives at your site, it takes a snapshot, known as a cache. This is Google’s saved memory of your website. If you enter in a search “cache:yourwebsite.com”, you’ll see the version of your site as it appears to Google. Until your site gets crawled again, this snapshot won’t change, and the way your site appears in Google will remain the same as well.
There are 2 main ways to get Google to recrawl your site, to refresh its “memory” and update its cache.
1) Gain More Backlinks: Backlinks, or links to your site, are paths that search engines use to crawl from site to site. The more backlinks you get from quality websites, the more likely Google is to find and index your site.
2) Add New Pages: Search engines are endlessly hungry for new, quality content. This is how they provide users with the best, most relevant information out there. Otherwise, we’d all still be using our Encarta CDs, or even (*gasp*) hardcover encyclopedias.
Adding new pages to your website with new content is like giving your website a big red flag to hold up, signaling to the search engines that your site has been updated. Your new content will also cause people to revisit your site, sending out additional signals to the search engines that there’s something worthwhile going on. (You may even score some new backlinks!)
How to Get Started:
Step 1. Use the post How Do I Know Google Has Seen My Website? if you need help figuring out the last time you were crawled.
Step 2. Watch this video on how to add pages to a website.
Step 3. Add fresh, interesting content to your site, and make sure it’s easy-to-read. Break up large sections of text into paragraphs. Use subheadings and layout separators. The easier your content is to read, the more likely your site visitors will come back, the more likely Google will notice you. Here are some popular page types you might not have yet but are great ways to supplement your content:
- Testimonials. Many of the free website templates found at Wix have Testimonial pages – make use of them! Include some testimony from current or past clients, that demonstrates the value you offer users.
- Clients. Add a Clients page to your site, where you go into a little more detail about a particular client or patron of yours. Write a short story about how your business worked wonders for someone.
- News. Add a page for any important changes, and keep visitors updated as to the very latest in what’s going on with your business or website. Sort of a mini-blog inside your website.
- How To’s. This type of content can really get the SEO juice flowing. Provide something unique like a tutorial that users will appreciate. Make sure it’s related to your product/services.
Note of Caution
Do not create pages with spam-like content. For instance, creating an out-of-the-way page and filling it up with keywords. The search engines, especially Google, have developed sophisticated ways of detecting spammy websites, and if caught, you run the risk of getting your site removed from Google’s index entirely.
You don’t have to go crazy adding a new page every day. We suggest you make a schedule and spend some time enriching your site’s content on a regular basis.
We’re all suckers for novelty; Googlebot is no different.
Tagged with: Google . Links . SEO
