If you’re a business owner that wants to increase your sales via your website, then where you rank on Google is going to have a dramatic impact.
As you know, if you want more people to see your marketing materials, then you need to position them exactly where your customers are looking.
Yes, you guessed it. Your customers are on Google!
Ranking well on Google is not as simple as creating a website. It involves a carefully detailed digital marketing strategy to rise above your competitors.
Here, you will discover exactly what you need to do to increase the rank of your website in Google. Your competitors won’t know what hit them as you start taking more traffic and leads from the search engines.
So you’re a business owner, and you want to increase your sales. If you’re reading this, then you understand the importance and the value of where you rank on Google.
Your target audience are currently searching on Google for a product or service similar to yours.
Therefore you obviously want them to find your website before they find any of your competitors.
Your Google Keyword Ranking CAN Have A Major Effect On Your Sales.
Did you know that for any real benefit to your business, that your website must be on page one of Google?
Over ninety one percent of all traffic that searches for something on Google will only ever see Page one!
That means only eight and a half percent of people will actually click to go to page two.
The data gets more interesting when we look at the behaviour of searchers on page one.
Nearly fifty two percent of the traffic on page one of Google will click through on the top three organic listings. So over half of all traffic on page one goes to positions one, two and three.
On page one, Google also places three to four advertisements. Although these sit at the very top of the search engine results page (SERP), only ten percent of the traffic will click through on a paid ad.
The overwhelming majority of visitors will actually click through not only the organic listings but the top three positions of the SERP.
So these stats are interesting, but what does all of this mean to you?
Before we can show you how to increase your rank in Google, we must cover of on some of the basics.
Since Google owns the traffic you want, we must first begin by understanding how Google actually decides where to rank each website.
For many the thought of ranking well on Google is only a pipe dream.
How well you rank depends on a lot of factors. But it’s important to first understand what Google actually does.
Once we can properly conceptualize the nature of Google, it will make it easier in terms of shaping your overall digital marketing strategy.
How To Improve Your Search Engine Ranking in Google
First of all, you need to remember that Google is simply a machine – all it does is read.
It just reads the information and the metrics that are available to it. It not only does this on your website, it does this for all websites on the Internet.
So that’s all it does. It analyses data and rates every website for its quality and relevance.
Then it compiles all of this information and simply lists what that it thinks are the most relevant and informative websites for each search query.
Google does this using their specific ranking criteria, or in the industry it’s known is their algorithm.
Over time, the Google algorithm has grown and developed and has gotten better at finding the best websites on the Internet.
Can you imagine what it would be like if you had to sort through thousands of websites just to find what you wanted online? No thanks…
Just show me the best websites please!
Google has become the major search engine, because it does its job so well. It removes all the junk, and just shows us what we need based on what we search for.
Google’s reputation is based on the quality of websites it serves up to us when we search.
So if you want to rank on page one, ask yourself this question:
Is your website better than those listed on page one?
Google is constantly looking for websites that provide the best possible experience for its users. After all that’s what their business model is based upon.
They’ve developed a healthy reputation by providing the best most relevant and informative content to its users.
Although you may be frustrated at where your website currently ranks, you need to remember that it’s Google’s house and its their rules.
It’s up to Google where you rank. It’s up to YOU to prove to them that you should rank higher.
After all, it wouldn’t serve their business model very well to highly rank websites that offer very little to no value to its users.
So one of the first things that I’d like you to consider, is it’s actually not up to you where you rank on Google.
There is no point being frustrated if are not ranking as high as you would like to.
But the key is to first understand what Google wants. Your Google SEO ranking depends on it.
Following years and years of studying and analysing their search algorithm, it becomes quite obvious.
Their main business goal is to continually provide the best possible user experience for each of its users.
If it doesn’t, people will look elsewhere to another search engine.
So it’s absolutely vital to Google that they are providing the best possible user experience to its users as they search.
The secret is to give Google what they want and more.
Create a website that truly delivers an outstanding experience to those who visit. As Google recognizes this, they will want to show it to more and more people as they search.
So in order to improve your rankings, start by focusing on the people you serve.
Deliver exceptional value to them on your website.
Secondly, nurture positive online sentiment on the Internet about your brand, and your products and services.
However you need to do this in a way that Google not only notices, but acknowledges you for it. You need to do it right!
Google uses a specific criteria or algorithm to determine how they rank websites. So you need to address as many of these as you can.
The big question you’re probably asking right now is, what can you do right now, to increase your rank on Google?
What are the key ranking factors that you need to pay attention to?
The million-dollar question that every business owner asks is, “What exactly is Google looking for?”
If we knew exactly what their algorithm contained then we’d all rank very well on Google, however the actual specifics of their algorithm is unknown.
In saying that, over the last decade, we’ve discovered a number of key ranking factors that truly make a difference.
