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Get found on Google, not just seen when people arrive
By the end, you'll know what title and description each page of your website needs, written for the person searching, not for you, what to ask for if your website sets those for you, and what to check to see if anyone is finding you. If no one's finding you, you'll know what to change first and what to leave alone.
Your website is live. You type your business name into Google and it shows up. But you type what you actually do ("hair salon in [your city]," "furnace repair") and you don't show up, or you show up with a title that just repeats your name and nobody clicks. You don't know if Google doesn't know you yet, if it knows you and is hiding you, or if you just need to wait.
This course starts by deciding the title and snippet for each page, built around the search that brings people in, not your name, and what to ask for if your website sets those for you. Then it decides which services deserve their own page, places your city where Google needs it, and finds the exact words people actually use when they search for you. It wraps up with a checklist to tell whether the problem is that you haven't been indexed yet, or if you just need to give it time.
This is for someone who already has a live website and wants Google to show it to people searching for what they sell, not for someone who doesn't have a website yet or doesn't know what they'll offer.
- Decide the title and description you want Google to show for each page, built around the search that brings it up, and, if your website sets those for you, what to ask for and who to ask
- Decide which services need their own page and which stay as a mention inside another one
- Put your city in the title and the first lines of every page that needs it
- Check every month which words are actually bringing people to you, or whether no one's finding you at all
Have your website already published on your own domain.
The 6 lessons
In the order it makes the most sense to read them.
- 1
The person searching decides each page's title, not your business name
You'll know how to write the title and description of each page for the search that brings people in, not for your business name, and what to ask for if your website won't let you change them.
8 min - 2
The phrase that convinces someone to click, not the one that describes your company
You'll know how to write the line that appears under the title in Google so it answers the searcher's question instead of introducing your business, and why the important part goes first.
7 min - 3
One page for each thing you sell, not a paragraph on the home page
You'll know how to decide which services deserve their own page and which stay as a mention inside another one, so Google can find each one by name.
7 min - 4
Put your city where Google looks for it, not just in the footer
After this lesson, you'll know your city belongs in the title and the opening lines of every page that needs it, not just in the footer, and you'll name the real places you work instead of phrases like "near you."
7 min - 5
The words people actually search with, not the ones you'd use
You'll know the words people really use to find you and where to check them every month, instead of the words you'd use to describe your own business.
6 min - 6
If no one's finding you, start here; and here's what not to touch
You'll know how to check whether Google has indexed you before changing anything, tell whether the problem is the title or just a lack of time, and leave alone what's already working even if the first few months don't show it.
7 min