Many of us have wondered why our websites don't show up on Google searches but didn't have the technical know-how to figure it out, some may have been very disappointed to see their websites on page three, four, five or even six, knowing that most people don't search past page two.

This article explains why some sites don't show up on the first page of Google or even at all. It is split into two sections :-

• SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) deals with content and on-site technical details. These need to be addressed first before you proceed to SEM.
  
  
  
  1. Content is king. There are many articles describing how you must consider things like key word density and write for Google, but in 2019 you must write for people, not search engines. Your content must be useful, unique and add value to the Internet.
     
     
  2. Load Speed If your website takes longer than 3 seconds to load you will start to lose visitors. Anything beyond 10 seconds will mean most of your visitors will have clicked the "Back" button and then on to your competitors website. To ensure the fast loading of your website means it needs to on a decent web host, on a fast network and have efficient software.
     
     
  
  
  
• SEM (Search Engine Marketing) which deals with off-site details.
  
  
  
  1. Inbound Links are links from other websites to yours. Google uses the number of in-bound links as a sign of quality and usefulness. Those links must come from "good neighbourhoods". Social media is a good place to start and websites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and reddit make the process easy.
     
     
  2. Business Cards need to have your website address on them. Even though the hit-rate is quite low, you will still get a few visitors.