While ranking the first page on Google has always been competitive, it has also become essential to rank the website on the first page now more than ever.
According to Backlinko, Google uses over 200 factors in their algorithm for ranking websites
But, you don’t have to fret about it. You can take it easy and comply with these simple yet highly effective ways (that take most of these factors into consideration) to rank your website among the top.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) has become widely renowned and the process itself is much fairer than it used to be back in the days, Since Google’s Search Engine Guidelines have become stricter in measuring and more proficient in relaying what your website truly needs to get a higher rank.
If you’re looking for a comprehensive guideline that spares you of all the jargon, gets straight to the point, and helps you catch up with all newly introduced strategies in organic SEO, you’re reading it right now!
Here Are The Most Definitive Steps You Can Take To Bring The Site To The First Page Of Google
Analyze Your Users
Use Advanced On-Page SEO Tactics
Know Your Keywords.
Track Changes in the Content Market
Level-up your Technical SEO
Prioritize Local SEO Don’t forget to Backlink!
Journey Starts From Here For ” How To Rank Website On First Page Of Google”
Analyze Your Users
One of the biggest industry misconceptions starts with analyzing your website. When analyzing you don’t just check how your website is doing, but also evaluate why it is doing what it is doing.
Get it? I guess not.
Precisely, when analyzing your website you make sure to find out everything that is causing it to rank low. From poor quality content, a horridly formatted web structure to a lack of backlinks and domain authority. There can be several reasons to refrain your website from appearing in top search, especially now, when we are amidst a truly consumer-oriented digital world. However, in most cases, the solutions are pretty simple, as long as you have a grasp of the idea to make it work.
Most Website Audit or Analysis tools overlook the importance of analyzing the user needs and behaviors on your website.
The thing is, a user-driven analysis is essential to give you a competitive edge. Your audience is the source of knowledge for your website. Understanding how they navigate through your website, what interests them, what makes them drop-off, where they spend most of their time, and most importantly what brings them here, is what you need to do.
Behavior analytics software, like Hotjar, helps you find these elements in your website analysis making it much more useful than a simple SEO audit.
With that explained, it does not mean a simplistic analysis wouldn’t be of value to you. Anything about your website performance is of immense value to lay out a blueprint for your rankings.
To suggest one, SEO & Website Analysis by WooRank analyzes your page’s basic SEO metrics and is known for its credibility. Once your analysis is carried out, you will have a clear idea of what needs to be done. How to get all of it done, though? Be ready to find all the answers you need in the next steps!
Use Advanced On-Page SEO Tactics
Let’s start with the basics.
What is exactly On-Page SEO?
Anything that has to do with your actual webpage is a part of On-page (aka On-site) SEO. Yes, it’s about optimizing your webpage’s outlook.
Whether it’s the appearance, the information you provide, or the length of it, everything matters to improve your rank. For the past years, there have been some major changes in how Google evaluates your webpage’s worth and most of it has something to do with how you strategize your webpage’s content. So far, all Digital Marketing professionals would agree that;
On-Page SEO is the easiest way to improve your website’s ranking.
If done right, it can work wonders in a matter of days. So here are all the tactics you need to get it done right!
Place The Main Keyword In The Start
This is one of the old-school tactics, yet it still works just right. All you have to do is mention your main keyword once in the first paragraph. For example, the keyword for a marketing company “digital marketing” should be mentioned at the beginning of their page.
Consequently, frontload your keyword (mention your keyword at the start of the title tag). It also boosts your ranking considerably. If you see through search results, you would realize most websites in the top ranks use frontloading. E.g. “Digital Marketing: A beginner’s guide”.
This is very effective because search engines give importance to Title tags, and Google pays even more attention to the first few words in your title tags. Though, sometimes your keywords cannot be used to frontload. That’s alright, don’t make your title look weird by doing it because it will beat the purpose. Title tags are supposed to be helpful for your audience. Instead, make sure to add the keyword as early as possible.
Keyword Frequency
Your search engine needs to be confident that your page is relevant to the search. Mentioning your keywords a few times over the course of your content helps the search engine associate your page with the keyword strongly and improve its ranking.
Now, this does not mean you should practice keyword stuffing. It would definitely backfire and get your website penalized. Instead, use your keyword 5-6 times through the whole content where it makes sense.
Page Word Count
According to surveys, the page length is directly proportional to your rank on Google.
The longer your page content is, in comparison to your competitors, the better chance you have of ranking in the top numbers. Generally, you should try to make your content more than 1500 words. In a different case, you can also go through your competitor’s website and estimate how many words they used. Then make sure to use 2x more words and you’d already have a head start.
However, to be clear, do not write too much or fill your page with pointless, irrelevant information. No audience would want to read painfully long and unhelpful content and it would cause more harm than good.
While we talk about using keywords, it can’t be helped but think about how to find the one that’s most suitable. You might already know since there are too many blogs on it beforehand, but there is something that you don’t know, and that is what the latest Google Search Quality Guidelines introduced for the use of keywords.
