Category: SEO

  • How to do On Page SEO | Template and Checklist (PDF)

    How to do On Page SEO | Template and Checklist (PDF)

    One of the most important things that you need to learn first about content writing is how to do on page SEO for your articles. In order to keep your website in the best shape and make your pages and content relevant for both users and search engine crawlers, you need to perform a number of optimizations.

    At the end of the article, we have compiled an on-page SEO checklist that can guide you through this process and a PDF template that you can download as a sample.

    >> Jump to Checklist and On-Page SEO Template


    For good measure it’s always best to adhere to the Google Guidelines for SEO, but as it may sound super technical at first, here’s a breakdown of what Google wants from your website and content.

    Let us first talk about writing content.

    Writing Content

    Alright, so you have done your keyword research and picked the appropriate terms and strategy to get a good traffic volume and reflect your business and now you need to create content around them. That’s the easy part, and what’s the hard part?

    Ranking on the first page. 

    In fact, studies show that most people don’t go beyond exploring the first 3 websites that pop up for any given search query. Think of yourself as the one putting in that query, would you open the 5th or 6th or the 8th link on a search page? Most likely not.

    This is why it is crucial to be at the top.

    In order to rank high, the first thing you need to do is analyse your competitors. Check your competition that is ranking for the keyword you are targeting. Read the content and find out where it is lacking.

    Do you think that a certain thing should have been included in the content? Great! Put it in your content.

    Answer questions that you feel are not being answered in your competitor’s post and make better content yourself. Make the content as engaging as possible. Use powerful sub-headings that answer queries answers.

    This can also put you in one of the featured snippets on the first page, even if you are not in the first position for the desired query. More about this later on in the post.

    Make Lengthy Content

    You wish to write something about something? Make it informative and long!

    Make the content as informative as possible. If you open most of the top results in a search engine, you will find out that most pages are well-written and well beyond the 1500 words mark, with some of the content being as long as 4000 words.

    This goes on to show how much Google values lengthy content that can explain its topic in detail. Give as much detailed information as you can. People stay on your website for reading content that is truly valuable and unique. I

    If you already know what your competitor’s content lacks in, you can easily fill in the gaps and make content that is better than your competitors.

    Writing lengthy content also allows you to cover a lot of different topics on the same page. Google would rather want you to pack related topics into one page than make a different page for each.

    Due to this, always avoid writing thin content that is not informative enough.

    Google would prefer you to make one strong content rather than making multiple thin variations of the same topic divided into several pages.

    Avoid Duplicate & Scraped Content

    Duplicate content, as the name suggests, refers to content that is copied from another domain, or from another page within a single domain. Taking it a step further, ‘scraped’ content is content that is used by a person, without the permission or authorization of the owner/author, and publishing it under their own name.

    While duplicating or copying content from elsewhere might not directly impose a penalty on you, it is highly discouraged. It takes out the credibility out of your website and in most cases, Google only shows one single result of the duplicated contents.

    This is to avoid people navigating to the same content over and over again, without gaining any new information.

    If you have multiple pages with the same content, use the rel=canonical tag to point the crawler to the original source of the content. This way it will know that it contains duplicated content from another page.

    Cloaking

    Cloaking is a practice of hiding content under the HTML part of your website, which is not visible to the human visitor but can be detected by a search engine.

    This practice is often used by users to try to mislead the crawlers into detecting lengthier content.

    The practice can be both good or bad, and Google ‘might’ rank you for it, if it enhances the user experience.

    Keyword Stuffing

    Keyword stuffing has been a consistent part of on-page SEO and is considered one of the best SEO practices. However, in today’s times, keyword stuffing is nothing but one part of your strategy. You might have heard several people saying that you need to mention your keyword at least X times in your content.

    True, mentioning your keyword in your content is important and it makes your content appear relevant to that keyword. Though, Google not only checks the density of the keyword that has appeared in your content, but also other key terms that are relatable to the keyword.

    If these terms, known as LSI keywords, are present in your content and can be seen used in support of your original keyword, Google deems your content to be relevant and well-written.

    There are no ‘X times’ you need to insert your keyword into your content. You may keep it to a good 2-3% of your content length as long as you are writing informative content. While writing, the use of LSI keywords can be a good indicator for crawlers that your topic is covering different aspects of the topic and is using relatable terms.

