Everyone wants to know what makes a website show up on Google. They want to be on the first page of Google – as they should. Not everyone knows what it actually takes to get there, and a lot of what’s floating around online either oversimplifies it or skips the parts that matter most. Here’s what I actually look at when I build and manage websites for local businesses.
Start with what people are searching for
Before anything else, you need to know what your potential clients are actually typing into Google. Not what you think they’re searching — what they’re actually searching. This is keyword research, and it’s the foundation everything else is built on. If your website is full of language your clients aren’t using, it doesn’t matter how beautiful it is.
Make sure your website is actually talking about it
Once you know your keywords, they need to show up in the right places: your copy, your page titles, your image file names, your captions, and your meta descriptions. This is what most people mean when they say “on-page SEO,” and yes, it matters.
It’s also not enough on its own. On-page SEO is absolutely critical, but if visitors are jumping right off your page after they land, it won’t do you any good in the long run.
Give visitors a reason to stay
Here’s something people don’t talk about enough: Google is watching what visitors do on your site. The longer someone stays and the more actions they take — clicking around, filling out a form, reading multiple pages — the more Google trusts that your site is worth visiting. That’s why we don’t just build websites that look good. We design an experience that guides visitors through your site so they’re more likely to stay, take action, and reach out. That behavior is a signal Google pays attention to.
Make it easy to use — for them, not you
You know more about your business than anyone. Which means you are the worst person to judge whether your website makes sense to a stranger. Anything that’s confusing, requires too many clicks, or is hard to navigate will lose visitors, and lose Google’s trust right along with them.
Broken links are the cardinal sin. One thing worth knowing: design platforms aren’t magic. They’re creating code based on what you do in the designer. Take Squarespace, for example. Every time you move a block, code is automatically changed.
The problem is, some design platforms create messy code that reads like broken links even when everything works fine. Showit is a good example of this problem. Generally speaking, the easier the editor is to use, the less SEO-friendly the code underneath it. It sucks, but good code is what of what makes a website show up on Google.
Your website’s age matters
Older, established websites tend to perform better on Google — there’s no shortcut around that. But doing everything else right can help you climb faster than you’d expect. It’s not a reason to wait. It’s a reason to start now.
Yes, blogging still matters
Especially now. The rise of AI means people are asking questions and getting answers, and those answers have to come from somewhere. Well-written, genuinely useful content is what gets cited. Don’t blog just to blog. Write about what your clients are actually asking, what they’re searching for, what they’d type into ChatGPT at midnight trying to figure something out. (That’s exactly why I’m writing this post, for the record.)
And if you’re not up for becoming a part time writer as part of your business, we do offer website management options that include AI-optimized blogging.
The technical stuff
There’s a layer of technical SEO that most people don’t see: making sure Google has your updated sitemap after changes, cleaning up errors, keeping load times fast. It’s not glamorous. It matters. It’s also part of what we handle so you don’t have to think about it.
But if you’re reading this because you’re trying to DIY your website SEO, don’t worry about this part too much. It’ll speed up your results, but it generally won’t hurt your other efforts to skip it.
So what actually makes a website show up on Google?
All of it, working together. Keywords, content, visitor experience, site structure, age, blogging, and the technical foundation underneath. None of it works in isolation.
If your website isn’t showing up the way it should — or you’re not sure whether it is — that’s exactly what we dig into together. Start by filling out the form and we’ll take it from there.