If you’re asking “How to Get your website on Google”, that could mean a few different things. There’s a good chance you’re either wondering:

• How to get your website listed on Google Maps?
• How to get your website on Google in general?
• How to get your website ranking in Google’s search results?

No matter your intention, the same basic steps apply to getting your website on Google. Keep reading to see our step-by-step guide below!

Why is it so important to have your website on Google?

Securing a place at the top of Google’s search results is not just a matter of visibility; it’s a key to unlocking the full potential of your online presence. Whether you’re a business owner aiming to reach a broader audience or a content creator looking to share your insights, understanding how to get your website on Google is a must!
Google is a crucial platform for online visibility because of its worldwide popularity. Being on Google increases the chances of reaching a larger audience, potential customers, and local prospects. This step-by-step will teach you how to elevate your website’s standing on the most popular search engine.

How do you get your website listed on Google Maps?

Google My Business (GMB) is a free tool provided by Google that allows businesses, organizations, and individuals to manage their online presence across Google Search and Google Maps. GMB is particularly important for local companies aiming to improve visibility in local search results.

What can you do with a Google MyBusiness profile?

A Google MyBusiness (GMB) profile is a hub for your business information, allowing others to find your location online. You can add essential business information, products, services, posts, updates, and your customers have the opportunity to leave reviews. Here’s a breakdown of all the information a Google MyBusiness profile will show:

• Business Details: A GMB profile provides a centralized platform to display essential business information, including the business name, address, phone number, website, business hours, and categories. This information is crucial for potential customers looking for details about your business.
• Map Listing: When users search for a business or service on Google Maps, GMB listings appear prominently. A well-optimized GMB profile ensures that your business shows up accurately on the map, making it easier for visitors to find your location.
• Photos and Videos: Businesses can showcase their services, products, and premises by uploading pictures and videos to their GMB profile. Visual content can significantly influence potential customers and provide a more comprehensive view of what your business has to offer.
• Customer Ratings and Reviews: GMB allows customers to submit ratings and reviews to share their experiences with your business. Positive reviews build trust and credibility. You also have the option to respond to reviews, which demonstrates your commitment to customer satisfaction.
• Posts and Updates: GMB profiles support the posting of updates, announcements, events, and special offers directly in the search results. These posts appear alongside your business information and can help engage customers and attract attention.
• Insights and Analytics: GMB provides valuable insights into how users interact with your business listing. You can see data on customer actions, such as website clicks, phone calls, and direction requests, helping you better understand your audience.
• Local SEO Boost: A verified and optimized Google MyBusiness profile is crucial for local search engine optimization. When determining local search rankings, Google considers the information in GMB listings, making it easier for your business to appear in relevant local searches.
• Mobile Integration: As more and more searches occur on mobile devices, having an optimized GMB profile ensures that your business is well-represented in mobile search results and maps.

Overall, Google MyBusiness is an effective tool for businesses to manage and control their online presence, improve their visibility, and engage with potential customers in a way that can directly impact their success.

How to Get Started with Google My Business and a Google Maps Listing

1. Follow the steps on Google MyBusiness to claim and verify your business. Tip: Getting verified can take a week or two. You will need to provide an active address, and after a few days or so, you will receive a postcard with a code to verify your business. In the meantime, you can fill out and optimize your profile.
2. Complete your business profile—Ensure your business information is accurate, including the name, address, and phone number. Add business hours, service or product categories, and a business description. Bonus points if you include some common keywords related to your company and industry!
   Once you have completed your profile, you can take it a step further to make the most of it. The following two recommendations are ongoing, and you can use them as needed.
3. Ask customers for reviews—Encourage satisfied customers to leave positive feedback. You can do this in various ways, but you should find a way to ask. Make sure to respond to customer reviews as quickly as possible. Responding to reviews displays that your business takes pride in its products or services and cares about feedback. Active business replies also encourage more reviews in general.
   Did you know that having more Google reviews could give companies an edge in search results? That’s right! Research has shown that businesses with a higher number of reviews on Google tend to rank higher than those without any reviews. So, if you want to improve your online visibility, encourage your customers to leave a review for your business on Google. Having business reviews can increase online visibility, traffic, and sales.
4. Utilize Google My Business Posts—Regularly update your GMB profile with changing hours, posts, news, or promotions. Keep your audience informed about any changes or events.

How to Get Your Website Ranking in Google’s Search Results

To get started, you’ll need a website first. If you already have a website, please skip ahead to step 2. If you don’t, here’s a quick list of what you’ll need!

Step 1: Create a Website

• Choose a domain name: Select a domain name that reflects your business or content. Remember to keep your domain short, memorable, and easy to spell. You can search for or buy a domain name on Bluehost or Siteground.
• Select a reliable hosting provider: Select a hosting provider with good uptime and customer support, such as Bluehost or SiteGround. When choosing your host, consider your website’s requirements for scalability.
• Design a user-friendly and responsive website: Prioritize a clean and intuitive website design. Create a responsive website so it is accessible on various devices.
• Optimize website speed and performance: Use tools to identify and fix performance issues. Google PageSpeed Insights can help! Compress images and utilize browser caching.

