How to Get Your Website Ranking #1 on Google
You know that it is essential for your website to rank well on Google. But you don't know how to get it done, so you spend countless hours figuring out why it isn't working. You may have wasted money on online advertising or hired a consultant who didn't deliver what they promised.
Many people believe SEO is dead. They think it only works for big businesses that spend thousands per month on search engine optimisation. In this guide, you'll learn proven tactics that will help optimise your website ranking and get it on the first page of Google.
You'll discover the best ways to get noticed by your customers without paying a dime. You'll learn how to build links to your site, build social media profiles, and ensure your site is optimised for mobile.
If you're interested in building a profitable online business, focusing on ranking your website high in the SERPs is essential. There are many ways to accomplish this. You can also make money from a search engine marketing perspective, and we'll show you how to do that.
Understand the Google Algorithm
Google's algorithm is the complex rules that dictate website ranking on the results page. Dozens of factors play into how a particular site ranks in the search engine results.
Google has continuously changed its website ranking algorithm to ensure that it displays the most relevant results for its users. While there's no way to predict how any particular site will rank, you can follow some general guidelines to ensure that your site can appear when someone searches for something.
You can use this knowledge to your advantage. The Google algorithm rewards websites that rank high in organic results.
If you want to get into the top spots in organic results, you should focus on producing content that Google's algorithm will rank highly. This involves creating unique, helpful content that is easy for the algorithm to digest, but this is much harder than it sounds!
The SEO Basics: A Primer on On-Page SEO
On-page optimisation involves how you're building out your site. There are many ways to optimise your site's content, but the primary goal should be to provide valuable and relevant content that answers questions a search engine user might have about your website. Google uses its proprietary algorithms for website ranking, which are constantly evolving and changing.
- Coombe, Will (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 247 Pages – 09/11/2017 (Publication Date) – Independently published (Publisher)
Make It Easy For Google to Understand Your Site.
This is the main reason why Google cares so much about the quality of your content. Google wants to be able to find relevant information quickly.
If Google can easily access the type of information you have, you'll stand a chance to make the website ranking to the top of the results for your keywords. There are some ways to make it easier for Google to understand your website, and these tips can help.
Google and other search engines should easily index your website to rank high on the SERPs. The easiest way to do this is to use semantic HTML markup.
Semantic HTML is an approach to structuring and coding web pages that uses natural language terms instead of code words. This makes it easier for the engines to understand each page.
Mobile-First: Ensuring that Your Mobile Site Works
With more than 90% of Americans using smartphones, the web is no longer just the province of desktop devices, and mobile browsing is fast becoming the norm. Mobile users expect the same level of functionality as users of their desktop counterparts.
But just because users are browsing the web on mobile devices doesn't mean they want to see everything on those devices. Many people prefer to view content through a screen with a larger resolution.
If you're currently using the same website that you've been using to market your business but haven't redesigned it for mobile, you're missing out on a massive chunk of potential traffic.
We've said it before, but it bears repeating: if you don't optimise your site for mobile, you'll lose. For maximum conversions, your website must work on every desktop, tablet, and mobile device.
The good news? You can optimise your mobile site with a mobile-first approach. This means that you start with a mobile-optimised version of your site and gradually expand the content and functionality of your site to the desktop. This way, you can leverage the good parts of mobile and desktop sites in the same content.
Start Optimising with a Manual Approach
This might be the most underrated marketing strategy for small businesses and startups. Optimise your site manually to improve your website ranking.
It doesn't matter if you only have a few pages. Do this for your entire website; you'll see improvements over time. This may be the most affordable way to improve your organic ranking and traffic without hiring a pricey SEO company or paying for paid links.
Determine Your Target Audience
I've seen plenty of businesses with no clue who their audience is. They are trying to target everyone, and they target no one. I recommend starting with a quick Google search and seeing who pops up.
You need to decide what type of business you want to have.
- Are you going to sell a product?
- Are you going to sell a service?
- Are you going to sell a lead?
- Do you want to sell a membership?
It depends on the business that you are planning to create. Once you determine what type of business you want to create, look at the landing pages and site architecture to determine whom you are targeting. Make sure that the person reading your content understands whom you are targeting.
Monitor & Optimise Your Landing Page Content
There's a big difference between the landing page content and site content. Landing pages are often used for lead generation, but you should also optimise them for conversions.