    Auto-Generated Content

    Let me just say that I’m not against those using AI writers. I’m just not advocating the use of an AI writer alone and not editing or fact-checking a piece before publishing.

    The practice of auto-generating content through a program is often the lowest quality SEO practice one can perform. Auto-generated content is used for manipulating search engines and makes little sense to the readers. It is often robotic and is created by spinning and changing existing content by modifying synonyms.

    This content can neither be quality-based nor reliable. It provides no value to the user as its unreadable in most cases. With machine learning growing, auto-generated content has been getting better and hard to detect but it’s still a practice that should not be too relied on.

    But you know what, I also believe that auto-generated content can be useful as a guide if you have no idea how to start your article. The best way to use autogenerated content is just to use it as a jumpstart and insert a human touch into your pieces than just letting the AI write for you.

    Create Specialized Content Based On Locations

    So you are in a business that spans several locations or cities. When creating your website, it is important that you mention all your primary contact details on the right pages. Mostly, this information can be found in the header or footer section of your pages, especially on the “Contact Us” page.

    The information must be displayed prominently and accurately to the user.

    For offices at more than one location, you can create separate pages, uniquely describing the services at each different location. For example, for City Abc and City xyz, you can create separate pages, like domain.com/abc and domain.com/xyz.

    Besides optimizing your content, there are several best SEO practices that you can perform to upscale your on-page SEO. These most typically deal with HTML tags that are responsible for showing your page data to the crawlers and the search engines.

    Header Tag

    Header tags are HTML tags that are used to define the headings on your page. These go from <h1> to <h6> in decreasing order of importance. The H1 tag is the main tag, which is used to describe the main heading of your page.

    The H1 tag is usually derived from the title of the page. From H2 to H6, all are used to describe sub-headings on a page.

    <h1> The Main Heading </h1>

    <h2> Level 1 Sub-Heading </h2>

    <h3> Level 2 Sub-Heading</h3>

    <h3> Level 2 Sub-Heading </h3>

    The header tags can be used to differentiate sub-sections of your page and are a great indicator for crawlers. These can divide your pages according to the importance and sub-headings of your topic.

    The primary use of the header tag should be limited to discussing what the upcoming paragraph or media will be about. Other than this, it should not be used for buttons or phone numbers, or any such element.

    While the main heading enclosed in H1 provides the topic of the page, the H2 sub-heading is more specific in what is going to be discussed, and with H3, we move into even more specific topics.

    Title Tag

    The Title tag is an HTML element that describes the title of your page. It is enclosed within the head tag and what you write in it appears as the title for your page in the browser as well as search engines.

    <head>

       <title>Your Page Heading</title>

    </head>

    Your title must be descriptive of the page content. The same titles for two pages from a single domain may arise confusion, which is why it is important to create a unique title. The title tag is what will show for your page in search results

    This article for example, “How to do On-Page SEO | Template and Checklist” is the title of the page.

    Similarly, the Title tag will appear when you share your link elsewhere, this goes the same if you’re sharing a blog post on another platform like this:

    Title Tag Optimizations

    • Significance: Your title is reflective of your page’s content and will be the first thing users read in SERPs. A good title can drive users to your website and make them read your content. Make your title informative and use modifiers as well as adjectives, such as “top”, and “best” to make your title look ‘powerful’.
    • Keyword in Title: Also, make sure that your main keyword is included in the title. This can help both the search engines and users better understand the intent of your page. The closer your keyword is to the front, the more your chances are of getting a higher position and getting higher click rates.

    Quick Tip: Try starting your title from your main keyword, as long as it does not look unnatural.

    • Length Optimization: The length of your title should fall in the range of 50-60 characters, as most search engines only allow up to the first 60 characters to be displayed on the SERPs. Beyond that, your title will be cut off with an ellipsis “…”. However, it is not a concrete practice that you must always perform if your title provides valuable information.
    • Branding: Everyone loves branding, and why not? Most people mention their own brand name at the beginning or at the end of the title. It creates awareness of the brand publishing the content and trustworthiness for recurring readers.

    Meta Description

    Similar to the Title tag, Meta description tag are HTML elements that describe the page content to the search engine and is shown in SERPs for the user. The meta description provides a short summary of your page and is mentioned below the title tag in a search result.

    These are also enclosed within the head tag of your HTML document.

