To make sure your website shows up in search, you need to stop stuffing keywords and start answering questions.

You've Googled you own business and you're not on the first page. Not even close. Here's why—and it's probably not what you think!

You typed the name of your own business into Google. Or maybe you typed what you actually sell “plumber in Burlington” or “custom wedding cakes St. Albans,” then scrolled and scrolled and couldn’t find yourself. Your competitors were there. Some directory you’ve never heard of was there. You weren't.

If that moment of frustration then prompted you to search for "why isn't my website showing up in Google search?" you’re in the right place. And the answer to “why am I not showing up?” is almost certainly not what the internet has been telling you.

The common advice is to find the right “keywords” and put them on your website. And while that’s not entirely wrong, most small businesses are chasing the wrong kind of keywords entirely — the short, generic ones that are impossible to compete for. The good news is that the keywords you can rank for are often much more valuable anyway.

The keywords you’re probably targeting (and why they’re not working)

When most small business owners think about SEO, they think about short phrases. “plumber Burlington.” “Wedding photographer.” “Accounting software.” These feel like the obvious things to target, because they’re what a business does, described in plain terms.

The problem is that every business in your category is targeting exactly the same phrases. And sitting at the top of those results are large directories, national chains, and companies who have been investing in SEO for a decade. Getting onto the first page for “plumber Burlington” as a sole trader is highly unlikely (sorry).

But here’s what’s interesting: those short phrases aren’t even how most of your potential customers are searching anymore. With the rise in AI accessibility and voice search options, people search the way they talk. And they talk in questions, circumstances, and specific needs— and often long rambling sentences rather in succinct keyword fragments.

How your customers are actually searching

Think about the last time you searched for something you genuinely needed. Did you type two words into Google, or did you type an actual question? Or did you do a voice search?

Your customers are doing the same. Instead of “plumber Burlington,” they’re asking for “emergency plumber in Burlington available on weekends.” Instead of “wedding photographer,” they’re typing “wedding photographer in the NEK who does relaxed natural photos not posed.” Instead of “accountant,” they’re asking “do I need an accountant if I’m self-employed and just do a bit of freelance work on the side.”

These longer, more specific searches are what the industry calls “long-tail keywords.” They get fewer searches individually than the short phrases, but there are vastly more of them, and the people typing or speaking them know exactly what they want. They’re closer to making a decision. And crucially, the competition for them is dramatically lower.

“The people typing long, specific searches know exactly what they want, and they’re much closer to becoming your customer.”

PLUS (and this is huge)... the search engines can now interpret context and intent.

Short phrases vs. real questions: a quick comparison

Here's the difference between the old keyword thinking and the new intent-first approach:chool keyword phrase

florida beach vacations
kid-friendly beaches in Florida where the hotels are affordable

best running shoes
what running shoes are good for wide feet and flat arches that won’t break the bank?

home office desk
standing desk that fits in a small apartment bedroom and doesn’t look like office furniture

tax accountant near me
do I need an accountant if I’m self-employed and only do freelance work on the side?

wedding caterer
how much does wedding catering cost for 80 people and what’s usually included?

web designer
how much does it cost to get a website made for a small business?

The searches are longer. They include qualifiers (wide feet, small apartment, on the side). They describe circumstances, not just categories. And many of them are actual questions — the kind you might ask a knowledgeable friend. Say hello to scenario-based search.

What this means for your website

Instead of trying to cram short keyword phrases onto your pages, try to create content that genuinely answers the questions your customers are asking. Every page on your website should be the best possible answer to a specific question a real person might ask their search engine of choice.

Ask yourself: What does someone need to know before they reach out to or hire me? What are they doing in the moment they realize they need what I provide? Those are the questions your website should be answering. A plumber might write a page titled “How much does it cost to fix a burst pipe in Burlington on the weekend?” A wedding photographer might create a blog post titled “What’s the difference between a wedding photographer and a videographer and do I need both?” And this post is titled "How do I get my website to show up on Google?"

This format isn’t just good for SEO. It's genuinely useful to the people looking for help. And Google’s entire job is to surface genuinely useful content, which means the two goals need to be perfectly aligned.

TRY THIS RIGHT NOW

Open Google and start typing a question related to your business. Watch what the autocomplete suggestions are. They're aggregated from real searches and are a direct window into what your potential customers are actually asking.

Then scroll to the “People also ask” section on any results page. That box is a goldmine of question-based long-tail phrases that real humans are typing right now.

Any of these results could be the basis for a page on your blog or an FAQ on a relevant web page.

The voice search factor

There’s another reason short keywords are becoming less relevant: people are increasingly searching by speaking rather than typing. They ask their phone, their smart speaker, or their car a question out loud. And nobody speaks in keyword fragments.

Nobody says “OK Google, plumber Burlington.” They say “Hey Google, is there a plumber near me who can come out today?” Half the time the query is going to be a long, rambling, perhaps even incoherent sentence. Something like "My pipe burst in the bathroom and I think I need a new gasket or maybe a flange thingie, I don't really know what it's called, is there a plumber in the Burlington area who can come out today even though it's Sunday?"

The websites that show up in answer to that voice query will be the ones written in natural, conversational language that directly answers the question being asked.

“Nobody speaks in keyword fragments. Your website shouldn’t be written in them either.”

Three (free) things you can do this week

Write down every question a customer has ever asked you. In person, by email, on the phone... any question someone asked before deciding to work with you. Each one of those is a potential page or blog post.

Use Google’s own tools to find real searches. The autocomplete suggestions and “People also ask” results on Google are free, real-time data about what your customers are searching for. No paid tools needed.

Rewrite one page to answer a specific question. Pick your most important service page. Instead of describing what you do in general terms, rewrite it to answer the most common question someone has before hiring you for that service. Change the heading to reflect the question. See what happens over the next few weeks.

Getting your website to show up on Google is not about gaming an algorithm. It’s about being the most genuinely useful result for the people who need what you offer. The businesses that understand this, and write their website content accordingly, are the ones that are going to get found.

For help putting this together or figuring out where to make strategic changes on your website, reach out! Happy to take a look and help you make a plan.