1 Trillion URLs – Where’s Mine?

In the simplest terms possible, Google is your friend. That’s because if you do the right things, Google will be the easiest way to tell searchers about your local business.

Did you know that the World Wide Web hosts more than 100 million websites and that Google tracks more than 1 TRILLION URLs? Try not to be too overwhelmed by these numbers. Sure, it might sound impossible to get your business’ name and URL at the top of Google’s search results. But really, where your business ends up in a search has everything to do with the way you write on your website.

Co-author of “Neighborhood Brands” and CEO of BubbleLife.com Jeff Farris explains that fancy Adobe Flash features and websites running complicated scripts aren’t the way to go if you want to capture page views, leads and eventually customers through Google:

“When Google loads a page from your site, it doesn’t use a web browser. Google loads your site with proprietary software that downloads the text but doesn’t run Adobe Flash, scripts or any of the other things that make a website visually interesting. Google only sees text. If you’ve got a Flash-based website, chances are that Google either doesn’t see it or doesn’t give it much attention.

No Text = No Google = No Web Visitors,” Farris writes.

The key when writing your business’ website content is to pretend like you’re a customer. What would you search for? Really put yourself in a potential customer’s shoes, and use those phrases and key words in your content.

In the words of Jeff Farris, “If your website has plenty of good phrases that potential customers might search for, the better your chances that your website moves up the list of search results.”

Finally, he offers some final tips for businesses when making their websites Google-friendly:

Besides writing for searchers, here’s a few of my favorite Google techniques:

• Include location information on every page.
• Don’t use graphics to display text information such as phone numbers or addresses.
• Use good page titles.
• Keep your site focused on one business and one set of business terminology.

Sarah Griffith

Sarah Griffith is Executive Editor of BubbleLife.com, an Advice Interactive Group product. She’s worked with BubbleLife since 2011, transitioning to Advice during BubbleLife’s acquisition in 2017. Sarah has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism-Public Relations from Baylor University and has a passion for all things related to content. She has formerly served in multiple roles at BubbleLife, including Digital Marketing Consultant, Account Executive, Business Editor, and Neighborhood Editor, helping expand the company from eight community websites in Dallas-Fort Worth to more than 250 nationwide. When out of the office, Sarah can typically be found listening to live music and engaging in a never-ending hunt for the best queso in Dallas.