How Do I Get My Website on Google Search?

Google is the most popular search engine, with a market share of over 92%. Also, Google users amount to over four billion as of 2022, making it the largest pool of potential customers that a single platform can offer. Moreover, around 2.9 million use one or several of Google's marketing services, which makes Google one of the most popular advertising platforms as well.

So, if a business wants to succeed in this digital age, having its website on Google search is a must. That's why today we will go over the ways you can get your website on Google Search and detail what that process includes.

To find websites, Google uses its own Googlebot that uses a large number of computers to crawl billions of web pages. Googlebot starts the process by going over a list of web page URLs compiled from previous crawls and uses the sitemap data provided in Google Search Console to augment those web pages. If new pages are included in your sitemap, Google will find them, crawl the content, and may list the page in search results.

After Googlebot finishes the crawling, all accumulated results are given to Google's index, and all new websites or content updates you have are appropriately listed. When Google processes the results, it looks at your site's title tags, meta description, alt tags, and more so that your site pops up in the relevant search results.

So, if you have dynamic content on your website or page, Googlebot may not be able to read it properly.

This means that it will crawl the default version of your site, so it would be best if you optimized that version for search.

Indexed pages are web pages that have been visited, analyzed, and added to a search engine's library of web pages.

Pages are indexed either because the website owner asked that the search engine index them or because the search engine bot discovered the pages through links.

Not indexed pages are the pages that are not part of Google's web page database, which can occur due to numerous reasons.

For example, Google may not know about those URLs yet, the URL is wrong, the domain name is incorrect, etc.

Since July 2019, Google has been using its mobile-first indexing for all websites created after that date because over 54% of all traffic comes from mobile devices.

If you don't submit an updated sitemap manually, it can take anywhere from an hour to a couple of days and sometimes weeks.

This can turn out to be a very long process in which your website cannot generate any traffic and does not appear in relevant search results. If you use this method, you can use the Index Status report or the URL Inspection tool that Google provides to monitor your progress.

However, if you submit an updated sitemap manually, you can reduce that time significantly to anywhere from minutes to an hour.

1. Submit your website to Google

The process for submitting your website to Google depends on whether you're submitting a new website or if you already have a website, but you want to add new web pages. However, what is the same for both processes is that you need to register with Google Search Console before you can begin the process.

Submitting a new website

As mentioned, you first need to be registered with Google Search Console, and you need to verify your site within it. After doing this, click on this link, find the "submit a sitemap" option, and click on it.

Submitting or adding new web pages for existing website

If you want to tell Google to re-crawl your web pages, you have to be the one that owns the URL of those web pages. For this process, there are two different things you can do:

1. Submit an updated sitemap

First, you need to log into Google Search Console and find and select the "add a property option."

After clicking on this option, you'll be able to submit your updated sitemap, and Google can begin crawling it right away.

2. Use Fetch as Google

This tool allows you to see the web pages on your website as Google does. You can also use this tool as a site owner to reindex individual URLs after fetching them. To do so, go to Google Search Console and choose the property you presently have listed there.

You can find this tool on the left side of the screen. After finding it, go to the "crawl" option and click on "Fetch as Google."

After clicking on this option, you will be redirected to a table where you can enter a URL path after your domain name, and you can fetch that web page on your website.

After fetches are complete, Google assesses their eligibility for reindexing. If your URL is approved for reindexing, an option for "request indexing" or "submit to index" will appear, and if you select this option, Google will start the re-crawling and reindexing process of the eligible web page.

If you want to update highly important content and you want it to be recognized as fast as possible by Google, you will have to submit an updated sitemap or indexing request each time you add a new web page.

However, please remember that Google re-crawls pages on its own, and you can also let this process run in the background as you publish and update your content frequently.

2. Choose your keywords carefully

Choosing the right keywords is essential because these keywords are how customers will find your website. So, make sure to choose keywords that are relevant to your business. Put yourself in the customers' shoes and think about what words you would use to search for the products and services you sell. Also, make sure to use short and clear keywords that have a simple spelling and are memorable.

3. Pay attention to meta tags

Meta tags are text fragments shown in Google search results to provide a sneak peek at the content. When you search on Google, the meta tags are shown in a specific format: blue writing for the title tag or SEO title, and a short text in black beneath it for the meta description. All of this information together is known as metadata. Although this information will not appear on your website, you can use it to build clear and simple metadata for each web page you produce. Remember to add relevant keywords within your metadata and throughout your website. This enables Google to determine the relevancy of your content to search results, increasing your chances of having your site included on Google.

4. Make your website mobile-friendly

As mentioned before, over half of the website traffic comes from mobile devices. Additionally, around 61% of Google searches are done on mobile devices.

So, your website must be optimized for mobile devices so that you can reach this massive pool of potential customers. By making your site mobile-friendly, you ensure that it loads fast on mobile devices, which is crucial for customer retention because around 53% of mobile users will leave a website if it doesn't load in under three seconds. So, make sure that your website is a fast, valuable, and well-designed solution for mobile users because that will increase the chances that they stick around and browse your website for more than what they were initially looking for, which adds to your traffic and increases your ranking and visibility on Google's search engine result pages or SERPs.

5. If appropriate, use local SEO

Local SEO is essential for businesses with physical locations. It is also an excellent way for new businesses to introduce themselves to their local customers. Additionally, it's a great way to increase your website's and business' traffic and visibility on Google, especially because searches that include the phrase "near me" have increased by 136% in the past year. By taking advantage of local SEO and these popular searches, you can improve your website's ranking on Google because more people will visit your website.

6. Create backlinks

Backlinks are a great way to position your website in the top search results on Google. Essentially, backlinks are links that other websites or blogs include in their content as a connection to your content.

One way to get backlinks is to write high-quality content for other websites in your niche so that you reach more customers that would be interested in your products or services. By writing this type of content, you can show customers that you know what you're talking about, which in turn will improve your brand and authority. Additionally, aside from customers being able to find you by clicking these links, it also makes it easier for Google to find you.

Another thing you can do is to post your URL on all of your social media profiles and directories relevant to your niche and region.

To check if your website is indexed by Google, you can type your website's address and do a search. Your site should appear in the search results if Google has crawled and indexed it. You can also copy a section of your content from your website and search for it using quotation marks. It should appear if your page is on Google.

Another option is to use Google's search operator command "site." All you need to do is type in "site:www.websitename.com."

You can also check if your site is indexed on your Google Search Console account. To do this, you need to log into your account, find the “Coverage” icon and click on it. Here, you’ll be able to see if there were any issues with crawling the site, you’ll see if any pages are blocked or excluded, etc.

There are many things you can do to make your website appear on Google. By taking the appropriate steps that are suitable to your needs, you can make the process of positioning your website in the top Google search results more accessible and faster.

So, don't wait any longer. Create or log into your Google Search Console account and start taking advantage of the numerous benefits that a platform as massive as Google has to offer and inform the world of your presence!