12 Steps For Improving Google Keyword Rankings

How To Improve Google Keyword Ranking?

Boost your keyword ranks to get found by your target audience. Here are 12 measures you may do to increase your rank in search results. Someone is currently searching Google for a new product, service, or solution to their problem, which your company is uniquely suited to supply.

Will they find their way to your website, where they may discover how you have just what they need?

 

Unfortunately, if your website does not appear on the first page of Google searches, the answer is usually no. There are several causes for this.

 

To begin with, Google dominates the search engine business, accounting for more than 85% of worldwide traffic and 270 million unique visitors in the United States alone. Second, 75% of internet users never look past the first page of search results.

 

When you consider that the top search result receives 34.36 percent of all clicks, it's easy to see why search engine optimization (SEO) is so vital.

 

But you already knew that — after all, that's why you're reading this post.

You're undoubtedly aware that SEO is a marathon rather than a sprint.

 

Google's algorithm is modified hundreds of times a year in its never-ending mission to offer better answers to searchers' searches.

 

While some of changes are so subtle that most people are unaware of them, Google does periodically release an update that has a big influence on search engine results pages (SERPs).

 

1. Measure Your Rankings

Measuring your rankings is the first (and perhaps most obvious) place to start.

 

You won't know how far you've come or how much you've progressed until you have a firm idea of your baseline keyword performance.

 

I strongly advise you to export all of this useful keyword data and save it for future use. If nothing else, it will demonstrate how much you've improved your SEO skills.

 

Some of us may have learnt the hard way, but with any particular technology, you never know when things may change - whether it's how data is reported, what information we have access to, or anything else.

 

Export Google Search Console keyword data and Google Analytics landing page traffic (organic and total).

Analyzing this data will provide you with a strong understanding of:

 

• Keywords and landing sites that are most important to you.
• The most urgent areas where you can improve.
• Underperforming keywords and landing pages.

Concentrate on keywords that rank in positions five through fifteen (where you're hovering between the bottom of Page 1 and the top of Page 2) on Google.

 

It'll be simpler to rank these phrases at the top of Google's first page, giving you some fast successes to brag about to your customer or supervisor.

 

2. Target The Right Keywords

It's critical to understand both the search intent and the difficulty of ranking for your keyword targets if you want to make sure they're aligned with your overall company goals and provide actual value.

 

While words may have a certain meaning to you, they may have a completely different meaning in Google, and vice versa.

 

Knowing if the intent is informational/educational, transactional, or navigational can assist you figure out where users are in the sales funnel.

It's critical to do a comprehensive SERP analysis. Examine what's currently at the top of the search results for your main keyword goals, such as:

• Search terms that are similar
• People also inquire.
• Suggestions from Google autocomplete
• Additional sophisticated search options.

Knowing what it takes to rank for a specific keyword can help you determine what content development activities will be necessary, as well as design a content production strategy.

The SEO Content Template from Semrush is ideal for this sort of examination.

 

Simply type in a term, and the tool will evaluate what appears in Google's top results and make SEO-friendly content recommendations.

Cross-referencing your organic keyword research with data from paid advertising may also aid in the discovery of fresh possibilities and the filling of gaps.

 

Long-tail searches should not be overlooked. While they may have a lesser search traffic, you might be losing out on highly focused, ready-to-buy consumers.

 

3. Clean Up Your Site Structure

The structure of your website has a significant impact on SEO. Establish a strong foundation for yours by eliminating any technological difficulties that might affect your organic keyword exposure.

 

Search engines and users should be able to find and browse site pages with ease.

 

Your keyword rankings will most certainly suffer if your website is tough to navigate for people and crawl for search engines.

 

In turn, if your website is easy to use for both users and Google, your rankings will almost certainly improve.

 

Make sure your website is well-structured, that any broken links are fixed, and that any duplicate content concerns are resolved.

 

To guarantee that all major technical issues are handled, a full technical SEO audit is required.

 

4. Pay Attention To User Experience Signals

When it comes to boosting organic search exposure, user experience and brand equity are crucial.

While user experience may not be a search engine marketer's direct job, it's critical that user experience and SEO operate in tandem – especially because Google's algorithm has regularly factored UX into page results.

 

Use Google's Core Web Vitals report to confirm that visitors are interacting with your website.

 

This tool tracks the time it takes for each page on your site to load and delivers statistics that shows you which pages are performing well and which need improvement.

 

Another crucial aspect of your site's UX to consider is its responsiveness. In 2017, mobile online surfing overtook desktop for the first time, accounting for more than 54% of all worldwide web traffic.

You will have a greater bounce rate if your website is not responsive, which will have a negative impact on your ranking.

