Google Sites SEO Checklist

A shorter version of the Google Sites SEO Guide to be used as a quick reference

Compiled by GoogleSites.Dev

This Google Sites SEO Checklist is an abbreviated version of my Google Sites SEO Guide. Use it as a handy reference to guide you with your Google Sites SEO. (Expand the sections if you want to see the detail as a reminder).

Google Sites SEO Checklist

Use this checklist as a quick reference guide to cover off the key aspects of SEO for your Google Sites project.

SEO Basics Checklist

First Important Step: Make Your Google Sites Website Public

Once you've created your Google Sites website you need to publish it and make it public so people can find it on the web. Without this, your website is invisible to anyone other than yourself (or anyone you've specifically given access to). This setting ensures that anyone on the internet can find and access your site. 

This is a crucial step before submitting your site to the Search Console or getting indexed by search engines. If you don't do this your site will not be visible to Google.

Choose A Meaningful Site Name

The site title in Google Sites is important for SEO. Choosing a short, meaningful name for your site will help Google and users quickly identify the purpose of your website.

Use Google Search Console to Validate Your Domain Name

Google Search Console helps you monitor your website’s performance on Google. Setting it up allows you to track your indexing status, see search queries, and receive alerts on issues affecting your site.

Useful tip: When publishing your Google Site you'll need to validate your domain in Google Search Console. This is simply Google asking you to prove you own (or have access to) the domain you want to publish to. You need to complete this step before you can publish your website using a custom domain. You'll need to have access to your domain control panel to edit the DNS settings.

Set up Google Analytics

Google Analytics provides detailed data about your website traffic, user behaviour, and conversions. This tool is essential for measuring the impact of your SEO efforts and identifying opportunities for improvement. Even if you're not intending to turbo-boost your SEO, it's still kinda cool to see how many people visit your site, where they come from and what they're looking at. 

I'm not going to reinvent the wheel, so follow these instructions on how to add Gooqle Analytics to Google Sites.

Run a Performance Test

Before you start optimising anything, run a baseline performance report for your website. Check your website's speed, SEO 'score', paint times so you can record what's going on before you start optimisation.

Identify Your Target Audience

Understanding your target market is the backbone of successful SEO. Focus your efforts on the demographic that will most benefit from your content and services.

Why are you creating a website? Who do you want to visit your website and what key search terms they might use to find the content they need? Key search terms are important because they help you attract the audience you are trying to appeal to. 

By way of example, this website is about Google Sites SEO, and it's a checklist, so the search terms my audience would use are likely to be:

I'll use these words and terms across my website, to help Google index me for these search terms and ultimately, place this website high up in search results for these search terms.

On-Page SEO Checklist

Create High Quality, Well Written Content

High-quality, relevant content is the foundation of successful SEO. Now read that sentence again.

Search engines prioritise sites that consistently deliver useful, valuable information, so focus on creating authentic content that meets the needs of your audience and answers their questions comprehensively. Make sure your content is structured logically, has a beginning, a middle, and an end, and is 'chunked up' to make it easier to scan and read.

I use a number of tools and references to help improve the quality of my content:

As Google Search gets more sophisticated, results are tuned to show more content that people find genuinely useful and less content that feels like it was made just to perform well on Search.

Structure Your Content

 Make sure your content is structured logically, has a beginning, a middle, and an end, and is 'chunked up' to make it easier to scan and read. Proper headings, subheadings, and organised content will help search engines index pages accurately, improving your search rankings and helping potential visitors find your site.

I use a number of tools and references to help improve the quality of my content:

Use a Table of Contents

A table of contents in Google Sites helps readers find content on a page, especially when there's a lot of content. The table of contents feature is built into Google Sites and will automatically update as the page content changes:

Include Keywords in Your URLs

A well-structured URL which includes your target keyword improves your ranking potential and makes your link more clickable. 

In Google Sites, you can edit the page URL by clicking the three dots next to the page name and selecting 'advanced' in the Properties box. Make sure it contains your keywords. Keep URLs simple and descriptive.

URL's on this website are:

Use Short URLs

Short URLs rank better and are more user-friendly. Aim for concise, readable URLs that still reflect the content of the page. Avoid using unnecessary words or special characters, and keep the URL relevant by including only essential keywords.

Use Keywords in Titles, Headings and Sub-headings

Unlike pure HTML and many other sitebuilders, in Google Sites you only get three header types to play with:

Titles and Headers provide structure to your content, and using keywords in them helps search engines understand your page's content hierarchy and focus. The basic rule of thumb is, 

 If you look at this website, I have used the following structure (snipped example):

Use Keywords in the First 200 words

Including your target keyword(s) early in your content reinforces relevance for search engines and signals what your page is about right away. You also start to build trust in your user as they can quickly validate that they're in the right place.

