According to Statistic, Google is still
the most popular website on the planet, receiving over 86 billion monthly
visits. To put this in context, Facebook receives only 20 billion total monthly
visits, while Instagram and Amazon each receive slightly more than 4 billion.
In fact, Google has held the top spot as the most popular website for the past
decade.
Despite the fact that Google has been such
a powerful force in our lives for at least the last ten years, ranking high on
Google remains one of the most difficult tasks. For starters, it's a
competitive market. According to Hosting Tribunal, nearly 2.75 million posts
are published every single day on WordPress alone. Second, you must understand
how Google's algorithm functions.
We've compiled a list of 10 best practices
to help you crack the code on how to rank higher on Google. Some of these tips
may be familiar to you, while others may be new to you. In any case, go over
each of these and see where you can make improvements in the New Year.
Why is it important for Google to
rank on?
If more people visit your website, you
have a better chance of converting them into new customers. You can also steal
some of your competitors' potential customers if you rank higher than them.
However, winning new customers (or
diverting some of your competitors' potential customers) isn't the only goal.
It also contributes to the credibility of your brand or company. While
credibility may seem less exciting than new customers, if you can persuade your
target audience that you're one of the most trustworthy sources in your
industry, you'll be able to convert leads into paying customers in the end.
Now, let's talk about how to improve your ranking.
1. Pay attention to on-page SEO.
On-page optimization is still one of the
simplest ways to improve your Google rankings in 2022. It not only takes little
time to complete, but it also yields quick results. In a nutshell, it refers to
all the elements on your website's pages that you can optimize, such as
headlines, page titles, and images. Off-page SEO, on the other hand (which is
just as important), is concerned with increasing relevance for search engines
by obtaining more backlinks, for example.
- Here are some on-site SEO best practices
to consider: - o Start
your title tags with your keywords - o Create
long-form content (aim for at least 1,800 words) - o Repeat
your keyword two to three times per page (keyword stuffing will get you the
opposite result)
2. Don't overlook the importance of
technical SEO.
In a nutshell, technical SEO entails
ensuring that your website is built in such a way that search engines can
easily crawl and index it. Even though content is still king, if search engines
can't find, crawl, and index your pages, your efforts will be for naught.
For instance, you must ensure that:
- All
of your pages are secure. - Your
website is mobile-friendly. - You
don't have any plagiarized or similar content on your own site's different
pages. - Quick
page loading - All
of the links are functional.
3. Do not accept low-quality content
(ever).
In Google's algorithm, backlinks are
significantly vital. As a result, one of your primary objectives should be to
encourage visitors to share your content on social media. And visitors will
only do so if you post high-quality content on a regular basis.
Backlinks not only demonstrate that users
find your content useful, but they also demonstrate to others that you are an
expert in your field. Furthermore, the more people who link to your content, the
more Google understands that it is credible and shareable.
You shouldn't, however, create content and
then sit back and wait for others to share it. Instead, you should go out and
actively seek it out by contacting other authoritative websites and brands and
asking if they would be interested in publishing a guest post that you've
written. You can create your own backlinks to relevant content on your website
this way. Furthermore, getting authoritative websites to link back to your
website can help you improve your domain authority (DA) score. This strategy
will only work if you create high-quality content, once again. This means you
should avoid coming across as spammy, which is a common mistake people make
when writing guest posts.
4. Lower the bounce rate.
It will hurt your search rankings if
visitors land on your site, look at one of your pages, and then return to the
search page in a matter of seconds. This tells Google that your website's
visitors aren't impressed. In other words, a lower bounce rate indicates that
visitors enjoy their time on your site.
A low bounce rate is not only better for
SEO, but it also means that visitors have more time to get to know your brand,
which can lead to increased sales and customer loyalty. Isn't this, at the end
of the day, your primary goal?
To reduce bounce rates, make sure that all
of the most important information is visible above the fold (i.e., visitors
shouldn't have to scroll down to find what they're looking for). Including a
table of contents can also assist visitors in quickly finding the section that
pertains to their search. It's also important to include visual elements like
infographics and videos in your content to make it easier to digest, which
leads us to our next SEO strategy.To reduce bounce rates, make sure that all of
the most important information is visible above the fold (i.e., visitors
shouldn't have to scroll down to find what they're looking for). Including a
table of contents can also assist visitors in quickly finding the section that
pertains to their search. It's also important to include visual elements like
infographics and videos in your content to make it easier to digest, which
leads us to our next SEO strategy.
5. Increase the number of people who
click on your link.(CTR)
While rankings are important, organic
traffic should also be monitored. After all, what good is it if your target
audience found your website through an online search but didn't actually visit
it? This is why keeping track of your click-through rate is so important.
Focus on your metadata, such as the URL
and the metadata description that appears below the search result, to improve
your click-through rate. It may seem insignificant, but if this information
appears relevant and trustworthy, your click-through rate will improve, and
your ranking will improve as well.
In general, shorter, yet descriptive URLs
perform better. Don't be afraid to appeal to your readers' emotions when it
comes to title tags. This is one of the few opportunities you'll have to persuade
people to click on your link.
Conclusion
If you've been afraid of SEO in the past,
don't bring those fears into the new year. Sure, we've shared a long list of
things to do and change, but many of them are interconnected, as you've
probably noticed.
High-quality content,
for example, results in more backlinks, which improves your credibility.
Improving your page speed can also reduce your bounce rate, which shows Google
that your site is trusted. You get my drift.
