How Long Should Your Web Pages Be? (Size Matters!)
The importance of the right web page length shouldn’t be just about SEO! Here’s how long your web pages should be and what to focus on, too.
You’re probably wondering how long should a web page be so that it can rank higher on Google, but here’s the thing: the optimal web page length for your business website shouldn’t be just about SEO.
Let me show you what you should focus on for the best results and conversions.
Understanding optimal web page lengths
From your home to landing pages and your contact section, here’s what to consider when writing your website copy.
How long should a web page be for SEO?
Take if from a professional website copywriter: when it comes to SEO, a web page should be at least 300 words long.
This is because Google tends to classify anything below that word count as ‘thin’ or ‘low-quality’ content.
Think about it: whenever a user types a keyword or some kind of query (e.g. in our case ‘how long should a web page be?’), this search engine wants them to find the best possible answer.
Can that really be given in less than 300 words?
Unlikely.
If, instead of the blog post that you’re reading right now, I had written a couple of paragraphs telling you to aim for at least 300 words, I would not have given you a good enough answer.
Why? Because there’s so much more to take into account!
Google knows this. So, if you try and get away with 150 words or so while most of your competitors dish out 600, 1000, or +2000 word pages, Google is not gonna trust your answer.
“On average, web pages reaching Google’s top results have 1,890 words.”
So, does this mean that the longer the better when it comes to web page length?
Actually, no.
Focus on VALUE over fluff or strict word counts!
While 300 words is an important starting point, you should always focus on writing copy that serves the specific purpose of that web page on your business website.
Because this varies, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer for web page length.
There is absolutely no point in stuffing your web pages with useless or repetitive sections, nor using twenty words when four could do just so you can obtain a longer word count.
No point.
You’re just going to bore or scare your readers away… and that will backfire from an SEO point of view too. If too many visitors abandon your website too quickly, you’ll end up with a high bounce rate, and Google doesn’t like that.
“So, the most important thing is to write copy that serves the specific purpose of that page. ”
And let’s be realistic: from your home to your About or a Sustainability page, that will be over 300 words. Even if you’re not actively striving for that number.
A popular exception is the Contact page: I mean, do you really have that much to say by that point, other than a couple of paragraphs that further encourage your visitors to get in touch?
I doubt it.
I mean, if you do, that’s great. But, if you don’t, don’t worry: having one or two pages that are shorter than 300 words isn’t going to penalise you on Google.
Just as long as your core pages (e.g. home, about, services, etc.) are a bit longer.
How long should a landing page be?
There’s no right length for sales or landing pages. However, while they should still be at least 300 words (like other standard pages) from an SEO point of view, it’s only logical to have much longer landing pages.
Why?
Because they must be optimised for conversions and move your visitors aaaaaall the way down the funnel.
Can you really do that in 300 words?
Maybe, if those who find your landing page are already towards the bottom of the sales funnel.
In most cases, however, the answer is a big fat NO.
“My rule of thumb is: the more you’re asking of your visitors, the longer your landing or sales page should be.”
Are you asking them to give you their email address in exchange for a free ebook? That’s not a big commitment, so a fairly short landing page will do.
Are you asking them to invest thousands of pounds into your high-ticket programme? Then your landing page will need to be waaaaaaaaay longer.
Not for SEO reasons, but simply because… well, you must convince these people to part with thousands of pounds!
And, for this to happen, you’ll need to:
agitate their current pain points
tackle all of their most common worries and potential objections
show social proof
paint an irresistible picture of what their reality will look like once they’ve invested in your products or services
Basically, you need more words.
Best practices when it comes to web page length
While I always recommend remembering that magic number (a minimum of 300 words), here’s what you should actually focus on when writing copy for your business website.
1. Write excellent copy where EVERY. WORD. MATTERS.
Here’s the thing: when it comes to word counts, best practices change, and people have more opinions than on the Game of Thrones finale.
For real.
While 300 words is a consistent number since it’s one of Google’s ranking factors, you’ll find blog posts telling you to only publish content over 1000 words.
No, actually, 1500.
No, wait! +2500.
Honestly? Forget about all that.
“The way you talk about your business and bring your dream customers into your brand story is what matters the most.”
So, focus on strategic website copy that grabs your audience’s attention, show them why you’re the best at what you do, proves how your products or services can benefit them, and helps them move down the funnel.
That’s it.
Don’t get too hung up on specific word counts!
2. Make your above-the-fold copy unmissable
Regardless of how long a web page should be and all that, let’s be realistic: nobody will read the entire thing if the first part doesn’t hook them in.
Your above-the-fold content consists of everything that your website visitors can see before they scroll down.
Its aim is to convince them to stick around and read the rest, which is why it’s the most important part of your page. No wonder users spend over half of their page-viewing time above the fold!
For example, when it comes to your home page, your above-the-fold copy should convey:
Exactly what you do
For whom
Why that matters/how it benefits your target audience
3. Use headings
Nobody likes a page full of lines and lines of text in the exact same size!
You need to use headings to help your readers read or skim your page without getting put off by a huge wall of text.
Plus, headings are excellent for SEO, too: they’re ideal to create a hierarchical structure and use your keywords strategically.
4. Break up your text even further
Headings aren’t the only way to break up your text.
For example, to further facilitate readability you could use:
Bullet points (how meta!)
Different sections
Images
CTA buttons
No matter how long your web pages are, using these tricks (together with the right copy, of course) will help readers stick around and take action.
Grab the right words for your female-founded business website
Now that you know how long web pages should be (and why it doesn’t always matter that much), you have two options: write them on your own, or outsource them to a professional.
If you’re a fellow copywriter, the first option makes a lot of sense.
Not your area of expertise?
I’m a website copywriter & brand messaging consultant turning female entrepreneurs into THE go-to solution in their dream audience’s eyes.
My copy will allow you to attract more visitors organically, turn them into leads and sales, and stand out against your competitors.
Let me fill your website with copy that brings actually results, not just ‘words on a page’.
More #crafty blog posts on this topic:
External Links: Should You Link to Other Websites in Your Blog?
“But I’ll lose readers and leads!’ Mmh, you sure? Here’s a jargon-free overview of external links & SEO to see whether you should include them in blog posts.
I keep seeing company blogs without any kind of external links, not even when they mention percentages and statistics. Are you guilty of that, too?
Perhaps you’re worried about directing your readers away from your business website?
More than one of my clients had your same concern, so I thought I’d tackle external links and SEO once and for all.
Here’s a jargon-free overview of what these links are, how they affect SEO, and whether or not you should link to other websites in your blog posts.
Understanding external links
It’s actually way easier than you think. Pinky promise!
External link meaning
The meaning of external links is really simple, and you’ve definitely seen them (and used them) countless times:
“An external link (also known as outbound link) is a hyperlink that directs your visitors from a page on your website to that of a different website on the internet.”
External links are the opposite of internal or inbound links, which also send them to a different page but within your own website (for example, if you’re writing a blog post on social media marketing and link to your ‘social media management’ service page).
What is an example of an external link?
Here’s a simple example of an external link:
‘Find more information in this SEO glossary of terms.’
The highlighted part in a different colour is called ‘anchor text’.
Again, a fancy-sounding term, but it simply means “the words that your readers need to click in order to navigate to the page that you’ve linked”.
