Wondering how to rank higher on Google? We have got you covered.
Studies have shown that 70% of Google visitors only visit websites that appear on the first page of the search engine. This single data point is enough to understand why it is so important to rank higher on Google’s first page through SEO.
Businesses spend thousands of dollars to improve their website ranking on Google’s first page but most of them fail to rank higher. This is because they don’t follow the right SEO steps. That’s why we created this blog to help businesses improve their ranking on Google.
Below 45 SEO tips by Upreports will help you improve the ranking of your website on Google.
Let’s start!
Get SEO friendly content
Content is really really important to capture a vast range of keywords and attract more visitors to your website and business assets. However, content that’s not SEO friendly is of little use in terms of SEO. So, focus on creating SEO-friendly content.
Grow backlinks
Answering the question, ‘of how to rank higher on Google’ is almost impossible without taking backlinks into account. Backlinks help boost site pages to the top search result pages and build overall site authority as well. Focus on building backlinks from high authority and relevant websites.
Boost website speed
Websites that are slow to load rarely make it to the first page of Google. The search giant is giving really high importance to site performance parameters like load time to determine to rank. That’s why you should focus on optimizing the speed of your website and improving the overall experience.
Fix broken links
Presence of broken links on the site is one of the major reasons behind low site ranking. Broken links on a website tell Google that the website is not delivering a great user experience and doesn’t deserve to be our first page Google.
Optimize images
Heavy images increase site load time and spoil the user experience. That’s why optimizing your site images contribute to attaining first-page presence on Google. Images also rank on Image search results and divert traffic to the website.
Use relevant headings
Headings (H1, H2, and so on) help Google make sense of the content under them. So, they have to be informative as well as keyword rich. If you want to rank higher on Google, then, Headings also need to make sense to your audience. Check out this resource for a deeper understanding of headings.
Improve user experience
User experience is quickly becoming one of the most important aspects to determine website ranking on Google. If you have a strong site structure, helpful content, and great products/services, then, you are destined to rank on the top Google search result pages.
Get on social media
There are approximately 3.81 billion social media users worldwide. Google has acknowledged that it uses social signals to attribute ranking mileage to websites. So, work to build a strong social media following and high-quality content. Check out how to build ace content for Facebook and Instagram.
Create valuable content
It doesn’t matter which industry you are operating in; content is the master key to unlocking the doors to first-page ranking on Google. Publish high-value content on your website and business assets to solve critical audience queries. This tip will turn visitors into customers and improve their ranking on Google.
Relevant URLs
URLs play a crucial role in helping Google identify what your content is all about. A URL that’s of appropriate length, well structured, and has the most important keyword boosts the chances of the page ranking higher on Google.
Page title
Google bots pay special attention to some web page elements and page title is one of them. Make sure that all your critical site pages like product/service pages, category pages, and homepage have carefully planned page titles.
Meta title and descriptions
Meta description is a quick summary of what your web page is all about. Their value has been diluted a little by Google but they are still critical to rank high on searches. Keep your meta descriptions relevant, add the main keywords in them, and use all the word lengths recommended by Google.
Distribute content
Distributing content helps in bringing traffic to the website. There are hundreds of platforms available online that allow free content publishing and curation. Take advantage of them to distribute your content on high authority and relevant platforms.
High-quality images
While great images are not a direct ranking factor, it definitely contributes to delivering an ace user experience that is connected to high rankings on Google. Make sure that your website images are high quality, relevant, and optimized in terms of size.
Start blogging
Blogging is the easiest way to push fresh content to your website. Create informative blogs relevant to your business and products to help your audience find answers to their queries easily. Blogs with over 1000 words rank better than tiny blogs. Check out this case study to learn how to approach blogging for business growth.
Right info at right place
Imagine someone loves your product or service but they are struggling to find the right resources to go ahead. This is why pages like guides, contact us, and company terms should be placed prominently on the website. Footer is a great place for placing your most critical pages.
Mobile friendly
Mobile usage is at an all-time high. Most customers use smartphones to discover business information, location, and products. This is why Google is giving more ranking mileage to sites with the impeccable mobile experience. Make your website mobile-friendly to improve user experience.
Update content regularly
Google loves nothing more than fresh content. Feed quality content to the Google bots and feed it frequently to grow the authority of your website. Fresh content also boosts your brand value in the eyes of target customers.
Use Q&A platforms
People visit websites like Quora and Reddit to get answers to their questions. Use these platforms to show how your business can help them out. Create helpful content and embed it in your interactions with potential customers on such platforms. And one more thing, never ever promote!
Stay active on social media
Majority of us spend a lot of our free time using social media and interacting with friends, strangers, and also businesses. This is why staying active on social media is crucial. Google has clearly mentioned that it uses social signals as a ranking parameter. So, go social right away!
Video content creation
Marketers who invest in videos grow revenue 49% faster than non-video firms (Source). Video content is the future of content and rank easily on the first page of Google. That’s why you should focus on creating video content. Here’s a quick guide on creating Youtube videos on your own:
Choose keywords smartly
Targeting competitive keywords and ranking for them requires a lot of time as well as effort. Hence, it is important to choose keywords with a lot of thought before commencing work. There are many free and paid tools (we love Ahrefs) available to search keywords. Use them to rank higher on Google!
Go live on social media
This is another non-direct factor to boost your ranking on SERPs. Using the live feature of social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook will help engage the audience at a personal level and boost traffic to relevant content. This increase in traffic will generate search engine benefits.
Use Google My Business
Google My Business is one of the best free tools from Google to increase footfalls to your business and get on the first page of Google. GMB listings have huge authority for local businesses and rank on the first page easily if optimized correctly.
