Google’s search algorithms are designed to sort through billions of web pages every day to meet search intent. The algorithmic process uses several factors, such as relevancy and quality, to find a webpage that best answers the user’s query. The process is highly complex, but there are certain ways to improve your website’s organic search rank and appear on the first page.
Let’s take a closer look!
1) Improve Your On-page SEO
Improving on-page SEO is the process of optimizing elements within a web page itself to boost user experience and rank higher. This includes optimizing the meta titles, content, pictures, and even the structure of the page. Here are some tips you should follow:
- Include relevant keywords in the title tags and meta descriptions to let Google know what the page is about.
- Avoid keyword stuffing, as it can negatively impact your ranking.
- Focus on creating long-form content to provide value to the users.
- Use headings, subheadings, and other formatting techniques to improve the layout and readability of web pages.
- Optimize images with descriptive alt text and appropriate file sizes.
- Make your website mobile-friendly to ensure a seamless user experience.
On-page optimizations target a page’s content and source content. Therefore, improving it can help you rank on the first page.
2) Build Backlinks
Did you know WordPress reports that nearly 70 million new posts come out every month? The key takeaway here is that creating and publishing great content isn’t enough. If you don’t want your content to get lost in the sea of blog posts, you need to promote your content actively.
Acquiring backlinks, commonly known as link building, is one of the most effective and rewarding ways to increase ranking. There are numerous ways to earn backlinks, such as:
Guest Posts
Earning backlinks through guest posts involves reaching out to bloggers and website owners with relevant sites and asking them to publish your content. You can insert a hyperlink back to your site in the content. Focus on building high DA backlinks to make your website rank on the first page.
Mend Broken Backlinks
You can also reach out to bloggers and offer your content as a replacement for broken backlinks. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.
Create Premium Content
Another way to earn backlinks is by creating link-worthy and premium content to which bloggers naturally want to link. Conduct in-depth research, find high-ranking keywords, and add industry-specific insights to your articles to make them informational and shareable.
Backlinks act as votes of confidence, telling Google that your content is authoritative and reliable.
3) Perform SERP Research for Keywords
Building a winning SEO strategy begins with having a good understanding of competitors’ strategies. Before writing content, be it for the home page or the blog section, conduct in-depth SERP research to see what others are doing.
Ask the following questions:
- Which websites are already ranking for high-value keywords?
- What type of content are high-ranking websites producing? Listicles, forums, or how-to guides?
- Does any content appear in position zero?
- What types of questions are shown in ‘People also ask’?
- What do the competitors lack?
- What is common between all the competitors?
You can also use SEO analytics tools to see the SERP results of other websites, especially the ones ranking in the top #1-30 positions. From here on, you can create a content strategy that addresses user concerns.
4) Curate User-centric Content
Speaking of user concerns, creating user-centric content is one of the best ways to gain visibility. Start by understanding user intent, which is the specific goal or function a user has when they perform a search. The types include:
- Navigational – users trying to find a particular page or piece of content
- Commercial – users interested in learning about a product or service
- Transactional – users ready to make a purchase or complete a particular action
- Informational – users seeking general information or details about a topic
Remember that Google heavily focuses on user intent and strives to present content that exactly matches it. Therefore, creating content after analyzing the user’s goals and needs can help you stand out amidst a sea of websites.
5) Improve Website Speed
According to one study, nearly 40% of shoppers abandon a website if it takes longer than three seconds to load. Delay in page loading leads to decreased user satisfaction and directly impacts conversion rates.
The first thing you need to do is to check the loading time of your website using SEO analytics tools. The following factors impact the website speed:
- Network connection
- Server response time
- File size
- Number of HTTP requests
- Browser caching
- Code efficiency
- User devices
While you can’t control every aspect of your website, there are some steps you can take to reduce the loading time. Here are some examples:
- Compress large images
- Limit the number of HTTP requests
- Use browser HTTP caching
- Use cache control headers
- Reduce redirects
- Remove unnecessary characters from your CSS and JavaScript files
Monitor and test your website speed regularly to catch bugs or other issues early on.
6) Update Content Regularly
When you frequently update content, search engine crawlers are more likely to rank your website higher. Follow these tips:
- Conduct regular site audits. Find outdated content, such as old statistics, examples, case studies, or customer reviews. You should also identify broken links and replace them.
- Mention industry updates. Giving informational content to viewers can increase your brand’s authority and help establish you as an industry leader.
- Create a content calendar to plan ahead and avoid delays.
Regularly updating content can help you stay ahead of trends and boost your presence.
Final Words
Ranking on the first page of Google is not just about luck. By creating premium content, building backlinks, updating outdated content, and doing SERP research, you can stand out. Moreover, on-page SEO optimization, which includes improving the structure, speed, and keyword placement, can further boost your visibility. Ranking on the first page will help you convert viewers into leads and then into loyal customers.
