Top 5 Google Sites SEO Mistakes

Intro

Can Google Sites have good SEO? How does Google Sites compare versus Wordpress? Can Google Sites get good page rank?

I hear these questions all the time from potential clients and existing customers trying to climb up the highly competitive ladder to page one search engine rankings.

Here's the answers: yes, as good, yes.

Proof: Search for "Google Sites Designer" what comes up? My website www.kirksvillewebdesign.com  It's a Google Site and it's always on page one search results. Google Sites doesn't have an SEO handicap, but there are pitfalls to avoid with any SEO.

Matt Cutts' Top Five SEO Mistakes

If you haven't seen the video check it out here, or play it below.

All these apply to Google Sites, so take note:

Problem #1 : My Google Sites isn't on Google.

Solution: Make sure your website is mapped to a custom domain like www.example.com. Also, make sure you have submitted your site to Google through Webmaster Tools.

Problem #2 : My Google Site doesn't rank well.

Solution: Write good copy that reflects how people search. Don’t just write, “Mt. Everest Height” but write, “How high is Mt. Everest?” because that is how people search.

Problem #3 : My target audience isn't finding my Google Site.

Solution: Random link building won't help you funnel customers to your website. Have a marketing strategy that uses unique, compelling content and social media. Reach out to your audience in their habitat through real-life and digital campaigns.

Problem #4 : My pages aren't optimized. How do I effectively title and describe my pages?

Solution: Give your whole website a good, well-fitting title and description. Remember, the Site Title is a good sentence. The Site Description is a good paragraph. And give your most important pages a Page Description, seen in More > Page Settings.

Problem #5 : I don't know what I'm doing for SEO and where to start.

Solution: Start watching Matt Cutts' videos and sign up for Google Webmaster Tools. SEO isn't rocket science nowadays. Awesome relevant content will float to the top eventually. 

Thanks for tuning in!

New Fonts!

Google Sites now supports hundreds of Google Webfonts for your website. This is a wonderful change to see, though perhaps not the most requested. However, this proves that Google Sites is still on the radar of Google and that they care about customization and indeed the overall aesthetic of their product application.

A big thanks to Google for translating recent Blogger changes to their Google Sites platform, enjoy the news below!

Google Sites brings you over 100 new web fonts

Ever wanted to make your Google site feel even more unique? Today, we added a wide variety of Google Web Fonts to Google Sites, making it easier to style your website and make it look awesome.

Now you can go to Manage Site under More Actions and choose Color and Fonts in the left-hand navigation to choose fonts for the entire site in one go. The web fonts feature lets you select different sections of the site such as the entire page or just the title to selectively choose your styling. Additionally, we've given you control over font sizes for many of these sections.

Take a look at a site that uses multiple web fonts:

We’re looking forward to seeing the sites you create with these beautiful new fonts.

Posted by: Robert Dionne, Software Engineer

News - Apps Script

Automate Event Management using Apps Script

Tuesday, April 19, 2011 | 9:02 AM

Labels: Apps Script

Editor's Note: Guest author Phil Ridout is an independent consultant specialising in Knowledge Management. He is a facilitator for the Knowledge and Innovation Network (KIN) a business to business knowledge sharing network.

Last year the network I help to run, KIN, decided to start using Google Sites for their shared online space called MemberSpace. This ‘MemberSpace’ is used as a repository for shared documents and information about various KIN events. I soon realised that using Google Apps Script would significantly enhance the event management process.

The network facilitators organise about 30-40 events a year. For each event we need to :

• Create an Events page in the MemberSpace Google Site (in a standardised format)
• Create a Calender Event in the Network Events Calendar maintained by facilitators
• Announce the event on the MemberSpace news (announcements) page
• Allow delegate self-registration
• Send attendees a customized email confirmation when they register
• Send joining instructions emails to all attendees immediately prior to the event

By using Google Apps Script, we have been able to automate all of the above tasks and make event management a lot simpler.

The Solution

To accomplish this automation, we have created an event management spreadsheet template with an accompanying form and script. Whenever an event is organised, the event facilitator copies the event management template and fills in standard data about the event in one of the sheets.



Then all the facilitator has to do is select the appropriate menu items to accomplish the tasks listed above. (This spreadsheet is only seen by the Facilitators. The event attendees only see the event registration form.)

So what’s in the script behind this?

Before I started this project, I had never used Javascript. I used various tutorials on Apps Script documentation site to learn about Apps Script and discovered that a good starting point was the Simple Mail Merge Google Apps Script tutorial. The workflow of managing an event was relatively simple but required integration with various services such as Mail, Calendar, Contacts, Forms and Sites. Below is a description of how we used Apps Script to automate these tasks.

1. Event Registration Email

Whenever an attendee registers for an event, we need to send a customised confirmation email. This script is based on the Simple Mail Merge Google Apps Script tutorial code and we use an onFormSubmit trigger to automatically run the script to email registration confirmation to delegates when they submit a registration form. Mail Services in Apps Script are used to send these emails.

2. Event Page in Sites

The ‘Create Event Page’ script is invoked by the facilitator to create an event page (using Apps Script Sites Services) in the MemberSpace using one of three page templates depending on the event type. Should any event details change, this script can be run again to delete the original page and create a new one with the amended details.

3. Calendar entry in Events Calendar

Once the event page has been created, the organiser creates an entry in the calendar by running the ‘Create Calendar Entry’ script which generates a calendar entry containing a link to the previously created event page in the MemberSpace. This script uses Apps Script Calendar Services.

