In the world of search, the top spot is no easy feat. Google is constantly rewarding the best websites with higher search visibility. You can work to ensure your website appears higher in search results with the help of a diverse range of strategies.
From content to technical to geographical factors, there’s a lot that determines your Google ranking. But no matter where your site appears in search results, if you’re not showing keywords that users are likely to type into Google, your content will be overlooked.
To improve your Google ranking and maximize the potential of your content, you need to have an understanding of the intricacies of the search algorithm. Read on for more about Google’s ranking algorithm and how you can raise your site’s visibility in search.
What Is Google’s Search Algorithm?
If you’re a marketer, you’ve probably heard the term “search engine optimization” (SEO) bandied about quite a bit. For those who aren’t familiar, SEO is the practice of working to improve the visibility of your website in search results.
In fact, SEO has become such a big deal, you may have even heard stories about how companies lost customers because their sites weren’t optimized for search.
The algorithm is the set of rules that govern how information is processed in an automated way. The term algorithm can be used to describe the way search engines work to organize web pages.
How Does Google Rank Websites?
The search engine’s ranking algorithm works to determine which pages will end up on users screens when they search for a given query.
What makes a site appear higher in search results? There are several factors at play, but two of the most important are relevance and quality.
- The relevance of a page is determined by how well the page answers the query. Google takes into account more than 99% of all searches and the most common queries in order to calculate the relevance of a page.
- The quality of a page is determined by how much of the page is relevant and how trustworthy it appears to be. Google’s quality evaluation also takes into account the popularity and quality of other pages that are relevant to the query.
How To Increase Your Google Ranking
While there are many things you can do to improve your Google ranking, one of the most important is choosing the right keywords and getting your content to rank for those terms. When it comes to choosing keywords and optimizing your content, you have a few options.
- Keyword research: Choosing the right keywords for your site is essential for success in search. So, before writing a single word of your content, it can pay to do some research on your competition.
- Relevancy: Rather than worrying about how your content will rank in the top spots, think about how you want your site to look in the general search results.
- Impersonation: Playing with your keywords and tags can help you get a more human image while still retaining your brand identity.
Google’s Keyword Analysis
Another way to improve your Google ranking is by using Google’s keyword analysis. This tool allows you to see the exact keywords that have been showing up on your competitors’ pages and determine what you should aim for instead.
To get started, first head to Keyword Planner and enter your website’s address, select your country and click Start. This will show you a list of your current top keywords, their search volume, and any other information relevant to the page.
Next, you want to work on improving your current top keywords and adding new ones until you’ve reached a total of around 100. Finally, add your new keywords and check how they rank on Google.
Boost Your Google Ranking With On-Site Optimization
When it comes to boosting your visibility in Google’s search results, the most important thing to remember is that the search engine sees your content and your site as a whole. Here are some things you can do on your site to improve your Google ranking.
- Optimize your Meta tags: Your meta tags are likely the first things Google sees when it crawls your site. And, because they contain important keywords, they have a big impact on your Google ranking.
- Build your site: Google considers your site’s technical quality when ranking websites. So, if you want to rank higher, make sure that your site has no errors and loads quickly.
- Keep your site up-to-date: While Google doesn’t want pages that are outdated, it does want sites that are current.
- Improve your links: Linking to high-quality sites helps your page rank because it shows the search engine that you’re relevant and trustworthy.
Google’s Off-Site Analysis
Beyond your site’s technical factors, Google also looks at off-site factors for your Google ranking. This includes other pages that link to your site, other sites that link to those pages, and the pages themselves.
To determine the relevancy and quality of these pages, Google crawls and analyzes the links pointing to your site. Along with looking at the content of the pages, this enables Google to determine the links’ impact on your Google ranking.
In the end, the best way to improve your Google ranking is by choosing the right keywords and using Google’s keyword analysis and off-site factors to judge the relevancy and quality of the pages linking to your site.
