Explain my site

The plain-English dictionary of Google

Every word Google uses, explained like you're a person.

Short posts, one idea each, under five minutes. The same rule as the product: no jargon without a sentence that says what it means.

Words Google uses · 2 min

What a sitemap is, in one minute.

A list of your pages, written for Google. Most sites have one and never look at it. You should, once.

Google's wordsitemap.xml · 165 URLs · 2 errors

Your sitemap lists 165 pages. Two of them no longer open, and six pages people visit are not in it.

Honest SEO · 3 minWhy we never show you a number for how hard a search is.Those scores sound precise and mean nothing on their own. What we show instead, and why it is a rule in the code.What to do this week · 4 minThe title is the whole fight.People decide to click in about a second, from a dozen words. How to write the dozen words, and how to know afterwards whether they worked.Why am I not showing up · 3 min“Not indexed” means Google is ignoring the page.It exists, it opens, and Google will never show it. Three reasons that happens, and the one-line fix for each.Words Google uses · 4 min“Impressions” means people saw you and kept scrolling.Google's report says your page got 18,000 impressions last month. That sounds like a lot. It is actually the number of people who looked at your result and chose someone else. Here is what to do with it.Words Google uses · 3 min“Position 14.8” means page two, where almost nobody looks.Your spot in the list, averaged over everyone who searched. Why 14.8 is both bad news and the cheapest thing on your site to fix.