How to Increase Website Ranking on Google
According to iMPACT, the first 5 organic results on the first page of Google account for 67.60% of all the clicks. Therefore, if your website ranks on the first search engine result page, it will have higher traffic than the other results on the third or fourth page. But how do you increase website ranking on Google?
Proven Ways to Improve Website Ranking
Table of Contents
1. Understand Google Ranking Algorithm
Google keeps changing its website ranking strategy from time to time. Therefore, it is crucial to keep updated with any changes as a website owner. According to MOZ, about 500 to 600 Google algorithm changes happen every year. For example, on June 25, 2021, Google started rolling out the Page Experience Update, which impacted organics and new results.
Even though Google shares some of its major changes, the exact inner details of its ranking algorithms are still a mystery. Most of the information about it is speculation from the industry’s gurus. If everyone knows how to increase website Google ranking without strategies, Google won’t have the metrics to know the best results. This can be a challenge for honest website owners, who take time and effort to improve website ranking.
However, keep checking on every change Google is making in its ranking strategies. It helps you to align your website with Google’s expectations. Besides, it allows you to meet the needs of your target audience; hence, increasing the user experience. As a result, your website will rank high on Google results.
2. Publish Top-notch Content
Another best way to improve website ranking is by publishing relevant content. Creating high-quality content that suits your target audience increases traffic. As a result, your website’s relevance and authority on Google improve. Your content needs to stand out in your area of specialization. For example, if you are focusing on the tourism sector, develop content that will be meaningful to an audience searching for results in this field.
One of the primary aspects to focus on when creating content for your pages is keywords. Have a keyword strategy that will help you identify and target a specific keyword for each page. Putting yourself in your audiences’ position is a way that helps in finding keywords. Think of the questions they search on Google. You can use different keyword research tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, Moz, and Google Keyword Planner to get ideas. For instance:
- Which are the best tourist attraction sites in the US?
- How do you prepare for a vacation outside your country?
Once you have chosen your target keyword phrase to improve your website ranking on Google, know how to place it correctly in your content. Where do you put it, and how many times in your content?
After answering these questions, you can use the keyword naturally. Do not force a keyword or overuse it because Google will penalize you. Finally, spread your keyword evenly throughout your content. Place it in the headings, introduction, body, and conclusion.
Also, let your content be error-free. Check on the grammar and spelling. Once you create an article or blog, proofread it to ensure that each word and sentence are grammatically correct. Such mistakes make the content lose its meaning and relevance to the target audience.
3. Improve Your Page Speed
The faster your website loads when someone clicks on its URL, the higher it is likely to rank on Google. Pages that load quickly get more clicks because users don’t have to wait for minutes to get the website page. According to Unbounce 2019 Page Speed Report, about 70% of consumers admit that page speed affects their willingness to buy from an online retailer.
Page type, file sizes, website server, user behavior, and hotlinking affect page speed. Therefore, consider these factors when creating your website pages to increase website ranking on Google. For example:
- Use Gzip to compress the size of files that are larger than 150 bytes.
- For images, compress them with programs like Photoshop to avoid compromising on the quality.
Ensure that all the aspects of your website, from content to images, load faster.
According to research by MOZ, Google measures time to the first byte when gauging a site’s speed. Besides, when a site is slow, Google will crawl fewer pages depending on the allocated crawl budget, thus affecting your website’s indexation.
4. Update Content Regularly
Adding new content frequently helps to increase website page rank. Your website will remain relevant and appear first on search engine result pages.
You should have a content writing expert to help you develop top-notch blog posts, product pages, or articles related to your industry. Besides, follow SEO best practices such as keyword phrases to boost your SEO ranking. As search engine bots crawl through your website and realize you have up-to-date content, your website ranks well.
On the other hand, audit your content on a set schedule, such as quarterly. Google keeps changing ranking algorithms; hence, you have to keep up with the updates. You need to conduct an SEO audit to check if:
- you are using the relevant keywords
- the site’s speed is fast enough
- there are no broken links
- your site is secure.
Besides, check on what your competitors are doing. Look for the keywords they are using and how they are using them to rank on Google. Do they have multimedia elements? Monitor their content development strategy to know where you need to improve and win coveted Google rankings.
5. Reduce the Site's Bounce Rate
Bounce rate is the percentage of the single page visits divided by the total visits. It represents the number of people who click on your site and leave without continuing to view other pages within your website or taking action, such as buying your product.
According to Google, when a user lands on a site and doesn’t take any action, they aren’t happy with the results. Therefore, it is important to align your pages with the search intent to increase your website ranking. Search intent is the purpose of a user’s search- why is a person searching for something on Google. When you understand it and incorporate it into your content, you will meet the needs of your target audience.
Another factor that makes your website rank high on Google is the ‘Above The Fold’ section- the first thing a user sees when they get into your site. If they are attracted to what they see, they are likely to scroll through the page and perhaps move to the next page or buy your products. One of the best things to improve this section is to push the content to the top. For example, let the largest part of your website’s page be visible in the fold area. This way, every visitor can easily find what they are looking for. Besides, structure the pages (for instance, use a table) for visitors to access the key details on each page.