 

Here are some more factors that might help you enhance your UX and SEO:

 

Keyword Research: Confirm that you're targeting terms with the proper search intent and that are compatible with the language used by your target audiences through keyword research.

Page Tagging: Make sure your page labelling is interesting and encourages people to visit your site (title tags, meta descriptions, and main headings).

Content Optimization: Keep people on the page by providing a logical next step or destination. This includes everything on your site, from navigation to copy, internal cross-linking, and calls to action.

Page Speed: Provide consumers with the material they've requested in a timely and consistent manner across all devices. Compress your photos, make your site mobile-friendly, tidy up your code, and make your server faster.

 

5. Optimize For Users & Search Engines

Many of us become so focused on optimising material for Google that we lose sight of the goal: to reach a highly targeted group of individuals.

 

While search engines and humans read and digest material in different ways, there are certain similarities that will help us create content that will appeal to both.

 

Humans and robots both want us to be:

 

• Be succinct and straightforward.
• Give precise information.
• Jargon should be avoided.
• Subtopics that are relevant to the cover.

This is crucial to remember right from the beginning of your content development process.

 

Header tags are crucial when it comes to making our material simpler to understand for both visitors and search engines.

Proper header tags will not only improve the readability of your material, but they will also guarantee that search engines can follow the hierarchy of what is most essential on the page.

Images should also be taken into account, since more appealing images may make a significant impact for consumers.

 

This also gives you the chance to improve your search engine optimization by using ALT text and file names.

 

6. Create Eye-Catching & Engaging Titles

Dare I state that a webpage's title tags are the most significant SEO element?

 

It's the first thing visitors see in search results and on social media, not simply because it's an SEO recommended practise.

 

The title tag is your best chance to attract a user's attention and persuade them to click through to the page.

 

Determine which page you want to rank for each keyword goal, and then devise a strategy for making your title stand out among the crowd.

 

Yes, the keyword target should be towards the start of the title tag, but what other way can you induce users to click?

 

BuzzSumo examined 100 million headlines and discovered the following:

 

• Interactions are sparked by emotional headlines.
• Curiosity and voyeurism attract attention.
• List postings and headlines using the number ten are particularly effective.

Although meta descriptions do not have a direct influence on rankings, they should be used in conjunction with title tags. If feasible, include the term as well as a clear call-to-action for users.

 

The purpose of your title tag and meta description should be to describe the advantage to consumers, elicit emotion, and encourage interaction – all while following SEO best practises.

 

7. Stay On Top Of Algorithm Updates

Why should you be concerned about Google's latest algorithm changes?

 

Because good SEO experts are always on top of things. Among other things, it ensures that your keyword ranks are not just consistent, but also improving.

 

Knowing when an algorithm change went live and when it officially finished is helpful for tracking and tracing keyword and traffic fluctuations back to their source.

This may assist you in determining possible reasons for how/why a site was affected by an upgrade, as well as specific keyword rankings and pieces of content that may have been affected.

It's exceedingly tough to figure out why certain site modifications occurred and analyse the impact of a given update when several algorithm adjustments occur over a short period of time.

 

8. Provide Answers To The Questions People Are Asking

Google strives to offer the most relevant responses to its consumers' questions.

 

Take a look at all of the new and improved SERP features we've seen in recent years:

• Featured Snippets (or Answer Boxes).
• People Also Ask.
• Knowledge Panels.
• Local Packs.
• Video Carousels.

Around your primary keyword goals, optimising for highlighted snippet results and rich snippets has become an important aspect of SEO strategy.

While there is a lot of dispute over the direct benefit of ranking in "position zero" in search results for a business, I'd like to raise the following question:

 

Would you want your rival to appear in the Answer Box for that particular search query?

 

As far as we know, the featured snippet result isn't going away anytime soon, and failing to rank in it might result in your rival or even "enemy" Google losing exposure.

 

9. Build Valuable Inbound Links

Begin by looking for chances to cross-link to items from keyword-rich anchor text on your website. Users will be directed to appropriate material and keyword associations will be formed as a result of this.

 

Unfortunately, developing an effective internal link strategy is only half the battle.

 

The second half involves obtaining highly authoritative and useful inbound connections from other websites.

 

This may appear daunting, but there are a few crucial strategies to focus on:

 

To help develop inbound links and enhance keyword rankings, create link-worthy material based on your keyword research and study of what is ranking in the top search results.

Keep an eye out for mentions of your company to see if there are any quick-win possibilities to get a link from a website that is already talking about you.

Remember to link to other websites if you want other websites to connect to you. You only receive what you give.

