Google is not only most popular Search Engines but it is one the best source to drive high quality and relevant traffic to your website or business blog. But the question is how to make website searchable on google.
In this blog post, I am going to share some of the best tips to optimize your website for better SEO. Search Engine Optimization is a method to optimize your website content for search engines.
It does not matter which CMS, are you using to run your website or blog. You can use any CMS (WordPress, Joomla, Drupal etc) to create a website. Just follow these best practices to make website searchable on google.
Related article: How to Create Google Friendly Websites.
I am using WordPress to run my blog and there are many free plugins available to optimize my content for SEO. Joomla, Drupal and other CMS users can find relevant modules and plugins as well.
12 Best Tips to Make Website Searchable on Google
1. Keyword Rich Domain Name
If you really want to maximize search engine-referred traffic, choose an easy to remember domain name.Make the domain name short, easy to remember, and easy to type. Choose a keyword-rich domain but don’t forget to post high-quality content as well. Buy Domain Name.
To learn more about domain name best practices, read How to choose a Good Domain name for your website or business blog.
2. Choose a Fast WebHosting Provider
Google hates slow websites and 1 in 4 people abandon a website that takes more than 4 seconds to load. Google counts website speed as a Ranking Factor. A good, reliable web hosting provider can make your website load faster. We recommend WestHost.
3. Submit your site URL
This one is the most important step, don’t forget to submit your website for inclusion in Google’s index. Make sure, google can index your website. If you are using WordPress, go to Settings > Reading and make sure Search Engine Visibility is unchecked.
4. Google Search Console
Sign up for Google WebMaster tools also known as Google Search Console and submit your website. Set your preferred domain name (WWW or non-www domain name). Read our SEO Guide to learn everything in detail. Submit a Sitemap of your website to Google.
If you are using Yoast SEO plugin, log in to your WordPress dashboard, go to SEO > XML SiteMaps to submit the sitemap. Google XML Sitemaps is another free and very popular plugin for WordPress.
5. Use Structured data
Try to Label your structured content to help users find pages relevant to their search. Structured data and schema are becoming more and more important for better search engine optimization.
WP SEO Structured Data Schema is a free WordPress plugin for adding schema for organizations, businesses, blog posts, ratings & more.
6. Optimize Website for Speed
Use gtmetrix to analyze your website’s speed. Install caching plugins such as WP Super Cache to make your WordPress website faster. If you are using any other CMS, find and install relevant plugins or modules.
7. Ensure Your Site Has High-Quality Information
Remember Content is king, publish high quality, original content on your website or business blog. Google hates duplicate content, avoid it. Publish new content regularly. Write for human beings not for bots. Use lists, blockquotes, small paragraphs to make your content readable.
8. Optimize Content For SEO
Use search engine optimization plugins or modules to optimize every blog post you publish on your blog. Target keywords. Add at least one image in every blog post. Name your images properly to make it easy for search engines to understand your images.
9. Place Keywords in Prime Locations
Identifying the keywords that people are likely to use in Google and other search engines (Yahoo, Bing etc), and for which you’d like to be found, is a critical step in search engine optimization.
Once you’ve identified your primary keywords, the next step is to add them into your web page.
Use the keyword in the post title, post or page URL, heading within content, meta description for image alt text and image name.
Repeating your keywords a number of times (but not so many times to annoy your readers, of course) throughout the page text is likely to boost your placement. Don’t repeat keywords too many times. Once or twice is ideal.
10. Encourage Others to Link to You
Write lengthy, in-depth, high-quality original content and inform others that you have published in-depth posts. Your purpose is to encourage others to link to you.
Links from other quality websites to yours are a critical aspect of search engine optimization. The more incoming links you have from credible websites and blogs (that is to say, websites that show up high on search engines themselves), the higher you will be listed in search results.
11. Search-Friendly Web Site Architecture
Install and activate SEO friendly theme on your blog. Use semantic markup for webpages. Validate HTML and CSS. Use a simple navigation menu structure and make sure there’s a simple link to every page on your site.
Use standard header and other HTML tags. Use h1 tag for the main heading of page or blog post. Use h2 or heading level two for sub-headings.
12. Responsive and Mobile Friendly Design
In many countries, the number of smartphones has surpassed the number of personal computers; having a responsive and mobile-friendly website has become a critical part of having an online presence.
Studies have found that 55% people use both their desktops and smartphones to go online. In the USA, 94% of people with smartphones search for local information on their phones.
77% of mobile searches occur at home or at work, places where desktop computers are likely to be present. Source
Install a mobile friendly and responsive theme.
Mobile-Friendly Test is a free service by Google to analyze your website.
Final Words
Apply these 12 techniques to make your website searchable on Google.