Finally, make your content appealing to your audience to reduce the bounce rate. Use visuals, charts, screenshots, or videos to capture attention. You will attract visitors to your site and help them understand your content easily. As a result, you increase your website ranking because visitors will remain stuck on your site and take action.
6. Include Metadata
You should provide the details of each page on your website in the meta description. Avoid leaving this space blank if you want to improve your Google ranking. Besides, it is crucial to update and review your metadata because your site changes from time to time.
One of the metadata components is the title metadata, the page title that appears at the top of the Google results. It is the most important metadata on your page. Besides, it is crucial to add keyword phrases on each meta title of your page to increase the chances of ranking higher on Google.
Even though Google doesn’t specify the title length, keeping it between 50-60 characters is wise. Most mobile browsers and desktops can display the first 50-60 characters.
The second metadata component is the description, your site’s window display. It provides a concise description of what the page entails and encourages users to click on the page’s URL. Usually, a perfect meta description should have two sentences. Although Google may not use it, it is crucial to include it in all your pages.
7. Get More Backlinks
Backlinks are a major component that can improve your website ranking on Google. They are links from other sites to your website. When your website has backlinks, it indicates that it contains relevant content. This is because no site can link its content with irrelevant sources. Through the backlinks, search engines verify your site’s authority.
However, not all backlinks have the same power over website ranking. For example, an inbound link from a site with a domain authority of 80 is more valuable than a link from a website with a DA of 1. Also, link relevancy is important. For example, if your page is about tourism attraction sites in the USA and you get a backlink from a law page, the impact on SEO is lower.
8. Work on Your On-site SEO
On-site SEO is one of the fastest tips to increase website ranking. However, there are tactics to apply when optimizing your website pages. For example, place the keyword phrase at the beginning of your title tag. Google values terms appearing first on your title tag than those that show up later.
Another thing that can improve your website ranking is your content length. Longer content tends to rank best on Google compared to short ones. However, this may not be the case all the time because there are sites with long-form content, and they are not ranked on the first page of Google. But, it would be best to publish long content on your site that covers everything visitors are looking for. For example, if you are writing about increasing your website ranking, try and cover all the aspects of the topic to achieve a higher word count.
But how long should your content be? A marketing guru, Neil Patel, recommends over 1200 words if you want to cover a topic comprehensively. Some blog posts may be over 2000 words, depending on the depth of the content.
Finally, use your keyword phrase 4-5 times for every 1000 words. This will help Google understand which search query you are trying to answer. Besides, it gives sense to your content because the search engine can understand what content you are offering to your target audience.
9. Use Internal Links
Proper use of internal links can help you rank higher on Google. This involves linking one page on your site to another relevant page on the same site. Internal links help visitors navigate from one page to another and improve engagement.
One of the best ways to find internal linking opportunities on your site is to get related topics and interlink them. For example, a page about increasing website ranking can be interlinked with another one about SEO best practices.
You might be asking, how many internal links are suitable for a page? There is no particular answer to this question. However, many links on a page affect user experience; hence, it is crucial to have a reasonable number of links. Google can crawl 100s of links on a page, but many of them can affect UX.
10. Use Header Tags
Header tags make your content appealing and easy to follow. Google will find it easy to crawl through your content and index it depending on its relevance. As a result, Google can rank your site on SERPs in the shortest time possible.
Besides, header tags show the structure of your pages and emphasize key points. For example, H1 is more relevant than H2, and H2 is more relevant than H3. The H tags show the most important points in your content.
11. Make Your Site Mobile Friendly
Statistica reports that more than half of all website traffic comes from mobile devices. Therefore, to increase your website ranking on Google, mobile-friendliness is a primary factor to consider. This means that mobile devices load your site and navigate the pages without fuss.
In 2020, Google embraced mobile-first indexing. Hence, if a site is hard to access on mobile phones, its ranking will be affected. You can tell if your site is mobile-friendly or not on Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test. You need to type in your URL and click on the ‘Run Test.’ The results provide a clear yes or no answer. Besides, you will know the pages on your site with loading issues. This way, you will fix and optimize them for a better mobile experience.
One practice that enhances mobile-friendliness is ensuring that the call to action (CTA) and form fields use large and easy-to-tap buttons. Also, avoid impossible to close popups on your site. Yes, they are good because they improve conversions, but they can be annoying.
12. Monitor Your Website's Results
After applying the above points, you will improve your website ranking on Google. But you can’t tell unless you monitor the result. Besides, the results you get will help you to keep updating your site regularly.
Use Google Analytics tools to measure your site’s performance. One of the key indicators of good Google ranking is organic traffic. Keep tracking how your site performs on Google to know what to improve. Get a Google Search Console Impressions and Clicks report that tells you the number of your site impressions and clicks. You can also use other free or paid tools to monitor your site’s performance. These include SEMrush, MOZ, Ubersuggest, and Ahrefs.
Getting your site on Google results is easy but ranking higher on this platform requires some strategies. To increase your website ranking, you must focus on the content you are creating, SEO practices, and user experience. Your website will likely be among the first Google search results by applying these tips.
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