OMG – Why’s My Website Gone From Google?

Has your phone stopped ringing and you’ve just discovered that your website visibility has fallen off a cliff? Are you no longer on the first few pages of Google and your finger gets tired as you scroll to find your website…. What do you do?

Do you revisit your SEO? Or publish more posts through social media?

Personally, I’d start with your website content and probably drink another coffee too!

More likely than not, when you had your eye-catching website designed, you would have had a SEO strategy put into place. But have you updated your website content since?

When your search ranking drops, it’s a natural reaction to jump back and revisit your SEO. But this isn’t always the best way forward.

On-page SEO starts with having the right keywords and keyword phrases covered within your page content. At the time of your website launch, this may have been spot on but things never stay the same for long when it comes to search results.

Google updates it’s search algorithms continuously, and it is well known that Google loves fresh content. In fact, the March 2023 Google core update was designed to make Google better at identifying quality content.

So, keeping your website content fresh and engaging is paramount to the visibility of your website and search ranking.

Search engines are focusing more and more on user search intent, which is just a fancy term for them to try even hard to match the search results to what they believe the person is looking for.

Therefore, it makes sense to freshen up your website content, before implementing your SEO campaign.

So where do you start content wise? The following are 8 useful tips to get you started back from the search ranking abyss.

1. Who are you trying to reach with your web site?

Knowing your target audience is essential to connecting with potential customers. What motivates them? What are their pain points, interests, and preferences?

Writing your website content to address their needs and provide them with valuable information will help tie in with Google’s aim of matching search intent to searchers.

2. What sets you apart from your competitors?

When a visitor lands on your website, do they see a real difference to the other sites operating in your market?

Make sure that your unique selling proposition (USP) is clearly defined, your difference, so they will choose you over your competition.

3. Create engaging and just as importantly relevant content.

Engaging content keeps visitors on your website longer, which in-turn tells search engines that your site provides value.

An easy way to do this, is just to write your page information without using your keywords over and over. The relevant keywords should occur naturally within your content.

A well written and easy to read content that is aimed at the site visitor, will engage your website visitors in a much better way, than a keyword stuffed page and encourage them to read more about your products and services.

4. Readability is so important!

Your content should be easily read. Use headings, subheadings, bullet points, and short paragraphs to make it scannable.

Remember the site visitor doesn’t read every work on your page, they scan it. If they are presented with long paragraphs, it all becomes too hard and they click onto another site.

This is where relevant images and video’s come in. Although they don’t offer huge SEO benefits, they break up the page and make your content easier to read.

5. Keywords.

While it’s important to write your content naturally, we still need to incorporate relevant keywords and phrases strategically into our page text.

Use keyword research tools to find high-volume, low-competition keywords that align with your content and target audience’s search intent (Tip 1).

6. Focus on user experience.

By ensuring your website is still easy to navigate, is responsive and mobile-friendly, your visitors will again be encouraged to stay on your web site longer. The longer they stay, the better the chance of them engaging with you – either by contacting you or making a purchase.

Also pay attention to page load speed, as slow-loading sites can negatively impact user experience and search rankings.

7. Proofread and Proofread Again.

Before hitting that publish button, always proofread your content. Typos, spelling mistakes, grammatical errors will really impact on your credibility.

But next, is the most important tip !

8. Don’t just rush into a content re-write.

Take the time to research what your potential customers are looking for. Search the top 10 ranking web sites that come up for the search terms you want to be found for.

Ask yourself what are they doing differently? How are they matching the searchers intent? Does my content differ to theirs?

Once you can answer these questions, you will be ready to start writing relevant and engaging website content.

At the end of the day, once you get past the fancy website design, and the smoke and mirrors, the most important aspect of your website success is your content.

It lays the foundation for a website that site visitors and search engines will love.

Then with your website content refreshed, it’s time to publish those social media posts, revisit your SEO strategy and reclimb up the search rankings.

Need help in doing this? Scorched Media offers SEO refresh packages, speak to us today and we will get you on our schedule, to get your site ranking well again.