Getting found on Google

The question I get asked most is “How can I get found on Google?“. The short answer is that it can take up 2 months to get found, but I’m going to share with you a few simple techniques to help get you indexed (found) by Google much more quickly.
[list type=”list4″]

  1. What phrase do you want people to enter into Google to find you? This is one of the most fundamental questions you need to answer before you do anything else. Don’t think about how YOU would search for your your services, think about how other people would search for your services (e.g. if you need a photographer to shoot your school reunion would you type “David Baxter Photography” or “event photographer newcastle”?). Work out your key search phrases and use this as your keyword text and link whenever you can (especially throughout your own website).
  2. Use your social media networks, blogs and forums to promote your website. Popular sites like Facebook, Twitter and popular blogs and forums get indexed very often. If your website address is found on any of these websites your chances of being noticed by Google dramatically increase. Post comments to popular Photography Forums, update your LinkedIn profile page, Twit about your address ¶ anywhere you can!
  3. Pull together all your email contacts into a single email, write a introductory letter, create a special Launch Offer using the PhotoMerchant Discount Voucher tools (view “tutorial on setting up your discount vouchers”), then send it out to everyone you know. Share your new website name, keywords and website address with everyone you know and encourage people to forward the special offer to their friends. All it takes is a couple of people to share your website address on their social networks and the impact can be enormous.
  4. For the more technically minded, you should submit your website to Google via Google Webmaster Tools. (view “Using Google Webmaster Tools with your PhotoMerchant Website” tutorial.

[/list]

 

There are lots of resources online (including this great “Little known SEO tricks” article) and for the most part, getting found on the Internet is mostly about letting Google (and everyone else) know where your website is.

Good Luck

Written by

Kain is a co-founder, creative and marketing director at Fotomerchant. You've probably seen his template designs, blog posts and video content. His photography website lomovision.net is home to a collection of lomography, instagram and experimental photography.