Optimise Images

It’s no secret that high-quality images improve your content. Optimised images improve load times and absolutely contribute to SEO. Google Sites will compress images you upload by default, but it doesn't hurt to do the legwork yourself and minimise the amount of chopping Google Sites has to do for you. Remember these points for each image on your site:

Use Internal Links

You can add links across your Google Site by using the 'insert link' feature. Links from page to page within your website are called 'internal links'. Internal links help distribute page authority across your website and improve user navigation. There are lots of benefits to internally linking across your site:

Using internal links strategically can improve not only the rankings of individual pages but also the overall SEO performance of your entire site.

Build External Links

Linking to authoritative external sites enhances your content’s credibility and helps search engines better understand the context of your topic and content. They're also beneficial for SEO:

Off-Site SEO Checklist

Create a Google Business Profile

Creating a Google Business Profile allows you to advertise your business directly on Google maps and it's a simple way to boost your website's visibility and reach. It's also really good for local SEO. Main benefits are:

Google are tightening the rules on Business Profiles but if you're a legit business it's worth making use of.

Register on Business Indexes

Advertising your small business on reputable UK business indexes can significantly enhance your visibility and reach, especially if you link back to your website. Here are some of the best UK business directories to consider:

When developing a website for a commercial client I always ask them to register on business indexes, and include a link back to their website. I also take pains to insist they check their contact details are accurate. (seriously, you wouldn't believe).

Note - not all indexes apply to all types of customer, but use your discretion to use the appropriate ones that appear reputable and up to date. 

Technical SEO Checklist

These are the technical factors that may impact how search engines crawl, index and rank your site. Quite often these can be invisible to the naked eye, so use a range of tools to get a balanced view of any issues and how to fix them.

Naked Domain Redirect

Redirecting the naked version of your domain (the non-www version) to the www version is good for SEO when done correctly. Here’s why and when they’re effective:

For SEO, stick with 301 redirects for permanent changes and avoid redirect chains, which can slow down load times and hinder SEO. I've writtena number of posts on how to redirect your naked domain for Google Sites.

Identify any Crawling and Indexing Errors

Use tools like Google Search Console to find errors that may prevent search engines from crawling or indexing your site properly, ensuring all important pages are discoverable.

Find and Fix Broken Links

Broken links harm user experience and SEO rankings. Check your site regularly for broken links and fix them to maintain a healthy, user-friendly site, as links can break without you changing anything on your own website

There are a host of free tools you can use to find (then fix) broken links:

Check How Google Views Your Pages

Run a Google crawl simulation to understand how your content appears to search engines. This insight helps you identify missing elements or areas that need optimisation.

Check Your Site's Performance

Core Web Vitals are a ranking factor. Ensure your site loads quickly, as slow pages lead to higher bounce rates and lower rankings. Run a performance test as per the instructions in the SEO Basics section.

Magic Sauce SEO Checklist

Create a Frequently Asked Questions Page on your Website

An FAQ page not only answers customer questions but also optimises your website for better search visibility, making it a valuable addition to any SEO strategy. 

In essence, an FAQ page is you answering questions that other people might ask you about you product or service. You can phrase the questions using your main keywords and using some of the 'auto suggestions' and 'other people searched for' terms that Google provides in it's search and results pages.

Find 'Question' Keywords

Search Google for your keyword. Now scroll to the bottom of the page, and look for where it says "People also search for". These are phrases that contain your keywords, or something very similar, that people are actively searching Google for.

Use Google Auto-Suggest

You probably already know what your keywords are, but are you using them to their full effect? Type your keyword(s) into Google, and see the list of suggestions that are displayed before you click search.

Update Your Google Business Profile

Your Google Business Profile is more than just a business card on Google. You should incorporate it into your content calendar and update it regularly. Sure, you can include the essential informaiton like location, phone number and address, but did you know you could also create other types of content such as:

To me this is like having a mini version of your Google Site on Google maps. Make use of it!

Get Customers to Provide Google Reviews

If you've created your Google Business Profile (see SEO Basics) then the next thing to do is get customer ratings and reviews onto your profile. You'll find a link on your Business Profile that you can share with customers. In my mind, more positive reviews implies more trust and will influence people's decision making.

Get Links from Social Media

Sharing your content on social media can drive traffic and boost SEO. Social signals indirectly impact rankings and can increase visibility for your content. When you blog, update your website, edit content or even a link - share it on social media.

Remove Low Value Content

Use Google Search Console and Analytics to analyse underperforming content to either improve or remove it. Keeping your site lean and valuable helps with both SEO and user experience.