This takes us forward to –
Know your keywords
Market research is a crucial part of your digital marketing strategy and while you’re at it, it’s only natural to come across too many keywords that relate to your niche. What you need here, is something that helps you make an informed choice and make use of the right keywords.
Hypothetically speaking, for the keyword “red socks”, there will already be too much going on for this one word on the search engine, and it’s highly unlikely you’d get your chance to show up. Alternatively, less popular keywords like “red stockings” or “cotton red socks” will get you much more traffic and lead to more turnover. So, how do you come to find these other options? Honestly, the most convenient option is the Google Keyword Planner. It’s the only keyword tool that gives you data straight from the horse’s mouth, and all the more, it’s free.
You can also try Keyword Tool and UberSuggest and see what works better for you.
To add a thing about keyword phrases, NEVER use multiple keyword phrases on the same page. It would confuse the search engine and you will end up not being able to rank for any of them. Make separate web pages for all your different targeted keywords without exception!
Now, move on to the turning point for your rankings.
The use of LSI keywords
LSI keywords (latent semantic indexing) are a contemporary yet ground-breaking on-page SEO tactic for the coming years.
And they are amazingly effective as of now.
Don’t worry, it’s nothing crazy, it just sounds too futuristic. Basically, LSI keywords are the words or phrases that are relevant to the content of your webpage. To help you understand, these are some possible LSI keywords for the keyword “cars”.
LSI keywords add up to let Google determine the topic. So obviously, the search engine will look for these when navigating your webpage and use them to determine how relevant your page is to the topic.
The question stands, How do you use them effectively?
Covering an entire topic on a single page is the best way to rank on Google’s first page.
Adding a few here and there just won’t cut it. You need to be thorough, let the search engine know your page is completely what the audience needs. Make your content be the epitome of information, add everything that makes your topic valuable.
Now, how do you find LSI keywords?
LSIGraph is a free tool you can use to search for LSI keywords, all you need to do is enter the keyword and it will list them out for you.
Track Changes in the Content Market
You must have heard this before, “Quality content is the key to rank higher on search engines”. Yes, it unquestionably is.
But, there’s much more to it than just being high quality. Anyone can come up with a piece of content to write and they might as well be a splendid writer, but would it make them rank at the top? Sadly, it won’t. The era we are in is surrounded by all sorts of content. Sharing information has become fluid and there is no stopping it. Then, What is it exactly that you need to do?
Write Content Worthy Of Backlinks
It’s a fact, that Google is heavily inclined towards pages with a number of backlinks. So, it basically means to make your content “share-worthy”. The more the people share it, the better your rank would be.
You can do this by creating content that is highly informational and brings something new yet essential to the table. By doing this you create a Link Bait. People will gladly share your content when it provides them with fresh or relevant information. The target should be within your niche, but more in-depth than your competitors. For example, introducing results of market research, bringing in new figures, sharing your analysis over a new topic, all of these could be greatly informational and would bring you numerous backlinks.
Use Lengthy Content
As we talked about keywords, it has already been mentioned that your content word count REALLY COUNTS! Making long-form content gives you an amazing advantage in ranking, so does making an info-packed article about a single topic at once. So avoid making smaller pieces of already known content because as it seems, lengthy content also brings you a bunch of backlinks.
Visual Content Is A Must
Let’s be real here, nobody wants to read a dreadful-looking word mess. Using as much visual content as you can is a game-changer. Infographics, Flowcharts, Maps, Videos, Animations, or even some nice-looking Doodles.
All of it makes your page 10x appealing to the audience. Additionally, it will reduce your website’s Bounce Rates. Your audience usually decides whether they want to stay on your page or not in the first few seconds. The first impression is the last impression, literally.
Visual content is also great for getting backlinks, so sharing your infographics makes your webpage desirable.
While we’re talking about visuals and aesthetics, another thing you need to do is Format Your Webpage in a way it’s captivating.
What this means is, make your webpage easy to navigate through, make it look good, and most importantly push your content to the top. You can do this by starting off with an “overview” section or a “table of contents” section. This is the first thing that would catch your user’s attention and contribute to their decision to stay and read. It also reduces bounce rates to a minimum.
Finally, its time to explain what ‘Changes in the Content Market’ we’re talking about here –
UNDERSTANDING THE “SEARCH INTENT” FOR YOUR CONTENT
Currently, Google is all about user search intent. The recent Search Quality Guidelines are obsessed with this idea and how to put it to use.
This is the part, where Google takes into consideration how the audience interacts with a certain keyword. The search engine has to make sure your site fits the criteria for a specific keyword perfectly. Otherwise, it will drop your website a few places lower or even on a different page, NO MATTER HOW GOOD IT IS.
For that reason, understanding your audience comes in handy yet again. Which had already begun from Step#1 for you. However, there is still much to clarify so hang on.
