10 Reasons Why Blogs Aren’t Ranking on Google

You’ve poured your heart and soul into creating unique, educational blog content. You’ve optimized it with all the right keywords, followed SEO best practices, and even sprinkled some of your unique charm. But still, your blogs are nowhere to be found on Google’s first page. What’s going on? 

We’ll crack the mysteries behind your blog’s ranking sorrows and explore practical solutions to get your content the attention it deserves.

1. The “New Kid on the Block” Syndrome

Picture this: Your website is brand spanking new with a Domain Authority ( DA ) of less than 30, and your major competitors are above 70 with thousands of backlinks established. It’s like opening a seafood restaurant in a famous seaside section of your town. The problem?

Nobody knows you exist yet. Google has its eyes on established sites, and your fresh website might not yet be on its radar. 

Solution:

Patience is your friend here, and hard work, of course. Create and publish more blogs that are in line with your niche. You’re trying to impress Google, which is uninterested because you’re new, and Google doesn’t care. What Google cares about is consistency.

So, you can publish more or schedule daily to show Google, “I’m here, I exist, see me.”  Meanwhile, focus on other strategies to drive traffic, like social media promotion and guest posting. Like I said in the beginning – patience and hard work. 

2. Promotion

Mueller suggests that while Google’s advice often emphasizes the technical aspects of SEO, like structured data, page speed, and top-notch content, site promotion is another puzzle that’s sometimes overlooked. 

Here’s what Mueller said.

“I see this kind of question often. Google tends to focus on various technical aspects when it comes to talking about SEO, but you need to do more.

A good way to think about this is to compare it to the offline world.

When it comes to books, does a good cover photo, a reasonable sentence length, few misspellings, and a good topic mean that a book will become a best-seller?

Or as a restaurant, does using the right ingredients and cooking in a clean kitchen mean you’ll get a lot of customers?

Technical details are good to cover well, but there’s more involved in being successful.”

Source: Search Engine Journal

3. Good Content but High Competition

Imagine you’re in a race against the greatest sprinter, Usain Bolt, and his crew. Your content might be top-notch, but it’s tough to stand out if you’re competing in a crowded space. High search volume keywords might not be enough to outpace the competition.

Solution:

Still, I encourage patience and hard work. Continue creating SEO-optimized content that answers frequently asked questions and related inquiries about your topic. Google will take notice eventually if you’re consistent.

Find your niche within the niche. Instead of targeting broad keywords, focus on long-tail keywords specific to your topic. This reduces competition and makes it easier to rank. 

4. “Is My Site Even on Google?”

You’ve optimized your blogs, but have you considered whether Google indexes your site? Sometimes, websites get left out of the search engine’s index, causing your content to stay invisible. 

Solution: Check if your site is indexed by typing “site:yourwebsite.com” into Google. If no results show up, submit your site to Google using the Google Search Console tool.

5. Unindexed Content

Your blogs might be living in the shadows of cyberspace because Google hasn’t indexed them yet. This means your content is invisible to searchers. 

This is a common scenario: When you change your SEO title and the slug ( if your website is running on WordPress ), chances are the URL will also change. So you think that your blog was already indexed in the past when it was initially published, yet you made recent changes and forgot to index them via Google Search Console? 

Another example is if your site is already on Google, but for some odd reasons, some blogs are still not indexed.

Solution:

Ensure your site has a sitemap.xml file that lists all your pages and posts. Check the blog’s URL and submit it to Google Search Console for indexing.

6. Technical SEO Gremlins

Behind the scenes, technical issues on your website might be sabotaging your ranking efforts. Slow loading times, broken links, or poor mobile optimization can make Google give your site the cold shoulder.

Solution: 

HOUSEKEEPING: Regularly audit your site for technical glitches. Fix issues and use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to improve loading times and rectify broken links. If your website runs on WordPress, Install plug-ins like Yoast SEO or Rank Math to check and fix culprits.

You can also invest in SEO tools such as AHREFS, Screaming Frog, and other SEO-related tools ( your preference ) to check for on-page, off-page, and technical issues. 

7. The Low-Quality Content Conundrum

Low-quality content typically lacks substance, uniqueness, and usefulness for users. It may contain thin or duplicate text, have many grammar/spelling errors, provide no value, fail to answer intent, and use excessive ads or keywords. High-quality content is original, well-researched, edited, valuable, satisfies user intent, and is frequently updated.

Solution:

Conduct an audit identifying thin, duplicated, or outdated pages. Produce useful, unique, engaging content that satisfies intent and provides value. Ensure all text is well-written and edited for errors.

Include multimedia like images, videos, and infographics to complement the text. Update and expand low-quality pages regularly with fresh information that users want. Following these steps will help improve content quality issues and may lead to better Google rankings.

8. Backlinks and Authority

Backlinks are like your website’s popularity votes. Without them, you’re the solo act in an empty theater. Google loves sites that others vouch for. Backlinks are a major ranking factor, especially from authoritative sites and geo-related sources. 

Quality backlinks from reputable external sites help search engines like Google determine a page’s relevance and authority on a topic. More backlinks from high-authority sites indicate that a page offers helpful information, builds trust, and improves ranking ability.

Solution:

Create high-quality, engaging content that sites want to link to. Build relationships and pitch relevant editors. Get involved in forums and community building.

Leverage social media such as Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook. Add internal links to deep pages. Focus efforts on earning links naturally from reputable sites related to your niche.

9. Page Speed and Mobile-Friendliness

Slow-loading pages and websites that look wonky on mobile devices won’t win Google’s heart. If your blog takes ages to load, readers might just bid it goodbye and seek greener, faster pastures elsewhere.

Large image and video files without proper compression can significantly slow loading times. Too many plugins and software features bogging the site’s backend will impede speed. Excessive redirects and unoptimized databases further degrade speed.

Solution:

Speed things up. Optimize your site’s loading times and ensure it’s mobile-friendly. Compress images without sacrificing quality. You can use free web-based tools that integrate with many platforms like TinyPNG and Compressor.io.

Optimize databases, update web hosting, enable caching, reduce redirects, and disable unnecessary plugins. Improving these factors can significantly increase page loading speed. Google cares about user experience and SEO best practices, so you should, too.

10. Google’s Mood Swings

Google can be a moody friend, changing its algorithms frequently to improve search quality. What worked yesterday might not work today. It’s like trying to keep up with an inconsistent fashion trend.

This year alone, Google shook things up with three major core updates: March, August, and the latest on October 5. Many clients experienced tremendous fluctuations in search rankings; others saw wild ranking shifts.

While many website owners are recovering from substantial traffic losses from the previous October core update, Google again announced their November 2023 core update that will take two weeks to complete fully, leading to additional unpredictability surrounding organic traffic and rankings. 

Although Google confirms that there’s nothing to fix if you’re affected, this new core update is only an improvement to the previous month’s update.

Solution:

Remain calm and well-informed. Continuously monitor Google’s algorithm updates and adjust your SEO strategy accordingly. Stay connected with SEO experts, Google’s webmaster trends analyst John Mueller, SEO guru Neil Patel, and respected sources like Matt Diggity and Search Engine Land.

These resources will keep you consistently updated on the latest developments in the field.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, if your well-optimized blogs still aren’t making it to Google’s first page, there’s no need to panic. The SEO journey can be a marathon, not a sprint. Investigate these potential roadblocks, apply the solutions, and remember that patience and persistence are your best allies.

Your blogs may not be headliners yet, but with dedication and the right strategy, they can take the center stage they deserve. Keep blogging.