Help your website show up in Google
Set how your site reads in Google and in shared links: titles, descriptions, the share photo, Search Console and pages to keep out of search.
- Who can do this
- People with the Website permission
Each page writes its own title and description for Google from your business details. You can set your own.
- Step 1: Go to Settings › Website and pick Search and sharing under Site. The box at the top previews your home page in search results.
- Step 2: Business name in titles goes in every page's title, up to 60 characters. Leave it blank to use your company name.
- Step 3: In One-sentence description, say what you do and where, in up to 160 characters. It shows under your home page's title in search results.
- Step 4: Pick the Kind of business closest to what you do.
- Step 5: Photo for shared links is the picture shown when someone texts or posts your link. Click Choose a photo, or leave it empty for a card with your name, what you do and your phone number.
- Step 6: Click Publish changes.
Google's own tools
- Google Search Console code: in Search Console, choose the HTML tag option to verify your site. Paste only the code inside the tag, not the whole tag, then publish.
- Google Analytics ID: optional, and starts with G-. Page views are counted for you without it.
Tip: In Search Console you can also add your sitemap: your site's address, then /sitemap.xml.
One page at a time
Pick a page under Pages, such as Home, or a page you added. Under In search results, fill in that page's Title (up to 70 characters) and Description (up to 160). Left blank, MakeHay writes them from your details, or from the page's own words on a page you added. Service and town pages build theirs from the service or town and what you wrote about it.
Keep pages out of search
Hide this page from search engines, under In search results, keeps one page out. Hide the whole site from search engines, in Search and sharing, is for a site that isn't ready to be found. Publish after either change.
Tip: On town pages, write something only true of that town. See Add services and towns to your website. When a service has two or more answered questions, they can appear in search results too.