Google Search Ranking - Not As Easy As It Used To Be
Google search ranking back in the day was simple. I remember there were times that I put a keyword into my page and within a few hours, my site ranked at the top of Google. Those were the days.
Now, to compete in an ever growing website market, you need to be a little more savvy these days.
STEP 1 - Choose Keywords
Choose your keywords wisely. Not just one keyword but a “string”. For example, let’s say you want to specifically market a pen. You know your keywords will have pen but what are the chances of you google search ranking with only that word. So let’s say you’re marketing black fountain pens. Use “black fountain pens” as your string. You can also go to Google keyword planner and get lots of ideas for different related keywords. You’ll also see how many times they get looked up on Google each month.
STEP 2 - Mobile Is Important for Google Search Ranking
More and more people are doing searches on their mobile phones. We check while we wait for coffees and go up and down elevators. Make sure that your website is responsive and has a good mobile view. The search engines LOVE mobile activity and SEO is prioritizing mobile website views over anything right now. Make sure your site is optimized!
STEP 3 - Need For Speed in Google Search Ranking
Have you ever typed or clicked on a link and then waited more than 3 seconds for it to load? Most people don’t even wait that long. So if you’re site is not up to speed you could be losing thousands of dollars in revenue.
There are a few things you can do on your own if you have a WordPress website. I personally recommend the SMUSH plugin that will optimize & compress your images. This is a free plugin that can be upgraded to Pro. Even their free version will do wonders for speeding up your website.
A great way to check the speed of your website is by visiting PageSpeed Insights to get a good ideas of what’s going on with your website load speed.
STEP 4 - Link to Relevant Content
We were always told not to send somebody AWAY from your website but Google doesn’t want anything to do with that! If you want to have your Google Search Ranking move up then you’re going to have to link to other websites and information that is similar to your niche.
Sometimes, it’s very hard to do, especially if this will lead to your prospects finding your competitors in a round about way. However, the more you do this, the more you’ll understand what a great community the internet can be and how other similar brands will have no problem swapping links and sharing the love. This will be exactly what you want because BACKLINKS are super important for your ranking.
STEP 5 - Site Health
Your site has to be consistently checked by doing a health check. This is why I love WordPress Health check. This is found in TOOLS > Site health. You need to make sure to stay on top of updating plugins, having the latest downloads and make sure there’s no critical issues with any of your pages or posts.
This is Just The Tip Of The Iceberg
Of course there is so much more to do when it comes to on-page and off-page SEO but hopefully this will give you a taste of what you need to do for Google search rankings and your journey to climb to the top!
If you would rather have somebody else do this for you, then be sure to contact us for a discussion on how we can help you.
Cheers,
Dean Ponak
