Many businesses invest a lot of money into web design and content creation, and while those investments typically pay off, sometimes, there is a disconnect between effort and results. Local SEO services explain that there are several reasons a company might have a functional website and not have a listing in Google. Thankfully, understanding those reasons can also help a company fix the problem.
1. Lacking a Google Business Profile
If a company wants customers to find it in Google’s local listings, it must have a business profile. Google provides guidelines for creating a profile that includes basic information like the business name and address.
As a business owner, you want to take your time to read through the guidelines and follow them strictly. While the information is provided as guidelines, it is actually a set of rules. If you do not follow the recommendations precisely, your business will not be listed.
2. Poor Content Quality
Besides following strict rules for filling out your business profile, you will also need to focus on content strategy. Google has strict policies regarding content quality and topics. For example, the search engine will not list sites that include:
- Biased work
- Thin content
- Hate speech
- Abusive language
- Misleading information
Also, Google does not list plagiarized or duplicate content. Sometimes, a website is flagged for plagiarism when it doesn’t contain any copied work. The error is possible when canonical tags point to multiple pages. Website designers should use 301 redirect tags for duplicate content.
3. Exceeding a Crawl Budget
Depending on the size of a website, Google may not index every page. Google bots index a specific number of pages per site; the actual pages are up to you. If you are unfamiliar with the term “crawl budget” or do not understand web design, it is best to hire a professional web design service for help.
4. Complex Coding
For Google to properly index a website, it needs to understand the coding language used. Too many people attempt DIY web design without the proper knowledge or tools, which can lead to overly complex coding, which might work on your page, but is confusing for search engine bots.
If you want to know whether your site is doing well in search engines, use software or tools like an SEO analysis tool. The analysis should help you understand the issues Google or other sites are having with your website.
5. Poor SEO and Website Design
If a website is not optimized for search engines, it will not perform well. SEO goes beyond content creation. A business must also ensure that a site’s technical SEO is on par with best practices. For example, if a website takes too long to load, Google will not index the page.
Slow loading can stem from hosting issues to too much content. To improve website performance, a company should follow the latest algorithm updates. Also, tools like webpagetest.org or Googles page speed insights to learn more.
Ideally, a company will work with an in-house team of specialists or a contracted service. An in-house team is not feasible for many businesses because the costs associated with recruiting, training, and keeping a dedicated web design staff are too much.
The better option is to hire a web design and digital marketing firm. The company already has the specialists you need; you do not have to invest in salaries, benefits, etc.
Are you ready to improve your website and search engine rankings? Contact Unwired Web Solutions, a well-respected web design and digital marketing service in Canada. The company offers everything from local SEO to content and social media marketing. If you are ready to get your business listed, Unwired is your solution.