Why Your Website Isn't Showing Up Organically On Google

By Author: Henry S Williams
Total Articles: 12
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Fooling the biggest search engine on the planet is almost impossible today. Websites with questionable content and suspect tactics may incur the wrath of Google with terrible Google search results and an outright ban by the internet titan. There are a few reasons why a business might fail to see its website within Google results, and some of those reasons are innocent while others aren't so blameless.

Sometimes manipulative search tactics are in play (these methods attempt to bypass Google's rules for good website construction) while other problems stem from a website owner's failure to implement simple search requirements to gain standing in organic search results. Utilizing manipulative tactics was much easier just a few years ago, but attempting to use such methods today is definitely not recommended.

What to Avoid with Website Design
Google continuously refines how its spiders crawl and index the web, and website owners must remain knowledgeable about such changes and updates. A method that worked just fine a year ago could be something seen as subversive today by Google. Some habits, on the other hand, ...
... have always been bad news but haven't been so noticeable until very recently.

For example, stuffing a website full of the same keyword so that every other sentence has a particular phrase is called "keyword stuffing,", and this is bad news when it comes to search engine rankings. Google appreciates well-written and valuable content, and paragraphs filled with the same repetitive phrases aren't going to encourage great search engine results.

Using Simple Tactics for Better Results
Some of the most common mistakes a website might display include issues like failing to describe the content featured in a page. Titles for each page in a website must be accurate and shouldn't sound like a default description. Furthermore, each page needs to have a unique set of descriptors, or "tags." Using the same tags on every page makes it seem like a website doesn't have that much going on and that all the content is similar or lacks uniqueness.

Crafting a descriptive title that makes good use of keywords isn't difficult. Focusing on a brief and accurate title is all that Google requires. The process shouldn't take too much time. Additionally, creation of the page's description should be accurate and concise. Creating a set of "meta tags" for the page that tell readers exactly what the page contains without taking a ton of space to share such information will always result in a better reaction from Google regarding search engine standings.

The meta tags aren't the place to put full content for the website. These tags are brief descriptions and are supposed to be helpful to the reader. And this accuracy should also extend to the URLs of each page. A URL that has an ending like "1234.html" isn't at all descriptive. Changing that URL to something that resembles "BlueWidgets.html" is a much better way to tell Google what content that page contains.

Too Much of a Good Thing Isn't Good
It's important not to get too carried away with the URL of a website as a URL that's too long may actually reduce the effectiveness of a description. In addition, creating simple names for the directory pages within the website also offers value for search engine rankings. For example, a page nested within a directory that looks like "12345/BlueWidgets.html" isn't going to be as valuable as a URL that reads, "Products/BlueWidgets.html."

Finally, the overall navigation of a website should be simple and make sense. Creating a short and descriptive order for new pages makes it easy for visitors to know where they are within a website's architecture, and it also pleases Google's spiders when they crawl the website. Creating a "breadcrumb" style of pages within a website encourages visitors to stick around and explore.

There are a number of additional tactics required for fully effective website design, and improving overall search rankings does take time even after a full suite of optimized practices are inserted into a website. The idea of improving organic search results should be thought of much like growing a garden. It takes some time for the "seeds" of good website practices to grow and produce fruit.

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