Warning: Google thinks your website is “meh”

Here’s how to make it fall in love with you all over again!

I know, I know . . . you thought you left behind popularity contests when you graduated high school.

Sorry.

When it comes to websites, we all want to be liked by Google – that star quarterback, head cheerleader, debate team captain, class clown and academic superstar all rolled into one. Let’s face it, Google is pretty much equivalent to a cosmic overlord. And you want that overlord to like you.

But what if Google doesn’t?

What if you’re like, “Hi Google, can we do something together sometime?” and Google is like, “I think I’m busy that night,” and you’re like, “But I didn’t say what night I was thinking . . .” What then?

Maybe it’s time to have a good hard look at your website and make some changes – I’m talking Olivia Newton John’s transformation at the end of Grease changes. Okay, maybe not that drastic. After all, starting to smoke and buying spandex pants isn’t a long-term solution for everyone.

But the fact is, there are a few things you can do to get Google to like you better. So, here are a few ideas to get you started.

1. Speed things up and keep it clean. Website speed and the user experience matter to Google, so they should matter to you. Did you know that a one-second delay in mobile load times can result in a 20% drop in conversion rates and it gets worse from there? Well, that’s the word on the street. So you should probably pay attention to it, a bit at least. Simplify your site, make images smaller and less numerous, don’t jam your homepage with info. Ensure your site is clean and intuitive; both speed and user experience will benefit from that. Yes, we all love your informative writing, but the fact is it won’t get read if people must wait for ten seconds for it load. There are plenty of techy tips to improve your speed, so start, well, Googling.

2. Make sure you’re mobile-friendly. Remember when desktops were all the rage? These days, more traffic comes from mobile devices than it does desktops or laptops. And, being the trendy entity it is, Google is all over that. Maybe it’s time to get on board and invest in a mobile site. I’m not saying you need to, but it’ll get you noticed a bit more. And who doesn’t want to be noticed?

3. Keep Google content with good content. Content is still king, and it remains the best way to improve your ranking with Google. Well-written, concise, clear content in conjunction with keywords will get you the attention you desire. But, remember, too much in the way of keywords will get you negative attention and potentially penalize you with bad rankings. Keep your content unique, helpful and interesting and you’ll see the benefits.

Further things to consider include other SEO basics such as looking at your backlinks as well as title tags and meta descriptions. Get the word out about your site and encourage others to link to it (and they will because it is so informative and full of excellent content, right?).

And perhaps it’s worth your while to check out Google Analytics to find out more about how people interact with your site. It can provide lots of info to sift through, such as time on page, pages per session, bounce rates, etc.

Google – sure it plays hard to get at times, but we just keep coming back for more. And, frankly, that’s part of the fun, isn’t it?