What Does Google Really Want from Your Website?

You know that getting customers to your website and then convincing them to stick around and take an action is important for your business. You’ve taken the time to create a good user experience, great content, and noticeable call to actions.

But, did you know it’s just as important to please Google? In this article, we take a look at the question, “What does Google really want from your website?” It turns out, they want quite a lot actually.

Google Wants Really Great Content

You can rest assured that Google is crawling your website on a consistent basis. They want to see that your website is being updated on a regular basis with quality content that people are actually interested in.

This doesn’t mean throwing a few paragraphs on each page and stuffing these paragraphs with keywords or phrases. It means knowing your audience and crafting content that they actually want, need, and are interested in reading or watching.

If your site has very little useful information for visitors, Google will rank it lower on search engine results pages.

Google Wants Original Content

Think it’s okay to pilfer content from someone else’s website? Think again.

Google is on the lookout for fresh, new content to add to their giant search engine database. If you have copied someone else’s content, they’re not going to be happy with it.

Duplicate content is a no-no. For example, if you sell hot tubs, and you’re putting a description on your own website, write your own original copy. Don’t copy it from the manufacturer’s website.

Likewise, never copy someone else’s articles and pass them off as your own. This is again duplicate content. You want original, unique content to improve your search results.

An interesting note is that Google doesn’t only look at the content on your site. It’s looking at multiple websites and comparing your content to others. So, if your site has better content than the competition, you’re doing great. If their content is higher quality, they’ll outrank you.

Google Wants Relevant Backlinks

When it comes to backlinks, it’s not the sheer number that matters to Google. What they really care about is links coming into your site that are relevant and come from sites with authority.

For example, if a site with a .edu extension links to your site, Google is going to respect that backlink more than one coming from an ecommerce site that isn’t very authoritative.

In addition, Google usually gives more relevance to backlinks from older, more well-established sites.

Google Wants a Speedy Site

Because Google knows your site visitors are in a hurry and will bounce off if it your site takes too long to load, Google isn’t going to rank your site as high in search engine results if it’s slow.

The sites that provide the best user experience will get ranked the highest by Google. If your page ranks slower than others, it again might not rank as well.

You want to make sure your website is optimized for speed with compressed images, streamlined code, and a fast web server. If your site is frustrating visitors, Google knows it.

Worth noting as well is that prior to 2018, Google measured your page speed ranking by how fast your website loaded on a desktop computer. But, by July of 2018, Google changed page speed as a ranking factor for mobile searches.

Bottom line, your site must be optimized for mobile to make Google really happy.

Final Thoughts

Google’s happiness is vital to the success of your website and ultimately your business.

The hardest part about optimizing your site for Google is knowing what they really want from your website. Yes, it’s page speed and optimized content, but the most important thing to remember is this:

Google wants you to understand your user and provide them the absolute best user experience. If you want to increase your search engine rankings, the best thing you can do is build and maintain a website that meets the needs of your users.

Keep your customers front and center as you work on your website, and you’ll be on your way to doing what Google wants.

Looking for some assistance with your website? We’d love to help. Get in touch with us today for a free quote.