---
title: "Get Started with Search: A Developer’s Guide"
description: "Making your site **search-friendly** is key to attracting relevant visitors through Google Search. If Google can’t understand your page properly, you could miss out on valuable traffic. **1. How Google Sees Your Site** - Use tools like **URL Inspection** and…"
url: "https://fsidm.in/knowledge/seo/get-started-with-search/"
updated: "2025-08-01"
category: SEO
---

# Get Started with Search: A Developer’s Guide

Making your site **search-friendly** is key to attracting relevant visitors through Google Search. If Google can’t understand your page properly, you could miss out on valuable traffic.

**1. How Google Sees Your Site**

- Use tools like **URL Inspection** and **Rich Results Test** to see your site from Google’s perspective.
- Googlebot (Google’s crawler) may not see everything users do — for example, some JavaScript features might hide images or content from Google.
- Make sure your important content is accessible without relying solely on unsupported JavaScript.

### **2. Check Your Links**

- Use **crawlable****<a>****tags** with meaningful text or alt attributes for images.
- Ensure all pages are reachable via links from other discoverable pages.
- Build and submit an **XML sitemap** to help Google find and prioritize your pages.
- For single-page apps, ensure each piece of content or view has a unique URL.

### **3. JavaScript and SEO**

- Google can run JavaScript but with some limitations — follow Google’s **JavaScript SEO best practices**.
- Watch out for rendering issues that might hide content or links from Google.
- Use available resources and videos from Google to understand how JavaScript affects crawling and indexing.

### **4. Keep Google Updated on Content Changes**

- Submit updated sitemaps regularly.
- Use Search Console to request recrawls for new or updated pages.
- Check server logs if pages are not indexed as expected.

### **5. Use Text Content Wisely**

- Googlebot can only index visible text.
- Provide **textual context** for images and videos (e.g., captions, descriptions).
- Use **unique titles and meta descriptions** for every page — they improve relevance and click-through rates.
- Use **semantic HTML** instead of plugins or canvas-rendered content, which Google cannot index.
- Avoid putting important text inside CSS-generated content (content: property) as Google ignores it.

### **6. Inform Google About Content Variations**

- If your site has multiple versions (mobile, desktop, language variations), use:

  - **Canonical tags** to consolidate duplicate URLs
  - **hreflang tags** for localized content
  - Ensure AMP pages are discoverable if used

### **7. Control What Google Can Access and Index**

- Use **robots.txt** to block crawling but not as a way to hide pages from search results.
- Use **noindex** meta tags or password protection to keep pages out of search results.
- Avoid conflicting rules by carefully combining crawl and index directives.

### **8. Troubleshoot Content Not Showing in Search**

- Use **URL Inspection** to check if Googlebot can access the page.
- Test your **robots.txt** to ensure you’re not accidentally blocking pages.
- Check your page for **noindex tags** that might prevent indexing.

### **9. Enable Rich Results**

- Add **structured data (schema markup)** to your pages to help Google create rich search results with enhanced visuals and features.
- Explore Google’s gallery of rich result types (like recipes, events, products) to see which fit your content.