If the landing page isn't converting, it's because of a flaw in its design or content. When redesigning your landing page content, ensure the page includes clear call-to-actions, pleasing imagery, and offers that entice prospects.
As you begin writing your content, consider how you can use data to optimise the content on your landing page and keep it fresh for visitors. The data you need will vary based on the size and complexity of your site, but some basic questions to ask include:
- Are there any keywords your target audience is searching for that aren't appearing in the search results?
- How many people are clicking on my ad text and links?
- Can I add anything to my page or post to increase engagement?
- Can I get more people to my website from social media?
- Are there any specific pages of my site that don't seem to convert very well?
Improve the Design and User Experience of Your Site
- Buley, Leah (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 246 Pages – 07/09/2013 (Publication Date) – Rosenfeld Media (Publisher)
The first step in improving your site's UX (user experience) is understanding how your audience uses your site.
Use the analytics and conversion tools to help you answer questions like:
- Who is visiting my site?
- Where are they coming from?
- How long do they spend on my site?
- What is the purpose of their visit?
- What is the content they're looking for?
- How do they navigate around my site?
What is it about the site that you don't love? This isn't always obvious. For some people, it's the way it looks; for others, it's the content; for others, the layout.
If you're not happy with any of those aspects, take some time to review them and brainstorm ideas to improve them. There's likely something you could change without completely redesigning the whole thing.
Generally, you should always include keywords in your title and meta description. Using keywords in your title and the description tells Google (and all other search engines) what your content is about. But more than that, including keywords in those places will help your website rank higher for those keywords in the long run.
Internal Links: Connecting One Page to Another
A blog is one of the best ways to create an online presence. A blog allows you to publish articles, and then you can link the articles to one another with a connecting device.
When you have a lot of content on your blog, it can be challenging to remember which page you're ranking on. That's why you need to set up internal linking.
Setting up internal links between your content makes it easier for your users to find the right page when they visit your site. You can use many different devices, but you will probably want to use buttons that link to different website sections.
When users click those buttons, they can quickly return to the place they were looking for. The buttons are usually located at the top of the page. You can also use this technique to link to specific pages. For example, if your main page has an About Us section, you could link to that page. Users can access the About Us page directly through the About Us button.
Test Your Site for Search Engines
If you have a website, you will need to test it regularly. Just Google “how often do I need to test my site.” You'll get lots of answers, but the bottom line is that you should be testing your site at least weekly.
Google is constantly tweaking their ranking algorithms, meaning your search ranking can change any time you update your content, so you'll want to keep testing frequently.
Google wants to rank websites that are useful and relevant to their users. They don't want to see a bunch of spammy links in the same way that you don't want to get all your email spam delivered to your inbox daily.
So if you're looking for something to keep your eye on while building a website, an excellent way to do so is to focus on testing your site's SEO ranking or SEO-related aspects.
Keep the Page Load Time Under 2 Seconds
One thing many people forget about speed is that the time it takes for a page to load affects how fast your readers can move from point A to point B on your site.
Pages that load slowly make it harder for people to get the information they need on your site, especially if they're trying to share a link or post a comment. If your site takes more than 2 seconds to load, you're making a reader's experience worse. It's essential to keep an eye on your site's loading time and improve it.
Another way to load your web page faster is to remove unnecessary resources, such as images, stylesheets, and JavaScript files. The less data your site loads, the better. If you're making a purchase, waiting too long to ensure the page is ready can cause users to abandon your site.
Get Help From an SEO Expert
SEO isn't rocket science, but it is an area of expertise that requires special knowledge and skills to get the most out of your site.
It's a complex area of online marketing, so there's no way to guarantee success unless you hire an expert who knows what they're doing.
An expert will ensure that your site is designed to maximise its website ranking in search engines. They'll also make sure that the technical aspects of your site are correctly done and that the content is written so that it drives lots of traffic to your site.
Analyse Your Competitors
- Clarke, Adam (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 243 Pages – 10/05/2023 (Publication Date) – Independently published (Publisher)
The best website ranking in search results attracts more visitors. When you analyse your competitors, you learn what they're doing well. By seeing what you could do better, you can improve your SEO and increase traffic to your site.
If you have an online store, you can learn how to better compete with your competitors by using the same strategies they are employing.
Your competitors are your best marketers. Use a free tool like Google AdWords or Bing Ads (or a paid tool if that's your thing) to find the keywords your competitors rank on and learn what they say about you.
