How Google Actually Finds You

What Google actually looks at

Strip away the jargon and it comes down to three things: does your page clearly answer what someone searched for, does your site load fast and work on a phone, and do other trustworthy sites link to you or mention you. That's most of it. Not secret keywords, not a magic number of blog posts a week.

Not all mentions are equal

"Other sites mention you" sounds simple, but it hides the one thing most local business owners get wrong: not every mention counts the same way, and some don't count at all.

What actually passes authority:a listing on a trusted directory (De Gule Sider, Krak.dk, a trade association page), a mention from a supplier or partner site, a short write-up from a local news site. These are called "dofollow" links — technical term, simple idea: the linking site is vouching for you, and Google treats that as a signal of trust.

What doesn't — and this surprises people: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube. Every outbound link on these platforms is tagged "nofollow" by default. It's not an oversight — it's been standard practice industry-wide for two decades, precisely to stop people spamming links for ranking gains. A comment under a news article with your business name and a link works the same way: technically visible, but it passes no ranking value, and enough of them can look like spam rather than help.

None of this means social media is a waste of time. It still drives real visitors, builds recognition, and occasionally someone who found you there links to you properly from their own site later — that's the actual value, just not a direct ranking one.

One thing social profiles are genuinely good at: showing up when someone searches your exact business name. Type a company name into Google and you'll often see the website, the Facebook page, the Instagram profile, and a YouTube channel all listed together. That's not backlink authority at work — it's Google matching your brand name to every official presence carrying it. Worth having those profiles filled out properly, just for a different reason than SEO ranking.

The one most businesses ignore: your Google Business Profile. Posting updates, replying to reviews with a bit of relevant detail, keeping hours and photos current — this often moves the needle on local search more than anything happening on the website itself.

What no one can promise you

Anyone who guarantees a #1 spot, a specific ranking, or results in two weeks is selling smoke — Google's algorithm isn't public, and it changes constantly. What an honest studio can promise is a technically solid site, genuinely useful content, and an honest read on your odds for your specific market — a hairdresser in Grenaa is competing in a much smaller pool than a national e-commerce brand.

The realistic timeline

For a new site with no history, expect 6–12 months of consistent, decent content before you see a meaningful shift. That's not a sales tactic — it's how long it takes Google to trust a domain and for backlinks to accumulate naturally. Anyone promising faster is either lucky, lying, or running paid ads and calling it SEO.

Doing it yourself

You genuinely can do a lot of this without us. Google Search Console (free) tells you what people already search to find you. Writing pages that answer real questions your customers ask — in plain language, not stuffed with keywords — is 80% of the work. The part that's harder to DIY is the technical side: site speed, mobile rendering, structured data. That's usually where hiring someone actually pays for itself.