Google Sites SEO Checklist

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. Follow these steps to set your Google Site public.

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.

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. 

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:

• "Google Sites SEO"

• "SEO guide for Google Sites"

• "Google Sites SEO guide"

• "SEO guide"

• "Google Sites SEO free"

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:

• Hemingway helps you write more concisely. And it's free ⭐

• Grammarly helps you write betterly

• Strunk and White's classic writing style guide is just a good thing check every now and then

 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.

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:

• Home page: googlesites-seo.com/google-sites-seo-guide

• Checklist page: googlesites-seo.com/google-sites-seo-guide

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

• Title: Equivalent to the H1 html tag

• Heading: Equivalent to the H2 html tag

• Sub-heading: Equivalent to a H3 html tag

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, 

• Have one title per page, usually at the top explaining what the page is about. Include an appropriate keyword. 

• Headings should be used to organise sections of content. 

• Sub-headings are used to indicate focused topics within the structure of a page.

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

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:

Button links and CTAs in Google Sites can improve click-through rates. Some basic guidelines can really enhance the user engagement on your site and interaction with your content:

• Buttons in Google Sites use the "Normal" font style. Ensure your font is legible and easy to read on any sized device

• Placing the button within a contextual location on your site can boost engagement and relevance for users

• Use clear, meaningful, action-oriented language.

From an SEO standpoint, using the announcement banner to highlight specific pages or updates can help direct traffic to key areas of your site, showing search engines that your content is fresh and regularly maintained. Consistent updates also improve the user experience—encouraging visitors to stay longer and explore more pages—which can positively influence your site's SEO performance over time.

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:

• Improved crawlability and indexing: Internal links guide search engine crawlers through your website, so when Google crawls your site, internal links help it discover and index more pages efficiently

• Better user experience (UX): A well-planned internal linking structure allows users to navigate a website easily, find relevant content, and stay engaged longer

• Targeted keyword optimisation: Anchor text in internal links can help signal relevance for specific keywords to search engines

• Supports content hierarchy and topical relevance: Internal links help create a logical structure, connecting related content and building topic 'clusters' across your website

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:

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.

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:

• Enhanced local search presence: With a Google Business Profile, your business is more likely to appear in local search results and on Google Maps, helping you connect with nearby customers

• Trust: A verified profile gives potential clients confidence, and provides key information like business hours, location, contact details, and customer reviews—all directly on Google

• Increased traffic: Linking your Google Sites website to your profile means more people find your business when searching for relevant services or products

• Free marketing: A Google Business Profile costs nothing but adds significant marketing value

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:

• Yell.com

• Thomson Local

• Scoot

• FreeIndex

• 192.com

• MisterWhat

• Cylex UK

• Checkatrade

• Trustatrader

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).

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:

• Consolidating authority: Redirecting old domains or URLs to your main domain consolidates authority and avoids splitting search engine ranking signals, which can strengthen your primary site’s SEO

• Preserving backlinks: If an old domain or URL has valuable backlinks, a proper redirect (such as a 301 redirect) transfers most of the link equity to the new page, helping maintain your ranking and authority

• Improves user experience: Redirects ensure users land on the right page even if they’ve bookmarked an old link, improving user experience and decreasing bounce rates, both of which are favorable for SEO

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:

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.

With more than half of internet traffic coming from mobile devices, ensuring that your website looks and works great on smartphones is essential. Read more on optimising your Google Sites website for mobile SEO.

With Google Sites you don't have to create a sitemap and submit to Google (like you did in the good ole days...)

But, if you're creating a fairly status site there's no reason why you shouldn't, especially if you've got an hour or so free.

Custom themes and branding help you shape your visitors’ experience, creating a cohesive and memorable site that represents your business. Think about:

• Your base theme and colours

• Logos for brand recognition

• Fonts

• Use high quality images consistently

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:

• Offers and events

• Respond to reviews

• Frequent asked questions

• Pictures and descriptions of products and services

• Request a quote