4. Email confirmation / joining instructions

A week or so before the event takes place, joining instructions are sent to delegates using a menu option from the original spreadsheet. This runs a slightly modified version of the email script used in step 1.

5. Event Announcement in Sites

Finally, the organiser can ‘announce’ the event by running the ‘Announce Event’ script which places an announcement in the MemberSpace News page. (Actually, there are three ‘Special Interest Group’ News pages and one ‘General’ News page which are merged - by a time trigger driven script - into a single announcements stream that can subscribed to using a Site Services script the basis of which can be found here.)

Performing the above tasks manually may seem simple or trivial but it can be time consuming and error prone. By using Apps Script, we have implemented event management functionality that allows us to manage events in a standardised way.

Posted by Phil Ridout, independent consultant

Sites Admin Training with Google Gooru - 4/24/2014

Google Gooru Admin Training Week
Please join us Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week for our very first Google Gooru Admin Training Week! We'll be joined by several leading experts in the Google Apps community who will cover everything there is to know about managing Google Apps

Register Here ---> Google Gooru's Admin Training Week

Every session will be held via Hangout on Air, so anyone is welcome to attend.


You can register for each event below...see you tomorrow!
April 22nd - Admin Console and Apps Script

April 23rd - Google Drive and FlashPanel

April 24th - Google Sites and Mobile Device Management with +Kyle Horst

Subscribe to Site/Page Changes

Google Apps Scripts is already showing some nice progress as programmers edge into Google Sites territory. Enjoy this nice tutorial from the folks at Revevol.

http://sites.google.com/site/subscribetochangesforviewers/

News - Recovery of Deleted Sites

In a recent update by Google, Google Sites receives a bit more attention with a small utility for deleted sites. I never deleted a Google Site in the first place, but I bet if I wanted to get it back I'd be frantic.

Scheduled Release track features update 4/12/11

Released on 4/12/2011

Google Sites:
Recovery of deleted sites. If an owner of a site accidentally deletes a site, it will be immediately removed from view but they may recover it by visiting its URL within 30 days.

Release track:
Scheduled*

Editions included:
Google Apps, Google Apps for Business, Government and Education

For more information:
http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/fixing-little-things.html
About Calendar Labs
http://googleappsupdates.blogspot.com/2011/04/accidentally-delete-site-owners-can-now.html

*Scheduled Release track: Domains with ‘Enable scheduled releases’ checkbox enabled in the administrator control panel. Learn more

85 Excellent Reviews for Google Sites Design Service

We reached a new goal in the Google Apps Marketplace as +Kirksville Web Design . We are the most reviewed, highly rated Google Sites designer on the entire Marketplace. As our title mentions, we have 85 positive reviews for our design services using just Google Sites.

Here are our three most recent reviews from April, 2014:

Will Use Again by Ismael Amado with Flagship Inc.
April 09, 2014

Kirksville Web Design was able to help us realize our goal of using google sites as a replacement for our aging sharepoint system. The designs were clean, elegant, and easy to use.

Will not hesitate to engage Kyle and his team again if/when the need arises.


Great Experience by Dane Deutsch with DCS Netlink
April 08, 2014

Very satisfied with our experience with Kirksville Web Design! Great service, and outstanding ability to understand the customer needs, from the planning to the design and content aspects of their web page. Kyle is a team player who works in a very relaxed and confident manner. He delivers on what he promises. Tough to find a company in this day and age that does what they promise to do. Great Job Kyle and the whole Kirksville Web Design Team!


Excellent outcome by Kurt Weideling with Monash University
April 01, 2014

Really happy with the service provided by the Kirksville team. Managed to achieve all of our desired outcomes in a very prompt time frame and as a sign of what a globalised world we live in the fact that we're based on opposite sides of the world wasn't a problem!

View All our Reviews on the Google Apps Marketplace

Thank you for supporting us as the Best Google Sites Designer!

Free Google Apps Icon Pack

Enjoy this free Google Apps icon pack by +Kirksville Web Design


Google has a unique style for their icons that I very much admire. Cute little shadows and simplicity make them fun to recreate. Download the complete Google Apps Icon package. Let me know if I missed one you want. +Kyle Horst

What's included:

• Google Drive Icon (256px PNG, PDF, SVG Inkscape)
• Gmail Icon (256px PNG, PDF, SVG Inkscape)
• Google Calendar Icon (256px PNG, PDF, SVG Inkscape)
• Google Contacts Icon (256px PNG, PDF, SVG Inkscape)
• Google Plus Hangout Icon (256px PNG, PDF, SVG Inkscape)
• Google Sites Icon (256px PNG, PDF, SVG Inkscape)
• Google Vault Icon (256px PNG, PDF, SVG Inkscape)
• Google Chrome Icon (256px PNG, PDF, SVG Inkscape)
• Google Single Sign-On Icon (256px PNG, PDF, SVG Inkscape)
• Google Chromebook Icon (256px PNG, PDF, SVG Inkscape)
• Google Plus Icon (256px PNG, PDF, SVG Inkscape)

Goodbye Site Layout Page

The Change

Hello everyone, +Kyle Horst here with www.kirksvillewebdesign.com once again with a Google Sites Update!

Edit Site Layout, for several months, existed in two places: 

• More > Manage Site > Site Layout
• More > Edit Site Layout

Now it is only available in the More dropdown menu. Google did give us ample warning that the old Site Layout page was going away, so it surprises me that so many people are confused. Anyway, this post is to help everyone out.

Here was the original article on this feature:
http://www.googlesiteswebdesign.com/2012/08/new-feature-quick-site-layout.html

This is the only way to edit Site Layout now.