How To Bump Your Actor Website to the Top of Google Search

A website is one of the most important marketing tools for a professional actor. Actors use websites to provide information directly to casting directors in the theatre industry. By updating your site with a headshot, resume, recent news and contact information, creative teams can easily learn more about you and potentially call you in for auditions and callbacks.

Once you design your website and publish it, try searching your name on google. Does your website pop up on the first page? Is it the first result? Or way down on the bottom?

If you've noticed that your site isn't the first result when you search your name, you may be at a disadvantage.

Actors need to make their information as readily available as possible. If someone can't find your site, they'll quickly move on.

So how do we get the page to come up to the top of Google when someone searches our name?

Search Engine Optimization.

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is a marketing idea focused on growing visibility in organic (non-paid) search engine results. According to Moz, "SEO encompasses both the technical and creative elements required to improve rankings, drive traffic, and increase awareness in search engines."

From the words on your page to the way other sites link to you on the web, actors should keep SEO in mind when creating a website. Here are some easy tips to bring your website to the top of Google search!

To create your very own website using Squarespace, click here.

1. Design your website for multiple screens

Create a user-friendly website that is viewable on multiple screens, including computer screens, tablet screens, and smartphone screens. Many web building platforms like Squarespace, Wix, and Weebly make this super easy!

With the growing popularity of mobile devices, Google has made it very clear that no mobile experience = no love from Google!

2. Use keywords

Using keywords appropriate to the theatre industry (like actor, actress, theatre, musical) help your page bump to the top of Google Search.

Remember, the information you include at the very top of your page is the most important in the eyes of Google.

Make sure to clearly state who you are, what you do, and where you are located if possible.

3. Include hyperlinks to relevant pages

When including your training and any teachers you've studied with, include hyperlinks to their sites if they have them. You can link to the training programs you were enrolled in, teachers from masterclasses, theaters you worked at, directors you've worked with, etc.

4. Write just enough content

When creating different pages for your website, take these factors into account.

The page’s uniqueness based on other pages on the site
The page's uniqueness based on other pages on the web
Its value to users (does this page answer a question a casting director may have?)
Its accessibility from a site’s homepage via clicks

5. Update the content on your homepage

Be sure to regularly update the content on your webpage to keep things fresh. Websites that aren’t updated often are considered less relevant to search engines. Make sure to update your resume, headshots, and media.

In order to make your website rank higher, you must make a significant change to the content on your homepage. According to Brand Yourself, you will either need to change or add 300 words – if it’s any less, Google will not consider it a significant update.

6. Decrease your homepage’s load time

Making your page load in less than 3 seconds will prevent search engines from penalizing it and ranking it lower.

Save images as smaller file size when uploading them to your webpage. After you’re done optimizing your images, upload them to your webpage and delete the old ones.

This tool makes it easy: Online Image Optimizer.

7. Place your full name in key places throughout the site

When Google spiders index a site, they look to see how often certain words are used to determine what the site should rank for. If your content never mentions your name, how will spiders know it’s about you?

Write a bio in the third person and put your name in authoritative places like navigation tabs or headings. For example, instead of an ABOUT page, call it ABOUT YOUR NAME page. This way spiders know which words are most important.