Use social media to help you create links. Before contacting out about a link-building opportunity, interact with your targets to help create connections.

These are just a few ideas to get you going. In today's hyper-competitive environment, however, there are surely more complex link-building strategies to be effective.

 

10. Promote Your Content Strategically

I mentioned it briefly above, but it's also critical to use non-SEO methods to raise awareness of your assets and aid your link-building efforts.

 

The more people that see your material, the more chances you have to:

 

• Produce inbound connections.
• Encourage others to share your content on social media.
• Boost the piece's popularity.
• Improve your ranking.

 

While different advertising strategies may be appropriate for different types of material, keeping a checklist handy is always a good idea.

This way, when it's time to promote an asset, you'll be prepared with a list of all options.

 

This might involve the following:

• Using many social media platforms to disseminate.
• Sending an email to your subscribers.
• Internal team members are encouraged to discuss their ideas.
• Getting in touch with the people referenced in the asset.
• Setting up Google Alerts to keep an eye on the discourse.
• Directly communicating with selected specialists or influencers.
• Responding to comparable questions on Quora or other online communities.
• Using social media to advertise.
• Identifying internal cross-linking opportunities that already exist.
• Repurposing the asset in different ways, such as creating a SlideShare presentation.

 

11. Continuously Optimize & Improve Content

While there are many other aspects to consider when it comes to SEO, content is still king.

 

When it comes to assessing how effectively your site responds to a query, quality content is more important than anything else.

 

In fact, if you only remember one thing from this article (and hopefully you will), it should be the value of high-quality content. The word "high quality" is stressed.

 

The importance of E-A-T, or expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness, is expressly stated in Google's Search Quality Guidelines.

 

Your material should convince both search engines and users that you are an authoritative specialist on the issues surrounding your keywords.

However, because search engine rankings are continuously changing, you must perform ongoing content tweaks and upgrades.

For instance, just because you've gotten a Featured Snippet result for a specific keyword or phrase doesn't imply you'll stay there.

 

Refreshing your content ensures that you're providing the greatest (and most up-to-date) information to your consumers while also increasing keyword exposure.

 

If the material is out of current, the corresponding keyword rankings will most certainly suffer.

 

On the other hand, if you're always looking for methods to improve your content and deliver the greatest stuff to your visitors, you'll most likely notice an improvement in keyword ranking.

 

Content optimization should never be viewed as a one-and-done process, especially if you aren't receiving the desired outcomes.

 

Re-optimize an asset for relevance, search intent, engagement, and readability if it isn't ranking.

Your objective should be to provide users with material that is superior to anything else available for the query. 

The adage "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" surely holds true here.

For example, if you're currently ranking top on Google for a highly competitive and often searched phrase, you don't want to risk losing that position.

 

In such scenario, I wouldn't propose modifying the title tag or doing anything else that may backfire.

 

However, there may be chances to improve the ranking asset's conversion rate and encourage people to remain longer on your site.

 

12. Setup & Optimize Your Google Business Profile

Local search has grown in importance as a component of SEO.

 

It has an influence on your website's rankings in addition to attracting business to your physical presence.

 

In many circumstances, Google's SERPs take into account the searcher's location.

 

Photos, reviews, and phone numbers are more likely than text-only links to offer answers to enquiries.

 

Creating and optimising your Google Business Profile is the greatest approach to appear in local searches.

 

This free feature allows you to control how your company appears on Google properties such as Maps, Reviews, and Local Pack Listings.

 

A Google Business Profile boosts your exposure and provides people with quick access to information about you. It also allows customers to leave reviews on Google for your company.

These are regarded to have a big influence on rankings as well as increasing your reputation and allowing you to shape the narrative surrounding your brand.

 

In addition, your profile will give you information about your audience, which may help you find new chances and keywords to target.

 

You'll learn which search terms are leading people to your website, how they're responding to your postings, and how many hits your website link is getting.

 
Final Thoughts About Improving Google Keyword Rankings

The task of an SEO expert is never finished.

 

Even if Google decides one day, "You know what? We've finally nailed this algorithm," (which they'll never do), your SERP rankings will fluctuate as other people pursuing the same keywords alter and adapt their own techniques and content.

 

This implies you must continue to work on your website. Always keep in mind that SEO is a marathon, not a sprint.

 

It doesn't mean you're not on the correct route if you don't see the results you desire immediately soon.

 

And vice versa: don't assume that just because you're high on the list now, you'll stay there tomorrow.

 

SEO necessitates a great deal of testing. Don't be frightened to try new things.

You won't always be at the top, but if you put in the effort and follow these SEO best practises, your website should rise in the ranks.

And that, in turn, will bring you the traffic you desire.

 

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