Getting onto the first page of Google is harder than ever. Google updates its algorithm constantly, so you can’t expect to keep doing the same thing and get the same results. However, ranking well in Google is still just as important as it’s ever been. Here are nine ways to improve:
Get High-Quality Links
The sites that link back to yours have a big impact on your Google ranking. Guest posting is a very effective way to get links back to your site. By offering good information to a site, they will often compensate you with a link. Google views this as a credible verification of your authority, and it will reward you with an improved ranking.
Make Sure Sites are Designed for Mobile
Google prioritises your mobile site over the desktop version, largely because so many people use phones now to access the internet. Make sure your site is fully optimised for mobile so that Google will view you favourably.
Develop Micro Sites
If your business specialises in different things, such as commercial, residential and industrial properties, then consider making a site for each one. This will tailor your site better to each market, and Google likes this type of specificity.
Blog Weekly
The more content you have, the easier it will be to optimise your site. Most sites do this through their own blog, but no matter what you do, you should be posting at least once a week to let Google know the site is ‘active.’
Use Long Tail Keywords
Most companies are still stuck trying to write about one or two keywords. But it’s really hard for small companies to compete with larger ones on these keywords. The response is to instead focus on phrases and questions. This will help you optimise for smaller keywords, but it also makes your content more specific, increasing the chances it shows up on search results.
Get People’s Attention
Internet users have short attention spans. Make sure the information you want them to get is easily accessible. If people have to work hard to get to the information, they’re going to tire out and move on, and this will hurt your stats and search engine performance.
Make Sure the Site is Fast
If your site takes more than two seconds to load, then people will turn away and look somewhere else. This will hurt your bounce rate stats and will ultimately hinder your ability to rank on the first page of Google.
Use a Keyword Hierarchy
Going into a keyword frenzy will hurt search engine performance, as Google will recognise when you’re trying to keyword stuff. It’s better to focus on just one keyword and then filter in other important keywords elsewhere on the site. For example, if you want to optimise for “phone screen repair,” then make this the title and the URL, but then filter in the words “phone,” “screen,” and “repair” on other content.
Write 1500-2000 words per page
Google needs a certain amount of content to crawl effectively. Having longer articles means Google has more stuff to go through, increasing the chances Google will pick up on your content and put it at the top of rankings.