For our clients, we analyse over 500 on and off page ranking factors and compare this to each of their competitors.
Then by identifying and improving deficits, we see dramatic ranking improvements.
The key criteria for any digital marketing campaign relies on three things;
WEBSITE
You need to begin with a fully optimized website. This not only involves making it easy for your users, but also for Google.
CONTENT
Secondly you need to be consistently producing outstanding content for your market. The content you provide can have a dramatic effect on the overall user experience on your website.
OUTREACH
The last aspect is you need to reach out to others online and share your stuff. You need others to start talking about your content and the value of your brand.
Ranking well on Google is relative to the keyword or key phrase that you’re targeting.
From the very start, you need to ensure that you’re very clear about the keywords or key phrases that you want to rank for.
Take some time to list the words that your prospective customers would type into Google before purchasing or engaging in your services.
These will become your targeted keywords. These are the words you will need to rank well for.
Once you know the keywords you want to rank well for, do a simple search on Google. This will help you see where you currently rank for those words.
Importantly, it will show you where all your competitors are ranking for those same keywords.
If You’re Not On Page One, Then You Have Some Work To Do On Your Google Ranking!
About 10 years ago, it was very easy to rank well on Google. It was as simple as placing your most important keywords in as many places as you can on your website, plus on the external links pointing back to your website.
Back then, Google’s algorithm was a lot less mature than it is today. It placed a lot of emphasis on how many keywords you had on your website.
It also valued the keywords contained within the links pointing your website
As a result of this “simple” algorithm, it was easy to rank well (read hack). Unfortunately, this also led to Google getting spammed with crappy websites.
Google’s reputation was on the line. Therefore they created a more robust algorithm to ensure only the most relevant and useful websites ranked well.
Why this little history lesson?
Google banned websites that were suspected of trying to scam their search engine. This meant their website was de-listed…
Many businesses practically died overnight as a result.
Google toughened up big time!
The days of applying tricks and hacks are well and truly over.
Why is this important for you to know?
You may be tempted to take a short cut, and buy-in to new shiny tactics that promise an easy path to riches.
Google is a lot smarter now – and you stand to loose more than you’ll gain by trying to trick them.
They are a lot cleverer at spotting scammers. Your best bet is to hook up with a quality SEO agency in Melbourne.
Provide a better experience on your website than your competitors do on theirs.
Understanding Google’s intention will go a long way in helping you craft your digital marketing strategy.
Their overall ambition is to provide a list of quality and relevant websites that offer a valuable user experience.
Although, as we discussed, they use quite a complex ranking algorithm, they essentially need to ensure your website meets their standards.
If visitors come to your website and stay for a while, it’d be safe to assume they are getting value.
If other websites are mentioning you and referring people back to your website, it shows that you offer good value.
Also, if your website reads well to Google, then their more likely to determine your relevance to those that are searching for you.
On-Page + Off-Page Optimisation
What all this means is that you need to completely optimize what is on as well as what is off your page to rank well.
To help your business website rank higher, here are a few actionable items that you should consider.
WEBSITE
Design
The design of your website is important because it contributes to the perceived credibility of your business. The more credible the more likely your visitors will remain longer to consume your content.
Speed
Ensure that your website is fast to load. Google made it very clear that they are rewarding sites that load faster.
Mobile Friendly
There are rumours that Google will be moving to a “Mobile Index”. This means it will exclude websites that are not mobile friendly. Ensure your website is optimized for mobile.
Meta Data
Ensure that every page of your website has a well crafted page title, and description. These are basic elements that still need to be taken care of.
CONTENT
Perhaps undervalued by many, but quality content is essential. Prepare a schedule for not only when you’re going to produce content but also what you’re going to talk about.
OUTREACH
With all of the content that you produce, you need to make sure others in your marketplace are sharing it.
Reach out to thought leaders in your marketplace, and write content for their blogs. This is called guest posting.
Social Media
Engage with your audience via social media. Share your content and answer questions. You need to work at getting your messages out there.
To rank well in Google you need to make it as easy as possible for Google to know what you do.
You also need to to make it easy for them to see that other people are actually reacting and engaging with you online.
At the end of the day, Google wants to show the best websites first.
Your job is simply to make it easy for Google to recognize that you are worthy of being shown on page one.
It’s very similar to a local community market.
Some stalls always seem to attract and keep a large gathering around them. While others barely get a look in.
If you were the owner of the market, you would prefer to have more of the “popular” stall/vendors, than those that are not meeting the needs of the visitors.
This is the same as the first page of Google.
They analyse all of the websites, and then rank the most popular and relevant websites from highest to lowest.
Although there are a ton of ranking factors considered, begin by focusing on the three key pillars: Your Website, Your Content and Your Outreach to spread your message across the Internet.