    <head>

       <meta name=”description” content=”summary of your page”/>

    </head>

    This meta description looks like this on the search page:

    In the above image, Google automatically fetched a “description” of the content. This feature was rolled out last 2020, but as a good practice, you can set your own meta description just in case Google decides to use it, right?

    In most cases, Google may put a more relevant description than the one already mentioned by you, from your page’s content. Nonetheless, you should still always provide a default meta description for each page.

    • Optimize Description: The meta description should provide a quick summary of your key concept in it. Try to write something that engages the user and makes him think that you have the right solution for his/her search query.

      You can also use your main keyword in the description for boosted results.
    • Description Length: Your meta descriptions should be around 150-200 characters long for them to display on the SERP appropriately. Any more than that and it will be cut off.

    URL Structure

    URL is the short form for Uniform Resource Locator. URLs are addresses for HTML pages on the web. Just like title tags and meta descriptions, these URLs are shown in the browser and the search engine results pages.

    The naming and formatting of this can highly affect your click rates. A well-formatted URL is easy to identify for users and also crucial for search engines in evaluating your pages.

    Organizing Page Names

    Search engines promote the use of unique URLs for each page of the website so that they can be displayed in the search results properly. However, it is also important to use clean URLs that can convey the topic to the reader, without visiting the URL. For example,

    domain.com/clothing/mens-clothing

    domain.com/pid?=7864

    The first URL conveys not only more information to the user, but it is also easy to remember for most. It clarifies the information that is contained on the page and does not confuse the user. Keep in mind that user interaction is your primary motive.

    Make it convenient for people to look up and search your URLs.

    Avoid Nesting Under Wrong Folders

    Another thing to make sure of is your pages are not nested under the wrong or irrelevant folders. The folder’s name is reflective of the type of pages under it. This also provides an indication to the search engine. Similarly, a news-based website may put its content in time-indicative folders, but it might not be appropriate for a blog to do so.

    All in all, short URLs are preferred by both search engines and witness a better click rate from the users. This gets us to our next topic, URL length.

    URL Length

    Studies show that shorter URLs have better click-through rates than their longer counterparts. People seem to prefer URLs that are shorter and descriptive rather than the ones which are heavily nested. For example,

    domain.com/food-items/bakery/cakes/blueberry-cake

    OR

    domain.com/bakery/blueberry-cake

    In most cases, people will prefer the second one. And just like title tags and meta descriptions, if the URL is too long, it will be cut off in the SERP. Try to keep your URL short and descriptive enough to guide the user properly.

    You can minimize length by including fewer words in the page title and removing any unnecessary subfolders. This will also make your URLs easier to copy and paste.

    Placing Keywords in URL

    When targeting a keyword, you can put it in the URL to boost the relevancy of the page. However, you need to make sure that you only put it in the URL, if it naturally fits in there. If you are going overboard and stuffing your URL with multiple keywords, the search engine might detect it.

    This is the case when you have multiple folders that are named in relation to the page. If you have your page under various nested folders and they are optimized for your targeted keyword, your URL might appear to be keyword-stuffed.

    This practice can make you appear manipulative and spammy. Your URL should look natural and as mentioned in the point above, try to keep your URL short to avoid this.

    HTTPS Protocol

    The “s” in “https” stands for secure. Google recommends that all websites run on a secure protocol i.e. HTTPS. To make sure that you are using the HTTPS protocol, you need to obtain an SSL certificate. These certificates are used for encrypting data.

    These ensure that the data passed between the browser and web server remains private. For sites running on HTTP, Google Chrome displays a “not secure” sign causing the sites to appear untrustworthy and unreliable.

    Additional Tips

    • Whenever modifying or creating specific URLs for your page, try to avoid the usage of plus signs (+), spaces (%20), or underscores (_). Instead, use a hyphen character (-) for separating words in a URL.
    • Always avoid having case-sensitive URLs. Always opt for a lowercase URL approach.

    Internal Linking

    A website’s crawlability highly depends on its internal linking structure. When you link to different pages under your own website, you ensure that the crawlers are able to find all your website’s pages. Thus, all your pages are crawled equally and it also helps users to better navigate through your website.

    A great example of internal linking is how Wikipedia links different topics on one page.

