Three Important Elements in Increasing Your Website’s Google Ranking
Have you ever received spam emails from so-called “SEO gurus” promising to get your website to the top of Google? I’m sure you are getting it. And not just once, but every time. I get more than my fair share of those emails, too, believe it or not.
Typically, these emails discuss everything you are doing wrong online and how they can miraculously get your website to Google’s first page in 30 days.
If something looks too good to be believed true, it probably is. ESPECIALLY when it comes to SEO!
It will take time to move your site up the Google rankings.
Everyone would be on the main page if that were the case. However, three significant criteria influence your website’s online rating. Your site may be able to reach the first page of Google in as little as three months, depending on the city you serve and what your local competitors are doing with their SEO efforts. However, the reality is that it frequently takes longer.
So, where should you begin? Here are the three most important elements to consider while trying to climb Google’s ranks. You’ll see your site advance up the ranks and be in front of more clients seeking your services online if you use these SEO techniques frequently.
Here are the three most essential factors in determining your website’s Google ranking!
Content that is both authenticated and of high quality…and plenty of it!
When you search for something on Google, you anticipate a list of related websites to appear, connecting you to the information you want. Whether you’re looking for a local auto repair business or a recipe for BBQ wings, you can be confident that your Google search will produce results.
Google manages this by directing us to websites with a lot of content relevant to our queries.
When you indicate to Google that your company is an official source for your industry, they will want to place you in front of clients looking for your services.
You may indicate this to Google by providing a LOT of high-quality material on your website. If your home page only includes one paragraph about what you do, Google will not consider your website to be one that can answer questions or provide information that people are looking for.
As you can see, the website to the right includes a lot of information about concrete terraces, stamped concrete, concrete countertops, and other topics. Even though the company has been a concrete professional for over 50 years, the first site (on the left) does not reveal that the company has any precise information.
Because it is the most relevant site to someone searching for concrete services in Seattle, Google will rank the site to the right higher in the rankings than the site to the left. This website demonstrates that they know what they’re talking about and have a wealth of concrete knowledge.
Why is content so important to Google?
Websites are classified by their content. Anyone can create a website with a few images. But there’s a simple explanation why Google favors sites with authoritative content.
People will continue to use Google to connect online users to sites that match what they’re looking for. Web-users would quit and go to another site if Google didn’t match them with the most relevant site to their search (like Bing). Because Google earns money when people use its search engine, they will continue to provide the greatest matches to their search results.
Tips for Creating Content
- Aim for at least 1000 words on your main page, i.e., Home. The final goal is to reach a word count of around 2000 words. Fill it with useful information and demonstrate your knowledge of your field!
- On all of your inner pages, aim for a minimum of 500 words.This applies to your service pages, about pages, and other similar pages.
- Always create a separate page for every service you provide. You can make extra room for content by dividing all of your services onto their sites. You should strive for 500 words on each page once more.
- Are you feeling overwhelmed by the amount of content you need to create? Hire a professional and experienced copywriter to take care of it!
- Include strong keywords in your writing. If you are a concrete contractor in Houston, people are likely to search for “concrete businesses in Houston,” so include that word, as well as others like “Houston Concrete” or “Concrete Repair in Houston,” in your content.
Citations
Websites having both strong content and strong citations are generally ranked better than those missing it.
So, what is a citation, exactly?
In simple terms, a citation is an online reference to your company. Your NAP (name of business, address, and phone number) is included in the reference. Consider it a virtual Yellow Pages listing. It’s better if you have a lot of these citations!
These recommendations also have an impact on your company’s position in the Google Map Pack.
Obtaining citations is entirely free! You can acquire a citation for your business on sites like Yelp, Foursquare, Google, Bing, etc.
However, to outrank your competition, you need to have more recommendations. Typically, this entails receiving between 50 and 350 citations. And, as you can understand, this takes a long time.
The more citations you have, the more likely it is that people will search for you online. The more individuals who find you on the internet, the more calls you’ll receive and the more money you’ll make!
Back links
This is a term you might have heard before too. But I don’t want to bore you with a lengthy description of what it is. A back link is just a connection from another website to your own.
When another website connects to you, it’s like obtaining a vote in the eyes of search engines like Google. The more the number of votes, the better.
However, not all votes are equal.
Getting a link from an authentic site is worth a lot more than getting a link from a non-authoritative site if you want to increase your SEO rating. You also don’t want sites related to pornography, gambling, or other illegal activities linked to your company’s website. (This may seem self-evident, but there are a number of shady “SEO experts” out there who have harmed business rankings by obtaining bad back links…)
It’s crucial to check your competitors and their back links. To outclass them, you’ll need to earn more high-quality back links than they have. When a competitor has 100 low-quality back links, it may only need 1 or 2 high-quality back links to outrank them.
Let us wrap things up.
Everyone will give you a different theory about how to rank on Google. You may be told that you need to improve your page loading speed or react to a new Google algorithm to improve your SEO rating… However, when it comes to ranking, these details are insignificant.
These three rating factors have held for all of my blue-collar clients. You will see substantial progress in advancing the Google results by creating a lot of authoritative material, listing your site online through citations, and obtaining quality connections from other websites to yours.
SEO is an investment that pays off. You will experience a considerable boost in calls and make more money for your business after reaching page 1 of Google, which is always a good thing!
Are you considering improving your website’s ranking and attract more local customers? That is self-evident.