If you have a website, then one of your goals should be ranking high when people search for your product or services. If your website is already on the first page, then you are doing something right.
Your website goal is to attract traffic and convert them to leads, ultimately increasing your revenue and growing your business. The higher you rank on Google, the easier it is for people to find and do business with you.
How exactly can you make your website rank higher? Does it matter if bigger brands already own the first-page result? In this post, I’ll show you the steps and tips to make your website rank higher and increase your traffic.
Why is Google Ranking Important for your Business?
Why should you be bothered about website ranking? Does it even matter anymore?
The simple answer is that you should invest in website ranking because it does matter!
Many people don’t have time to load other pages on the search engines once they are on the first page. It is almost like users believe they will find the answers in the first few pages (well, they do most of the time), so they do not bother to load other results. In fact, the first five organic results on the first page are responsible for 67% of the total clicks on Google. That means if your content doesn’t rank on the first page, the probability of getting visitors through a Google search is low.
Also, if you rank higher, the more visitors you have and the more opportunity you have to convert the visitors to paying customers.
Ranking high will also boost your brand’s reputation and increase your leads.
How to Make a Website Rank High in Search Engines
Now that you understand why website ranking is vital for your business, let’s take a look at some proven tips to improve your website ranking.
1: Start With a Good Website Design and Structure
One of the major tips to make your website look better and rank higher is to invest in a good website design and structure. A poor website design can sabotage even the best website ranking efforts.
So first thing first, audit your website. Does it look good? Is it easy to navigate? Will users find it easy to use? A technical SEO audit will help you answer the questions. Based on the results you get from the audit, you can then take specific measures to improve your website design and navigation.
A simple site structure with easy navigation can help users find information quickly and help search crawlers index pages on your site.
2. Publish Relevant and High-Quality Content
You must write relevant and high-quality content that will keep visitors engaged on your website. RELEVANT in the sense that the content addresses a question or pain point of your target audience.
For example, if you are a fashion brand, you have no business writing an article about books because your users are on your page for fashion content. You should only publish articles and content related to your industry, products, and services. Before you write a blog post or article, first find out what your users and readers will find relevant.
HIGH QUALITY in the sense that your content is well-written, engaging, free of grammatical errors, and free of plagiarism.
Also, a good practice for on-page SEO is to create more long-form content.
3. Add Keywords to Your Page and Content
One of the major strategies to note when looking for how to get your site to rank higher on google is Keyword Strategy. Adding keywords and keyphrases related to your industry and content is essential for SEO. So, place those keywords strategically within your content, headings, titles, meta descriptions, image alt, and URLs. Adding these relevant keywords will signal search engines and help your page rank higher when people search for those keywords.
You can use tools like Ahrefs, Google Keywords, and Keyword Everywhere to find keywords related to your topic and industry.
Note: While keywords are highly encouraged, you must avoid keyword stuffing or adding keywords that read unnaturally within your copy. This is quite counterproductive because it will discourage readers and may incur site penalties. A good keyword tip is to use them at the beginning of your content and two to three times per page.
4. Match Search Intent
Search intent defines the ‘why’ behind the query, and it’s best to align your page with the search intent to rank higher on Google.
Let me break this down:
People click on topics on Google because they seek information and want to learn more. One of the first steps to ensure your content matches search intent is understanding the kind of content your target audience expects from your topic.
For example, if you type an air fryer on Google, the first results you will see are content ranking the best air fryers or comparing different air fryers. This is because the primary search intent for searching for the word air fryer is to buy one; that is a transactional intent.
On the other hand, when you type influencer marketing on Google, the first results are how-to guides and tips to get started with the marketing strategy. This is because the search intent behind this search is to get more information about a topic, which is an information intent.
An excellent way to identify your audience’s search intent is by looking at the content that ranks first on the first page and optimising your article to cover the content.
5. Optimise Your Pages for Google
Writing great content is essential, but optimising them for Google is just as important. Here are some strategies on how to make a website higher on google:
- Tell Google What Your Pages Are About
One of the tips to get to the first page is to help Google understand what your content is all about. A great way to tell Google what your pages are about is by using Schema, a structured data that gives search engine information to pull from.