    Links that are required to be clicked, such as from a drop-down menu, are mostly hidden from search engine crawlers. If your internal pages are linked through this type of approach, your pages might never get indexed. Due to this, it is vital to have other ways to connect to the pages.

    These might help you about internal linking:

    Anchor Text

    With the use of Anchor text in HTML, you can link text to other pages. The following is an example of anchor text in HTML

    <a href=http://www.domain.com/”></a> – Example: http://www.domain.com/

    <a href=http://www.domain.com/” Title=”Keyword”>Keyword</a> – Example: Keyword

    The anchor text indicates the type of content that is available on the destination page. It is an indication for search engines that if I link to another page with the anchor text “apple pie”, the targeted page will be about apple pie.

    However, you need to make sure that you don’t go overboard with the practice. Overuse of internal links using the same keyword anchor can appear as if you are trying to manipulate the rankings.

    Hence, it’s better if you make anchor text fit naturally in your content.

    Link Volume

    Another thing to take care of when using anchor texts is the number of links on a given page. Having too many links on your page will not directly impose a penalty on you, but will affect how Google evaluates and ranks your pages.

    The more links that appear on a page, the lesser authority they pass to their targeted pages. A page can have only a limited amount of authority, and if you end up linking too much out of it, each link will get lesser authority passed.

    Moreover, aside from passing authority, links also serve as a way for the user to navigate better through the website. While you optimize your links for search engines, you will also get the added benefit of making better navigation for users.

    Use links that are helpful and provide quality to the search engine as well as the user. Spamming too many links in your content will take the readability value out of it.

    Redirecting Pages

    Renaming or removing pages is a common occurrence, but when you do it, it is important that you update all links pointing toward that page. At the very least, you need to redirect all the URLs to the new location. However, it is highly advised that you update all internal links so that the users and crawlers do not have to go through redirects to arrive at the targeted page.

    Moreover, having too many redirects may affect your on-page SEO. As stated by Google, you should avoid chaining redirects, ideally no more than 3 and fewer than 5.        

    Image Optimization

    Images occupy the most space in a site and are the culprits of most slow web pages. The best way through which you can solve it by compressing your images. There are various solutions when it comes to image compression, you can try testing options like “Save for Web” in Photoshop, image sizing software or compression tools, such as TinyPNG or Canva.

    Knowing which image format can exhibit your image intent best is also important.

    • GIF – To be used when you need to use an animated image
    • JPEG – When you don’t have to preserve high image resolution
    • PNG – When you have to preserve high image resolution
      • PNG-24 – When your image has a lot of colors
      • PNG-8 – When your image does not have a lot of colors

    If you own an e-commerce website, your thumbnails might slow down your page’s loading speed. Most people leave your page within 3 seconds if it’s not loaded properly. Due to this, it is essential that you compress your images and optimize your images.

    Alt Text

    Alt text or alternative text describes the image to the visually impaired through screen readers. It is important to have alt text descriptions for an image so that a visually impaired person can understand what the picture depicts on your web page.

    Search engine crawlers also use alt text to better understand the purpose of your image, which provides an additional benefit of expressing better image context to Google. However, you need to make sure that your alt text does not read robotically. It should be natural, just like your content. For example,

    <img src=”weddingbride.jpg” alt=”A bride moving towards her wedding stage”>

    Improving Readability of your Site

    Your site may contain the best-written content, but without proper formatting, your audience might never be able to enjoy it! It is important to follow some principles that boost the readability of the overall site. These are as follows:

    • Headings: Break up your content with helpful headings. These can help the users navigate through all the sections of the page, especially when the user is looking to read a particular section rather than the whole content.
    • Bullet Points: Bullet points provide a great way of providing quick and accurate information to the users.
    • Text size & color: Avoid fonts that look too big or too tiny. Google recommends that you use a 16-point font to make your text readable, even on mobile. The text color should complement the page’s background to promote readability.
    • Paragraph Breaks: Avoid writing walls of text without any break. People prefer reading shorter sentences and a big piece of content might get totally ignored, if not divided in the right way. Shorter paragraphs encourage visitors to stay and read more of your content.
    • Supporting Media: Always try using appropriate media, such as videos or images that complement your content or can help describe a related topic.
    • Bold & Italics: Make use of bold and italics wherever applicable to put emphasis on particular things. Correct usage of these formatting options can help you highlight key points of your content.