Easy, right?
In HTML, a hyperlink will lool like this:
<a href=“https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo/seo-glossary”>SEO glossary of terms</a>
While this might change depending on your business model and industry, it’s fairly rare that you’ll need to use external links on your main website pages.
For example, I mainly include them in my portfolio to showcase some of my writing samples on other websites.
When it comes to your company blog, on the other hand, external hyperlinks are way more likely to be relevant.
For example, here are some of the instances in which you might notice them on blog posts:
To back up some stats and data
To direct your readers to stuff that you’ve recommended (e.g. in a listicle)
To help them find more information on a subject that you haven’t/aren’t planning on tackling on your own website
‘But if I link to external websites, I’ll lose readers and customers!’
I’ve heard this concern from more than one client, so let me just say one word (and then a few more):
RELAX.
“Linking to external websites isn’t like placing a flashing arrow sign towards an open front door during your exhibition. It’s more like adding some background info next to your artwork to build trust.”
You know what could actually backfire?
Using stats without sources or making false claims that you can’t back up with facts.
Now, that is counterproductive and could compromise your audience’s trust in your brand!
If you say that companies with a blog on their business website receive 97% more links than those without one, you must have gotten that piece of information from somewhere, right?
Then link to it so that your readers don’t feel like you’re making up your own data.
You’re basically giving them the option to find out more about something if they want to.
But the truth? It’s unlikely that they’ll feel the need to read a massive report and forget about your initial blog post altogether.
That blue colour and underline underneath a stat, on the other hand, can be reassuring on their own.
And if they forget about your blog post, then I’m sorry but it means that it wasn’t interesting and compelling enough.
It’s not that external link’s fault.
Take some responsibility, my friend.
External links and SEO
Now that I’ve—hopefully—addressed your main concern on external links on your blog and website, let’s move on to the top reason why these outbound links are talked about in the magical online world: SEO.
Because external links are also linked (excuse the repetition) to search engine optimisation.
Disclaimer: the main discussion around them concerns external links from other websites to yours. That’s a whoooooole new topic. Since we’re talking about whether or not you should link to other websites on your own blog, we’re gonna keep focusing on this subtopic alone before you bang your head against the keyboard.
Do External Links Hurt SEO?
No, external links per se don’t hurt SEO, so don’t stop yourself from including them when they can be helpful and relevant to your readers. They only penalise your Google rankings when done wrong.
Here are some situations in which external links could actually hurt your website’s SEO:
If you link to spammy sites: not only isn’t this a great practice for search engines, but you’ll annoy your readers too. Why would you want to do that?
If you use too many, since this can be distracting for your readers. If your page puts them off, they’ll leave it way too soon, and this sends a message to Google that your page isn’t worth sticking around on
If you include too many links to pages that aren’t relevant and have got nothing to do with your industry. This can penalise your SEO because it confuses Google and other search engines: what is your website actually about? Mate, they thought you had something to do with marketing, but now they see you linking to Wikipedia pages of raccoons, and hard rock, and articles on how to make bread?!
If you’re linking to pages that are targeting your same keyword: this is because, if a page receives many external links from other websites, Google thinks that it’s the coolest kid on the blog because it must have lots of useful info, so it’ll help its users find it. Basically, if you’re sending SEO juice to a page that’s competing against you for the same keyword, you’re shooting yourself in the foot. It would be as if I had linked to other blog posts on ‘external links’ in this article
Do external links help with SEO?
Yes, external links can actually help with SEO because they show Google and other search engines that your website isn’t a dead end and offers plenty of useful information to your readers, including backed-up stats and links to more in-depth articles whenever you tackle wider topics.
Here are the benefits of external links and SEO:
They show Google that you care about your readers (=Google’s users) finding the best info
It shows that you’re a team player and happy to be part of a larger community by linking to other relevant websites
When linking to other websites within your same industry, you’re helping search engines truly understand what your own website is about
If you keep creating excellent content and backing up your sources with relevant external links, you’re more likely to receive external links yourself. If many websites link back to yours, that gives you more SEO juice. It’s actually one of the main SEO benefits of blogging
So, should I use external links on my business website and blog?
Yes, you should definitely use external links (without worrying about losing your audience), but not just for the sake of including them: only when they’re relevant and can bring value to your readers.
How to use external hyperlinks in your favour: best practices
To back up your sources and stats
Whenever possible, link to relevant websites in your same industry
Link to good domains and websites with a high authority, not someone’s unreliable sitename.wordpress.com URL (psst: you can check a website’s domain authority with many free DA checkers like this one)
Link to reliable sources and to stats that have been published as recently as possible. A 2005 source for an article on social media isn’t gonna get you far
Use relevant keywords and descriptive text for your anchor whenever you can (e.g. “as shown in this social media report” rather than “as shown here”)
Need a hand with the blog on your female-founded business website? 🙌
Now that you understand the importance of external links on your business website and blog, do you need a hand keeping the latter updated?
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Search Intent: What It Is & How to Use It for Your Content
Spoiler alert: if you’ve never taken search intent into consideration when writing content for your female-founded biz, you’ve been wasting time & money!
Would you propose to someone who’s just asked you out on a first date? If the answer is no, congratulations: you already understand search intent!
(If the answer was yes, either you’re Ross from Friends or need to slow the heck down.)
Not taking Google search intent into account when it comes to SEO will lead to wasting time and money on creating content that doesn’t rank nor move your readers down the funnel.
Let me help you get it right.
What is search intent in SEO?
Search intent (which is also know as user intent, keyword intent, or user search intent) describes the purpose behind a query or online search.
In other words, the reason why a person is googling a certain term or question.
Don’t be fooled: the concept itself isn’t anything fancy or complicated.
Just think of your own online searches. No matter what you type, you’re always looking to find something, aren’t you?
Maybe that’s a specific piece of information, or perhaps it’s a product to buy.
Either way, that’s your search intent for a specific keyword whenever you type it on Google.
Easy, right?
What are the 4 common types of search intent?
While there are gazillions of keywords out there from ‘are avocados good for you’ to ‘zebra petting zoo’, they can all be traced back to four types of search intent.
That’s good news, isn’t it?
Even better: I’ll list all of them for the sake of consistency, but you only need to care about three of them in practice.
1. Informational search intent
As the name suggests, queries with an informational keyword intent are simply searches that are carried out to obtain information, whether that’s to learn more about a topic, to find a specific answer, and anything in between.
“Informational queries are the most common type of search intent, making up almost 80% of all Google traffic.”
Even though they mean that a user is looking for answers, informational keywords aren’t always a question.
Examples of informational searches
‘Game of Thrones explained’
‘How far is the Earth from the sun?’
‘Types of coffee’
‘Raccoons’
‘What is sustainable fashion’
‘Do I need SEO for my website?’
Best type of content to answer informational searches
Blog posts
Yes, in most cases, you should focus on informational searches on the blog on your business website.
Whenever I see LinkedIn posts or online articles asking ‘is blogging still relevant’, I can’t help shaking my head. My answer? Blogging will only be outdated when people stop using Google to find information.
In the meantime, it’d be crazy not to answer your target audience’s questions and keywords that are related to your business and products. Informational searches, in other words.