- Keep Titles Short
Long, and unreadable titles will discourage your readers and affect your SEO impact. A good rule of thumb for great SEO rankings is to keep your titles between 135 and 159 characters.
- Optimise your images
Image descriptions, and alt text will help you appear on image results on Google and also help search engines understand what your content is about. Also, try to compress your site images to improve your site speed and increase your ranking.
- Pay Attention to Meta Titles, and Meta Descriptions
Meta titles and meta descriptions are important because they portray the value of your content for SERP. When done right, your meta can improve click rates, ultimately increasing your traffic. A good idea to make your meta descriptions increase readership is by adding a target keyword. Also, don’t go for generic or boring descriptions that do nothing to encourage your potential users to read.
You should also note that Google will auto-generate your meta descriptions if you don’t write a unique or properly crafted one. As you may already know, Google auto-generated descriptions won’t be as effective as the ones you write.
- Create a Google My Business Profile
Google will understand your business better and rank you higher for local searches if you have a Google My Business account.
6. Use Internal Linking
Internal linking involves placing links from one page of your website to another. It is a strategic effort to get users to read other content you have on your website. Internal linking is crucial because it boosts your website authority and lets Google know your page is important. When working on content, you can link it to other related articles on your website. You can also take advantage of tools like Ahrefs to crawl your website for internal linking opportunities, especially if you already have a lot of content.
7. Build Backlinks
One of the major factors to make websites higher on Google is building backlinks. Meanwhile, this is also one of the most challenging parts of SEO and website ranking.
You earn backlinks by creating content that is so good and worthy that people in your industry will want to link to you. Some good tips to increase backlinks are actively promoting your content, guest posting, and taking advantage of resource pages.
8. Improve Your Site Load Speed
One of the tips to make your website look better is improving your website load speed.
If your website takes a long time to load, users will likely bounce off, ultimately affecting your search engine rankings. Visitors only have time to load your website for a few seconds, and search engines also crawl fewer pages if the load speed is slow.
You can take advantage of online page speed optimization tools to test if your website speed is okay and to improve your site speed. Note that a one-second improvement in your site speed can increase your conversation rates by up to 7%.
Another good tip on how to get your site to rank higher on Google is by optimising your website for mobile and improving the attractiveness of your page for excellent user experience (UX).
9. Update Your Content
People value freshness, and that’s why stale articles drop down from the top results after a while. In other words, content on the first-page result in 2022 may not have the same spot in 2023. If you wrote an article about popular fashion trends in 2021, you have to note that the fashion trends may no longer be popular in 2023. That is why it’s a good idea to update your content now and then to maintain your top-ranking position.
You should know that this doesn’t apply to all types of content. For example, content on the Nigeria Civil War may not need an update because it’s history, and you may already have added all information. However, content like best kitchen appliances may need updating because new appliances will emerge, and the ones on your original list may become stale.
10. Update Your Site Regularly
Your job is not completed once your website starts ranking in search results, so DO NOT SLACK. Just like you need to maintain your brand image and business consistently, you must also upkeep and maintain your website. This will help you keep your top spot in search results and increase your conversion rates.
Bonus: Keep Learning About Google Analytics
One of the best steps to get your site to rank higher on google is by learning more about Google Analytics. The more you understand how Google ranks pages, the easier it will be for you to identify the work you need to do on your website.
How Long Does It Take to Improve Google Rankings?
When learning how to get your site to rank higher on Google, you also have to consider that consistency matters. Your website won’t rank immediately, and the time it takes to get to the first page depends on certain factors like your budget, competitors, website design, etc.
Bearing that in mind, know that your website won’t get to the first page from the 10th page after some time.
Wrapping Things Up
Website is an integral part of every business, and it’s sometimes the first contact between your brand and your customers. A great way to increase your sales is by taking notes and implementing various tips to make your website rank higher. It may seem overwhelming initially, but the result is always worth it and will position you for business success. Also, it’s best to start your web ranking strategy with the easiest tips within your control and budget before you move on to the more challenging tips.
