We all want Google to love our website. When we find our website in the good graces of Google, the powerful search engine sends valuable traffic. This traffic can lead to new opportunities and clients. Despite all the online marketing options, catching Google’s eye is still one of the most important things you can do to grow your business.
What does Google look for in a website?
The bottom line for Google love is when it goes to a website or blog which ends the search. When people type a question in Google, they want a quality answer. Google wants to offer its clients the best option possible. So, to satisfy Google, you must please the searcher.
To do this, you must understand the intent of the searcher and how your product, service or information solves their problem. Yes, there is a ton of technical stuff you can do, some of which I’ll share in this article. However, if you think about what your customer wants and you provide a valuable online resource, you are ahead of most. The creation of innovative, insightful and informative content and tools satisfies the signals Google is looking for organically.
Love requires quality
Those who use their website as a thin information online brochure tend not to win the SEO—search engine optimization—game. Although blogging is helpful to provide fresh up-to-date content (something Google craves), weekly or monthly, short 300-word blog posts don’t have the value they once held.
Create tools on your website which your customers and people in your industry can regularly use. Develop niche specific blog posts of 2,000-3,000 words or more. Regularly update your web pages and create longer updated versions of your strongest blog posts.
The most important technical SEO real estate is your title tag. This is the first thing people see in search results and social media. It’s the reason people click on a link. From Google’s perspective, everything the human does after it clicks the link tells the machine learning platform what it needs to know. Was the webpage the right suggestion? Should it promote or demote the webpage for such queries?
What’s A Good Fit For Google?
If the searcher immediately hits the return button to search again, this tells Google it was not a good fit. The longer it takes the visitor to return back to Google, the better the chance the searcher found at least some of the information they seek. This is one reason why longer form content works. The addition of videos and photographs also helps keep the searcher on the page. When you break up your content with sub-headlines, it’s easier for the reader to digest and makes it easier for some to find specific information deeper within the article.
It’s common for people to justify quick content because society has such a short attention span. This may be true, however, people share long-form content more than they do short form (outside of funny cat videos). An in-depth article sends a signal to the reader that it’s worthy of sharing on social media, even if they don’t read the whole thing.
Activity Is Important
Google loves social media activity. It sends positive signals and validates the value of a webpage. When more people discover an article, video, podcast, or tool in social media, a percentage of them will link to the source in other locations. Perhaps they will share on other social media platforms, forums, blog comments, or on their own blog or website. These links help Google determine the value of a webpage and are still important.
Another thing Google likes to see are return visitors. People will not return to a website if it’s not a quality experience. This is why helpful tools, regular features, and updated popular blog posts work. They encourage people to come back, confirming the website’s value to Google.
If you want to know how much Google loves you. Ask your team, friends, family and customers to review and find information on your website. Have them report back with their experience. If you cringed when you read that, Google is doing the same and showing no love.
