There have been plenty of changes to SEO recently, but knowing how to rank on Google is still as important as ever. The basics remain the same in terms of the text you provide and its value, but the way Google places value on the content is different.
Make sure your content has value
Let’s start with the obvious: you need to create valuable content. You can write about the same topics as other people in your niche, but you need to inject your own personality: give it a unique spin.
See what topics are working well for competitors and decide what you can add to the conversation. Keyword research is essential for website content optimisation, as this is how users organically find you. However, you should write mainly with the user in mind and supplement this with keywords. Providing useful, insightful content is your top priority, so this should be your focus.
Always put the user first
Website content optimisation is for both search engines and users. For example, meta tags help people to know whether they should click on your page, so make them useful and relevant.
Similarly, make sure your content is on-topic and that it’s what you feel the user will actually need. Although you might consider talking about related topics of interest, it’s probably better to keep things laser focused on one specific point.
Add internal links that guide users to other pages where they can get extra information. This is a far more effective way of improving their knowledge without things getting messy. An added benefit is that internal links do wonders for SEO!
Improve your website’s technical health
Creating valuable content means nothing if your website lacks structure, or if it’s slow and lacking functionality. Keep things updated for usability and security purposes, and perform regular audits on your site to make sure it’s working properly.
For example, you should identify and address broken links or find any bottlenecks for loading speed. There are plug-ins you can use for site auditing, or you can outsource to an agency for this.
Generate shares and links
Organic traffic is boosted by backlinks and shares to your content. Start with valuable, insightful information and find ways to get links from other sites. This is one of the key ways to rank on Google: you can only do so much without it.
Sharing your content on social media is a good first step, but this should be supplemented with backlinks.
What is a backlink on a website?
A backlink on a website is when an external, unrelated website links to your content. For example, if you run a cleaning website, you might get quoted in an article about carpet cleaning tips.
Backlinks earned through valuable content are the most powerful approach to ranking. There are different ways you can generate backlinks, such as having prominently placed content that’s worth referencing. However, you can also use third party sites where journalists look for quotes on specific subjects.
Always stay up-to-date
Google is always updating its ranking algorithm. One of the most impactful was the Helpful Content Update of 2022, which almost completely changed how websites were ranked and gutted the visitor counts of thousands of websites in a matter of weeks. Reason enough to stay up-to-date with Google’s changes!
Knowing what’s coming means you can adapt and refresh your content to keep it relevant and valuable. Having the upper hand on this can help you creep up the rankings while your competitors are still reeling from the changes.
All these elements are necessary if you want to know how to improve search ranking on Google. While some are relatively easy, things like website updates can be quite complicated and time consuming. This is why it’s worth outsourcing to a digital marketing company.
Experts in website content optimisation, Page1 can help push you up the Google rankings organically through valuable content. Get in touch to see how we can help.