2. Navigational search intent
Navigational search intent is perhaps the most straightforward (and the least useful from an SEO point of view): it consists of searches carried out by users who are looking for a specific website or page.
Examples of navigational searches
‘LinkedIn’
‘Wordpress login’
‘Forbes 30 under 30 list’
Best type of content to answer navigational searches
Your homepage, core pages, and evergreen content (e.g. blog posts that will always be relevant and that have such a memorable title or angle that your audience will want to revisit them directly)
Navigational user intent is the one that matters the least from an SEO perspective in my opinion.
Why?
Because these users already know exactly what they want and from whose website/company they’re going to get it, so you can’t do much to generate additional traffic from them.
For example, with an informational search like ‘how to grind coffee’, you can attract more visits by having an attention-grabbing title and meta description, making it more likely that these users will want to open your blog post on ‘how to grind coffee’ rather than your competitors’. They know that they want some information regarding ‘how to grind coffee’, but they haven’t decided who they’re going to get it from.
But if they’re typing ‘Forbes 30 under 30 list’, they know that they don’t want just any under 30 list: they want the one written by Forbes.
3. Transactional search intent
Transactional user intent involves Google searches made by people who want to buy something right there and then (or, at the very least, add it to a wishlist or bookmark it for later).
In most cases, they know exactly what they want to purchase but not necessarily what website/platform/store they’ll be buying it from.
Examples of transactional searches
‘Buy On Writing by Stephen King’
‘Twin Peaks DVD set’
‘80s windbreaker second hand’
‘iPhone 13 mini’
Best type of content to answer transactional searches
Your sales pages and product pages
Transactional keywords are for the smallest chunk of your target audience that’s already at the bottom of the sales funnel, in full buying mode.
If you sell what they’re after, you want to be one of the first pages to show up on Google when they’re ready to hit that ‘buy now’ button.
4. Commercial investigation search intent
This is the cousin of transactional searches. Basically, commercial investigation consists of Google searches carried out by people who are planning on buying something at some point but are still narrowing down their choices.
They know what type of product or service they need: they just haven’t decided on a specific model or brand.
Examples of commercial investigation searches
‘Best vegan leather bags’
‘Top antivirus for Windows 10’
‘Cafes near me’
‘Best restaurant in Liverpool’
‘HelloFresh vs Blue Apron’
Best type of content to answer commercial investigation searches
Comparison and round-up blog posts
To harness commercial investigation keyword intent, you must help your target audience figure out what product or service would be the very best for their specific needs.
In some cases, they already know the type of product that they want. In some others, they’re torn between two or more specific options.
Now that we’ve covered all the different types of search intent, I’ll be honest: sometimes, you could argue that certain searches overlap when it comes to these four categories.
For example, if someone were to Google ‘AI course Deep Learning AI’, it could be seen as a transactional search (they’re looking to buy a course on artificial intelligence) but also navigational (they’ve already decided that they’re going to buy it from Deeplearning.ai and are just looking for that sales page again).
Overall, however, I think you can still narrow it down to one main type of search intent.
In this case, I’d say that, unless you own Deeplearning.ai, it’s navigational. It’s highly unlikely that you’ll be able to convince them to buy your AI course if they’re already typing that keyword, don’t you think?
Why is search intent important?
“Search intent is extremely important when it comes to SEO and marketing because you should prepare the right content based on your audience’s intention if you want to attract their visits and convert them into subscriptions or sales.”
Going back to our initial marriage proposal analogy, you don’t want to scare someone away by showing them a salesy page if what they’re looking for is some generic information on the subject.
At the same time, if someone is looking to buy a specific product and you use that transactional keyword in an informational post, you’re missing out on sales.
Basically, you shouldn’t just pick a keyword and create the type of content that you see fit around it: you must understand what someone googling that keyword is actually expecting to find… and then give it to them!
Search intent isn’t just important when it comes to your audience. It matters to Google, too.
When someone types a keyword, search engines look for the best results. And the best results aren’t just the most comprehensive: they’re the ones that match the Google search intent behind the actual keyword as well!
So, if your web pages and blog posts don’t, they won’t show up in front of your audience’s eyes in the first place.
How do I use search intent on my website pages & blog posts?
To use search intent correctly, you must first understand what your audience is looking to find and do when googling a specific keyword, conduct some research, and then ensure that your piece of content matches their intent (and is the best option out there).
1. Figure out the search intent behind a keyword
You’re more than welcome to pay for some AI keyword search intent software like Keywi or Keyword Insights, but… my honest opinion?
As a human (as I’m sure you are), you have a bigger advantage over AI when it comes to figuring out the search intent behind a search. In most cases, it’s common sense!
Think about it: if someone is googling ‘what is the difference between light and dark roast coffee’, are they looking to buy it? Of course, not. Not yet, at least.
You first need to explain this difference to them. Then, by all means, you can link to your light and dark roast coffee at the end of your informational blog post. But you first need to build the actual piece of content around that question, not present them with a sales page.
Some keyword modifiers can also help you understand the search intent behind a query:
Informational: why, how, how to, what, who, where, learn, tutorial, info, guide
Navigational: [these mainly involve brand names or names of specific products/services]
Commercial investigation: vs, best, top, near me, comparison, roundup
Transactional: buy, buy online, second hand, cheap, discounted, order, offer
“In my opinion, however, the best way to understand search intent without leaving it to guesswork is to google that keyword and analyse its top results.”
What type of pages are they: standard web pages, sales pages, product pages, or blog posts?
And, if they’re blog posts, how are they structured: do they provide an overview of a subject, compare two products, or offer a roundup?
2. Create a web page or blog post that aligns with your audience’s expectations
Now that you’ve realised that, say, most of the top results for ‘how to grind coffee beans without a grinder’ are informational blog posts, write an informational blog post yourself.
But not just any blog post: aim for it to be the best one out there!
When you analyse the other top-ranking results, you shouldn’t focus on keyword search intent alone but on what’s missing from them and how you can improve them.
Is there a popular question that has been left out? Are other articles perhaps a bit too technical while your audience is looking for a jargon-free answer?
Now, let’s address the elephant in the room:
“Yes, this is hard work and extremely time-consuming. But if you write content without taking these things into consideration, you’re wasting even more time… because you’re not writing the right thing for your audience!”
I hope you’ve found my guide on search intent useful.
Shall I save you time and write content that matches your audience’s search intent for your female-founded biz?
If you’ve realised that your sales pages don’t match your users’ intent or you haven’t got time to write such in-depth blog posts on a regular basis, I’d love to help.
I 100% believe that ambitious female entrepreneurs deserve to become THE go-to solution in their dream market’s eyes.
Audience-oriented content matching their search intent will help you do just that.
Discover more about my website copywriting and blog writing services.
And, if you’ve found this useful, subscribe to my weekly newsletter to receive tips and content prompts to connect with your audience through your marketing copy..
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Why Is My Website NOT Showing on Google (& How to Fix It)
Wrong keywords? No sitemap? There are many reasons why your website isn’t showing on Google, but… the good news? They’re all fixable! Here’s how.
“Ugh, WHY is my website not showing on Google?!”
Lots of business owners end up asking themselves this question at some point (so, if it makes you feel a teensy bit better, you’re not alone).
But I get your disappointment.
