Have you wondered why your Shop doesn’t appear on Google search results? We’re here to help and clue you in on the benefits of backlinks.
But first, some helpful terms…
Backlinks: You add a link to a webpage, the user clicks on it, and it takes them to another website or domain. For example, you have a fan page for your Shop on a blog. Adding a link to your Spreadshop on that blog is backlinking. It’s like a maze of links!
Index: Like an index you find in a library which lists information about the books available. In this context, we’re talking about a Google index, which lists information about available webpages.
Googlebots: A virtual robot from Google that is constantly scanning the web for new and useful information to help build or improve an index.
Sitemaps: A sitemap is a list of the important pages on your website. A good sitemap allows Google to better index your Shop.
How do I get Google to index my Shop faster?
Glad you asked! This is one of the most frequently asked questions we receive.
It’s important that you know Google indexing does not just happen on its own. Can you imagine the chaos if Google were to index every single webpage available? Actually, only 4% of webpages on the internet end up being indexed by Google.
To get Google to index your Shop faster, you’ll need a little bit of effort, patience and elbow grease.
What can I do in my Shop to improve how Google indexes it?
There are a few things you can do in your Spreadshop to improve your Google index ranking…
- Take advantage of XML sitemaps
First things first, make sure your sitemap has all of the pages you want Google to index and all pages in the Sitemap return 200 status code. (Learn about what a 200 return status code is here). Once a page has been successfully loaded it will say 200. You can see this even faster if you use plugins, go to the web store in the browser of your choice and and download an extension that allows you to check the HTTP status code.
- Add your Shop to the Google Search Console
This is a free tool that allows you to check for errors in your sitemap. It also allows you to track the indexation progress of your Shop, go to overview>coverage report. (Learn more about coverage reports here).
- Ask Google to re-index your Shop
If you’ve added new pages to your Shop, you can request that Google re-indexes your Shop in the URL inspection tool.
- Keyword research
You might remember our recent article on keyword research. You should continue to do keyword research and update content regularly.
- Start a blog
This step works only if your Shop is integrated into CMS. You can start a blog and fill it with relevant content. Googlebots will notice the unique content on your website and will check it out more often. This helps increase the chances that your Shop will be indexed.
What can I do on my other digital channels to improve how Google indexes my Shop?
If you have a blog, social media channels or other webpages you can use them to externally improve your Google index rankings.
- Build links to your Shop
If websites, blogs or social media accounts link to your Shop it tells Google that your Shop is of interest to other people. This means that Google is more likely to index your Shop. This strategy can also help you form partnerships that increase the visibility of your Shop and find you potential customers!
- Start small
Having realistic expectations is important here. If you’re trying to partner with big or popular media outlets that receive hundreds of requests every day—it’s unlikely they will link to your Shop for free.
Try asking friends or coworkers who have blogs, vlogs or social media accounts to share your designs.
- Dream big
While it’s unlikely to partner with a big media outlet, it’s not impossible. If you’re determined to do this, you’ll have to think outside of the box.
For example, start a volunteer project relevant to the designs you sell in your Shop. If you sell cat designs, consider doing a fundraiser to support animal shelters. It’s possible that a journalist may notice this and feature you in their media outlet.
We hope this helps! As always if you have any questions let us know in the comments bel
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