Answer the customer's question
Give each important page a clear purpose. Describe your real services, important limitations, and the next step a customer can take. Use plain language, helpful headings, and information drawn from your own experience. Check older pages when prices, availability, or processes change. Write a concise, accurate title that is unique to the page. Google can use several sources for its displayed title, so your chosen title is an influence rather than a guaranteed search headline.
Make pages easy to find
Connect important pages through navigation and relevant links in the content. Use descriptive link text that tells readers what they will find, such as 'service coverage,' instead of a vague instruction. Check the contact route on a phone as well as a computer. Ask your website provider whether your publishing system already creates a sitemap. A sitemap helps Google discover URLs, but does not guarantee that every listed page will be crawled or indexed.
What does adding a page to a sitemap do?
Keep URL signals consistent
If the same content appears at several URLs, choose a preferred version. Ask your provider to use appropriate redirects or a canonical link for duplicates, and link internally to the preferred URL. Canonical signals tell Google your preference; Google still chooses the canonical it considers appropriate. Include consistent preferred URLs in the sitemap. Do not point distinct service pages to the homepage as a shortcut. Review the live result after changes so a useful page does not become inaccessible.
Action checklist
Choose the items you want, or print all.
Sources & further reading
- Google Search Central: SEO Starter Guide ↗
- Google Search Central: Sitemaps overview ↗
- Google Search Central: Specify canonical URLs ↗
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