In today’s digital era, with 93% of all internet traffic coming from search results, ranking your website higher in search has undoubtedly become somewhat of a prerequisite for marketers to reach users and drive conversion. Despite its importance, not every website makes it into Google’s page rankings. In fact, before you can even begin to worry about your ranking, you have to ensure that Google knows that your website even exists. This is why it is important to ensure that your website is discovered, crawled, and indexed by Google.
Let’s take a closer look at what
Google indexing is all about and the role it plays in the success of your
business.
What is Google indexing?
Google’s search index can be best
explained as its inventory of websites from which it draws search results for
its users. While many assume that Google can take you to any website on the
internet, this isn’t entirely true. Only indexed websites can appear in Google
search results.
Perhaps this is why thousands of
websites are now actively working on being indexed on Google’s search engine.
To do this, they use little snippets of codes, called bots or spiders, which
crawl through the pages of your website and collect bits and pieces of
information. This information helps in understanding what your website is all
about and then adds it to the Google inventory.
How can I get my business website indexed on Google?
You need to go through three different
stages to get your business website indexed and appear on Google’s search
engine results.
1. Crawling
This is unarguably the first
interaction Google has with your website. Google crawlers can end up
discovering your website by following a link from another website, or you may
submit your sitemap directly to Google.
Once a Google crawler finds your
website, it scans it thoroughly to discover and understand what’s on it. This
involves reading texts, images, and videos, and understanding the website’s
layout.
2. Indexing
Indexing is one of the most critical
stages of the process. If your website fails to meet the desired requirements,
Google won’t index it, leaving your website without even the bleakest shot at
being ranked.
To avoid sending Google any red flags,
you must ensure that:
Your website content has substance.
Google will not index a page with content that most likely has no value for its
users.
Your website does not have a “noindex”
tag in its HTML.
Your website does not contain
duplicate content already present on another indexed website.
Your website has a sitemap, which
should ideally be submitted to Google in order to make it more likely to crawl
your website.
You’ve marked any duplicate pages on
your website as non-canonical.
If nothing sends out any red flags to
Google, the crawler will use the information it found on your website and add
it to its search index.
3. Ranking
Once your website clears the first two
steps, it enters the ranking phase. This is where your website finally starts
appearing in search results and generating traffic. Google sweeps through its
search index to find the most relevant pages for that query whenever a user
starts a search.
Of course, the journey doesn’t end at
simply getting your website indexed and ranked—as a business, you must aim to
optimize your website to get higher rankings and make it to the first page of
the search results. Nonetheless, getting your website indexed is a stepping
stone towards landing on the first page of Google.
Why your business website needs to be indexed
on Google
Gone are the days when marketing
your products and services through traditional means was enough to get the
message across to your target audience. Today, when it comes to the search
engine market, it is no secret that Google is a powerhouse, surpassing giants
like Yahoo, Bing, Yandex, etc.
Since Google is the most visited
website globally, especially in the United States, a clear majority of the
world with access to the internet visits Google at least once a day to get the
information they need. Thus, ensuring your business site is indexed, ranked,
and optimized is critical to your company’s success.
Utilizing Google Search Console to get
discovered faster
Submitting a site map can help Google
discover your website much faster, and you can do this through Google
Search Console. Simply log in with your Google account and follow the steps to
sync your website with Google Search Console. This will also allow you to
submit individual pages from your website for indexing as you grow your
website.
Google Search Console also provides
valuable insights on your website’s search visibility, including analytics on
currently indexed pages, non-indexed pages, and broken links.
The success of your website
contributes to the success of your business
Making sure your business website is
indexed on Google is undoubtedly one of the most important and the most
cost-effective means of reaching your target audience.
If your business website hasn’t been indexed yet, it’s time to make it a priority; after all, a product or a service is of no use if it cannot surpass the competition and reach its target audience promptly.
Source:allbusiness.com