Your website is probably not going to be listed in Google search results.
I've been keeping a close eye on blogging communities in the context of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation - how websites appear in search engine results pages); Income School on YouTube is a useful source of insight:
People are angry.
Google's recent algorithm updates have pushed many websites way down results listings or removed them altogether. Google appears to favour Reddit and Quora listings for many results.
If you want to be discovered in search results, these are the things you need to consider
❌ Google algorithm changes are constant and you never know how these will affect your rankings.
❌ If you haven't protected your IP, somebody else could take your traffic. For example, if you run a co.uk but don't own the .com domain, the .com could absorb your traffic now or in the future, or at least cause confusion which is likely to negatively impact you.
❌ If your domain name is not distinct you may not even show in search results for your name.
❌ Ranking for keywords is highly competitive and will cost time and energy to both research and write content - and possibly money if you need to run ads. Paying somebody to manage your SEO can be very risky - they are unlikely to give you guarantees and often charge ridiculous amounts.
❌ Creating content for SEO does not allow spontaneous creativity and can suck the enjoyment out of content creation. Is it even worth it?
Most websites fail because they are not good
So many websites are simply ineffective, for many different reasons, such as:
❌ Unprofessional design
❌ Contact forms don't work
❌ Pages don't load
❌ Spelling errors
❌ Grammatical errors
❌ Colours clash
❌ Text is too small to read
❌ Poor quality content
❌ Not enough content
❌ Content does not add value
These issues can affect how Google ranks a website. For example, if the UX (User Experience) is poor, users will likely close your website, increasing your bounce rate. The bounce rate represents how long a user stays on a website and is one metric Google uses to measure the effectiveness of a website.
There is no one solution, not least because there is always the risk that an algorithm change can affect how a website ranks.
What you can do to give yourself the best chance of success
✅ Build a website that looks great and has a great UX.
✅ Prepare for the work you need to put in and seek knowledge and understanding in the field of SEO.
✅ Create distinct, valuable content that aligns with your target market (the cliche solution).
Don't rely on SEO
✅ Diversify your presence across as many channels as is practical (social media, in-person, printed work etc.) and only if you have a solid business case for it.
✅ Protect your intellectual property.
✅ Understand your competition's presence online and run a SWOT analysis against this.