Maybe you thought all you needed was to create a quick website, churn out a few words per page, and people would have magically started finding it?
Well, the last part can still be true in a few months, but if your website isn’t showing up on Google just yet, you first need to fix some common problems.
So, to help you understand why some websites show up on Google and others don’t, let’s start with a simple, jargon-free overview.
Conditions needed for websites to show up on Google (psst: this is what you must aim for)
Websites that rank on Google and other search engines meet all 3 of these conditions:
Google knows that this website exists in the first place (no, it’s not a given!) and can easily find and access all its pages
This website contains a page that is a relevant match for a specific keyword (as in, a string of words, like “website copywriter for hire”)
It has proved to Google that that specific page DESERVES to rank for that keyword because it’s one of the very best and most valuable on that subject
How do I get my website to show up on Google, in a nutshell?
Basically, to get your website to show up on Google, you must:
Make it easy for search engines to find and understand your pages
Optimise most of them for on-page SEO, and your entire website for off-page SEO (don’t panic: I’ll show you how soon!)
Include relevant, high-quality content that stands out against your competitors
In other words, you have to meet the 3 conditions we just covered.
I’ll explain to you how as soon as we start looking at the reasons why your website isn’t showing on Google in the first place, but first, let’s be realistic.
How long does it take for a website to show up on Google?
This search engine’s algorithm is constantly changing and takes several factors into consideration. So, it could take as little as 4 days for your website to show up on Google or as long as 6 months.
However, this simply means that Google has started crawling it and attributing authority to your domain (which are fancy words for “acknowledging its existance and starting to understand its value”), NOT that you will already show up on the 1st page for your target keywords.
As I always say, be realistic: SEO takes time!
For a website page to reach the top results, we’re talking about 6-12 months or longer. In fact, only 5.7% of the pages ranking in the top-ten results of Google’s 1st page were published within the year.
Once again, this won’t happen automatically: your page needs to meet the 3 conditions we looked at.
Now, truth bomb: if you’ve been asking yourself ‘why is my website not showing on Google’, the chances are… your situation will be the exact same in 6 months IF you don’t do anything about it.
Buuuuuuut you’re here! So, that tells me you’re actually going to put my tips into practice and fix it, right?
Why is my website not showing on google? Top 14 reasons & solutions
My advice? Bookmark this blog post right now so that you can go through EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. without forgetting about it or getting overwhelmed.
1. You have only just launched your website
Ok, slow down then, my friend! If you’ve literally only just created your business website, it’s TOTALLY normal that it isn’t ranking.
As we’ve seen earlier, it can take up to 6 months for Google to notice it.
However, there are a few things you can do to speed up this process. High five!
How to fix this reason why your website isn’t showing on Google
Create a Google Search Console account and link it to your website
Then, create a sitemap and submit it through Google Search Console: Sitemaps -> Enter sitemap URL -> Submit
A sitemap is simply there to help search engines understand the hierarchy of your website pages and show them how to crawl them correctly (as in, how to go through them and make sense of them).
How you create a sitemap depends on what platform you’ve used to build your website, but most of them let you do it automatically (how cool is that?!)
2. Your business doesn’t exist aaaaaaaaanywhere else
Example of how my website shows up on Google thanks to my Google My Business page
If you’re wondering ‘why is my website not showing on Google’ and you don’t even know what Google My Business is, well… this might be THE answer for you.
The thing is, you probably do know about it—and have seen it before—but aren’t familiar with the name.
How to fix this reason why your website isn’t showing on Google
You know when you google something and you’re presented with a separate section on the right (with pictures, a link to the company’s website, contact details, and an overview)?
That’s what your potential clients will also be able to see if you register on Google My Business! This means you’ll also show up on Google Maps, which is always handy (but even more so if you offer your services locally)
You should register your website on other relevant directories too, though. For example, if you have a restaurant, you’ll want to be on TripAdvisor. If you provide your services locally, check out Yelp, and so on
A trick? Just type your industry name and then ‘business directories’ on Google, and you’ll find all the relevant ones for you.
3. You’re stopping search engines from indexing or crawling your pages (so, they can’t find your website!)
Uuuuuuh, it’s getting technical. Sorry about that.
But the good news is… this is highly unlikely to be the reason why your website isn’t showing up on Google, especially if you haven’t touched any code or ticked any weird boxes.
If your neighbour’s brother’s cousin has built your website for free, though, you might want to check it—just to be on the safe side.
How to fix this reason why your website isn’t showing on Google
There’s something called noindex tag that basically tells Google you DON’T want it to look at specific pages. So, these ones will never show up as a search result, no matter you someone type. You can use tools like Ahrefs to check if there are any noindex tags on your website and remove them
Most websites have a robots.txt file that tells search engines what they should and shouldn’t crawl. If you added some pages to that file (maybe by mistake), that’s why your website isn’t showing on Google for them. So, go to your Search Console account, look for the Coverage report, and see if there’s any ‘submitted URL blocked by robots.txt’ error
4. Your website has been penalised by this search engine
Once again, this is extremely rare, but… better safe than sorry!
If you annoyed Google by spamming people or using dodgy practices that go against its terms of service (like buying backlinks), this touchy search engine miiiiiiiiight have done one of the following to your website:
Deindexed it – Your domain has been banned (aka removed)
Penalised it – Google knows your website exists, but it’s making it pretty much impossible for people to find it organically
Sandboxed it – Imagine Google putting your website to the side for a bit until it can fully figure out whether you’re legit or spam
How to fix this reason why your website isn’t showing on Google
Log into your Google Search Console account
If you find a notice that mentions one of those 3 terms, it will also tell you the reason behind it (hint hint: that’s what you must fix)
5. It’s too slow and takes aaaaaaaaaages to load
You know who HATES slow websites?
Google, which prefers websites that load in max 2 seconds
Your ideal clients. In fact, more than 1 in 2 will leave if your website takes longer than 3 seconds to load
So, if yours is too slow, that’s probably why your website isn’t showing on Google.
How to fix this reason why your website isn’t showing on Google
Work with a professional website developer, if you can
Run a Pingdom or Google speed test, and implement the tips you receive within their reports
6. It’s not optimised for phones
Around 1 in 2 website visitors comes from phones. Is your business website mobile friendly?
For example, if it involves static pages (that force mobile users to zoom in just to read the text) or large buttons that are tricky to click on with a thumb, it’s clearly not.
How to fix this reason why your website isn’t showing on Google
Run a mobile-friendly test
Fix the mistakes that flag up
7. It results in poor UX (user experience) overall
If Google realises your current website visitors aren’t having a good time, it isn’t going to show it to many more people. Sorry!
What do I mean by that?
Poor UX takes different forms, but, for example, it could involve difficult navigation (like, dozens and dozens of pages linked in the main menu), loud videos that start playing automatically, long dropdowns in forms, etc.
How to fix this reason why your website isn’t showing on Google
Consider getting some honest feedback from a few of your ideal clients, asking them to navigate your website on their own and finding out if there’s anything they struggle with
You can also test your UX with tools like Fivesecondtest, Optimizely, Crazy Egg, or UX Check
8. It lacks authority and backlinks
Here’s where things start to get trickier, but nothing that the right strategy (and patience) can’t fix.
