SEO might seem like a complicated subject, and it can be if you let it.
It doesn’t have to be, though.
The basics of search engine optimisation are actually quite simple. There’s a lot to it in terms of the smaller details, but many websites have ranked highly by just following the general rules we’ll cover in this article. You could spend hours tweaking every little piece of the code, but the difference it will make is tiny compared to the impact the basics will make.
If you focus on the bigger picture of providing a great user experience, you won’t have to worry about the smaller technical aspects. Google updates their algorithm often, and this can affect the technical details that you might have spent hours trying to optimise. Their algorithm is aimed at giving users exactly what they are searching for, so if you keep in line with their policy, you’re likely to succeed.
Here are the five most important factors toward getting those number one rankings for your site. These are aimed at staying at the top, instead of just getting there temporarily and dropping off as soon as Google updates their algorithm.
1. Make Your Website Easy to Find
We’re going to start with labelling your website so that both search engines and visitors know exactly what it’s about. To rank high in the search results, your site should clearly state what it’s about and what the purpose of it is. This means making your navigation and text as straightforward as possible so that people can find what they need as quickly as possible.
The first thing you should do is make sure that your brand is obvious and consistent throughout every page of your site. You want people to know who you are and how to contact you. This also means including all of your relevant contact details in the footer, as well as a contact page for ease of use.
Next, you will need a navigation bar with links to all your main pages on it. This makes the user experience a lot simpler and more useful. You will also want to include a sitemap somewhere on your website so that visitors can easily find any page they are looking for, as well as helping out the search engine crawlers.
Another effective tactic to use is to link between the pages of your site anywhere it may seem natural. This could be in the content of your blog posts to connect them together tightly, or bold call-to-actions linking to your contact page when it fits in with the text. This makes it easy to navigate for both Google and visitors.
Finally, you’ll want to label up your pages with meta-data – this includes both title and meta tags. This affects how your site shows up on Google and will get you found a lot more easily. These descriptions should be accurate and include any keywords that you feel are relevant.
2. Set up a Blog and Post to It Often
A blog is a lot more important than most people think. It’s where visitors can go to find more about your business, and it can help you a lot in the search results too. Anything related to your business or industry can be written about on there. Relevant news, tips or guides for beginners, company updates, anything like that. Just start thinking of categories you might be able to write about.
To get the most out of this blog, you’ll need to create a voice and personality for your brand, and focus on the quality of your articles. If you want to do well in terms of SEO and get more pages ranking on Google, you’ll need to incorporate some relevant keywords in your copy, titles, and headings. You should also be adding images and videos wherever possible to entertain readers and give search engines even more to pick up on.
Another great way to rank more pages on Google is to base your articles on the answers to potential customer questions. This means that pages on your blog will be likely to come up in the search results whenever someone looks for the answer to a relevant question.
3. Start Building Backlinks
If you want any pages of your site to appear high up on Google for even remotely competitive keywords, you’ll need to have links from other sites pointing to yours. The only thing to watch out for is to make sure that you don’t get the attention of any spammy sites. Getting links from irrelevant or low-quality websites can lead to a penalty from Google, which will cause your site to drop in search rankings or disappear from the search results altogether.
The safest and most powerful way to build links is generally going to be from high-quality content. If you’re creating content that actually gives value and isn’t solely aimed at ranking for specific keywords, then you’re much more likely to get the right kind of attention. Not only will great content get you links from credible blogs and websites, it’s also going to build brand awareness and send more traffic to your site.
There are so many types of content that you can create to build your backlink portfolio. A few of our favourites include guest blogging, infographics, and lengthy articles (1000+ words). Check out this article for more.
4. Spread the Word on Social Media
Although Google has denied it, numerous experiments have been done proving that social signals have a positive effect on SEO rankings. You’ll want to make a start on social media marketing if you want to build a buzz around your brand and get those all-important likes and shares. As long as you consistently keep a strong presence on social media, you’ll start to see a boost in rankings on whatever pages you post there.
Get your profiles set up on all the major social networks. Make sure you’re on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn at the bare minimum. Once you’ve done this, you can start to share your content across your social media pages and connect with the big fish in your industry. Make sure that you keep in contact with anyone who is interacting with your page and posts, this means always replying to comments and messages. You will also want to post often to keep a strong presence on each of the platforms. This means at least once a day if you want to make the most of social media.
5. Get Your Business Listed in Local Business Directories
This is essential if you run a local business, but has many benefits for anyone looking to build and online presence and boost their SEO efforts. The main ones to look out for are TripAdvisor, Yelp, and any other credible directories (especially industry-specific ones). You will need to claim your account and verify it with them, either by phone or post. This should be the same information as whatever is on your site – your address, name, phone number, etc.
It is also going to help you out considerably if you can get a solid flow of positive reviews. You can’t just go and ask or bribe customers for positive reviews, as this is usually against the rules, but there are ways to encourage people to leave good feedback. The better your ratings are on these sites, the more likely you are to get visits from these sites, and the better you will look on Google’s search results.
If you can implement all five steps of this strategy, and stay consistent with it over time, you’re bound to see a boost in rankings that will stick. These methods are all approved of by Google, so you won’t be risking any penalties from them like some other guides might cause you to. This five-step strategy is completely customer-focused and is 100% whitehat. If you make the people happy, you make Google happy, and if you make Google happy, then you’ll get more customers and the cycle will repeat continually.