One of the most common questions we get asked when entering into a web project is “Will my website be found on the first page of Google & other search engines?”.
Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee this. And I’m not sure any company can truly guarantee this either – unless you pay for ads. However, we can work closely with you to try to achieve it, more often than not, working alongside an SEO agency (more on that below).
How long will it take to be found on Google? #
For new websites, it can take anywhere between 4 days and 4 weeks for the site to be indexed by Google.
That’s how long it takes for Google’s bots to crawl through your website and work out who you are and what you do.
It can take longer to be shown higher up in search results as this depends on a number of factors such as the search terms used, competition, locality to the searcher, and [Google] reviews.
What can I do to improve my search engine ranking? #
We’ve written an article on what you can do to improve your search engine ranking without coding, but we’ll cover a couple of areas below:
Add your website to online directories #
Create a Google Business Listing page for your business or organisation. This immediately tells Google who you are and what you do, and importantly, gives you the chance to submit your website to Google.
It’s also worth adding your website (and business) to other online directories such as Yell. But be careful not to just add your website to any old directory, go for reputable or industry specific directories. Be choosey.
Guest blogging #
Writing articles for blog and news sites that are specific to your industry is a great way to generate traffic back to your website. That is providing you include a link back to your website in the article.
What we do to improve your SEO #
We actually do very little direct SEO work, this is because we are not an SEO agency.
We do however, create websites according to best practices including optimising for speed and device responsiveness. This in turn plays a big role in insuring your website is off to a good start with Google and other search engines. We are also more than happy to work with SEO agencies and carry out technical changes under their advice.