Basically, when choosing which websites to prioritise, Google relies on something called PageRank. This algorithm looks at looooooooots of factors, but a big one involves links, both internal links (from one page of your website to another) and backlinks (when a different website links to a page on yours).
If you haven’t got many, that’s probably why your website isn’t appearing on Google.
How to fix this reason why your website isn’t showing on Google
Add internal links whenever possible and relevant. For example, when you mention your eco-friendly values on your homepage or in a blog post, link to your Sustainability page. This helps Google better understand your website!
As for backlinks, I’ll be honest: they won’t happen overnight. Even more honest? Nobody wants to link to your About or Service page. As well as guest posting (= writing articles for different websites that also let you link to your own), a good strategy to attract external backlinks is to blog on your business website, sharing insightful blog posts that bring value to your ideal clients and answer their questions
Spoiler alert: not having a blog is another HUGE reasons why your website isn’t showing on Google, but we’ll look into it properly before the end of this article.
9. It doesn’t look trustworthy to Google
Would you send your friend into a shop that looks pitch black, with employees staring at customers in an intimidating way? Probably not, and neither would Google.
If your business website doesn’t look trustworthy, it’s not going to rank very high.
How to fix this reason why your website isn’t showing on Google
Just like you’d get a dog to smell your hand first, some of the things you can do to get Google to trust you are:
Using an SSL certificate
Adding social proof like reviews from your happy clients
Being transparent with your policies and Ts&Cs (you should have a page for those)
Linking to your socials
Collecting positive reviews on Google and online, too
10. Your website pages are too short
If someone told you they wanted to learn more about planning a trip to Iceland, for example, would you give them a four-page flyer or a 100-page guide?
Likewise, Google raaaaaarely trusts a short web page to have enough value for its users.
How to fix this reason why your website isn’t showing on Google
Whenever possible, aim for at least 300 words on each page, which is considered the minimum for SEO
For the best results, invest in website copywriting services to receive fresh and strategic copy that hits the sweet spot: as long as it NEEDS to be (= to turn more visitors into paying clients) and as short as it CAN be (= no fluff and redundant sections) while still taking SEO best practices into account
11. You have duplicate content on your website
If, for whatever reason, you repeated a good chunk of text across different pages, it means you created duplicate content… and Google doesn’t like that.
Same if you copied long bodies of text that you’ve found on someone else’s website (naughty!).
You see, search engines want your pages to be UNIQUE! So, make sure that’s always the case.
How to fix this reason why your website isn’t showing on Google
Start posting original and unique content only
If you think you might already have some duplicate content, run a test to double-check and fix it
12. You haven’t taken on-page SEO into account...
Some of the techniques we covered—like attracting backlinks or improving your website’s speed—are called off-page SEO.
However, if your website isn’t showing on Google, you shouldn’t forget about on-page SEO either: optimising every page to help search engines understand it (without ruining the experience for your human visitors).
How to fix this reason why your website isn’t showing on Google
Use keyword research tools to find out WHAT your ideal clients are googling when looking for your type of business or services
Incorporate the most relevant keywords in all the right spots (whenever possible and natural): your page title, headings, a few times within the body of your copy, image alt text, and page URL in particular
Unless you only sell your services online, local SEO can be extremely helpful, too (for example, with location-based keywords like “best cafe in Chester”).
13. … or you targeted the wrong keywords
Perhaps you did think about on-page SEO, but you simply used the wrong keywords. What do I mean by ‘wrong’?
Usually, they’re either too broad and competitive (for example, unless you’re Coca Cola, you’re unlikely to rank for “best fizzy drink”) or they don’t match search intent, which means they don’t meet your ideal clients’ expectations (for example, you picked a keyword searched by people looking for informational content but, instead of a blog post, you used it on a sales page).
How to fix this reason why your website isn’t showing on Google
Be realistic: aim for more specific and niche keywords that are super relevant to your type of business and the services you offer. While they might be searched fewer times per month, they’ll bring you more of the right people
When you invest in my web copywriting services, I also conduct keyword research to give you the best chance of showing up on Google
14. You haven’t been blogging on your business website
If, after going through (or fixing) the previous points, you’re STILL wondering ‘why is my website not showing on Google’, then one of the most probable answers is simply that… you haven’t got a blog.
Or you do have one, but it’s all about your announcements, or you never update it. No, no, NO!
Every business website should have a blog full of valuable articles that entertain and educate its target audience.
While blogging comes with tons of benefits, lots of them involve search engine optimisation. So, how does blogging help with SEO (aka how does it help your website show on Google more often)?
Simple:
It provides fresh content, giving Google more opportunities to revisit and understand your website
It results in many more indexed pages (every blog post is also a new webpage!), and search engines looooove meaty websites
It allows you to target many more keywords, giving you plenty of chances to show up in front of your ideal clients
It offers all kinds of opportunities to add internal links
It attracts an average of 97% more backlinks
Blog posts are shareable, helping you reach more people via social media and amplifying their other SEO benefits indirectly
How to fix this reason why your website isn’t showing on Google
Too time-consuming? Haven’t got time to master this tactic, let alone create valuable content regularly? I can take care of your blog so that, other than sharing your perspective as a thought leader with me, you can just sit back and enjoy aaaaall those juicy results
So, ‘why is my website not showing on Google?’ As we’ve seen together, there are several reasons, but the best thing is... they’re all fixable (although you’ll still need to be patient to see the first results). Pheeeew!
How I can help your website show up on Google and sell your services more easily
I’m Giada, the brand messaging strategist and copywriter for women entrepreneurs, and I can help you in 2 main ways:
🧲Magnetic Message & Web Copy Makeover✨ After clarifying your core message to turn you into THE go-to solution for your ideal clients, I’ll craft strategic and SEO-friendly website copy that actually sells for you
Blog Business Booster 🚀 I’ll amplify your expertise as a thought leader and help your target audience find out about you organically (while making your entire website rank higher on Google) so that, when they’re ready to invest, YOU are the only name that comes to mind
More #crafty blog posts on this topic:
What Is SEO Content Writing? Definition, Examples & Guide
SEO content writing is a game-changing marketing strategy to grow your badass female-founded business. Discover how it works & how you can create one, too!
Seriously, what is SEO content writing? Is it a complicated technique? A buzzword? A bird? A plane?
Actually, once you learn more about it, SEO content writing isn’t as hard as you might think, as a concept. In fact, it’s a marketing strategy that you can’t afford to miss out on as an ambitious entrepreneur.
The confusing bit is that you might have already heard about it but through other terms such as SEO blogging, content marketing, or blogging on your business website.
But, before answering your question ‘what is SEO content writing’, have you noticed how that term consists of two parts?
Let’s start by defining them separately to better understand the magic that happens when you put them together.
What is SEO?
SEO means search engine optimisation and consists of the practice of increasing both the quantity and quality of your organic website traffic through Google and other search engines.
This involves several factors. For example, whether your website is mobile-friendly, how fast it takes to load, if your contact details and information are consistent across the internet, etc.
However, the most famous and central one is keywords. Why?
Because that’s what your target audience types on Google, and that’s how they can (or can’t) find you.
For example, some of the keywords that are relevant to my business are ‘website copywriter’, ‘blog writer’, ‘freelance copywriter for hire’, and ‘copywriter UK’.
