How To Improve Your Search Engine Rankings

Want To Improve Your Search Engine Rankings But Have No Idea Where To Start?

Ever wondered how certain websites magically appear at the top of your search results? That’s the wonder of SERP ranking. SERP stands for Search Engine Results Pages, and where a website lands on these pages can make a world of difference for businesses. It’s essentially the virtual real estate of the internet—a prime location means more visibility and potential customers, while a lower rank might mean getting lost in the online crowd. Understanding SERP ranking is like holding the key to unlocking online success. And it all comes down to working to improve your search engine rankings.

Ranking high on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) is a make-or-break deal for businesses and agencies. Organic traffic can account for the majority of leads that a company earns. Ranking high on SERPs means more potential for new customers, while lower rankings can mean the need to use paid ads.

But moving up in the SERP rankings is much easier said than done. With over a billion websites competing for the top spots, you need to play by the rules if you want to improve SERP rankings.

So How Can You Improve Your Search Engine Rankings?

Let’s face it, this is the burning question on every marketer’s mind. While Google sheds some light on factors influencing search pages, their algorithm remains a well-kept secret, which is what makes SEO so challenging. While there’s a general understanding of what boosts site rankings, there’s no foolproof recipe for success.

Elevating your SERP ranking involves maximising positive actions while steering clear of anything that could plummet you down the list. There’s a plethora of specific tips and considerations, but delving into each would create an endless list

Let’s make it a bit easier by considering the three primary categories of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and see how each plays a pivotal role:

On-page SEO: This focuses on optimising what you directly present on your website. It’s all about fine-tuning content, integrating keywords, and ensuring your page is search-friendly. The name says it all—it’s on the page!
Off-page SEO: Anything outside your website falls under this category. It includes securing backlinks, enhancing your domain rating, and getting other sites to feature your content.
Technical SEO: This involves tweaking how your website functions behind the scenes. It encompasses speeding up page loads, ensuring search engines index all your pages, and organising your website structure effectively.

Let’s delve into these fundamental pillars and uncover how you can optimise your content to skyrocket your business’s SERP rankings.

Most Search Engine Optimisers focus predominantly on on-page SEO as it offers complete control over their online material. There are a number of strategies you can use, and we recommend implementing all of them to effectively “cover all bases”. Although initially daunting, most optimisation tactics require an extra minute or two, eventually becoming ingrained habits.

Here are some things to focus on when considering on-page SEO

Improving Search Engine Rankings with On Page SEO

Understand Your Audience

It’s important to know who your customer and client base is, so that you understand their needs, preferences, and pain points. Use tools like Google Analytics, surveys, or social media insights to gather data, and don’t be afraid to ask your clients for feedback!

Keyword Research and Optimisation

Identify relevant keywords and incorporate them naturally into your content. Online Strategy Co uses Semrush for all keyword research, but there are cheaper resources out there – just beware that they might not be altogether accurate!! Sometimes a Semrush monthly subscription is worth it so you know you’re on track!

Understand Search Intent

Online search intent typically falls into four categories: commercial, informational, navigational, and transactional. When crafting a new blog post, enter your keyword in Google and observe the search results. Do you spot numerous how-to guides? Are there mentions of company names or event titles?

Tailoring your article’s style to match the search intent for a specific keyword is crucial. Google ranks articles at the top based on this intent. If users seek information, Google won’t suggest a company’s homepage. It’s vital to align your writing style with the established intent behind the keyword to optimise visibility and relevance.

Optimise Metadescriptions and Titles

Meta descriptions and titles serve as the initial information that Google assesses upon encountering a page, and they’re also what users view on their Google search results page.

When crafting your metadata, adhere to best practices for both meta descriptions and titles. Aim to incorporate your targeted keyword, preferably a long tail one, within 155 to 160 characters for meta descriptions.

For meta titles, include your keyword and maintain the title within 50 to 60 characters for optimal impact and visibility.Make sure to include your keywords and have a strategy about which words should go where (Online Strategy Co can help with this!)

Enhance Media and Image Optimisation

Incorporating media within an article is a smart move for both SERP rankings and reader engagement. Fortunately, optimising images, in particular, is quite straightforward. When optimising media and images, ensure you check these essential parameters:

- - - - Rename the file, incorporating the target keyword.
        
        Adjust image sizes to around 600 pixels wide.
        
        If images are excessively large, compress them.
        
        Include ALT text for improved accessibility.
        
        Craft a caption that complements the image.

Create High-Quality, Relevant Content

Develop content that directly addresses your audience’s queries or interests. We love high quality content marketing to get those clicks up! High-quality, comprehensive, and engaging content tends to perform better in SERPs. Blogs that explain products or services, and are relevant and reliable will go far in improving SERPs.

Optimise for Featured Snippets

Craft content that succinctly answers commonly asked questions within your niche. This increases the chances of appearing in the coveted “position zero” featured snippets. This is part of an amazing blog strategy!

Localised Content

If applicable, tailor your content for local audiences. Use location-specific keywords and create content that caters to local interests and needs. This will help with geo-location relevant SERP rankings!

Monitor and Analyse Performance

Regularly assess the performance of your content using tools like Google Search Console or other analytics platforms. Identify what works well and what needs improvement, then adjust your strategy accordingly.

Engage and Update

Foster engagement by encouraging comments, social shares, and backlinks. Update your content regularly to keep it fresh and relevant, which can positively impact its ranking.

Keep Your Content Fresh

One often underestimated tactic among marketing teams is consistently updating content, a powerful method for boosting SERP rankings. Not only does updating infuse newness into the page, but it also signals to Google that the information remains relevant and current.

