Call Us: 01252 217141
  • September 12th 2013
  • SEO

Feel The Google Love

love hearts from google

Does Google love your website enough to give it a love heart sweet?

I bump into many business owners who get frustrated with Google. They’ve followed all the guidelines, written some posts on their blog, yet just don’t seem to show up in Google’s search results. So what’s stopping these websites getting on Google?

When I run an website audit, I firstly check to see if the website’s housekeeping is in order. In fact, I often find it’s the lack of basic housekeeping which stops a website getting found on Google.

Here are 3 common errors I find on websites which, when fixed, will significantly increase the chances of a website getting ranked on Google:

1. XML Sitemap

xml sitemap index of bookk

An XML Sitemap is like an index page in a book

An XML Sitemap gives Google a list of all the pages on your website you want to be ranked. All on one page which Google likes. Google recommends you have one, and without it, there are no guarantees Google will find all of your webpages.

Read my article on XML Sitemap. Am I Bovvered? for more detail and how to get your sitemap installed.

2. www Redirect

a www.redirect makes sure that www.leapfrogim.co.uk redirects to leapfrogim.co.uk. Or vice versa if www. is the default website address. If not, google thinks 1 page is 2 pages – the www and non-www version of the same page. And Google doesn’t like duplicate content, even on the same website.

If you’re running a WordPress website with version 3.6 and over, wordpress handles this for you. If the www redirect isn’t working, you might find a plugin is conflicting with the base wordpress installation. Ask your webmaster to fix it for you.

3. robots.txt

The robots.txt file (example here) is the first thing Google looks for on your website. It’s like a signpost where you tell Google where it can look (including your sitemap) and where it can’t go looking. Help Google find the content you want it to find, and Google might return the favour and rank those pages on Google. I did say might !

Check out my article on Robots.txt – why your website needs this itsy-bitsy file for details on how to install this small file on your website.

Next Steps

If you want to easily check if your website has these 3 things in place, I’d recommend using a free audit tool like woorank – it takes about 30 seconds for the tool to run, and you get a nice report on what needs improving.

Hopefully taking these steps will allow Google to love your website that bit more. Please contact me if you want to improve your website’s online performance, but not sure what the cost-effective options are.

Geoff Roy
  • "As part of the service, the team at Leapfrog reviewed one of my websites for SEO and presented their findings in video format. I’ve never seen anything like this before and I could see the results of the tests and clear recommendations for action. I can thoroughly recommend this part of Leapfrog's service!!"

    Peter Clarke, PPG Proofreading
  • "One area in which Leapfrog has excelled is communication. Any queries are always promptly dealt with and we also receive excellent monthly reporting, with videos that clearly explain our progress. This is great as it gives us a clear picture of what’s going on."

     Leigh Emmerson, Voice Fairy
  • “Leapfrog provides fantastic video reports, to help explain the topline results. As SEO is a hidden science, this has made the whole process a lot clearer.”

    Rebecca Couture, Rebecca Couture Millinery
  • "When it comes to organic SEO, Leapfrog's your company. Thanks for everything you've done for my business."

    Paul Deach, Deachy Social Media
  • "Over a 6-month period, we’ve improved from a position of no ranking at all, to achieving page 1 rankings for our key search term. In a highly competitive market, this is really impressive and has already increased our organic traffic by more than 400% over a 6-month period. We can definitely recommend Leapfrog to other businesses struggling to get seen by Google."

    Leigh Emmerson, Voice Fairy
  • "Leapfrog Internet Marketing has been key in supporting my clients, providing SEO services to allow them to achieve increased and more qualified traffic to their sites. I've worked with Geoff and the team on several different sized projects and am very pleased with the results achieved. I highly recommend Leapfrog Internet Marketing for your online SEO needs."

    Oliver Schlieben, Digital Marketing Strategist
  • “The company is really helpful and approachable and you’re never made to feel embarrassed when asking questions.”

    Rebecca Couture, Rebecca Couture Millinery
  • "Leapfrog Internet Marketing has been a key resource in providing insights and strategies within the SEO arena. Their work is always of a very high standard and always delivered on time. I would have no hesitation in recommending Leapfrog to any business."

    Drew Griffiths, Mosaic
  • "I've been benefitting from Leapfrog’s expertise and experience for several months now and really value the way in which they make knowledge so accessible. We've worked on improving website authority and content, list building and social media optimisation. A great company to work with and very good value."

    Chris Farrance, Frontier Digital Business Consultants
  • "Month-on-month we’ve seen fantastic improvements. Over the first 6-month period, search traffic has increased by over 550%. We've achieved page 1 rankings for at least 85 keywords relating to our key products, the site is now found on Google nearly 5000 times per month and an additional 800+ users visit the site monthly."

    Rebecca Couture, Rebecca Couture Millinery
  • "The team at Leapfrog has been able to keep an eye on our site, using their specialised knowledge to not only spot any invisible problems that will affect SEO and site speed, but also identify any coding errors. This kind of value-added benefit is a great asset and makes a real difference for our company."

    Leigh Emmerson, Voice Fairy
  • "Leapfrog Internet Marketing have been working on our website for 6+ months now and we have certainly seen the benefits of professional SEO. Organic leads have significantly increased in line with our Google position and ranking. I’d highly recommend Geoff and the team at Leapfrog Internet Marketing."

    Mark Dalton, The Tech Lounge
  • “We’re really happy with Leapfrog Internet Marketing. We feel every step has been clearly explained, the communication is excellent and we’ve seen month-on-month improvements that have converted to enquiries and those all-important sales. We’ve definitely received the return on investment we were looking for.”

    Rebecca Couture, Rebecca Couture Millinery