My main website pages are optimised for those!
What is content writing?
Content writing is an audience-oriented marketing strategy that has revolutionised the business world by replacing the old, corporate, blowing-your-own-trumpet mentality with a ‘let’s create valuable content for our dream customers’ approach.
Yes, it involves words, but content writing is slightly different from copywriting: while the aim of the latter is to generate sales, content writing is about attracting your target audience, retaining it, and building trust.
Sure, that will also lead to more sales eventually (duh!), but the writing itself isn’t usually built around the call-to-action to buy.
In fact, content writing mainly involves informational blog posts on relevant industry-related topics that your target audience cares about.
For example, if you sell a natural deodorant, the content writing strategy on your company blog could include articles on ‘the benefits of switching to a natural deodorant’, ‘all the harmful chemicals inside your store-bought deodorant,’ and ‘how to sweat less’.
Not company-focused articles on ‘our latest award’ and ‘what’s new at Natural Deodorant Ltd’.
Ok, then what is SEO content writing?
SEO content writing is a marketing strategy that uses keyword research to create insightful blog posts to attract and retain a company’s target audience.
Just like the definition of content writing, SEO content writing is about attracting your dream customers onto your website through these informational articles, turning them into a loyal audience, and, ultimately, generating more sales.
However, similarly to SEO copywriting, there’s a strong focus on keywords.
In fact, for your articles to be found by your audience, every single blog post must target a different long-tail keyword (consisting of three words or more).
Technically, ‘content writing’ and ‘SEO content writing’ should be synonyms: you can’t create a successful content marketing strategy without taking SEO and keywords into account.
Harnessing SEO content marketing on your female-founded biz website: 3 steps
So, what is SEO content writing in practice? It involves three main phases.
1. Creating an SEO content writing strategy for your target audience
As we’ve already established, a strong SEO content writing strategy involves a company blog on which you publish articles that your target audience will find interesting, useful, or entertaining (or all three at once).
It’s important to conduct some market and competitor research to find out what type of content they actually engage with.
While the blog posts will be related to your industry and products, it’s also helpful to brainstorm a few more specific areas and niches that you will cover.
For example, if you sell coffee, you could write brewing guides for different types of coffee makers, recipes for different coffee drinks, and educational articles (e.g. differences between roasts, why coffee is called joe, etc.).
2. Performing keyword research
When coming up with a new topic, you must also find the keyword that best describes it. Or, sometimes, you can even look for keywords first and use them to generate topic ideas!
There are two main reasons why keyword research is… key, when it comes to SEO content marketing:
In order to be found, every article must be optimised for a main one
You’ll find out what your target audience actually types, which might not be what you would
In fact, you might be used to referring to your second-hand garments as ‘retro clothing’.
However, that term gets searched 1K – 10K per month, whereas people are clearly more familiar with ‘vintage clothing’ since they search it ten times more often (10K – 100K).
3. Writing SEO-friendly content
Once you have a topic and a good keyword, SEO content writing is about writing the actual blog posts for your human readers and optimising them for search engines.
A good SEO-friendly blog post has a clear heading structure to facilitate readability, sticks to that specific topic rather than trying to squeeze a much broader subject into a single article, and… doesn’t actually feel like it involves SEO, when your target audience reads it.
How SEO content writing benefits your business
If you have a business website, you need an SEO content writing strategy!
(No blog page? Create it right now. You have one but it’s all about your company’s achievements? Turn it into an audience-oriented blog.)
The benefits of blogging for business with a strong SEO content writing strategy include:
More chances to rank with every new blog post (which is also an indexed page)
Higher SEO ranking for your overall website
Higher conversion rates
67% more leads than websites without a blog
Building trust
Positioning your company as an expert in your field
More content for your socials and newsletter
Cheaper than PPC and higher ROI
70% of consumers learn about a brand through its blog posts rather than paid ads
How I can help you with SEO content writing for your female-founded business 🙌
No time to write?
Not sure about how to optimise your blog posts to actually attract your dream customers from Google?
With my blog writing services, I can create a strong SEO content writing strategy and write the actual blog posts on a regular basis.
You just worry about enjoying the results.
More #crafty blog posts on this topic:
Topic Clusters & Pillar Pages: The Foundation of Strong Company Blogs
Fancy an SEO boost? Topic clusters are a blogging strategy on steroids. Here's why your small business website needs them (and how to create them)
If you’ve got a blog on your business website (hopefully you do, ’cause it’s not the early 00s anymore), you should consider developing some topic clusters and strong pillar pages.
Trust me: they’re like blog posts on steroids.
What is a topic cluster?
A topic cluster (also known as a content cluster) is an SEO and inbound marketing strategy that consists of a group of interlinked blog posts built around a main pillar page.
Sounds complicated? It isn’t once you can picture it.
Basically:
The pillar page usually targets a keyword with a higher search volume and covers a wider topic through an overview of several sub-topics
Each of its headings or sections will then link to a separate blog post covering that specific sub-topic and targeting a smaller keyword
Every single blog post included in your topic cluster (which can also be read as a standalone article) will then link back to your main pillar page. It goes both ways.
Could do with some pillar page examples to picture it?
Let’s say that you offer online workout videos. A topic cluster for your blog could look like this:
Why are topic clusters important?
Topic clusters are important because they help Google better understand what your business website is actually about while also improving UX.
As the name suggests, pillar content lays the foundation for a strong blogging strategy.
Topic clusters are helpful to both search engine crawlers and human readers:
it’s easier for search engines to understand your website when you have tidy pillar pages and strong internal links
your readers get a neat overview of a topic and can then choose to learn more about the sub-topic that matters to them (or vice versa) rather than being presented with a huuuuuuuuuuge block of text that tries to tell them everything about those subjects in one place
How do you create a topic cluster?
1. Pick the right topic for your pillar page
Your main topic shouldn’t be so broad that you could spend days talking about it (e.g. succulents) nor so niche that you wouldn’t be able to expand it through additional blog posts (e.g. Burro's Tail succulent).
The sweet spot is something in-between.
For example, if you sell houseplants, you could create a pillar page that rounds up the most popular types of succulent families and then link to blog posts that focus on each one.
2. Perform keyword research
You’ll need a main keyword for your pillar page and a different one for every article linked to it.
Keyword research is also important when it comes to using your audience’s language.
For example, ‘succulent families’ might be what an experienced gardener would call them. However, that only gets searched between 10 and 100 times a month in the UK.
‘Types of succulents’, on the other hand, gets 1K – 10K monthly searches. That’s what your potential customers are typing!
3. Write your pillar pages & the blog posts that link to it
Create a strong pillar page with an introduction, clear headings with your sub-topics, and a conclusion that wraps it all up.
For example, to put our pillar page example into practice, it could be a roundup of the ‘best types of succulents for your home’, and some of its sub-topics will be ‘Cactaceae succulents’, ‘Araceae succulents’, etc.
Every section will offer a brief overview of that specific subject. For example, what makes that family of succulents different from others and whether or not they’re easy to care for.
Then, your ‘Cactaceae succulents’ section will link to a separate article on ‘the best Cactaceae succulents’. This blog post will include a more detailed description of this plant family and list specific succulents that fall within this category (and, of course, direct links to their product page on your website that sells succulents).