The basic principle here is to give your audience exactly what they are looking for. The queries get categorized by the search engine, according to the guidelines there are 4 types of user intents:
The simplest way to understand search intent is to search your keyword on Google, and see what the top-ranking posts are about.
Like, for the keyword “Email Marketing” the top ranking websites show the results mostly for the “Know Queries” ranging from definitions and tools to strategies and tips.
Hereafter, your next step is pretty straightforward. Make your webpage the best result a “Know Query” can have. Add all the valuable information you have about email marketing from What to How and make the best out of it. This will definitely make your page rank at the top, even #1, since Google would realize that you have everything a particular user searching this keyword is looking for, in one place.
In essence, If you want improvement in your Google ranking, your page needs to be perfectly optimized for the search intent of your keyword. When you fulfill those criteria, Google will WANT to show your site to more people. This is why giving Google what it asks for is the foundation of any successful SEO strategy.
Level-up your Technical SEO
This step is pretty minimal, but it does make an enormous difference, collectively, with other factors.
There’s not much to it, since technical SEO is not a problem for most people out there, just a few things you need to keep in check.
Starting off with the most important point.
Head straight to Google Search Console and run your site through some Index Coverage Tests. If your website is having troubles with Google in technical SEO factors like indexing, it will point out all the flaws for you. These usually are no big deals but they are worth fixing.
Next up, make sure your website is Mobile-Friendly. Which is clearly a given in 2022. Though it’s always a good thing to run it through the Mobile-Friendly Testing Tool from Google and be confident that your website is completely optimized for mobiles.
Another factor to consider is Page Speed. In general opinion, page speed does not contribute much to SEO but its a fact that;
A site’s average page loading speed is a Google ranking factor,
So in the end, make your website mobile-friendly and fast at loading and you’re done.
Prioritize Local SEO
If you’re a business website, this is the best step for you.
Local SEO is basically a method to increase your traffic, brand awareness and sales leads from local search.
To help you understand how significant Local SEO is, there are some credible stats.
46% of all searches in Google have “local intent” (Search Engine Roundtable)
This means that practically half of the searches are related to your local businesses. What’s more significant is the fact that these searches are most likely to bring you monetary profits. The audience with local intent is probably looking for a product or a service. As a business, your priority should be targeting your local audience which would definitely hold some of your prospective clients.
In regards to functionality, Local SEO has a set of unique ranking signals, including:
- The location that the person is searching from
- NAP citations
- Presence of Google My Business listing
- Keywords used in Google My Business profile
- The sentiment of online reviews
- Keywords used in online reviews
- Number of “check-ins” at that location
- Shares on social media
- Google Maps star rating for that business
So, all you have to do is optimize your website for these factors and you’ll have people walking through your door in a matter of few days.
Don’t forget to Backlink!
No matter how great the quality of your content is if it doesn’t bring you backlinks you’re far too behind in the game.
This was briefly discussed in Step#4 too, so you must have somewhat of an idea about how it works by now.
There are just a few tips left to share on it that would possibly help you in getting more backlinks.
Start Blogging
According to Hubspot, companies who engage in blogging receive 97% more backlinks to their site.
And it’s factually true. You must stay updated about the topics that are all the rage in your niche throughout the year, and write about them. The more information you have to offer the better your webpage does at accumulating backlinks.
Broken Link Building
It’s a tactic where you use ‘dead links’ as a replacement to add your post. You can use a link scanning tool and contact the person who used that dead link before to let you use it instead. Pretty simple right.
Resource Pages
This is the go-to trick to stack backlinks for your mainstream blogs.
Resource pages are pages that are created to act as an information sink. They contain all the best information about a certain topic. As it was mentioned, articles rich with valid information are the best for link building. If you create more resource pages, even your competitors would be enticed to use you as a reference and will give you backlinks.
Backlink Analysis
It’s of utmost importance to analyze your website’s backlinks. There isn’t much to explain here, you will get familiar with the process once you try it.
A great suggestion for your backlink analysis is Ahrefs’ backlink analysis tools.
Backlink analysis is Ahrefs’ bread and butter feature, so you might as well try it.
Sum up The Ways to Get Higher Ranks in Search Engines
The bottom-line? The above-mentioned tools, tactics, and ideas were gathered together in this blog with the expertise of many professionals solely to assist creators and businesses get a head-start for SEO in 2022. It takes into consideration all the necessary factors that matter for your search engine rankings in today’s times.
For a quick recap, you learned how user-oriented web analysis is done and how much it helps you. There was also all this fresh information right out of Google’s recent Search Quality Guidelines about LSI keywords and User Search Intent. By now, you must have also realized the significance of Local SEO and some small tweaks to your Technical SEO that would give your ranking a boost. Additionally, there’s pretty much the gist of all you can possibly know about on-page SEO, content, and backlinks.
If you’ve made it all the way down here, rest assured you’re already ahead of your competitors out there, and a step closer to higher rankings on the first page.
We’d be glad if you give your feedback after trying these steps out and let us know how useful you found them!
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