One of the very first challenges a new online business is simply how to get your website on Google. This used to be a difficult task that could take weeks however now, it is very possible to see your site indexed (appear in search results) within 24 hours if not within minutes.
None of this will happen automatically however, it takes just a little effort on your part. It also does not guarantee that your site will appear on the first page for your chosen search term, however, it does mean that when you type in your website in the search box, it will appear in the result. That in itself is huge, as it means people are able to find you.
Let’s start with advice on how to get your website on Google.
Ways to get your website on Google:
1) Ask Google to crawl your site.
Google have its own dedicated page where you can advise Google of your new site. That way the ‘robots’ or ‘spiders’ will eventually make their way round to your site.
Simple right? Well not really. This is widely regarded as the WORST way to index your site because using this method can take weeks. It is so slow that people advise against ever submitting to the Google suggest tool.
But do not worry, here are some tips that will get you site on Google:
2) Pinging your URL
So now we know search engine spiders crawl around the web looking for new content, however that does not just mean new sites. It also looks for sites that are currently in its index but have been updated. That is how your new pages will constantly appear within search engines.
Let’s think about this. If Google likes to update the pages it has already indexed then it needs to constantly be re-reading those pages. It would even be more likely to read websites that allow it to see updated content quickly and easily (thus making its job easier). Welcome to the world of pinging.
Pinging is a simple process where you notify such sites that you have something new. Maybe you have a new site or maybe it is simply new content (every time I write a new post I always have it ‘pinged‘ and within minutes my new content can be found via search engines).
Pinging is also very easy because there are services where you can ‘ping’ multiple sites within seconds. All you do is enter a title for your site and the URL (webpage or www address) and within seconds the job is done.
One such service I use regularly is Pingomatic, it is free and very easy. I use it to ping every new post I wrote, so that within a few minutes a large number of sites know it exists, which in turn helps direct the search engine spiders back to my site.
This method is way faster than Google’s own method and can occasionally bring visitors directly to my site too.
BE WARNED – Do not overuse this service, that can be seen as spamming as can have a detrimental effect on your site’s rankings. Use it when you genuinely have some new and useful updated content to share.
3) Making comments on other relevant websites
Many websites now use the concept of interaction to help connect with their users. This often means that you can comment on their posts or pages with any useful insights. The advantage of commenting on such sites is that they allow you to link to a URL or website.
Do you see how this works now? The websites you should choose to comment on should be popular and have regularly updated content. That means that Google and other search engines are likely to crawl that site very often, and thus giving you a chance to go where the spiders like to hang out. We are not waiting for the spiders to find us, we go where they like to go.
All you do is simply leave GOOD comments on the popular blog (if you leave rubbish comments do not elect them to get published – have a look at comments that are already published for a good idea of what works). Each time you leave a comment, be sure to include your website in the GIVEN field. (do not put it in the comment, that is often seen as spamming, there will usually be a dedicated place to input your website details).
This method has advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantages are that not every blog will publish your comments and not every blog will forward the spiders to your site, so it not a 100% foolproof strategy.
The advantages however outweigh the cons. The advantage is that you are gaining ‘back links’ from good, reputable sites (hopefully somehow connected to your niche). This can help with raising your site in the Google rankings. If you also write GOOD comments, then people reading the comments will often click throughout to your site to see if they can find more of the same type of advice, meaning you gain targeted visitors back to your site, regardless of your Google Ranking.
Syndication works broadly on the blog commenting concept. It works by distributing (syndicating) some content around the web all with your website link attached. A common example of this is what we call ‘article marketing’. Not every website owner has the time to update their own websites, so there are services around where people can submit new content that other webmasters can use their own sites. The catch here is that any site using your content must agree to link back to your site.
So in essence, you are gaining more links to your site (thus more chance of the spiders finding your site) and the backlinks can help you rise in search engine rankings.
How effective this method depends on a number of factors, including the quality of the sites that use your content. But if you do get good sites using your content the effect on your search engine ranking can be quite good.
That is some very basic and simple advice on how to get your website on Google. As you can see it is not really too difficult and just required a little effort. I recommend Pingomatic as the first place for everyone to start.
Helping your site climb higher in the search engine ranking is a slightly different topic that requires a more in-depth review. I have made an interesting summary of some useful methods on “How To Get Rank A Website On Goggle First Page“