The important thing is that, as well as your pillar page linking to every related article, all the individual blog posts of your topic cluster must link back to it, too.
Need a hand with topic clusters and your company blog?
I can help!
I specialise in helping ambitious women entrepreneurs and female-founded businesses become THE go-to solution in their dream audience’s eyes.
With my blog writing services, I’ll create a strong strategy and write the actual blog posts for you, optimising them for SEO so that you can start growing your audience organically.
More #crafty blog posts on this topic:
How to Rank Higher in 2023 [Boost Your Female-Founded Biz]
You can't get different results using the same old strategy! Steal my SEO tips on how to rank higher on Google (from a copywriter & fellow female entrepreneur)
Just like you’d want a physical shop to be easy to spot in town, you should learn how to rank higher on Google so that you can aim for its virtual high street (the coveted 1st page).
This will allow your badass woman-founded business to generate more relevant traffic and leads from search engines.
But I know how confusing this all sounds if you’re not an SEO expert or copywriter.
Relax: I’ve broken it down into 8 actionable tips for you.
Let’s set the right expectations, though.
How long does it take to rank #1 on Google?
On average, it takes longer than a year to rank #1 on Google. In fact, 95% of new web pages don’t reach Google’s top ten within the first year.
The ones that do, on the other hand, tend to get there in a few months.
So, my advice is to be patient and don’t get discouraged. As long as you keep putting these tips into practice, at least.
8 SEO tips on how to rank higher on Google with the website of your woman-founded business
Let’s tackle one SEO aspect and tactic at a time.
Optimise your pages and website structure
Your website shouldn’t be something you’ve built or commissioned years ago and never touched again.
If you want Google to find it and navigate it effortlessly, you need to make it as easy as possible for search engines to do so.
Make sure you have a clear website structure: relevant internal links, no broken links (you can check them here), and an up-to-date site map
Target one main keyword per page: find it with a keyword research tool, use it strategically (for example, page titles, headings, image alt descriptions, and a few times within the actual text), and don’t target it on different pages so as not confuse Google
2. Put UX and readability before search engines
The Google BERT update was an unequivocal sign that this search engine is moving more and more towards user-friendly content rather than robotic keywords.
Write for your users and then optimise for search engines
Do so without compromising your readers’ experience: for example, Google will tend to prioritise the more grammatically correct and conversational “Best places to eat in London” over a clunky “Best restaurants London”.
3. Understand and master your E-A-T principles
No, we’re not talking about your culinary habits.
E-A-T stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. Because Google wants to provide its users with the best website experience, it favours businesses with high E-A-T .
So:
Make sure you offer error-free content, cite authoritative sources, and have a trustworthy contact and about page
Try and get links from authoritative websites
Don’t forget that Google can check the expertise of each page author, too
Another thing that can penalise your E-A-T is if your business has lots of bad reviews: Google understands that your customers are not happy, so it’s not going to suggest your website to new users. While it might be the last thing you would have thought of, a campaign and strategy to improve sentiment around your business and your customer service can actually help your website rank higher, albeit indirectly—crazy, I know! (1)
4. Be mobile-friendly
Why would you want to focus on computers only when 58% of all Google searches are done on mobiles?
Ever since what is commonly referred to as the ‘mobilegeddon’ update in 2015, Google has been unashamedly prioritising mobile-friendly websites.
After all, would you rather find an outdated static page on which you have to manually zoom in to read a single sentence or a dynamic and responsive design that adapts to your screen’s width?
Do your business website a favour, and run a Mobile Friendly test on Google: it will show you what you need to improve in order to let the search engine know that your website can perform amazingly on phones too. (2)
5. Optimise for voice search
I’m a bit old school: I prefer typing every single query—well, I am a writer, after all. My stepfather, however, is always bringing the phone to his lips for any question he’s got, and so are millions of people.
I can’t blame him: voice search is becoming more and more accurate and it allows you to multitask more easily.
Queries that are spoken out loud are going to be even more conversational than written ones, so, as I mentioned before, focus on user-friendly sentences and long-tail keywords.
Look at the ‘People also ask’ section on Google when searching for your most relevant keywords, add blog posts or pages that answer those questions directly, and use structured data markup if you feel like getting techy.
Also, optimising for voice search means optimising for mobiles, too: two Google crawlers with one stone!
6. Improve your page speed
We went from patiently waiting for our dial-up Internet connection to load in the early 2000s—I’ll never forget that iconic screeching sound!—to exiting a website if it doesn’t load within 3 seconds.
To be fair, though, it’s not just us humans who hate slow websites: search engines do too!
Since page speed is a direct ranking factor and post-early-2000s humans are impatient, you must ensure that your website loads fast.
Luckily, there are lots of free online tools that allow you to check its speed, such as Pingdom, GTMetrix, Experte, and Google’s own tool: they usually provide you with a score, an average load time and a list of what you should improve. (3)
7. Keep snippets in mind
Let’s go back to the basics. Before worrying about how to rank higher on Google, remember what you (and your audience) use Google for: to get information and answers.
While the search engine might not be able to give you the meaning of life—but everyone who’s read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy knows that it’s 42—it can give you pretty much anything else.
However, whilst multiple pages can answer the same question, only one gets the spotlight, aka the featured snippet.
Once you’ve familiarised yourself with your most relevant keywords and the most common queries and questions related to them, try and answer each and every one of them individually with separate pages, sections, headings, or blog posts that target that particular long-tail keyword.
One (or more!) of them might very well become the featured snippet for it.
8. Make the most of your blog
Guess what? 80% of all searches are informational (4), so you should really make the most of them by targeting your relevant keywords, trending topics in your niche and the searches that are associated with them!
The best way to do so is to have a blog page on your website and a freakin’ awesome blogging strategy, of course.
A blog allows you to rank for long-tail keywords, achieving an average of 434% more indexed pages than websites without one. (5)
Having a blog has lots of benefits that range from supporting your newsletter and social media strategy to establishing yourself as an expert in your field, but the most popular is probably the fact that it helps your website’s SEO.
Plus, as we established earlier, Google prioritises user-friendly pages and, especially, good content: make the most of your blog to provide top-notch content to your existing customers as well as to attract new users, show Google that your website has got all the answers and position yourself as an expert in your niche whilst ranking higher on search engines.
Now you know what to do, but don’t forget: SEO takes time!
Start implementing these tips on how to rank higher ASAP, and I bet you’ll see some juicy results in a few months. You’ve got this!
How my words will help your female-founded business rank higher on Google 🔥
When it comes to the words on your business website, I can help!
Or better: do aaaaaall the hard work for you while you focus on whatever it is you do best.
To help ambitious female entrepreneurs like you rank higher, I write:
audience-oriented website copy that includes all the right SEO keywords while positioning you as the go-to solution in your dream audience’s eyes
regular SEO-friendly blog posts to attract and retain your target audience organically, smoothen the funnel, and build trust
And you?
After answering my questions and telling me all about your business… you just sit back and enjoy the results!
