Helpful Website Tips for Better Google Ranking

Did you know that “Google” is now a verb? No lie. Dicitonary.com defines the verb: “to search the internet for information about a person, topic, etc.”

Well, it’s no wonder that everyone wants to get on Google’s good side! When the search engine is a synonym for the act of searching itself, you best be in good standing with Google.

Ranking well on the search engine’s result page is an art form and a blessing if your business is on the first page. Google protects their algorithm religiously, leaking out information here and there which the SEO community jumps on and thrives on. As the algorithm gets smarter and is continuously updated and worked on, there are a few things that remain the same. Call them staples if you will, for how to optimize your website for search.

Here are some tried and true tips to help you optimize your website so that you rank better in search engine results:

Keywords

The lot of search engine optimization begins with the content that is on your site. Keywords are KEY because when Google’s search bots scan your pages, the words you use indicate what the page is about. When writing your content, your title and the body text should have your keywords sprinkled throughout in addition to synonymous terms or other phrases that relate back to whatever keyword you are targeting. It’s important to remember that your copy is for PEOPLE, not for search engines. And this leads us to our next point about…

Quality Content

Always write for people! Google’s engineers have designed their algorithm to detect when someone is trying to con the system. They can tell when your copy is littered with keywords for the sole purpose of ranking and they will penalize you accordingly. Google aims to provide its users with the best search experience ever by providing search results that truly answer a user’s query. By crafting high quality content that addresses a question and contributes to collective knowledge, you get a thumbs up from the search engine. Produce content of value and don’t plagiarize because Google identifies this as duplicate content which will negatively impact your webpage in search results.  

External Links

External links back to your website from reputable websites are like votes in favor of your credibility. When you have links back to your site, Google looks at this and sees that you are legit. Given that the world wide web is a collective community of web pages and links, the more links you have from trustworthy sources, the more Google sees your contribution to the web and rewards it. Linking to other websites that also provide relevant and informative content is also good because it shows Google that you are an active member of the web sharing and sourcing information from established and credible sites. 

Internal Linking

Linking internally is another great practice to employ to drive traffic throughout your website. When you’re crafting content, think about previous content you’ve created that explores in greater depth a point you are discussing. Or if you have a webpage that provides contextual information that may be relevant to your readers, use an internal link to direct them to that page.

Social Signals

Although Google has never confirmed the impact of social signals, there’s no denying that having a presence on social media is huge for building brand awareness and engagement. Claiming and maintaining your social profiles allows you to have different channels for potential customers to find you and your website. It also provides backlinks back to your website and is a means for you to proliferate your messaging and share it in a viral form.

Clean URLs

Your URLs should read clean without having numerous numbers or meaningless characters included in them. If anything, they should contain the keywords that you are targeting.

Publishing Consistency

Crafting high quality content on a consistent basis gives Google the signal that they should crawl your site more often and as such, index what you produce regularly. By publishing frequently, you are contributing to the pool of information that search engines can source from and at the same time, giving your readers more wonderful, relevant and engaging content.