It is tiring to keep posting content without getting proper recognition. Therefore, in this post, I will give you some of the best, simple and useful hacks that you can employ to improve search rankings in Google.
Statistically, a study has shown that pages that appear on the first result on search engines receive 95% of the total traffic, compared to the second that only receives 5%.
It keeps getting better, the higher on the search results you are, the higher your chances are for being clicked, and those that are first on search results have a 33% chance of being clicked.
Continuously working towards ranking first on the search results is what every content creator should aim at, it not only builds your authority but also drives you quality traffic daily.
Ranking on Google is competitive, but that shouldn’t worry you. Others have done it, why not you?
That said; here are the 13 SEO strategies you should familiarize yourself with to improve search rankings in Google.
1. Optimize Your Site To Become Mobile Friendly
It is now a different time, more searches are performed on mobile devices than they are on computers and laptops.
Failing to have your site’s mobile usability at its best will hinder your progress in aim to improve your search rankings in Google.
To check if your site is mobile-friendly, click here: Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test.
Therefore, if your site is not mobile-friendly, focus on making it better because it is almost impossible that you will receive good
ranking with a site that has a poor mobile user experience.
With a mobile-friendly site, you will be sending positive signals to Google, and hence ranking on Google will be much easier.
2. Create A Site With A Fast Loading speed
We all know, to rank among the best in Google, your site must have a fast loading speed.
To better understand this, let us first state the facts;
- A slow site loses visitors, some of who will never come back.
- A slow site results in a poor user page engagement.
- A fast site keeps gaining visitors.
- User page engagement is at its best.
- Google recognizes fast sites with a growing audience and re-ranks them for better.
That said, working with a slow site will only hinder your progress.
Some of the factors that can result in a site being slow are;
- Website Themes.
- Installed Plugins.
- Poor Server Response Time.
For sites with a poor server response time, the hosting service is to Blame.
But, you can always transfer to a better hosting service, if you find yourself in such a situation, I recommend transferring to Bluehost; their server response time is among the best out there.
3.Use the Header Tag To Create Attractive Content
Header tags are so useful in creating beautiful content, with such content; users can easily navigate through your site.
Some of the hacks to consider while working on how to improve search rankings in Google are not always direct.
A good example is what we are talking about right now.
Your site receives better engagement when you have used header tags unlike when it is just plain text.
If your site does not use header tags, definitely your sites’ user engagement rate will be poor, this will negatively impact your ranking.
But, if your site has a high visitor engagement rate, the site will send positive signals to Google that will result in a better rank.
Therefore, for you to rank better, consider using header tags if you are not using them already!
4. Create Engaging content
Beautiful, interesting, and well laid out content is a factor to consider on “How to improve search rankings in Google”.
If you are wondering, engaging content does not influence your search rankings directly. But, with well structured and engaging content, visitors find your content appealing, and easy to read/skim.
Hence, the longer they take on your site, the better it is for you in terms of search rankings in Google.
An easy way to creating this kind of content is by using images, images transform plain content into amazing, engaging content.
You can find high-quality royalty-free images here: Pixabay & Pexels and use tools like Canva to customize them into meeting your needs.
5. Do keyword research
Let us face it; you have to perform in-depth keyword research to make it to the top.
Yes, I don’t disagree with the fact that you can still rank high with an intuition-based kind of keyword. But, in the long term, if
you want to remain at the top for much more content, Keyword Research is unavoidable.
I prepared an in-depth post on keyword research and its useful tools just recently; you can look it up here 12 Best Keyword Research Tools For SEO
Therefore, targeting the right keywords is a hack you should consider, that’s if you are not employing that already.
By doing so, you will have reduced unnecessary competition in a great way, making it easy for you to rank better on search results.
6. Blog Regularly To improve search rankings in Google.
To build authority and broaden the possibility of ranking better on search results, you will have to make it a habit to publish fresh,
engaging, and well-structured content regularly.
This is also a factor that influences ranking indirectly but, if used appropriately, it can improve search rankings in Google.
Why is easier to rank better with regular blogging?
Well, with regular posting, a positive signal is sent to Google, just like it is a good thing for people to interact with your content for longer.
Also, by doing this, you can slowly build some authority by showing that you can create worthy content.
These and other factors brought together become the ‘juice’ you need to rank better on search results.
7. Create Comprehensive Content
By this, I mean, you should make it your habit to publish quality content.
