Get your website listed by Google
Built your site in RapidWeaver? Let’s get it in front of people’s eyes
Since Apple canned the MobileMe service and its website hosting capability a few years ago, RapidWeaver’s publishing options have centered around FTP (File Transfer Protocol), which is a way to quickly transfer files. To use FTP, you’ll need to get the appropriate login FTP server type details (FTP, SFTP or FTPS) from your web hosting provider.
FTP access to your website’s storage is protected with a username and a password. You don’t need a separate FTP app to upload your site: RapidWeaver has an FTP uploader built right into it. However, before you upload anything, there’s one thing to consider: how your site will appear to search engines. Time for us to think about SEO.
Set up for search
Search engine optimization, or SEO for short, is the dark art of getting a website to appear near the top of Google’s search results. Other search engines are available, of course, but Google has almost all the search market in the US, and other engines tend to follow the same principles anyway.
At its simplest, SEO asks: what does Google want? The number one criterion is relevancy; more relevant results mean Google is better perceived by its users, so if somebody searches for “Thai food Bay Area” then Google wants to serve up the most relevant results for that query. The exact way Google works out relevancy is secret, but key steps to its calculation include having a good-quality website with original content, simple and effective navigation, frequent updates, captions and alt text on every image, and useful meta tags on each page.
Meta tags are bits of info that your site’s visitors don’t see. They are there for Google’s benefit, and include the meta description tag, where you can add additional descriptions for each individual page in your site. Don’t try to write for robots, though. Write for real people; Google can tell if you’re just shoehorning a bunch of irrelevant words or phrases into your tags.
Google also judges your site on how many incoming links it has, so it’s a good idea to contact relevant websites to ask them to link to yours. However, the source of links must also be of good quality, and relevant to your site.
It’s possible to get very detailed with SEO advice, but the part you need to know is really simple: make your site as good as you can, always think about your potential readers, and keep it up to date with content that’s fresh and interesting. Then your site should thrive.