    By better formatting your site and its content, you provide a better user experience to the readers. Moreover, it can also boost your page’s ability to show in feature snippets or better known as “position 0”

    Featured Snippets

    A featured snippet is the unofficial “position 0” which appears at the top of a SERP. There is no special way or code that you can insert for your page to show in this place.

    What you can do is structure your content to better answer a query intent and you will eventually be there. This is what a featured snippet looks like (as shown in Google):

    For any given query, if you are providing a suitable result in a well-formatted manner, your chances of getting featured in a snippet increase. For example, for a query searching to “learn SEO”, you can create a bullet list of points and if Google deems it good, you might have your full list of points featured in the snippet.

    On Page SEO Checklist and Final Words

    By following the above-mentioned on-page SEO checklist, you can create a website that is well-optimized for both users and search engines. Not only will it affect your search engine rankings and crawlability, but also enhance the experience of users when they visit your website.

    Here’s the checklist to guide you when optimizing every post/page on your website:

    This may look tedious but we’ll have future posts that will guide you on how to optimize for these with or without plugins!

    For now, you can download the sample template for on-page SEO.

    Download this On Page SEO Template for your future reference

    Remember, that the practice of on-page SEO is an ongoing process. The process has constantly evolved with the introduction of various algorithm updates in the past and will keep growing in the future.

  • Not Getting More Traffic To Your Website? Here’s a simple reason.

    Not Getting More Traffic To Your Website? Here’s a simple reason.

    We’ve all been there. You’ve poured your heart into creating a beautiful website, filled it with content, and maybe even shared it on social media.

    But despite your efforts, the traffic just isn’t coming. It’s frustrating, right? You’re left wondering, “What am I doing wrong?”


    Here’s the hard truth: the problem might not be your content itself, but the lack of a clear strategy behind it.

    Writing content without a plan is like setting off on a road trip without a map—you might move forward, but you’re unlikely to reach your destination. Let me show you how a content strategy can transform your website’s performance, using a real-life case study as an example.

    The Challenge: A Stagnant Website

    This case study features an old service-based website created last 2019 with a few content that seems to be ranking some of its pages already , but seems to be getting little to no clicks on most days for years now.

    One of my clients came to me with a service-based website they’d launched back in 2019. Over the years, they’d published a handful of blog posts, and some of their pages were ranking for certain keywords. But despite this, their traffic was minimal—some days, they’d get little to no clicks at all. After five years, they realized something needed to change.

    Here’s what their website looked like before we started working together:

    • No Google Search Console Profile: They’d never set one up, which meant they had no way to track their performance or identify issues.
    • Low Traffic: Despite having some ranking pages, their overall traffic was stagnant.
    • No Clear Strategy: Their content was scattered, with no clear focus or alignment with their business goals.

    Their primary objectives were:

    1. To rank for location-based keywords.
    2. To target a specific niche keyword.
    3. To create an ebook and launch an email campaign.

    The following are the website’s metrics before the optimization.

    Domain Age
    Baseline Ahrefs Data feb 2024
    baseline GSC metrics of website

    For 5 years, they never created a Google Search Console profile so it was the first thing I did while doing the website audit.

    The Challenge for getting more traffic to your website

    The client came to me to ask for help on getting traffic for their business objective and to create an ebook for them and help them on their planned email campaign.

    Their primary objective is to show up for location and a specific niche keyword.

    Why a Content Strategy is a Game-Changer

    A content strategy isn’t just about writing more blog posts or posting on social media. It’s about creating a roadmap that aligns your content with your audience’s needs and your business goals. Here’s why it’s so powerful:

    1. Know Your Audience: A strategy helps you understand who you’re talking to. Instead of guessing what your audience wants, you can create content that speaks directly to their pain points and interests.
    2. SEO Optimization: A good strategy ensures your content is optimized for search engines. This means using the right keywords, structuring your pages correctly, and making it easy for Google to understand what your site is about.
    3. Consistency: Posting regularly keeps your audience engaged and coming back for more. A strategy helps you plan and maintain a consistent publishing schedule.
    4. Alignment with Goals: Whether you’re looking to drive sales, generate leads, or build brand awareness, a strategy ensures your content supports these objectives.