Reduce bounce rate
If your critical site pages have a huge bounce rate, then, it simply means there is something wrong with your content, offerings, or site performance. Consistently work to track and reduce bounce rate. Please note that the bounce rate of blogs is usually high and hence it is important to look at bounce rate data carefully before reaching conclusions.
Use latent semantic indexing
The concept of latent semantic indexing is currently being used by Google to understand how a term and content come together to mean the same thing even if it is different at a core level. Seems complex? Well, it is about more context and keyword diversification. Read this blog to understand LSI at a deeper level and use it to boost your ranking.
Get interviewed
Interviews are an easy way to gain quality backlinks from high-authority sites and get on Google’s first page. Interviews are a great opportunity to talk about your product and penetrate third-party platforms that have a ready audience.
Use infographics
There are a lot of digital platforms that host only visual content and creative media. Infographics are the easiest ways to penetrate such platforms and build backlinks to rank higher on Google. Try to make creative and informative visuals that will be loved by your audience.
Update lower ranking pages
Web pages ranking on the second page of Google have the potential to rise to the first page. Look into Google Analytics and Search Console to identify website pages that are ranking on lower SERPs and identify improvement areas to boost ranking. Learn how to do SEO for small businesses:
Remove toxic backlinks
Google took birth in 1997 and the initial years of SEO were a walk in the park for marketers. In the first decade, people built links on all kinds of sites – including toxic sites like gambling and adult content – and came on the first page. Such backlinks do huge damage in modern times. So, if you have such links, remove them ASAP through manual action!
Tap heading tags
Website owners often make the mistake of not marking heading tags (H1, H2, etc.) and the same cost them ranking on Google. Keyword-rich heading tags are a great way to make your web pages relevant for unique keywords. Make sure that you don’t miss out on this if you frequently ponder on the question, ‘how to improve Google ranking’!
Grammar and spelling
Google has made a quality content top priority for ranking. Since bad grammar and spelling errors don’t make quality content, you have to ensure that they don’t exist on your website. Check your content twice before publishing to avoid grammar and spelling mistakes. Use online writing tools like Grammarly to discover grammar and spelling blunders.
Images optimization
While Google has said that images don’t help improve Google’s ranking, they definitely rank in Google Images if optimized correctly. Add a relevant keyword to every image through alt attribute and description to bring more traffic to your website.
Track Google algorithm updates
Google wants to organize the world’s information and it’s not possible without improving its core functionality. This is why Google keeps coming out with core updates. Keep track of Google updates through SEO news websites like SEO Round Table to quickly take action in case of something major comes out.
Track Search Console
Google keeps webmasters updated about indexing, performance, and technical issues through Search Console. Therefore, it makes sense to track the Search Console on a weekly basis and take timely action on reported issues.
Add structured data
Structured data is a great way to mark up critical product and business information like address, brand name, logo, reviews, images, and ratings. Use the JSON and schema data to add more structure to your data and simplify indexing for Google bots. Check out how we have structured data for this platform:
Use right tags
There is an N number of tags used to communicate unique signals to Google bots. Some of the popular ones are No-index, Canonical, and Redirect tags. It is quite common for developers to mess up the attributes and tags while going live with new websites. Hence, make sure that your website has the right attributes to improve Google ranking over the page of time.
Nail internal linking
Internal linking is important to give Google bots as well as visitors access to relevant content throughout the website. An important indexing and ranking factor, internal linking is crucial for ranking new website pages on top SERPs. So, make sure that fresh content is internal-linked in a comprehensive manner.
Nail external linking
Just like internal linking, external linking is considered a critical ranking factor. Linking back to relevant and high-authority websites gets a nod from Google and gives ranking mileage to specific web pages as well as the overall website.
Website architecture
A website that’s easy to navigate and has a UX-rich structure is preferred by Google for top search visibility. A complex website structure that’s hard to understand for visitors is detested by Google as well.
Deploy AMP
AMP is a website component framework that helps create fast-loading pages that have greater visibility on mobile devices. Since speed is a ranking factor and AMP pages are lightning fast, they can greatly help improve ranking on Google. Learn more about AMP
Enhance user experience
User experience is the cornerstone of major ranking factors defined by Google and hence efforts are required to improve it consistently. Be it design or site speed, user experience touches almost everything. So, keep working on UX if you want to rank on the first page of Google.
Want to build your business online as a brand? Here’s a quick guide:
Website uptime
A website that remains low all the time and has loading issues will be sidelined by Google. That’s why websites on the top pages of Google deploy dedicated hosting and infrastructure to maintain 99% uptime.
Get PRs published
Press releases are widely used by businesses and organizations to build backlinks and presence on top PR platforms. Contributions of news portals are also a popular way to build backlinks.
Penetrate forums
Forums exist for almost every industry and they offer a good scope of building links as well as brand authority. Identify the best forums for your industry and build a strong presence on them through genuine contributions.
Contribute comments
Building links through comments is hard nowadays but it is not impossible. A lot of websites allow backlinks if they add value to their content. In case you are not succeeding with backlinks through comments, aim to contribute your brand name since brand mentions also go a long way in building authority.
This is it.
Our guide on ‘how to rank higher on Google’ ends here.
Google uses over 200+ ranking factors to determine to the rank of the web pages indexed by it. Sadly, the search giant has not revealed the list of ranking factors. All it does is send out vague signals like focus on content and improve user experience 🙁
Thankfully, leading search marketing teams like Upreports have figured out that the most important SEO elements are helping businesses win the game of Google ranking.
Need help in reaching the first page of Google? Email us at hello@upreports.com to discuss your SEO goals and schedule a free consultation session.
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