In our fast-paced digital realm, information quickly becomes outdated. Demonstrating to Google that you regularly revise and refresh content earns you a nod of approval. We recommend revisiting brand content at least every six months to maintain its freshness. Remember, a complete overhaul isn’t necessary; simple tweaks or additional paragraphs can work wonders in keeping your content up-to-date and appealing to search engines.

Improving Search Engine Rankings through Off-Page SEO

Enhancing your SERP rankings isn’t solely about optimising your own content. On-page SEO is just a fraction of the puzzle; off-page strategies also wield considerable influence. Off-page SEO encompasses activities outside your website’s direct scope. Although you’re still crafting content, it won’t find its home on your site. The primary aim of off-page SEO is to bolster your website’s credibility further.

Consider Google’s E-E-A-T score, which stands for Experience, Expertise, Authority and Trustworthiness. These are the factors Google considers when deciding how to rank any website. While posting content improves expertise display, it leaves authority and trustworthiness unaddressed. Google evaluates A (Authority) and T (Trustworthiness) through Domain Authority (DA). DA, scored on a scale of 1-100, measures a site’s credibility. A fledgling company might boast a DA score below 10, while a well-established site could surpass 80 after a decade of posting.

Domain Authority significantly impacts SERP rankings. When two websites offer similar content, Google tends to favour the one with a higher domain rating. Consequently, most first-page Google content originates from sites boasting robust DA scores. Leveraging off-page SEO techniques is instrumental in augmenting both SERP rankings and DA scores.

Here are some Off Page SEO Tips to Try:

Boost Your Backlink Profile

Backlinks are the life force of online ventures. When one website links to another, it endorses and integrates links into its content, affirming the validity and expertise of the linked content. While guest posting is an avenue worth exploring, generating high-quality content remains the primary path to amassing more backlinks.

When individuals craft articles, they often scour for factual data, infographics, or stats to enrich their content. By conducting original research and creating unique facts, you establish yourself as a credible content source. As others reference and link to your material, the visibility of your links skyrockets.

Accumulating backlinks not only expands your link profile but also amplifies your authority score. Think of backlinks like a snowball effect—gathering the initial few may be challenging, but once the ball starts rolling, momentum propels it effortlessly downhill.

Guest posting emerges as a powerful method for garnering more backlinks. Engaging with various newspapers or niche-relevant company websites offers the chance to contribute content to their platforms.

Venturing beyond your own website might seem unconventional. However, diversifying across domains offers a slew of advantages:

Widening audience reach: Crafting top-notch content on external sites introduces you to a fresh audience segment. Your insights could captivate a brand-new set of readers beyond your typical sphere.
Elevating brand visibility: Guest posts play a pivotal role in elevating brand recognition. Sharing content across diverse platforms via guest posts extends your brand’s footprint, attracting potential leads.
Attracting diverse audiences: As your brand gains traction and reaches new corners, it magnetises a diverse audience, diversifying your content’s viewership.
Strengthening backlink profile: While steering clear of hard-selling, guest posts offer an avenue to embed at least one backlink. Actively seeking guest posting opportunities ensures a steady inflow of new backlinks to your website.

Harness the Power of Internal Linking

Internal linking, straddling both off-page and on-page strategies, stands somewhat apart. It involves connecting different posts within your created content. This practice aids search engines in comprehending the interconnections and relationships within your content, weaving a cohesive web of links that structures your site holistically.

Before hitting the publish button, it’s a quick yet beneficial practice to navigate through your page and incorporate a variety of internal links. While not classified as backlinks, these internal links play a pivotal role in link-related SEO strategies. A well-structured website, characterised by a network of interconnected links, often boasts a significantly higher domain authority rating than those lacking this critical element.

Improving Search Engine Rankings with Technical SEO

Technical SEO delves into the backend facets of your website. While on-page tactics focus on content, technical SEO revolves around optimising your website’s functionality. It encompasses aspects like structure, loading speed, indexing, and other backend intricacies. Surprisingly, even the swiftness of your website’s loading can substantially impact your SERP ranking.

As per Google, increasing a page’s load time from 1 second to 3 seconds can spike its bounce rate by approximately 32%. Users are impatient; they won’t wait for a sluggish site. Ensuring your website is technically optimised significantly heightens the likelihood of users clicking on your content and remaining on the page.

To ensure your site is flawlessly optimised, focus on these key pillars:

Rectify Indexing Errors

Indexing errors occur when search engines crawl your website and encounter various issues. It could be an inability to locate a specific page or confusion in indexing multiple links leading to the same destination.

Ensuring accurate indexing starts with having an XML sitemap embedded on your website. Simply typing your domain followed by “/sitemap.xml” into Google should display a coded overview of your site. If this search yields a 404 error, it indicates the need for a sitemap creation.

Fortunately, creating a sitemap is simpler than it seems. Utilising tools like Yoast SEO or similar plugins can automatically generate a sitemap for you. Once implemented, this aids Google in comprehending your website’s structure more effectively.

Mobile Optimisation

Ensure your content is mobile-friendly. Imagine squishing everything on your desktop screen onto your mobile phone – it all gets a bit messy and hard to process, which slows everything down! Google prioritises mobile-first indexing, so a responsive design and mobile-optimised content are crucial for higher rankings. You can use a tool like PageSpeed Insights to check your speed at any time, for free.

Optimising a Website for Search Engines

While optimising for search engines is essential, focusing on providing value to your audience should remain the primary goal. When users find your content valuable, engagement increases, leading to improved rankings over time. Google loves to provide their searches with relevant data!

Online Strategy Co is here to chat your online business plan to maximise your growth by optimising your website for search engines. Contact us today to organise your free consultation.