    The Risks of Flying Blind

    When you create content without a strategy, you’re essentially shooting in the dark. Here’s what can go wrong:

    • Missing the Mark: Without understanding your audience, you might end up writing content that doesn’t resonate with them.
    • Inconsistency: Posting sporadically confuses your audience and makes it harder to build a loyal following.
    • Poor SEO: If your content isn’t optimized, search engines won’t rank it, and potential visitors won’t find it.
    • Lack of Direction: Without a clear plan, your content can feel disjointed and fail to build momentum.

    The Solution: A Comprehensive Content Strategy

    To turn things around for my client, I started with a thorough website audit. Here’s what we uncovered and how we addressed it:

    1. Technical and On-Page Optimizations: The website needed several fixes, including improving site speed, fixing broken links, and optimizing meta tags.
    2. Keyword Realignment: Many of the existing pages were targeting the wrong keywords. We conducted intensive keyword research to identify the best opportunities for their niche and location-based goals.
    3. Content Updates: The blog posts that were already ranking needed updates to make them more helpful and relevant to readers.
    4. New Content Creation: Using the insights from our keyword research, we created new blog posts, location pages, and an ebook designed to attract their target audience.
    The Solution for getting more traffic to your website

    The Results: A Dramatic Improvement

    Within just four months, the website’s performance improved significantly. Here’s what changed:

    Higher Engagement: The updated and new content resonated with readers, leading to longer time on site and lower bounce rates.

    More Keywords Ranking: The number of keywords the site ranked for increased dramatically, as shown in Ahrefs.

    Increased Organic Traffic: Google Search Console data confirmed a steady rise in organic traffic and impressions.

    Stats last June 2024

    Rise in KWs in 4 months
    4 months after having a content strategy

    What This Means for You

    Imagine what your website could achieve with a solid content strategy in place. Over five years, the difference between a strategy-driven approach and winging it could be massive. Here’s what you can take away from this case study:

    Be Consistent: Regular updates and new content keep your audience engaged and help you build authority in your niche.

    Start with a Plan: A content strategy gives you direction and ensures every piece of content you create serves a purpose.

    Optimize for SEO: Technical and on-page SEO are essential for making your site visible to search engines.

    Create Helpful Content: Focus on creating content that solves problems and answers questions for your audience.

    Here’s to Getting More Traffic To Your Website


    So the what can we take from this… well, I guess today is never too late to start getting a plan for your website.

    Getting more traffic to your website should not only rely on links shared on your social media. The key to make it sustainable is to have organic traffic that you can only get when you have a solid technical structure, on page SEO optimization every now and then, and creating helpful content guided by a keyword strategy.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Can you do the same for my website?

    Yes your website could rank with my strategy, but not every website could get the same result in 4 months as my content strategy is not just about creating content but also includes optimizing the website to have a web structure with a good technical SEO and keyword map in mind and sometimes it takes longer specially when there are a lot of pages and fixes needed.


    You can set up a call/email exchange with me for a free consultation.

    What did you actually do on this project?

    I did everything from initial audit, monitoring, on page, and technical SEO optimizations on WordPress , keyword research, content creation and content strategy.

    My campaign for them is not over yet since ranking the website is just the first phase of it there are more to be done for their campaign.

    Which package did they get?

    They chose the Custom package since they were only willing to work on a budget and had other goals than just SEO. Since this is the case, the implementation timeline was beyond 6 months and inclusions of the project varies.

    For example, they did not include Offpage SEO, but eventually with the quality content produced they were able to get organic backlinks from relevant websites from their niche.

    Check out other SEO case studies and results >>

    Original Article by Author: Simple Reason You’re Not Getting More Traffic To Your Website

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  • Why is my website not showing on Google? Here’s a step that most people miss.

    Why is my website not showing on Google? Here’s a step that most people miss.

    There’s nothing more frustrating than spending hours creating amazing content, only to realize it’s not getting any traffic. You search for your target keywords, but your website is nowhere to be found.

    Sound familiar? The problem might be that your site isn’t indexed by Google. Without indexing, your content is essentially invisible to search engines.

    But don’t worry—I’m here to help you fix that! In this guide, we’ll dive into why indexing matters, how it works, and how you can use WordPress plugins like Rank Math to get your site indexed faster. Stick around for some bonus tips to boost your chances of success!

    Related Reads:

    Why Isn’t My Website Showing on Google?

