Your website is your online business card, so you’ll want to make sure that it’s visible and appealing to visitors. Even if users don’t directly search for your site, it still needs to appear on the first page of results for relevant search terms.
Because Google looks for sites with high-quality content when ranking websites, there are certain steps you can take to make sure yours appears higher on their list. It isn’t just about link building and keyword density; these tips will help you get your website noticed by Google as well as potential customers.
Make Sure Your Website Is Easy To Navigate
Google is also interested in how easy it is for people to navigate your site. If people are getting lost on your site and leaving without making a purchase, your bounce rate will be high.
You can improve your site’s user experience by making sure that your navigation is simple and easy to understand. If possible, make your main navigation at the top of each page.
A drop-down menu may be useful if your site is long, but you don’t want to distract from your content with a large navigation bar. Make sure that your navigation is consistent across each page, so users can go to any page and immediately know how to get back to the homepage. You can also improve the user experience of your site by making it mobile-friendly.
Google has said that website speed is a ranking factor; users value quick load times. You can speed up your website by optimizing your images, using a content delivery network (CDN), and removing unnecessary plugins from your site. You’ll also want to make sure that your site’s code is clean and easy to read, so Google can crawl your site easily.
Enable Rich Snippets With Schema.org Markup
As we mentioned a bit earlier, Google is always looking for ways to show users more information about what they’re clicking on. One way to do this is by using structured data markup, also known as schema.org mark-up.
You’ll recognize this as the information that appears in the yellow box below a search result, such as store hours, phone number, or additional images. This is also what’s used to create product boxes that show up next to the search result.
To enable rich snippets on your site, you’ll need to add specific code on certain pages, such as your homepage, product pages, and any about or services pages. The code will tell Google what type of content is on that page and enable them to show that information in the search result.
You can use a free tool like the Google Structured Data Markup Helper to make sure you’re including the code correctly.
Build Relationships With Guest Blogging And Partnerships
One way to build your brand and increase your website traffic is through links. When you partner with other sites and contribute high-quality content to their platform, they’ll want to link back to your site. This is known as guest blogging, and it’s one of the best ways to get natural, contextual links back to your site.
These links are especially helpful because they are less likely to get your site penalized by Google. Another great way to build relationships and links is with strategic partnerships. This can be with other businesses in your industry or companies that have large followings.
You can reach out to these companies and offer to write an article for their blog or contribute to their digital publication. You should also ask these companies if you can include a link back to your site in your article.
Optimize Your Website For SEO
While guest blogging and partnerships can help drive more traffic to your site, optimizing your site for SEO Partners will help visitors find your site in the first place.
There are multiple ways to optimize your site for search, but some of the most important ones are to make sure your title tag is accurate and descriptive, include your keyword in the header of your page, and make sure your page is easily scannable so Google can understand what your page is about.
For example, if you’re selling iPhone cases, make sure your title tag includes the words “iPhone cases” and that you use the words “iPhone cases” in the header of your page. You can also use Google’s search suggestions to help you decide how to title your page. Your page should also be easy to scan; use bullet points to break up your content and make it easy to read.
You can also optimize your website for SEO through content. Google looks for websites that are high-quality and has said that fresh content is one of the best ways to rank higher. Aim to publish new articles or blog posts once a week and make sure that your website’s content is longer than 700 words.
This isn’t an exact number, but research has shown that longer content tends to perform better.
Update Your Website’s Content
Along with publishing new content, you’ll also want to make sure that your old content is up-to-date. Google looks for fresh content, but they also want to make sure that it’s accurate. If you haven’t updated your site recently, it might not appear as high on search results because it’s out-of-date.
For example, if you update your blog post about how to use Google Analytics, but you keep your old blog post in the search results, that might lead people to incorrect information. This can lead to your site getting fewer visitors over time because people are clicking on your outdated content.
To make sure that your old content is updated, you can use the Google Alerts tool to get alerts whenever your blog posts are mentioned online. You can also use a website like Feedly to stay up-to-date on your industry and see what else is being shared online.
Conclusion
Your website is the first impression that potential customers get of your business, so it’s important to make sure that it’s appealing to both humans and robots.
When creating your site, make sure that the layout is simple, the navigation is easy to understand, and that it’s easy to read. Google also looks for websites that are mobile-friendly, so make sure your site loads quickly and is easily accessed from any device.
You can also improve your website’s SEO ranking by making sure that your title tag is descriptive and that your content is easy to scan.
Finally, you should make sure to update your website’s content to keep it current. Your website is your biggest asset when it comes to marketing your business online, so it’s important to keep it in good shape.
Conclusion
Now that you know the basics of how Google ranks websites and what you can do to improve your website’s ranking, it’s time to put these tips into action. The good news is that most of these tips are easy and don’t require a lot of time or money to implement.
Start by making sure your website is well-designed and easy to use, and then focus on creating high-quality content that will help your site stand out from the competition.
