Ranking on Google can be huge for a business. You get free search engine traffic and don’t have to pay for traffic from other sources. And when 68% of online experiences come from search engines, investing in improving your keyword rankings makes sense.
However, improving your SEO keyword ranking is easier said than done, so it pays to learn every tactic available. Below are several strategies that will help you rank higher in Google.
Find the Right Keywords
In your search for the right content to create for SEO, you probably came across many keywords with a lot of volume. It’s tempting to go after these search terms. After all, you can get a lot of website traffic if you rank for them.
But many of those terms are also highly competitive. If you don’t have an authoritative website in the eyes of Google, you can waste a lot of time for little reward targeting those terms.
Many websites get off to a better start by targeting lower-competition terms. These terms don’t usually get as much search volume. But since fewer websites target them, ranking and seeing search traffic is much easier.
For instance, you may want to target local keywords if you’re a local business. In this situation, work with law firm SEO services to get help working on local results.
Get the Search Intent Right
The chances are that you have something to sell. You don’t want to put effort into ranking keywords if you can’t monetize your efforts.
In an attempt to get the most value for your efforts, you may be tempted to turn all your content into a sales page. However, doing this is a mistake.
Google takes search intent into account when ranking websites. If someone looks for an informative guide on a topic and you produce a sales pitch targeting the keyword, you aren’t giving the searcher what they want. You’ll hurt your chance of ranking high when doing this.
Nail the search intent for your website pages to improve your SEO keywords ranking.
Work on the User Experience
Google expects people to stick around on your pages if they find what they need. They don’t immediately click the back button and head to another search result.
One of the best ways to stop this is to work on your user experience. Create a website design that looks great and makes information easy to read.
You’ll also need to create a mobile design for smartphone users and ensure your pages load fast. Keep the page experience great for people on every device.
Target Featured Snippets
One of the big changes Google has made to the search result pages in the past several years is featured snippets. Instead of only showing ads and organic search listings, Google now shows a snippet of the answer at the top of the page.
These snippets push down the top results when they show up. And to make matters worse for the top-ranked pages, they aren’t always the website used for snippets.
But you can use that to your advantage if your website is positioned lower on the page. Look at the current featured snippets on the keywords you’re targeting to see what they say and their formatting. Try to format your pages to give Google what it wants to improve the chance of ranking for snippets.
Use Google My Business
If you’re a local business, one of your highest priorities will be setting up your website for local search. You may be able to rank for a few local keywords, but you won’t be able to get into Google My Business without extra effort.
Doing this is important because it gets you into the local map results. Google wants businesses to verify their information before setting them up on the maps.
Sign up for an account for the platform, and Google will send a postcard with a PIN number. Once you receive your verification information, you can verify your account, enter your business information, and show up on Google Maps.
Improve Your Internal Links
One of the key things that Google looks for today when ranking websites is topical authority. Google doesn’t want to rank websites that talk about anything. They want authority experts on the front page.
One of the ways Google determines this is the amount of coverage a website has on a topic. It wants to see websites that cover a subject from every point possible.
But finding all of that content takes work, and that’s where internal links help. Add internal links to your website content to help Google find all your articles about a subject.
Look for Backlinks
When all things are equal when it comes to content and authority, how does Google determine the website to rank? It could test to see which website performs better, but another factor comes into the equation.
That factor is authority. Every website that links to yours passes power. If even high-powered websites link to your site, it gives it more credibility and will help it rank.
Do what you can to build high-authority links to your website. Reach out to journalists as a source to get news links, look for guest post opportunities, and form partnerships with other websites in your industry.
Improve Your SEO Keyword Ranking Today
Ranking on Google is a long game. You continue to put the effort in overtime to give Google what it wants to maximize your chance of improving your SEO keyword ranking.
That’s why you need every tool at your disposal to improve keywords for SEO. Follow the tactics above to improve your website and increase your chance of being able to drive website traffic with search engines.
Are you interested in more traffic generation tips for increasing your website’s traffic? Learn more about marketing your website on the blog.