    If your website isn’t showing up on Google, the most likely reason is that it hasn’t been indexed. Indexing is the process where Google discovers, analyzes, and stores your web pages in its database. Without this step, your content won’t appear in search results, no matter how great it is.

    Here’s a quick breakdown of how Google indexing works:

    1. Discovery (Crawling): Google uses bots (often called “spiders”) to crawl the web. These bots follow links from known pages or use sitemaps to discover new content. Once they find your page, they analyze its content and structure.
    2. Indexing: After crawling, Google processes the page to understand its purpose, context, and relevance. This includes analyzing your title tags, text, images, videos, and more. Once processed, the page is added to Google’s index and can appear in search results.

    If your site isn’t indexed, it’s like throwing a party but forgetting to send out invitations. No one knows it’s happening! Let’s fix that.

    How to Get Your Website Indexed by Google

    The good news is that getting your site indexed isn’t as complicated as it sounds. With the right tools and strategies, you can make it happen quickly. Here’s a step-by-step guide using Rank Math, one of the best WordPress SEO plugins out there.

    Step 1: Install and Set Up Rank Math

    1. Go to your WordPress dashboard.
    2. Navigate to Plugins > Add New.
    3. Search for “Rank Math SEO,” then click Install Now and Activate.
    4. Follow the setup wizard to configure Rank Math. It’s super user-friendly and will guide you through connecting your site to Google Search Console and enabling essential features like sitemaps.

    Step 2: Generate and Submit Your Sitemap

    A sitemap is like a roadmap for Google’s bots. It lists all the pages, posts, and other content on your site, making it easier for Google to crawl and index your site.

    1. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Rank Math > Sitemap Settings.
    2. Ensure the sitemap feature is enabled. Rank Math will automatically generate your sitemap.
    3. Your sitemap URL will look something like this: https://yourwebsite.com/sitemap_index.xml. Copy this URL.
    4. Go to Google Search Console (sign up for free if you don’t have an account).
    5. Select your website property, then navigate to Sitemaps in the left-hand menu.
    6. Paste your sitemap URL (e.g., sitemap_index.xml) and click Submit.

    By submitting your sitemap, you’re giving Google a clear path to discover and index your content.

    Step 3: Use the URL Inspection Tool

    If you have specific pages or posts that aren’t showing up in search results, you can use Google Search Console’s URL Inspection Tool to check their status and request indexing.

    1. Go to Google Search Console.
    2. Enter the URL of the page you want to check in the URL Inspection Tool.
    3. If the page isn’t indexed, click Request Indexing. This tells Google to prioritize crawling and indexing that page.

    Step 4: Enable Instant Indexing (Optional)

    For time-sensitive content like news articles or event pages, you might want to speed up the indexing process. Rank Math offers an Instant Indexing feature that sends your URLs directly to Google’s API.

    1. Go to Rank Math > Instant Indexing in your WordPress dashboard.
    2. Add the URLs you want to index and click Send to API.

    This feature is especially useful if you’re publishing content that needs to rank quickly.

    Common Reasons Your Site Isn’t Indexed (and How to Fix Them)

    Even with a sitemap and proper setup, some issues can prevent your site from being indexed. Here are the most common culprits and how to fix them:

    1. Duplicate Content: If your site has multiple pages with similar content, Google might struggle to decide which one to index. Fix this by using canonical tags (Rank Math can help with this) or consolidating similar pages.
    2. Robots.txt or Meta Tags Blocking Indexing: Check your robots.txt file and meta tags to ensure they’re not blocking Google’s bots. You can find these settings in Rank Math under General Settings > Edit robots.txt.
    3. WordPress Settings: Go to Settings > Reading in your WordPress dashboard and make sure the box labeled “Discourage search engines from indexing this site” is unchecked. If this is checked, it tells search engines to ignore your site.
    4. Crawler Traps: If you have an e-commerce site or use filters, you might accidentally create thousands of duplicate URLs. Use your robots.txt file to block unnecessary pages from being crawled.

    Bonus Tips to Improve Indexing

    Here are a few extra strategies to help your site get indexed faster:

    1. Internal Linking: Link to your new pages from existing, indexed pages. This helps Google’s bots discover your content more easily.
    2. Create High-Quality Content: Google prioritizes unique, valuable content. Focus on answering specific questions or solving problems for your audience.
    3. Monitor Your Indexing Status: Rank Math Pro includes an Index Status tab under Analytics, where you can see which pages are indexed and troubleshoot any issues.
    4. Avoid Overloading Your Site: Too many low-quality or thin pages can slow down indexing. Focus on creating fewer, high-quality pages instead.