Once you have a website, you start leveraging the different tools & strategies to get your website on Google.

Step 2: Submit Your Website Sitemap Using Google Search Console

Google Search Console (GSC) is a free Google service that helps website owners, web admins, and SEO professionals monitor and optimize their site’s presence in Google Search results. It offers a variety of tools and reports to help users understand how Google’s search engine interacts with their website.

Note: Search Console was previously known as Google Webmaster Tools.

With Google Search Console, you can verify your website, analyze search performance, inspect your URLs, submit your sitemap, and more. It plays a crucial role in helping sites align with Google’s best practices and ensures a better understanding of how their content is perceived and ranked in search results.

1. Create a Google Search Console account – Sign up for a Google Search Console account here if you haven’t already. Then, verify your site to access helpful insights.
2. Submit your sitemap to Google – Generate a sitemap using tools like Yoast or XML-sitemaps.com. Submit your sitemap through Google Search Console.
3. Monitor website performance – Regularly check Google Search Console for errors and issues. Remember to address any crawl errors or security issues quickly. You can also monitor your website’s progress and see when new pages show on Google.

Step 3: Implement SEO Best Practices

Getting started with SEO can seem like a mountain to climb, but there are some easy steps you can take to begin your website optimization. SEO is usually considered a long game, but I’ve seen cases where it instantly boosts sales. The sooner you get started, the sooner you will see the benefits! Below are a few tips about SEO best practices.

Your website’s primary pages should include a meta title and meta description focusing on a specific keyword or key phrase.

When the bulk of your website is optimized, and you continue adding quality optimized content, the gates eventually open, and the traffic comes rushing in. So don’t wait! The sooner you get started, the better!

SEO Techniques You Can Implement Today

• On-page SEO – Craft compelling title tags and meta descriptions. Create high-quality, valuable content for your audience.
• Off-page SEO – Build backlinks from reputable websites in your industry and utilize social media marketing to increase brand awareness.
• Technical SEO – Optimize website structure for easy navigation. Implement a sitemap and robots.txt file for search engine crawlers. Use tools like Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to ensure mobile compatibility.

Step 4: Utilize Google’s Free Tools

Google has free tools to help you make your website better and improve your rankings in search engines. Here are a few:

• Google Analytics: Google Analytics will help you track user behavior and website traffic. It allows you to analyze data to understand your audience and make informed decisions.
• Google Tag Manager: Use tag manager to simplify adding and managing tags on your website. It can deploy tracking codes and analytics scripts without altering code.
• Google Keyword Planner: Offers keyword research insights, including search volume data and keyword suggestions, to help you identify relevant keywords for your content and SEO strategy.
• Google Trends: Provides insights into the popularity of search queries over time, helping you identify trending topics and keywords relevant to your niche for content creation and optimization.
• Google PageSpeed Insights: Analyzes the performance of your web pages on both mobile and desktop devices, offering suggestions for improving page load speed, which can impact search rankings and user experience.

Google also offers a paid tool called Google Ads. Google Ads helps your website appear higher in the search results through Pay Per Click campaigns. These campaigns are how you show at the very top of Google in the “sponsored” section. Consider running targeted Google Ads campaigns to boost visibility. Monitor and adjust campaigns based on performance metrics.

Step 5: Regularly Update and Maintain Your Website

Regularly maintaining and updating your website helps your site rank on Google. It basically sends a signal to Google that you’re in business, and you mean business. It also sends a message to your customers that your website is current, secure, and trustworthy – so it’s a win-win. Here are a few ways you should maintain and update your website:

• Publish fresh and relevant content by maintaining an active blog or news section or update existing website content to keep it relevant and accurate.
• Keep software, plugins, and themes up to date. Make sure to regularly update your website’s content management system (CMS), plugins, and themes. Regular updates enhance security and performance.
• Monitor and fix broken links. Use tools like Google Search Console to identify broken links and correct them promptly to maintain a positive user experience.

How to Get Your Website on Google in General

If you already have a website and have completed the steps outlined above, we have a few more tips and tricks to get your website at the top of Google. Google will prioritize websites that offer visitors a great experience, including quality content, a mobile-friendly design, excellent performance, and regular site updates.

Add Quality Content Creating high-quality, relevant, and valuable content is essential for ranking well on Google. Content should be engaging, informative, and well-structured to attract both users and search engines.

Prioritize Mobile-Friendliness: Since Google prioritizes mobile-friendly websites in search results, your website must be optimized for mobile devices.

Improve Website Performance: Google considers website loading speed and overall performance when ranking pages. Optimizing website performance by minimizing server response time, compressing images, and utilizing caching techniques can improve visibility on Google.

Monitor and manually submit new content to Google: While Google typically discovers and indexes new website content automatically, submitting a new website URL through Google Search Console can expedite the process.

Overall, getting a website on Google involves a combination of technical optimization, content creation, and adherence to SEO best practices.

Get Your Website on Google Today!

Understanding how to get your website on Google can work wonders for your business! We hope this step-by-step guide helps you on your marketing journey. Make sure to subscribe to our newsletter for more digital marketing tips!

If you have any questions, please ask us in the comments or reach out using one of our contact forms!