It’s frustrating to put massive effort into crafting a website only for it to get buried in search engine results. You probably feel like it should be showing up way higher than it does, but all you see is your competitors’ sites. What gives?
Well, don’t panic just yet because this situation can be rectified. You see, search engines are fickle things. They change search methodology and their algorithms constantly, which forces businesses to update their search engine optimization (SEO) strategies regularly.
Hang On…Search Engine Optimization?
Yep, search engine optimization. It’s the art of taking advantage of search engines’ searching mechanisms to achieve the top slots in results.
Now, this may sound like a few businesses can just game the system by learning what the engine is looking for and get to the top of the first page of results without having any substance or quality in their published work.
Thankfully, the algorithms aren’t quite that indifferent, and the businesses that get top results are, for the most part, getting there honestly. Remember, the internet will quickly figure out if a shady business that rips them off is getting to the top of search engine results pages.
The point is that search engine optimization is vital for businesses that want to be found online. Solid SEO isn’t an option any more than having a car is an option for driving in Formula One — it’s expected and necessary.
Of course, this is just the beginning of the discussion about why your site isn’t reaching the first page. Let’s go over some reasons why this might be happening to you.
You Have Zero Search Engine Optimization
As long as we’re on the topic of SEO, one reason you might not be showing up is that you haven’t employed any SEO strategy. There are proven techniques that boost websites higher in the search results, and your website needs to be employing them. These techniques include:
- Creating content with relevant keywords
- Having well-crafted meta descriptions
- Employing backlinks
- Blocking unwanted crawling
- Optimizing HTML tags
- Properly structuring your site’s data
Some of those terms and concepts may look foreign to you, and that’s okay! That’s why businesses usually hire SEO experts to handle their search engine optimization.
Proper SEO gets your site back onto a level playing field with competitors’ sites. Of course, it’s up to you to make sure that your products and services are up to snuff, but assuming they are, this optimization will get you into the game.
Your Website Is Too Fresh
If your finger barely left the mouse button that made your site go live before you searched for this article, you may just need to have patience. Once a site has been created, it can take anywhere from four days to four weeks for it to show up in search results — even with all the latest and greatest search engine optimization.
Just keep checking to see if your site is showing up. If you’re beyond four weeks and it still hasn’t shown up at all, there may be something else wrong.
Your Content Has the Wrong Keywords
You have to know what your potential customers are looking for. If you’re a bakery and your keywords are all about car dealerships, you can expect that your site will get buried in the results.
That’s an extreme example of poor search engine optimization, but the point stands. You or your SEO expert need to research the most searched for keywords and phrases in your particular market segment.
Just like the old business advice, “look for the hole in the marketplace,” you want to find keywords that people are searching for but that aren’t being used. Prioritizing these keywords will get you higher in the results.
To take the bakery example again, let’s say you want to sell cookies, and the keyword you’ve been using is “cookies.” Well, that’s a pretty broad word. If, on the other hand, you specialize in, say, vegan cookies, then “vegan cookies” would be a great keyword to use.
If that keyword is still too broad, then you may want a key phrase such as “tasty vegan cookies.” Yes, this example plays a bit on the stereotype that vegan food doesn’t taste good, but imagine some skeptic typing that into a search engine hoping to find vegan cookies that have flavors they like — and then your site shows up.
That key phrase may have just won you a customer.
Your Website Isn’t Old Enough
So you’re outside of the four-week waiting period, and you’re still not at the top of the results. That’s okay! Search Engine Optimization doesn’t guarantee instant results.
Good SEO is the foundation of how you’ll be located over time. As your site gains more content and your brand becomes more trusted, it will rise to the top. Additionally, you’re going to have competition employing the exact same tactics, so you have to work to stay ahead of them — and they may be more established than you are.
You Don’t Know What Customers Are Searching for
You need to know your potential customers’ “search intent.” This phrase means that you understand why they’re on Google looking for content in the first place.
A customer may be looking for information, such as “how to play the guitar.” This possibility is where content marketing is important because you could have blogs about such information as “the most important guitar chords” and “how to learn scales on the guitar.”
Customers may be searching for a specific brand’s site but maybe can’t remember the web address. So they might be looking for “Gibson guitars,” which is a term that competing businesses could take advantage of if they want to also show up in the search and try to woo customers to their products instead.
Some customers may also be searching for commercial reasons and want to find specific products on sites like Amazon without having to search through Amazon’s site itself.
Finally, their search might be transactional. In other words, they’re looking for ways to contact a business for some reason — perhaps to get store hours or request information about a product.
Helping Your Site Get Visible
If search engine optimization sounds confusing and complicated, don’t worry. You can have the experts at Get Visible take care of it for you! Don’t let your website get buried — contact Get Visible and become an absolute boss at SEO.
