Before you think about keywords, is your site even in the index?
The most common cause is that pages are not indexed: they don't appear in Google at all, regardless of their quality. Check that first in Search Console. Only when pages are included but do not rank, it becomes about competition, content and authority.
STEP BY STEP
Check in this order
- Search on site:yourdomein.nlLiterally type that into Google. If you see virtually nothing, then your site is not or barely indexed and everything that follows is pointless. This takes ten seconds.
- Check if your pages are blockedA noindex instruction or a block in robots.txt keeps pages out of the index. This often happens because a test setting is left after going live: one of the most expensive forgotten checks there is.
- Check Search Console to see which pages are includedUnder indexing you can see per page why it is or is not included. “Crawled, not currently indexed” means that Google found the page too sparse or too similar to something else.
- Ask yourself whether you can be found by brand nameSearch for your company name. If you don't reach the top, then there is a technical or age problem. If you do get there, indexing works and it is purely about competition on other terms.
- Compare your page with who is currently at the topOpen the top three for the term you want. Do they answer the question more completely than you? Usually yes, and usually that's the answer: no trick, just more work.
- Check how old your domain isA domain that is a few months old rarely ranks for competitive terms, no matter how good the page is. That's patience, not a problem you can solve.
- See if you're aiming for the right term"Having a website created" is hard-fought nationally. "Website development for installation companies" is not. More specific means less search volume and much more opportunity.
PITFALLS
What people wrongly try
Repeating keywords more often has not worked for fifteen years and is difficult to read. Search engines recognize the pattern and rate it negatively.
Buying links sometimes works in the short term and is the fastest path to a manual measure. On a young domain this is virtually irreparable.
- Repeat keywords — doesn't work and reads repulsively.
- Buy links — risk that your domain will not survive.
- Resubmit sitemap — no ranking tactics.
- More pages about the same thing — that compete with each other.
- Do: make one page more complete — boring and it works.
- Do: choose more specific terms — less volume, much more opportunity.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
More about findability
How long does it take for a new site to be found?
Indexation can take days to several weeks. Ranking on anything competitive takes quarters. The distinction is important: non-indexed is a technical problem you solve, non-ranking is a content and time problem.
I am in Google but on page five. What now?
Check Search Console to see which terms are giving you impressions and where you rank in positions 4 to 20. Those are the pages where the least effort yields the most: you don't have to start from scratch.
Does publishing more often help?
Only if what you publish answers a real question. Ten thin articles take less than one page to fully cover a topic, and they can actually get in each other's way.
Can you look into this for me?
We look at indexation and technical blocks free of charge and say what we find. We do not do ongoing SEO campaigns; for this we refer you to a specialist.
CONTINUE READING
Of course, continue reading about this subject.
Find out what's going on goes wrong?
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