Search6 min read
Half the sites that “don't show up on Google” are competing for words nobody searches for, or for words everyone is competing for. Choosing the queries is the first decision in all the work on visibility, and it's the only one that costs no money — just a few hours and some honesty.
First
The most expensive mistake is a site that speaks the industry's language. The searcher doesn't know your words yet — that's why they're searching for you.
Sources
Paid tools are convenient, but they aren't necessary for the first list. Here are six sources that cost nothing, in order of usefulness.
It shows which queries your site has already appeared for, how many times and at what average position. That isn't a forecast but what actually happened — which is why it's the strongest source. Queries with hundreds of impressions and zero clicks are your best list to work on.
Start typing your service into the search box and see what Google suggests. The suggestions come from real searches by real people.
The box of questions in the middle of the results. Every question you open reveals more — in half an hour you can gather a list of questions that could be your content for the year ahead.
At the bottom of the results page. It shows where people go next when their first attempt didn't work.
Whatever customers ask you before they order, they also search for on Google. Only you have this source — and that's exactly why your competitors haven't covered it.
Search for the query and see what Google returns — shops, articles, comparisons or maps. The type of results tells you what kind of page stands a chance before you've written a single line.
Note
Each one eats months of work, and each can be spotted in the list before the first page is written.
Afterwards
The list on its own brings nothing. Here's what to do with it, step by step.
Questions
If your question isn't here, call us — we answer by phone too.
+359 882 95 89 89One main one and a few of its natural variants. A page chasing five different things usually wins none of them.
If you have five important queries, that's a sign you need five pages, not five repetitions on one.
No. Keyword density is an old calculation from the days when search engines counted words. Today overloading shows when you read it, and it works against you.
The useful rule is a different one: the word should be in the title, in the first lines and in the places where it would be natural to say it anyway.
They work when the service really is received on site and when you have something to show there — an address, a Google profile, work done in that city.
A separate page for every city without a real presence is an old trick that today does more harm than good.
The most honest free way is Search Console: if your site has appeared for it, someone is typing it. The Google Ads Keyword Planner also gives ranges and is free with an ads account.
Autocomplete is rougher, but it's enough for the question “does this query exist at all?” — Google doesn't suggest things nobody searches for.
If the first page is full of marketplaces, directories and encyclopaedias, a small site's chances are slim, and the effort is better spent elsewhere.
But if the first page is full of thin texts with no answer, the spot is free — and you can see that in five minutes, just by opening the top results.
Related services
It's rarely just one thing. Here are the services that go with this one, and why.
Next step
Send us your site's address. We'll look at what you appear for today and which queries are worth going after first.
