SEO #1 Ranking
Likely one of the only thing businesses focus on > the coveted google ranking!
It goes without saying that being the first result of a google search is good for business. One of the first steps that first-time business owners take is learning what SEO (search engine optimization) is all about. Getting that number one spot is not an easy task, especially for general and commonly searched keywords. If it were easy, everyone would have a top-ranking search result, and no one would be able to hold it. It turns out there are a few key aspects to be aware of when fighting for that top spot. We will go over some of these in this post so you know exactly what to do to put yourself in the best possible position.
Domain History
How long you’ve owned your web address plays a role in your ranking. It is also important to know the history of a domain name if you purchased one that was previously used. Some domains were used to spam people and flagged by google, so if you have purchased one of these you will never rank on a google search. There are free tools available online to check the history of your domain name, so this is an important first step to take if you don’t have a new one.
Time on Page/Bounce Rate
The time that your audience spends on your page—also known as bounce rate—will be a big part of your SEO ranking. It is usually measured as a percentage of viewers who leave after viewing only one page. This is critical to the success of your webpage for more reasons than just SEO ranking. It’s an accurate measurement of your audience’s engagement with your content. It will never hurt to think of interesting, innovative ways to draw and hold your audience’s attention!
Links
The links you provide are another important factor in your SEO ranking. Links to well-known, reputable websites—such as your social media—is a way for everyone to verify the legitimacy of your website. It’s hard to trust content on the world wide web so giving multiple verifications of who you are and what you do is important for search engines and your audience! Another huge way to benefit your SEO ranking is to have links to your site on other sites. It shows that you have a site worthy of citation. Links both ways is the best way to take advantage of this.
Activity & Updates
The rate of new content on your site will play a huge role in your SEO ranking. Stagnation is your worst enemy as a content creator and business owner. People want to see that your providing fresh content on a regular basis. Blog posts are an easy way to provide a fresh flow of new content, but if that isn’t an option you still have to find a way to innovate and create. Think of it like a garden you are cultivating. It will take a lot of awareness and patience to produce the vision you originally started with. Don’t let your audience get bored of your website and search engines won’t either!
Formatting
Is your site set up for mobile users? If you haven’t made sure that it is, you are missing a huge number of potential viewers while losing position in SEO ranking at the same time. More people than ever are browsing the web through their mobile device, and this is only going to grow as time goes on. Another way to ensure you are trusted by everyone is to HTTPS secure your website. These two steps aren’t difficult or expensive anymore so be sure you don’t skip them!
Things to Consider
We’ve gone over the biggest metrics that search engines use to determine SEO ranking, but there are some extra bells and whistles to help get you ahead. Connecting the location of your business to google maps will help your position with google. Google will like that you use more than one of its features for your website. Most people wouldn’t consider this but adding features to make your content accessible to the blind and deaf is also a good idea for a couple of reasons. You expand your reach and improve your SEO ranking. Another thing to consider is how voice searches are used. Virtual assistants—such as Cortana—are being used more and more to search the web. How will your keywords differ from typing to voice? How will strings of keywords change with the ease of using voice to search the web?
Keeping all these factors in mind will ensure your SEO ranking is in the best position possible. Keeping a close eye on these will also give your audience a lot of reasons to trust your content. Putting in the time and energy into these steps will affect a lot more than just SEO ranking so be sure to do your due diligence! Hopefully you learned something new, remember it will always take work to get that top spot, and work to keep it! (if it was so easy everyone would get it and take it away from you as well)
Julie Boake
Awedity Creative