Why do you think everyone strives so hard to get their website on the first page of Google? According to a study, the first page of Google receives almost 90% of clicks and less than 10% of people advance to the second page. Thus, getting on the first page of Google is nothing short of an achievement as it ensures that your website is bound to get traffic, which further leads to sales. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) requirements keep on changing as new algorithms are generated, which makes it very difficult for a business to keep up with these developments. A traditional approach like updating content on the website, keyword research, and targeting does not make a significant impact like before. But in any case, one has to keep on adhering to these requirements in order to survive on the first page. When it comes to getting into the details behind SERP rankings, you have to understand that there is no secret formula that will put you on the top of the page. Dedication, creativity, resourcefulness, and perseverance are the only things that will guarantee success. However, to make it easy for you, we have listed certain steps that you can take to improve your Google ranking:
1. Track and understand the Google ranking algorithm: Google executives have confirmed that Google algorithms keep on changing constantly and only a few of those changes are made public. Moreover, the frequency of these changes is around 500 to 600 per year! This shows that these changing search algorithms are one of the biggest hurdles for SEO. If you wish to succeed in the field of SEO, then you have to have a detailed understanding of these algorithms. There are a few resources that could help in this case. Check out Moz’s Google Algorithm Change History, Google Webmaster Central and The Webmaster. These tools will offer you an in-depth understanding of new algorithms and will allow you to plan your strategy accordingly.
2. Identify the issue on your website: If you wish to reach on the first page of Google, you need to know where your website stands currently. Start by checking your site’s keyword ranking by using different tools like SERPs.com to assess your rank. The speed at which your site loads also plays a vital role in your ranking because everybody hates a site that takes too long to open. You can do the speed test of your site by using the following tools – Google PageSpeed Insights, WebPageTest or Website Analytics Audit. Once this is done, check your website’s general health in categories like the blacklist, mail server, web server, and DNS. This will give you a brief idea about the areas where you need to improve.
3. Ensure a mobile-friendly website: According to Google, “… our crawling, indexing, and ranking systems have typically used the desktop version of a page’s content… Mobile-first indexing means that we’ll use the mobile version of the page for indexing and ranking…” This means that you need to have a mobile-friendly website which the user could find useful. Ensure that your visitor is able to do the basic tasks on your site in an effortless manner while using his mobile. Also, make sure that your website fits the screen of the mobile and takes less time to load.
4. Do keyword research: Keyword research is the most essential element of any SEO strategy. If you don’t understand the importance of keywords, then you cannot go far in your online business. Identify the keywords which your target audience uses to find your website. You can use Google Keyword Planner to help you out in this case. Detailed keyword research also offers you some important information about your target audience and allows you to write content accordingly. Using long-tail keywords is also a prime necessity if you wish to succeed. Besides this, spy on your competitors who are ranking ahead of you on the SERP and try to understand which keywords they use. This will give you a rough idea about their strategy and will help you to devise your own as well.
5. Fix broken links: Many businesses have a habit of ignoring broken links. This can create some serious issues and will have a negative impact on the user experience as well. Since both internal, as well as external links, can have a huge influence on your Google ranking, it is mandatory that you take the help of tools like W3C Link Checker to spot the 404 error and fix them.
A successful strategy that will put you on the first page of Google is very easy to devise but requires consistent efforts and a detailed study of your target audience. Once you know how everything works and what people want, you can create content accordingly which will generate traffic and increase your conversion rate as well.
For further information, you may contact us or visit our website www.bmconsulting.in