Search engines are truly some of the most interesting creations of the last thirty years. With everyone placing content left, right, up, and down, there’s bound to be more than one topic a person is looking for. Not only that but to have those same topics coupled with just as many options to have their questions answered sounds dizzying to say the least. It makes attempting to get content of your own being recognized in a sea of searches seem like an impossible task. For every keyword you post, there will be multiple results for it that will show up on someone’s search engine results page or SERP. Therein lies the question businesses upon businesses have asked since SERPs were coined, how could yours be one of the many that do?
Whether you’re starting a new business or trying to rebrand your old one, anyone looking into SERPs and online marketing should prioritize understanding their niche. What people are looking for can be found in your content, but you need to have as much control over your content as you can. Control isn’t just knowing the ins and outs of your content, but also knowing how to optimize it enough for Google and other search engines to acknowledge its existence. If you acknowledge what Google’s algorithm needs to promote your business, then you should acknowledge that your content could be one of the first few that show up on somebody’s SERP. In this article, you will learn what criteria Google is searching for in regard to professionally optimized content and how you can apply it.
Table of Contents
Begin with Site Ranking
So, you want your business to appear on Google? Not just anywhere, though. The place you want for your website to appear on is the first page. Obviously, right? Well, here’s the important part. For whatever keyword you are basing your article on, make sure it appears in your title tag. As obvious as it may be, there are nuances to Google’s first page. There are several parts that make up a whole. Part of that whole are title tags being one of if not the first thing search engines will identify when displaying search results.
The world of search engines is in all intents and purposes, a popularity contest. Consider site ranking as a measurement of said popularity. For those who want to win that contest, you’ll have to give search engines a valid reason to issue you a throne alongside the metaphorical round SEO table. For what reason should you have a spot that they have had for so long?
Importance of Long-Tail Keywords
One way you can do this is through what is known as long-tail keywords. Similar to their counterpart, long-tail keywords are words or phrases that you enter into a search bar, with more specific inclusions on the tail end of their keyword. Hence the name, long-tail keywords. One thing about SERPs’ popularity contests, is that the keyword you might have in mind has most likely been through the minds of millions more. Although this may sound hypocritical in that this article just asked you to ‘win’ that contest. The way you will have to do it is by being unique.
The application of long-tail keywords allows you to do just that due to a much lower search volume. It is key to have specific words be attributed to your content for your content to show up as the best results for somebody else. One other advantage to these specific words is that you could add words that are semantically adjacent to whichever the content is that you produce. These specific words or “strategic synonyms” are latent semantic indexing keywords, which can further streamline what it is you excel at.
Next, Use Links
In addition to keywords, you must constantly be on the lookout for ways to revise your writing style. Coherency makes it so any viewer would be able to pick up your article and read over it without any issues. What could assist in this would be your website’s design. How user-friendly and navigable is your website? These are questions you should have in the back of your mind at all times. You should also include internal and external links within your posts. Most of this is completed by enhancing your on-page SEO. Everything you do to improve your website’s SEO can have a huge impact on your content.
Take Advantage of Blogs
Of course, writing content has a huge impact on how frequently yours appears on someone’s SERP. So, it’s best to get acquainted with how these search results operate. For instance, blogs are a sure-fire way to boost the likelihood of your business appearing in the first few on a Google search page. They are a form of authoritative content. This is because blogs are great for demonstrating, explaining, and informing the target audience of a particular subject. How-to or DIY (do-it-yourself) content usually excels because the information they provide is timeless.
Other Options for Increasing Google Ranking
In the previous sections, there were a few ways to increase site ranking organically through on-page SEO. There are also ways to gain traction through paying for services to assist you. Just as there is on-page SEO, there’s off-page SEO. This is loosely defined as what you don’t provide on your web pages like articles outside of your own website.
Google Sitemap
Another helpful asset in your world of high site ranking would be a Google sitemap. Directories are great when maneuvering through a new mall. Well, in a way, having a layout to your domain is no different. Incorporating one on your page, whether it’s old or new, could be an indispensable tool for clients to link to other aspects of your website that they might not have even known. If you want to have your business’s Google traffic increase, you will have to understand the criteria that Google would need to promote it. Something that people prefer when it comes to search results would be what’s easily understandable and that goes in-depth with the description of the topic.
Metadata
Metadata can go a long way when it comes to increasing your business’s Google traffic. It provides data about data. This is everything ranging from title tags and keywords to descriptions and events. Let’s take a moment to talk about descriptions, however. Through what is called meta descriptions, you’re essentially divulging information about your article, but in a bite-sized format for people to scan as they scroll through the SERP. If what you can say can be summarized in roughly 155 words, you will likely have a better time getting people to click on it.
Social Media and Mobile Devices
What it takes for your content to be the first site is being responsive to all other platforms. Social media is one of the premier avenues for increased traffic on Google. Why? Because the ability to form relationships send information, network, create, collaborate, and share has shot to exponential levels in the last decade. Though we are not just looking at what they offer to a budding online business, but more so what people usually view websites on. Not everyone is going to have a laptop. In fact, in a recent study, 55% of consumers own phones over the reported 42% that have desktops. With so many people owning phones, the necessity to optimize your website for phone usage is high as well.
Choose SEO Design Chicago as Your First Step
There are many ways one can reach the top of the Google rankings. Though it is not an easy road to reach, especially if you are by yourself. No one person without a dedicated team with tools, rations, and gear can scale Mt. Everest. Though it is not impossible, it is, however, improbable to be on your own. At SEO Design Chicago, experts have helped new theoretical climbers scale the mock mountain and doing so with you is something that can be done.
FAQ:
- What are search engine results pages?
- Why are long-tail keywords important?
- Why should my website have a blog?
- How many people use mobile devices?
- How does metadata affect Google business ranking?
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