How To Increase Your SEO On Google

Most people who use search engines don’t go past the first page of results. So, if a website doesn’t rank highly enough, it misses out on potential leads and increased traffic. Therefore, it’s essential for anybody with an online presence to learn search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to increase Google rankings and get their content, products, or services to the top of the relevant search results. This ensures that a business is on the radar of its target market. Some basic techniques include creating high-quality content, building backlinks, researching relevant keywords, optimizing pages, and fixing site performance.

Google Has The Answers

If you’re just starting to apply SEO and you’re wondering where to begin, the best place to look for answers is Google itself—and we’re not talking about Googling “how to improve SEO on Google” (though there are answers there, too).

Try Googling the product, service, or topic that you want to rank for, and examine the hits that appear on the first page. You’ll find that these pages are quite similar, which signals that they have the characteristics that Google is looking for to deem it relevant, authoritative, and high-quality. 

In other words, their characteristics make them worthy of the top rankings. Break down the components common to each one and, with a little bit of research to back it up, apply the techniques to your own pages.

Now you might be wondering, “How long does it take for SEO to work?” It typically takes anywhere between three to twelve months to see results, even longer for high-traffic keywords. But SEO is a cumulative strategy. Once you practice it persistently, it should show you consistent results in the long term.

How To Increase Your SEO On Google

SEO has many moving parts, and setting a good foundation for it (i.e., having the basics down) is key to ensuring that all your practices yield results. Here are some ways to increase SEO on Google that you can start immediately:

Help Google Understand Your Site

Google must be able to understand your site to “crawl” it for the keywords you want to rank for. You can do this by creating a sitemap, organizing your site’s hierarchies, and making full use of metadata such as titles, descriptions, and keywords. Once your site is crawled it will start to be indexed for different search queries. 

Monitor Technical SEO

If you Google something and the top result brings you to a site that’s buggy or returns an error, you’d be unsatisfied—and Google knows this. So, it makes sure that the sites it recommends are in tip-top shape. That’s why it’s important to make sure that your site is fully optimized on the technical side, as it will increase your chances of being pulled up to the top of the search results. Some signs of a well-optimized website include:

● Fast loading speeds

● A responsive web server

● No website issues or errors

● A mobile-friendly interface

● No intrusive pop-ups

Master Your On-Page SEO

On-page SEO is the practice of optimizing your web pages for users and search engines. Common techniques include:

● Adding proper headings - using H1 for titles, H2 and H3 for subtitles, etc.

● Making the most out of your keywords - mentioning keywords (and other related phrases) enough

● Optimizing URLs - using short but relevant URLs that include your keywords

● Using internal and external links - to prove your site’s authority and to connect it with other related content

● Optimizing titles and descriptions - using metadata, alternative tags, etc.

Create High-Quality And Optimized Content

One important aspect of SEO is content. To rank higher in Google, you must create high-quality content that people want to click on and that other sites want to link back to. In relation to this, you must also use or produce easily shareable content such as images, videos, infographics, etc., that are similarly optimized in the way written content is (e.g., keywords are relevant, descriptions are added, etc.).

Can Anyone Do SEO?

There are so many aspects to SEO that it can be intimidating. And while it does delve into the technical stuff, it’s not as complex as many people assume. The basics of SEO are simple and achievable; and if you want to get into the more advanced techniques you can learn how to become an SEO specialist. For starters, though, getting the foundations down-pat, which you can do by taking courses, learning from mentors, or getting hands-on experience, can already make a difference in how well your site performs on Google.