Back in the day (the late 90s), there were dozens of search engines and lists. I remember when Yahoo first started and then Google came along. Yahoo was a list or directory where you could search by categories. However, with Google, you could search the whole World Wide Web. Back then, you had to register your website with every single list, directory, and search engine. Now, the search engine finds you and you want to be found when someone is searching for what you have to offer.
Google still has 87% of searches in North America. Google is looking for fresh relevant content written for the human reader in natural language.
Google wants fresh, quality, helpful, relevant content written for the human reader in natural language = Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
What does it take to rank on Google?
But what does it take to get people to click on YOUR website’s link and not a competitor’s?
Key Tips to Rank on Google:
- Page/User Experience – Core Web Vitals on Mobile & Desktop!
- User Interface (UI)
- User Experience (UX)
- Easy to navigate
- Internal links
- Internal search
- Don’t make people think!
- Don’t make people work for what you want them to do!
- High-Quality Content
- Do not forego quality for quantity
- Create 1 good, quality blog article a week rather than more frequent, sloppy, low-quality ones.
- Same for videos and graphics!
- This is no time to be lazy.
- If you’re going to do it, do it well, or don’t do it at all.
- Google notices bad grammar, spelling, and styling issues.
- On-Page Optimization
- Title tag – under 60 characters – “Home” is not the name of your business!
- H1 Heading – only in the title of the page – what it is that you do – NOT “Welcome”!
- H2, H3, H4 Sub-headings –
- put your major keywords in headings
- put the question you are answering in an H2 tag
- Bullets – easy for the human to read
- Text content – written for the human reader but keyword-centric
- Guide the visitor to convert
- Page text should match the title/headline
- Meta Description – 1-2 sentences describing the page – it’s what comes up in searches and what helps a searcher determine if you have what they are seeking. Keep it at 160 characters or the text will get cut off.
- Graphics – with descriptions in the “alt text” box.
- Blog Tags – relevant keywords or phrases
- Blog Categories – index topics – don’t use “uncategorized” ever
- Helpful Content – this means, not spammy, giving advice, solving problems, answering questions, relieve your target market’s pain points.
- Show off you knowledge, experience – this is the new E in E-E-A-T.
- Internal Links – links to related content within your site or blog
- External Links – link to other peoples’ related or quoted content and to your social media profiles
- Off-Page SEO (backlinks) – AKA Link Building
- Show off your expertise
- What about guest posting? — Guest posting doesn’t work for SEO, but it works for sales — only because you are putting your expertise in front of a target market niche. For instance, a detox spa writing about the benefits of detoxing on a Chiropractor’s blog. It also drives direct traffic to your website when people click on the link.
- Social Media – Every time you share a link from your website it creates a legitimate backlink.
- Check out your competition to see what they are doing. Then, do it more often and better.
- Google Business Profile – this is for any type of business, whether brick-and-mortar local or not.
- Check your Analytics at the end of each month to see what’s working and not working.
When to Pay for SEO
If after 3 months of doing it all organically (non-paid), you’re not seeing an increase in website traffic and/or conversions, it may be time to consider paying an SEO agency that specializes in technical SEO. Especially if you are in a highly competitive field or industry and you’re up against some formidable competitors. If you do hire someone, make sure they report every month. Also, check your Google Analytics yourself to verify that they are truthful in reporting. In addition, make sure that they are providing good, quality content, not low-quality articles packed with keywords and ignoring proper grammar. Beware of companies from outside the U.S. If you have a problem, you have no recourse. If they are in the U.S. and have a problem, you can contact the BBB.
Struggling with SEO?
Yes, keeping up with all of Google’s algorithm changes is challenging, to say the least! However, with a properly set-up website, a good content marketing strategy, and some persistence and diligence, you can rank higher on the Google search results page.