Then, look through your content and see if you can find keywords and phrases that you should be using to talk about yourself. This will help increase your organic search rankings.
Find out What the Most Popular Websites Are Doing
It's essential to understand what the most popular websites are doing to learn and emulate some of their methods.
Many factors are involved, but if we start by looking at the most popular websites, we can see what it takes to get the ball rolling. We'll better understand which content types are working and which aren't.
A study of SEO strategies by two professors at the University of Pennsylvania showed that “in some cases, the single biggest factor leading to a higher click-through rate was the site's reputation or trustworthiness,” said Joshua D. Brown, co-author of the report.
In other words, if you have a high-quality site with a strong community, you will reap more rewards than a lower-quality site with a low community.
Local SEO: Getting More Traffic from Local Searches
While local search is still relatively new to many consumers, it's become increasingly crucial for businesses as people shift their online search habits.
According to Google, nearly 70 per cent of mobile searchers use their phones to search for local information, and nearly 80 per cent of them expect the results of their local searches to include reviews, ratings, and maps.
So if you want to increase traffic to your site, you should start working on a strategy for local search.
As local search traffic has grown, Google has made it easier to rank for local queries. After general searches, it's the second most popular search traffic in the US.
In addition to Google, numerous other sites, including Yelp, Bing, Yahoo, and Facebook, provide search results to searchers looking for something local. To drive more local traffic to your site, you need to build out the content for your business in the local search space.
Start with Content Strategy
Content strategy is the process of planning and organising content for your website. It ensures you have the right site content at the right time and place. It's also crucial to ensure a robust digital strategy and plan.
Content strategy is important for two reasons. First, it helps your site and its pages get better rankings. Second, it can save you money. Without a strategy in place, you can spend a lot of time and effort creating content that isn't even seen by your audience.
Focus on the keywords that matter most.
While Google has stated that there is no “right” way to rank for a particular keyword, it also acknowledges a difference between websites that appear in search results and those that don't.
There is some uncertainty about how SEO affects website ranking. Still, there is also an expectation that any brand or company should have a presence in the organic search results for their products or services.
Content is King: Creating Great Content
In Google's world, content is king. This means you must produce high-quality content in text, photos, or videos. It doesn't matter what format it's in; if your content is low-quality, Google is unlikely to rank you highly in search results. The more high-quality content you produce, the higher the website ranking.
Good content is like a good book. Everyone can read and enjoy good content, no matter how educated. It doesn't matter if the reader has a degree or not. It only matters that they enjoy reading the content and being able to learn something new. The same goes for websites and web pages.
Even though Google and other search engines have become more intelligent, they still need good content to find things to rank.
You may ask yourself, what does this mean for website ranking? If you are a business owner, having good content for your website means that customers will find your business more efficiently. Good content means your articles will get traffic; others will notice your website if you are a writer.
There are many ways to write good content. First, you should know the subject you want to write about. You should also be familiar with the topic before you begin writing. You should keep your readers in mind and write something they will find interesting.
In addition to that, you should have good grammar, spelling and style. Writing a compelling story and getting the reader interested is another crucial factor.
Writing good content is a skill that you can develop over time. It takes practice and determination to reach the top of the search engine results.
When writing content for your website, remember that it's an art. The more you practice and work on improving yourself, the better you will be able to write.
- Virji, Purna (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 352 Pages – 07/25/2023 (Publication Date) – Kogan Page (Publisher)
Keep Your Content Fresh
Keep the Google Bot happy and your website ranking high all the time! It's essential to ensure your website content stays fresh by constantly updating it. It would be best to ensure that your updates are relevant to what your readers are looking for.
Google isn't going to crawl through every page on your site once a day, but it will once a week. So, you need to ensure that your website constantly provides value to readers – whether it be with new blog posts, exciting pages, or just keeping your existing ones updated.
Google's search algorithm has been changing a lot recently. Google Panda, Penguin, Hummingbird, and other updates constantly change how they view and judge the internet and rank pages. Because of these changes, websites and blogs must continuously update their content to remain fresh and competitive in the eyes of Google's search engine.
Google's goal is to provide the best possible information to its searchers. If you don't update your content regularly, Google will likely see you as an outdated and irrelevant website.
Be Patient
When it comes to SEO, nothing happens overnight. If you think you can do it in a few days, you're setting yourself up for failure. You have to work hard on SEO. You must put time and effort into your SEO strategy like anything else.
