How to Get Your Shopify Store to Show Up on Google: A Comprehensive Guide

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Understanding Google Indexing
3. Steps to Get Your Shopify Store Indexed by Google
4. Troubleshooting Indexing Issues
5. The Role of SEO in Visibility
6. Leveraging Tevello for Enhanced Visibility
7. Conclusion

Introduction

Did you know that over 80% of consumers conduct online research before making a purchase? In a world where e-commerce is booming, establishing online visibility is crucial for Shopify merchants aiming to expand their reach. As businesses increasingly embrace the knowledge economy, integrating online courses and digital products into their offerings is gaining traction. If we want our Shopify store to flourish, we must understand how to ensure it appears on Google search results.

This blog post aims to guide you through the essential strategies for getting your Shopify store indexed and visible on Google. We’ll cover everything from understanding Google indexing to practical steps for optimizing our store’s presence. Our unique approach at Tevello focuses on simplicity and effectiveness, allowing merchants like us to effortlessly build and manage online products, including courses and communities in one place.

By the end of this post, you will be equipped with actionable insights to enhance your Shopify store’s visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs). Are you ready to increase your store’s reach and build a thriving online community? Let’s dive in!

Understanding Google Indexing

Before we can enhance our online visibility, it’s essential to understand Google indexing. Essentially, Google indexing is the process where Google analyzes, organizes, and files web page information into its massive database.

When we create our Shopify store, Google uses a bot called Googlebot to crawl our site. During this crawling process, Google determines whether the content on our pages provides value. Only pages deemed valuable get indexed, meaning they can appear in Google search results.

The importance of indexing cannot be overstated—it is a critical part of any SEO (search engine optimization) strategy. Without indexing, even the most useful content on our Shopify store will remain unseen, blocking potential organic traffic from reaching us.

In the context of selling online courses and digital products, not being visible on Google can limit our reach significantly. If we want to generate sales from our online courses offered through Tevello, we must ensure our store is indexed and optimized.

Steps to Get Your Shopify Store Indexed by Google

To get our Shopify store indexed by Google, we need to follow a systematic approach that includes several essential steps. By taking these steps, we can increase the chances of being included in Google's index.

1. Request Indexing

Our first step in getting our Shopify store indexed is to request that Google index our site. This process happens through Google Search Console, a powerful tool provided by Google to help website owners manage their site’s presence in search results.

How to Use Google Search Console:

• Log in to Google Search Console using your Google account.
• If it’s your first time, you will be prompted to add your domain. For a URL like https://www.shopify.com, you would enter shopify.com.
• Follow the displayed instructions to verify ownership of your website. This typically involves adding a TXT record to your domain registrar’s DNS settings.

Once your domain is verified, we can utilize the URL Inspection tool in Google Search Console to request indexing for the URLs we want to be indexed.

Why This Matters

Requesting indexing not only helps Google find our store but also ensures that our pages are evaluated for indexing quickly. This immediate action will expedite the time it takes for our store to show up in SERPs.

2. Create and Submit a Sitemap

Creating an XML sitemap is another crucial step to ensure Google can discover all the pages on our site. A sitemap is a file that lists all the essential pages, helping Google identify which pages are important and how they relate to one another.

Steps to Create a Sitemap:

• Check if your Shopify store automatically generates a sitemap. You can do this by typing yourstore.com/sitemap.xml in your browser.
• If it exists, copy the sitemap URL and head to Google Search Console.
• Go to the Sitemaps section and paste your sitemap URL under the “Add a New Sitemap” option.

If your CMS hasn’t automatically created a sitemap, we can use online tools such as XML Sitemap Generator to create one.

Significance of a Sitemap

By submitting a sitemap, we enhance our visibility and indexing by aiding Google in navigating our store. This is especially valuable if we have multiple products, courses, or community content.

3. Confirm Indexing Status

After submitting our sitemap and requesting indexing, we need to confirm whether our pages are successfully indexed. To check this, we can type site:yourstore.com into Google’s search bar. If Google returns a list of our indexed pages, we are heading in the right direction!

If Pages Aren’t Indexed

It’s crucial to remember that indexing can take anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks. However, if we notice that our pages are still absent after this time, it indicates a deeper issue that may need troubleshooting.

Troubleshooting Indexing Issues

If our Shopify store pages are not being indexed, we’ll need to conduct a thorough investigation of possible issues preventing Google from doing so. Here are several common problems to consider and their corresponding solutions.

Ensure Crawling is Enabled

The first thing we need to check is our robots.txt file. This plain text file is located in our domain’s root directory, telling search engines which pages they can crawl and which ones they should avoid.

Checking Robots.txt:

• In your browser, enter yourstore.com/robots.txt.
• If the robots.txt file contains a line like User-agent: * Disallow: /, it means our entire site is blocked from being crawled. We need to adjust our settings to enable crawling.

