Increasing your search engine ranking can feel like having an express lane directly to your business – more people can find you and give you their business.
According to a study from Moz, consumers stick to the first page of search results on Google 71% of the time. Even landing on the second page won’t be enough, with only 6% of website visits.
So how can you improve your Google ranking you are wondering?
Keep reading this guide to discover more about how to rank high on Google and learn some of the tricks professionals are utilizing to grow their businesses.
1. Create Quality Content
First and foremost, consumers are searching for you for a reason – to find some sort of value.
That value can come in many forms:
- Better prices
- Superior product/ service
- Expert knowledge
If they are not finding anything of value, consumers will go elsewhere and look for value. Search engines, like Google, are beginning to act similarly – becoming more and more sophisticated in the results they display.
A significant portion of the sophistication is returning results that are the most relevant to what the user is searching for. Google’s latest update BERT, or bidirectional encoder representations from transformers, is the most significant update to their search engine in about five years.
With the BERT update, Google is improving the way they find the most useful information and return it to the user.
This is where you come in – by creating quality content that the consumer will benefit from. Sharing specific industry knowledge, product insights, how-to-videos, etc. can help increase your visibility on the internet and allow consumers to find you.
2. Utilize Social Media
Social media is a powerful tool for companies if they can take advantage of it.
According to recent research, just this past year, it has been reported that nearly 80 percent of all U.S adults are using social media. That’s a massive market just waiting to be connected with.
Social media is a fantastic place to promote your business and connect with people from all over the globe. The hard part is earning your followers and growing your internet presence.
One of the ways social media adds to your google ranking is with link sharing. Link building is one of the most challenging factors when it comes to search engine optimization, and what better place to share content than social media.
The best way to earn followers on social media is by being authentic and generating quality content for your followers to see and share.
3. Optimize for Best Results
For those who are looking at how to increase your google ranking optimizing can be one of the most efficient ways to do so.
Optimization is one of the critical SEO factors that you cannot ignore. Things that you should optimize include:
- Content
- Images
- Website performance
- Responsiveness
Google isn’t the only one that prefers optimized content. Most consumers also enjoy the benefits of optimized content.
A significant part of the Google ranking criteria is based on the performance of the site itself, most importantly, the loading time. There have been several studies that back up this claim – one, in particular, being Pinterest. When Pinterest dramatically reduced its perceived wait time by 40 percent, it’s search engine traffic, as well as its sign-ups, shot up by 15 percent.
Another part of the Google ranking criteria includes involves responsive web design. Much like a mobile-friendly website, responsive design takes it a bit further. With the responsive design, your site will load correctly on any screen – the web page will “respond” to the device it is being viewed on and optimize the content accordingly.
Optimized content is also based on including keywords within your content. The trick is to fit the keywords in naturally as Google’s recent update prioritizes natural content over keyword-stuffed text.
4. Consistent Updates
Consistency is key to catching Google’s attention and moving up the google rankings. With all the information being processed on the internet, how can you ever be noticed if you only produce a few pieces of content?
Giving your consumers consistent information can keep them engaged with the brand and coming back for more. The information can be in the form of:
- Blog posts
- How-to-videos
- Business updates
- New products
Basically, anything that the consumer would find valuable is a good idea to relay. Keeping the user engaged will help build the brand as well as keep them coming back.
Repeat customers are going to spend more with you. According to a study from Bain & Company, by increasing customer retention by as little as 5 percent, profits can be increased by 25 to 95 percent.
5. Prioritize Linking
Linking is another important SEO factor that influences your Google ranking. Both internal and external links are essential to building up your site’s authority.
Linking, according to Google, can help distinguish websites that are credible and informational.
Internal links are easier to implement, helping readers navigate your site, and also helps Google determine how it is set up. Internal links are crucial for SEO purposes to help users find the most relevant information.
External links are where many people fail when it comes to search engine optimization, and can contribute significantly to being included on the first page of google search results or not. External backlinks are links that are built through other websites linking back to yours.
However, it can’t be just any websites linking to your site. Google looks for authoritative websites or ones that are well respected.
The best practice to earn backlinks is by creating quality content and allowing others to find it naturally or organically. By generating organic traffic, you will have the ability to capture these consumers and keep them coming back for more.
For More Information on Improving Your Google Ranking
Improving your Google ranking can prove to be one of the best business decisions you make. As the world is shifting to a digital world, you will be one step ahead of the competition.
Being visible on Google can help you grow your business in a sustainable fashion. Sustainability is key to securing your position in the industry with the ability to become an industry leader.
For more information on improving your Google ranking, check out the rest of our website! Visit the SEO section of our blog to learn more organic traffic boosting strategies.
