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We know Google does webmaster outreach, where they will proactively go out and try to contact the site owner and/or webmaster when there is an issue with a site they stumble upon. We covered it back in July when we said contact information is not a ranking factor but Googlers use it to do outreach.
Yesterday, Gary Illyes from Google posted on Twitter that he reviewed 415 websites the other day and by looking at their home pages, he was unable to tell from the home page what the site is about or what the company does about 20% of the time. Truth is, it is sad, but I assume most of you would consider this anecdotal percentage to be about right based on your client work...
Here is Gary's tweet:
Had the pleasure to review 415 websites' homepage & in about 20% of the cases couldn't tell what's the site about by staring at the homepage
— Gary Illyes (@methode) August 3, 2016
If Gary can't figure out what the site is about by looking at the home page, do you think GoogleBot has a clear idea?
His point being - make sure you are clear to your customers what you do. Truth is, sometimes, and even very often, it is a hard thing for business owners to convey. Seeking outside help is often needed.
Forum discussion at Twitter.