If you are looking forward to becoming an influence in your niche, start with the basics.
I mean, provide content that is helpful to your readers, content that quenches their thirst for answers.
Doing that, you will have accomplished a lot as Google’s mission statement is to is “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”
Focus on being the best, eventually, you will find yourself among the best if not the best, and this translates to better search rankings in Google.
8. Improve Social Media Sharing
Been to a site and noticed these icons: (See Image Below)
Having social sharing icons is a must if you want better results in terms of search ranking.
This is how it can contribute to you ranking better;
Let us assume you have just published a post that starts receiving social shares immediately. Search engines receive that as positive feedback.
Content that receives social shares is good. Hence, with time, you are ranked better, your site starts receiving more traffic, and your overall SEO improves.
That happens only because of simple social sharing icons.
Therefore, do not miss out on such a good opportunity. Start encouraging people to share your content.
9. Create Catchy Titles
After every search on any search engine, the first things you see are titles.
Therefore, creating catchy titles is key to you receiving more clicks and if used right can improve search rankings in google.
This hack is an easy way to improve search rankings in Google especially if you have already made it to the fist page on search results.
Hence, let us assume you have done your homework right and appeared on the first page of search results, but on the fourth position with a great attractive headline.
In the long term, if the other top three have their titles written less attractively, chances are, you will keep receiving more clicks than them, and eventually, you will likely end ranking better than them, maybe even take the first position.
If you’re not on the first page yet, don’t lose hope, continue putting into practice these other tips, and keep creating catchy titles as this is still influences how your content is ranked.
Here are some of the free tools you can use to learn how good your titles are: EMV Headline Analyzer, CoSchedule HeadlineAnalyzer, and ShareThrough Headline Analyzer
10. Provide A good Meta Description
The description you provide is the second thing a search engine visitor notices after executing a search.
Customizing a description to meet readers’ expectations is what you should aim at. A good Meta description is short, unique, and precise.
Although this does not directly improve search rankings in Google, it is still a factor you should never ignore if you want to rank higher on search results.
Therefore, if you have not been paying enough attention to meta description, start doing from today!
Also, depending on the SEO tool you use, blog editing can be different. For example, on Rankmath; this is how it looks:
11. Latent Semantic Indexing
“Latent semantic indexing is an indexing retrieval method that uses a mathematical technique called singular decomposition to identify patterns in the relationships between the terms and concepts contained in an unstructured collection of text.”
It is among the powerful hacks that I am sharing today.
Therefore latent semantic indexing, in Layman’s terms, involves guiding search engines to find content that aims at answering related questions even when the keywords are different.
If you use this technique in the right manner, you can rank high on search results for those LSI Keywords.
You can use keyword.io to find LSI Keywords.
12. Build High-Quality Backlinks
I believe now you have realized that good backlinks building strategies are important when it comes to your sites’ success.
High-quality Backlinks will not only drive you quality traffic but also improve your domain authority greatly. This will improve
search rankings in Google than if you had a poor one or zero of those high-quality backlinks.
Here is an article I published on How to Get High-Quality Backlinks Starting Today (12 Unique Strategies)
Therefore, making it your habit to build quality links will not only improve your overall SEO but also place you on a better Google search ranking position
13. Fix Any Broken Links
These do not necessarily affect your Google search rankings directly.
But, broken links do affect a user experience directly.
How a user navigates through your site is a factor search engines consider while ranking your site.
Broken links result in poor user experience, which in turn negatively impacts your rankings.
If your site has any broken links, it is paramount that you change/fix them immediately.
A free tool that helps you check for broken links is SEMrush. I like it because it is not only thorough and sophisticated but also easy to use.
Conclusion
Working toward ranking higher or better on Google is both competitive and time-consuming.
Many have done it, and many more keep doing it. It is just a matter of discipline and provision of high-value content to search engine visitors.
If you desire to be on the top, consistency, and value addition is a must.
Publish original content, build relationships with fellow niche gurus, optimize your content for search engines, and you will be on the path to better rankings.
Finally, be patient.
It takes time, but eventually, your hard-earned high ranks will later prove to have been worth your time!
Copyright: Johnny @ nomadicsense
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If you found this article helpful, you might also like:
15 Strategies I Use Daily To Grow My Blog Traffic
12 Best Keyword Research Tools For SEO
What are Backlinks? & How are Backlinks useful in SEO?
How to Get High-Quality Backlinks Starting Today (12 Unique Strategies)