CMS: How to Improve Your Website's Visibility on Google (SEO & AEO Tools)

To help your Editor 2.0 website show up on Google, publish it, give each important page a descriptive meta title and description in Page SEO, fix what the Site Audit finds, add alt text to your images and connect Google Search Console. Google decides when your website is indexed and how it ranks, so these steps help but can't guarantee a position.

Applies to: Org admins with Site Editor access · All plans, for organizations with Editor 2.0 (the CMS module) · Editor 2.0 (CMS)

Where: Content > Site Editor > SEO/AEO (the magnifying glass icon in the left sidebar)

If your organization uses the legacy content editor, see How to set your site's meta description and keywords for search engines (Legacy content editor) instead.

Not in Google, or not loading at all? This article is about appearing in Google's search results. If your website doesn't open when you type its address, that's a different problem, usually with your domain: see Why isn't my website loading? (custom domain or site down). Fix that first, because Google can't list a website it can't reach.

Make Sure Your Website Is Published

Before Google can find your website, it needs to be published and publicly accessible.

If you recently launched or published your website, it may take some time for Google to discover and index it. Not seeing your site immediately does not necessarily mean there is an issue with your website.

Use the SEO/AEO Tools

The TeamSideline Site Editor includes tools to help you review and improve your site's SEO.

To access them:

Go to Content > Site Editor to open your website in the TeamSideline Site Editor.
Click the SEO/AEO icon (magnifying glass) in the left sidebar.
Open the Site Audit tab.

The Site Audit provides an overview of your site's SEO and identifies areas that may need attention.

You may see recommendations related to:

Page meta tags
Meta description length
Image alt text
Internal links
External links
Local Business Schema
Open Graph/social sharing images
Favicon

When available, click Fix It or View Details to go directly to the area that needs attention.

Add a Descriptive Page Title and Description

One of the most important things you can do is make sure your pages have descriptive SEO information.

Go to Page SEO in the left navigation to edit your page's metadata.

Meta Title

Your meta title should clearly describe the page. Include your organization name and location or program when it makes sense. It's also the name visitors see on their browser tab.

Example: Your League Name | Youth Softball in Your City, ST

Avoid generic titles such as Home.

If you duplicated a page, the copy keeps the original page's meta title, so its browser tab shows the original page's name. Give the copy its own Meta Title, then republish.

Meta Description

Your meta description should briefly explain what visitors will find on the page.

Example: Your League Name offers youth softball for girls ages 5 to 16 in Your City, including spring and fall leagues, registration and schedules.

We recommend giving each important page a unique title and description.

Add Helpful Content to Your Website

SEO isn't just about settings. The actual content on your website is important too.

Make sure your website clearly explains:

Your organization's name
What sport or activity you offer
Your city or area
Age groups you serve
Programs and leagues you offer
Registration information
Field or facility locations
Contact information

For example, if you want people searching for youth softball in your city to find your organization, your website should naturally say that you offer youth softball programs there.

Keep It Natural

You don't need to repeat the same keywords over and over. Write useful information for your visitors first. Search engines are designed to understand the overall content and purpose of a page.

Add Alt Text to Your Images

Alt text provides a text description of an image.

It is helpful for:

Accessibility: Screen readers can use alt text to describe images to visitors who are visually impaired.
SEO: Search engines can use alt text as one way to understand the content of an image.

To review your images, open SEO/AEO > Image Alt Text.

You'll see images across your site that are missing alt text, with links to the pages where you can update them. You can also use the AI tool to help update multiple images at once.

Use descriptions that accurately describe the image rather than adding keywords that don't relate to it.

Set Your Favicon and Social Image

Go to Settings > Favicon & Social Image.

Favicon

A favicon is the small icon associated with your website. It can appear in browser tabs and in some search experiences.

Recommended:

A .ico or .png file
32 × 32 px or 64 × 64 px

Social Image

The social image is used when your website is shared on social media platforms such as Facebook or LinkedIn.

Recommended size: 1200 × 630 px

For best results, use your organization's logo or branding so visitors can easily recognize your organization.

Connect Google Search Console

You can connect Google Search Console through the Google Tools section of your site settings. For the steps, see CMS: How to add Google Analytics, Tag Manager or Search Console to your website.

Google Search Console can help you understand how Google sees your website, including:

Whether your pages have been indexed
What searches are bringing people to your site
How many people are seeing and clicking your site in search results
Certain indexing issues
Your site's overall search performance

Google Search Console is managed by Google and is optional. It is a useful tool if you want to monitor your website's presence in Google search.

Give Google Time to Find Your Website

If your website is brand new, don't worry if it doesn't appear in Google right away.

Google needs to discover and crawl your website before it can add pages to its search index. This can take time, and the timing is controlled by Google.

If your website has been published for a while and still isn't appearing, review the following:

Is the website published?
Does your website open at its address? If it doesn't, start with the domain (see the note at the top).
Is the website publicly accessible?
Have you completed the Page SEO settings?
Does the Site Audit show any issues?
Have you connected Google Search Console?

Old Pages or Unwanted Links in Google

Google chooses the links it shows under your website in search results (sitelinks). You can't pick them yourself.

An outdated page drops out of Google's results after you delete it, redirect its address to another page or hide it from search engines in its SEO settings, then republish and Google reads your website again. A redirect also sends visitors who use the old address to the right page: see CMS: Find, share or change a page's URL (and add a redirect). In Google Search Console, you can ask Google to check a page again sooner.

Why Isn't My Website at the Top of Google?

Being indexed by Google and ranking highly in search results are two different things.

Google considers many factors when determining search rankings, including the relevance and quality of the content, the searcher's location and intent, links to the website, and other signals.

TeamSideline provides tools to help you optimize your website, but we cannot guarantee a specific position in Google search results.

The best place to start is by making sure your website is complete, accurate, useful to your visitors, and properly configured using the SEO/AEO tools in the TeamSideline Site Editor.

Quick SEO Checklist

Use this checklist when reviewing your website:

Website is published and publicly accessible
Homepage has a descriptive meta title
Homepage has a unique meta description
Important pages have unique titles and descriptions
Organization name, sport, and location are clearly identified
Programs and age groups are described on the site
Images have appropriate alt text
Site Audit issues have been reviewed
Favicon has been added
Social image has been added
Google Search Console has been connected, if desired

Remember: SEO is an ongoing process. Keeping your website's content accurate and up to date is one of the best ways to help both visitors and search engines understand your organization.

If It Doesn't Work

Your website doesn't load at its address. That isn't a search problem. See Why isn't my website loading? (custom domain or site down), linked below.
A page's browser tab shows another page's name. The page is probably a copy that kept the original page's meta title. Change its Meta Title in Page SEO and republish.
Your changes don't show on your live website. Click Republish: page titles, descriptions and alt text go live with the rest of your website, and Google sees them the next time it reads it.

Good to Know

On an Editor 2.0 website, page titles and descriptions are set here. Meta Key Words and Meta Description on Administration > Configurations > Analytics & SEO apply only to legacy websites.
TeamSideline can't control or speed up how Google indexes or ranks your website.

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