It takes time to get a website ranking on Google. So, don't be discouraged if you don't see an immediate improvement in your ranking. You have to stick with it. This is how you get results.
Manage Backlinks with Care
It's a common misconception that you'll receive higher search rankings if you link back to your site from another site. While this may be true on a Google page-by-page basis, it isn't in aggregate.
And when Google detects unnatural linking practices, it typically penalises the entire website domain, making those links. Because of this, it's critical to understand the proper link-building tactics for SEO and stay within Google's guidelines.
Be careful about buying links. Too many backlinks can put your site under too much pressure, resulting in errors and a lower rank.
Some link-building tactics are acceptable, but there's a fine line between intelligence and overzealousness. Don't forget to pay attention to the quality of the links pointing to your site.
Build links manually
If you want to build links for your website, choose a link-building method that suits you. You can build backlinks through:
- Paid advertising methods: Some companies will pay you for a link or two, but you must do it yourself most of the time. You will have to find blogs and websites willing to provide links to your site. You can use Google Adwords or another similar company to find these blogs.
- Free advertising: Some sites allow you to place ads on their pages. For example, you can put an ad on a blog's sidebar.
- Guest posting: Most websites will allow you to write a blog post or article for their website. This is known as guest blogging.
- Creating content: Another great way to build backlinks is to create original content for other websites. You can create articles, videos, podcasts, slideshows, etc. If you plan to use this technique, ensure you provide high-quality content. This means that your content must be unique.
- Forums: You can submit your website's URL to different forums.
- Directory Submissions: You can list your website in online directories.
Use outreach and guest posts to gain links naturally
Guest blogging is one of the most overlooked yet valuable content marketing resources. While many assume they have nothing to offer or a unique angle to contribute, there is an entire world of ideas and expertise to be tapped into when writing a guest post.
Instead of writing a guest post with a clear call to action, simply focus on providing value to the reader. This will allow you to build links naturally while adding value to the site.
The more links you can get to your blog posts from other websites, the better. After all, a link back to your site is free publicity.
And when you use guest posts to reach new audiences, they're more likely to share your content with their networks. That's because guest posting gives you credibility in the eyes of your potential audience. They can see that you've been featured on a site they trust.
Build Links From Authority Sites
If you want to build links, start with the already-known sites to link to yours. These will likely be the sites with much authority in your niche.
Google gives preference to sites with high levels of backlinks. If you're trying to rank for a particular keyword phrase, the website ranking for that phrase will undoubtedly have more backlinks than those that don't.
Authority sites are considered websites that have authority or trust concerning a topic. Some of the most highly authoritative sites are Wikipedia, Google, and Reddit. If you build links on authority sites, you'll gain credibility and attract high-quality traffic that will stick around and help drive conversions.
Don't Make Mistakes, Build Trust
Trust is essential for building a successful site. Your visitors need to trust you and your site. This means they must feel confident about their ability to deliver on your promises. They have to feel confident that the site will protect their privacy.
It also means that the information gathered by the site should be used only for the purpose the user agreed to. When a site isn't trusted, there is low traffic and low conversion. If your visitors don't trust your site, it will lead to low traffic and low conversion.
Use analytics to monitor your progress.
Website analytics is an essential tool for businesses. For example, many companies use Google Analytics to see how their website ranking performance.
One company might use this to see if people are visiting its site. Another company might use this to see if people buy items online. A company might use this to see which pages get the most traffic. Another company might use this to see whether people are coming to its site from search engine queries.
Using these tools, a business can determine what is happening with its customers and whether it is making money.
track keywords ranking in Google
If you don't rank in the top 10 or even the top 100 search results for a particular keyword, it may seem like there is no point in optimising your content.
As mentioned earlier, tracking is a crucial part of any SEO campaign. If you can't track what's happening, you can't improve anything.
It is straightforward to track your site's keywords, backlinks, etc. However, it is tough to track the results of your SEO efforts. If you cannot see what is happening, you will have difficulty improving things. That's why you should learn how to use Google Webmaster tools. It is free and will help you understand how to use it better.
Conclusion
Suppose your SEO strategy includes white hat techniques, such as building authority backlinks through guest posts, building quality web traffic, optimising your site for mobile devices, and incorporating social media. In that case, you'll be rewarded with a website ranking on page 1 of the search results.
Last update on 2023-12-01 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