    Other WordPress Plugins You Can Use

    While Rank Math is my top recommendation, there are other excellent plugins you can use:

    1. Yoast SEO

    Yoast SEO is another powerhouse plugin that makes sitemap creation easy. Here’s how to use it:

    1. Install and activate Yoast SEO from the WordPress plugin directory.
    2. Go to SEO > General in your dashboard.
    3. Click the Features tab and make sure the XML sitemap toggle is enabled.
    4. Your sitemap will be automatically generated and available at https://yourwebsite.com/sitemap_index.xml.
    5. Submit it to Google Search Console using the same steps as above.

    2. All in One SEO (AIOSEO)

    AIOSEO is another user-friendly option:

    1. Install and activate the plugin.
    2. Go to All in One SEO > Sitemaps in your dashboard.
    3. Enable the sitemap feature if it’s not already on.
    4. Your sitemap will be available at https://yourwebsite.com/sitemap.xml.
    5. Submit it to Google Search Console.

    When Using other CMS like Wix, Squarespace and Magento

    Below is a quick overview on how to generate sitemap for when you’re using other content management systems for your websites:

     Generating and Submitting a Sitemap on Squarespace

    Squarespace also automatically generates a sitemap for your site. Here’s how to access and submit it:

    Step 1: Find Your Sitemap URL

    1. Log in to your Squarespace account and go to your site’s dashboard.
    2. Squarespace automatically generates a sitemap. Your sitemap URL will look like this: https://yourwebsite.com/sitemap.xml.

    Step 2: Submit Your Sitemap to Google

    1. Go to Google Search Console.
    2. Select your website property.
    3. Navigate to Sitemaps in the left-hand menu.
    4. Enter sitemap.xml in the field and click Submit.

    Squarespace takes care of updating your sitemap whenever you add or remove pages.

    Generating and Submitting a Sitemap on Wix

    Wix makes it super easy to generate and submit a sitemap—it’s all done automatically! Here’s how to access and submit it:

    Step 1: Find Your Sitemap URL

    1. Log in to your Wix account and go to your site’s dashboard.
    2. Wix automatically generates a sitemap for you. Your sitemap URL will look like this: https://yourwebsite.com/sitemap.xml.

    Step 2: Submit Your Sitemap to Google

    1. Go to Google Search Console.
    2. Select your website property.
    3. Navigate to Sitemaps in the left-hand menu.
    4. Enter sitemap.xml in the field and click Submit.

    That’s it! Wix handles the rest for you.

     Generating and Submitting a Sitemap on Magento

    Magento is a bit more technical than Wix or Squarespace, but it’s still straightforward to generate and submit a sitemap. Here’s how:

    Step 1: Generate Your Sitemap in Magento

    1. Log in to your Magento admin panel.
    2. Go to Marketing > Site Map.
    3. Click Add Sitemap.
    4. Fill in the required fields, such as the filename and path (e.g., sitemap.xml).
    5. Set the frequency and priority for your pages (e.g., daily for blog posts, weekly for product pages).
    6. Click Save & Generate.

    Step 2: Find Your Sitemap URL

    1. Once generated, your sitemap URL will look something like this: https://yourwebsite.com/sitemap.xml.

    Step 3: Submit Your Sitemap to Google

    1. Go to Google Search Console.
    2. Select your website property.
    3. Navigate to Sitemaps in the left-hand menu.
    4. Enter sitemap.xml in the field and click Submit.

    Wrapping Up: Don’t Let Your Site Stay Invisible

    If your website isn’t showing up on Google, it’s likely because it’s not indexed. But with tools like Rank Math, you can easily create and submit a sitemap, request indexing for specific pages, and troubleshoot common issues. Remember, indexing is just the first step—once your site is indexed, you can focus on improving your rankings with great content and solid SEO practices.

    So, take a few minutes today to set up Rank Math, submit your sitemap, and make sure your site is ready to be discovered. Your future visitors (and your traffic stats) will thank you!

    Got questions or need help? Drop a comment below—I’m here to help!