How to Get a Website Posted to Google
While it’s very frustrating to have a website that’s not showing up in Google, Yahoo or Bing, that’s a common plight of new and un-promoted websites. So how do you get your website to show up in Google?
Many people will tell you to head over and submit your website to Google using their free “add url” tool. While you “can” do that, I don’t advise it.
Website popularity is a big part of Google’s website ranking equation. Unpopular websites will rank lower than similar but popular websites. Because of the popularity factor, sites that Google finds on their own via crawling the web tend to rank higher than sites that were directly submitted.
So, when you head over and enter your url in Google’s submission form, it’s like waving your arm and yelling “Hi, look at me – I’m so unpopular this is the only way you’re going to find me!”
Not exactly what you want to do.
Plus, there’s another factor that most people don’t think of until after the fact, when it’s too late to undo the effects of hurrying to get submitted. What words do you want to be found for? Because almost anyone can get ranked for their own domain very quickly, but don’t you want Google to find and rank your site for words that people will actually search when seeking someone like you?
So here’s what you do to get your website posted to Google.
1. First, write down a whole list of keyword ideas. Words that you think you’d like to be found for.
2. Go to Google and type in each of those words or phrases. Jot down the number of competing sites that come up. You’ll see them listed right under the search bar.
3. Choose the one that has least competition. Remember, we’re just getting started. Brand new divers don’t jump off the highest diving board. You’re not ready for big time competition quite yet.
4. Go to a public website that allows you to post content and add a link back to your site, using linking text of your choice. Press release sites, article sites (EzineArticles.com), Squidoo or HubPages will do just fine. Create a one page introduction to your business. Include a link to your website, using the keyword you chose as the linking text. Creating one link will get you found. Creating several links to your site using the keyword you chose will help your site to rank better. Your choice.
5. Done? Now go submit the newly created page(s) at Google.com/addurl.html. One more step.
6. Now add an xml sitemap to your website. If you use WordPress, there is a free plugin that will create and submit a sitemap for you. If you have an html site, you can create an xml map online, free, at xml-sitemaps.com. Submit the sitemap xml file to Google.
You should find your site in Google in a few days to a few weeks, depending on how fast Googlebot crawls the links you created. Next challenge… optimizing to increase your ranking.