Check for Noindex Tags

Noindex tags within our HTML tell Google not to index specific pages even if they are crawled. This won’t prevent Google from crawling them but will stop them from appearing in search results.

How to Check for Noindex Tags:

• Use Google’s URL Inspection tool in Search Console to see the HTML data of your pages. If you spot a noindex tag, it indicates that Google should not index that page.
• You can remove the noindex tag for pages you want visible in search results directly from your CMS settings.

Avoid Nofollow Links

Nofollow links are hyperlinks that instruct search bots not to follow them. If we have important pages linked as nofollow, they won’t get indexed.

Confirmation Process:

• Right-click the suspect link and select "Inspect" to view the HTML.
• Check for the nofollow attribute, and if it’s present, edit the link in your CMS to allow indexing.

Address Orphan Pages

Orphan pages are pages on our site not linked from any other content. They exist but are hard for both users and Google to find.

To resolve this, we should:

• Ensure every page we want indexed is linked internally from other pages.
• Update our sitemap whenever we create new content to ensure all pages are indexed.

Adherence to Google Policies

Lastly, it’s essential to ensure our store complies with Google’s policies. Violating these guidelines can lead to penalties that prevent indexing.

Compliant Practices:

• Focus on publishing quality original content.
• Avoid black hat techniques like keyword stuffing or buying low-quality backlinks.

The Role of SEO in Visibility

Once we’ve ensured that our Shopify store is indexed, the next stage is optimizing our content for search engines. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the art and science of improving our site's visibility in search results.

Keyword Optimization

Keyword optimization plays a pivotal role in SEO. By researching and using relevant keywords, we can attract traffic to our store. For example, if we were selling knitting supplies, we might use keywords like “knitting courses” or “knitting patterns” within our product descriptions, blogs, and course content.

Create Valuable Content

Regularly publishing high-quality content not only serves our audience but also signals to Google that our store is active and valuable. We can share:

• Blog posts related to online courses we offer.
• Tutorials that engage our community.
• User-generated content that showcases customer experiences.

Technical SEO

Technical SEO is all about enhancing the infrastructure of our website. This includes optimizing page load speed, mobile usability, SSL certificates for security, and ensuring our site has a logical structure. A well-structured site makes it easier for search engines to crawl and index our content.

Building Backlinks

Backlinks are links from other websites that lead to ours. Quality backlinks can significantly improve our site's authority and search ranking. We can build backlinks by:

• Guest posting on relevant blogs.
• Collaborating with influencers in our niche.
• Participating in online communities and forums.

Leveraging Tevello for Enhanced Visibility

At Tevello, we understand the importance of making sure that our Shopify store stands out. We provide an all-in-one platform that enables us to create and manage online courses, digital products, and communities from one easy-to-use interface.

With Tevello, we’re not just selling products; we’re creating experiences and building relationships through our courses and community features. When our courses are well-optimized for SEO and connected to a vibrant online community, we amplify our chances of being seen on Google.

Key Features of Tevello

• User-Friendly Course Creation: Our platform allows us to build and manage courses efficiently, using templates and user-guided setups to enhance our offerings.
• Community Building Tools: We can create engaging communities that foster discussions and allow users to share their experiences, increasing overall traffic.
• Built-in SEO Tools: Tevello includes built-in SEO settings that help optimize our course listings and digital products without requiring extensive technical knowledge.

By integrating these features, we can take significant steps toward ensuring our Shopify store not only ranks well but fosters engagement that drives traffic and conversions.

Conclusion

Getting your Shopify store to show up on Google is not just about indexing; it encompasses a multifaceted approach involving SEO, content creation, and community engagement. We can build and maintain a thriving e-commerce platform by diligently following the steps outlined in this guide.

At Tevello, we empower Shopify merchants to unlock new revenue streams and create meaningful connections with their audience through easy-to-use, all-in-one solutions that seamlessly integrate with the Shopify ecosystem.

Are you ready to elevate your Shopify store’s visibility? Start your 14-day free trial of Tevello today and take the first step towards optimizing your online courses and community!

FAQ

Can you request Google to index a page?
Yes, we can request Google to index our page using Google Search Console by adding our domain and clicking on "Request Indexing."

How do you check if your website is indexed by Google?
To check if our site is indexed, type site: followed by our domain name into the Google search bar. If Google returns a list of pages on our site, then it has indexed those pages.

How long does it take for Google to index my website after submission?
Typically, Google takes a few days to a couple of weeks to index newly submitted sitemaps.

What if my website does not get indexed?
If our site isn’t being indexed, we should check our robots.txt file, look for noindex tags, ensure internal linking is sufficient, and confirm that we’re compliant with Google’s policies.