subject: Why Is Your Website Not Ranked In Google? [print this page] Many webmasters dream of getting a number one ranking in Google, but many of them also fail to even get on the first page. There are a variety of different reasons why your website may not be on page one of Google. Here are 5 possible reasons:
1) You Have Not Chosen Keywords and Optimized your Website
This is one of the most common reasons for not being ranked. When you build your website you must spend time choosing keywords to target and you must also ensure that these keywords are in place on your page and your TITLE tags. If you haven't done this yet, you need to take time to do this as soon as possible, otherwise you do not stand much chance of getting a top ranking.
2) You are Targeting Keywords that are too Competitive
Another very common reason for not getting ranked in Google is that you have chosen keywords that are extremely competitive. This is especially true if your site is relatively new and you have not yet built many links to it. When people search on Google they typically do not go past the first or second page of results. Take a look at the websites on the first page of Google. Are they well establised authority sites? Do they have a high page rank? Do they have lots of backlinks? If so, you will need to do a lot of work to beat these websites, so you may find it easier to target less competitive keywords instead.
3) You Need more Backlinks
The amount and quality of links to your website (backlinks) is the main thing that determines your ranking in the search engines. If you are not ranking for your keyword go to Google and enter your keyword in the search box (no quotes) then write down of the first 5 domain names listed in the results. Go to a backlink checker tool and check how many backlinks these websites have. Compare this to your own site and this will give you idea of how many more links you need to make it to the top.
4) You Need to Give it More Time
Search engine rankings do not usually happen within a few days or weeks. The newer your site is, the longer you will need to wait to get a good ranking. Similarly, the more competitive the keyword is that you are targeting, the longer you will need to wait. Track your progress over time by checking your backlinks and your ranking and comparing this to your competitors. This will help you to ensure that you are heading in the right direction.
5) Your Website Has HTML Errors
The majority of websites have some HTML errors or warnings, so don't feel that you need to start fixing every errors on your site. In general the search engines can still crawl your site when there are errors, but in some cases an error may stop your page being crawled fully. The best way to determine whether or not this is a problem is to create a Google Webmaster account and verify your site. If there are any crawling errors these will show up in your webmaster account and you should make it your priority to fix them.
Hopefully these 5 reasons will give you some idea why your website is not ranked in Google yet!