More #crafty blog posts on this topic:
References
Booth, I. (2019, June 4). E-A-T and SEO: How to Create Content That Google Wants. Retrieved from https://moz.com/blog/google-e-a-t
(n.d.). Mobile SEO: the Definitive Guide. Retrieved from https://backlinko.com/mobile-seo-guide
Cojocariu, A. (n.d.). How Page Speed Affects SEO & Google Rankings | The 2019 Page Speed Guide. Retrieved from https://cognitiveseo.com/blog/22865/page-speed-seo/
Rayl, S. (2016, April 12). Informational, transactional & navigational: how different search engines affect how searches work. Retrieved from https://turnthepage-onlinemarketing.com/informational-transactional-navigational-search-engines-affect-how-searches-work/
Rampton, J. (2016, September 21). Why You Can't Afford To Ignore Blogging As Part Of Your Online Strategy. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnrampton/2016/09/21/why-you-cant-afford-to-ignore-blogging-as-part-of-your-online-strategy/#656d3a8b2ab7
6 Best Free & Affordable Keyword Research Tools in 2023
No, finding long-tail keywords shouldn’t cost you hundreds of pounds a month! Here are some of the best keyword research tools I use all the time.
Want to get serious about blogging on your business website but you’ve got no clue where to find the right long-tail keywords to target? Too many of the best keyword research tools to choose from, and they’re all way more expensive than you thought?
I get it. When you start learning about SEO, finding the right tools for your business can be difficult. After all, there are so many options out there, and some of them require a considerable monthly commitment.
Trust me, though: finding the right keywords for your business website and blog doesn’t have to cost you hundreds of pounds.
Here are the best keyword research tools that I use on a regular basis or that come at hand occasionally depending on what type of project I’m working on… all free or affordable!
TIP: bookmark this page so you can go back to this list and have all the links in one place!
Disclaimer: some of these links are affiliate links, which is just a fancy word to say that I will earn a small commission if you make a purchase through them… at NO extra cost for you, obviously. This helps support my work, but don’t worry: I only recommend products that I’ve tried and tested and that I use myself!
1. Google Keyword Planner - Free
With 86.86% of all searches taking place on Google (1), it’d be crazy to ignore their own keyword research tool!
Google’s Keyword planner was originally conceived to research keywords for paid ads, which is why you’ll need to create an account and a campaign to use it (there are some tricks on how to skip this process but, personally, I find them even more time-consuming).
However, you can pause your campaign immediately and never have to worry about it again, which is why Google’s Keyword Planner is actually FREE to use.
You can start with a keyword or add more if you’re trying to narrow down your choice.
TIP: both with Google Keyword Planner and the other keyword research tools included in this article, start with broader keywords that describe your products or services, industry, and topics that you’re planning on covering with your content strategy.
Google Keyword Planner will then tell you the average monthly searches for each, whether the competition is low/medium/high, and what other more specific long-tail keywords are relevant to them.
Plus, you can get other ad-related data, but that’s pretty much all you need when it comes to performing keyword research for your blog posts or website pages.
2. Long Tail Pro - from $25 per month [30% discount!]
As the name suggests, Long Tail Pro helps you take your long-tail keyword game to the next level. A professional level, that is.
When writing blog posts, it’s important to target long-tail keywords consisting of three or more words: it makes it easier to rank, helps you cover more topics in your industry, and allows you to answer the most popular questions that your target audience has when it comes to your field and products.
However, when you can only think of the most generic concepts, it can be hard to find the right ones for your content strategy and website. Well, not with Long Tail Pro.
All you need to do is enter one or more seed keywords. Since we’re talking about seeds, let’s pretend that we’re an online florist, shall we? Some of our seed keywords will definitely be ‘succulents’ and ‘houseplants’.
When you type them in, Long Tail Pro gives you a tidy, alphabetical list of related and more specific keywords. For each keyword, you get lots of juicy data, with the most important being their difficulty, search volume, and competition.
Because you get so many relevant long-tail keywords, it’s much easier to find the right ones to target for your upcoming blog posts.
For example, now that we know that ‘cactus and succulents’ and ‘exotic house plants’ are two popular long-tail keywords in your industry, we can write an article on “How to care for a cactus and succulents” and another one on “The 10 best exotic house plants to create an urban jungle”.
As well as being one of the best keyword research tools to find new ideas and topics to write about, it’s also incredibly useful when it comes to other SEO aspects, like competitor analysis.
They offer different plans starting at $25 per month and I genuinely believe that, for an SME, the most basic plan is more than enough. You’re not going to perform more than 800 keyword researches a day, are you?
Even better, get yourself a Long Tail Pro subscription with a juicy 30% off using my personal discount.
3. Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest - Freemium model
As well as posting lots of useful content, Neil Patel has his own keyword research tool, which is partly free to use.
While it still shows you keyword ideas, search volume and difficulty, my favourite Ubersuggest feature is actually the ‘Questions’ column. After all, answering your target audience’s curiosities is one of the best ways to plan a blog post for your content strategy!
For example, if you’re an ethical clothing brand, you might want to write some blog posts that answer these two popular questions:
To unlock even more keywords you can upgrade to their Pro version. It starts at £29 per month or you can decide to pay a one-off fee (from £290 to £990 depending on what type of plan you’re after) to have it forever.
If you’re tempted by the premium plan but not sure if it’s right for you, you can always try their 7-day trial.
4. Moz Keyword Explorer - freemium model
Moz’s blog is also full of useful tips when it comes to SEO and their own keyword research tool can give you lots of interesting ideas.
What I like the most about it is the level of customization that it offers when it comes to search parameters:
Because it starts at $79 per month, you can argue that it’s not one of the most affordable keyword research tools.
Then why the heck did you include it in this list, Giada?
Simple: because you still get 10 free queries per month. You could pick another tool to rely on for 90% of your searches and sprinkle your content strategy with a few Moz ideas.
5. Answer The Public - freemium
Do you want your target customers to have a “hey, it’s like they read my mind” epiphany whenever they see your blog posts?
Then go on and answer their exact questions!
With Answer The Public, you get to see everything people want to know about a specific keyword.
Let’s say you sell chocolate. Here are some tasty ideas:
For example, you could write a blog post about “How chocolate is made” and “Where chocolate grows”.
Their Pro version starts at $79 but, honestly, the free plan has more than you could ask for.
6. Google Trends - Free
Do you want to up your Google game? Then use two of its keyword research tools!
Google Trends isn’t a traditional keyword research website, but it can actually work as such when it comes to finding topic ideas for your blog posts.
Basically, it shows you what’s trending (in general or about a specific subject) so that you can give a timely twist to your articles or figure out what people want to know the most about your products or industry.
Let’s say that we’ve closed our chocolate shop in order to start making linen dresses instead (hopefully we’ve washed our hands, first!).
Surprise! People care about linen dresses with pockets (obviously). Why don’t we write a blog post about ‘The 10 best linen dresses with pockets’?
You’ll probably need to do a bit of trial and testing to see which of the best keyword research tools you like the most. However, once you’ve done that, SEO will stop being unexplainable sorcery and become a more measurable strategy. You’ve got this!
Found this helpful? I send weekly tips and content prompts to help ambitious female entrepreneurs connect with their dream audience through their marketing copy.
More #crafty blog posts on this topic:
References
Clement, J. (2020, September 2). Worldwide desktop market share of leading search engines from January 2010 to July 2020. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/216573/worldwide-market-share-of-search-engines/