The search engine optimisation (SEO) landscape and therefore the quest to improve rankings is changing.
In the past, you could reach the number one spot by using your target term or keyword repeatedly on your site. As a result, web designers began taking advantage of this effect and used ‘keyword shoving’ to better their position. Soon Google realised this trend and reduced the importance of this element as a ranking factor.
Eventually, backlinks became the new focus. The more links you have leading back to your page from other sites, the better. Google soon wised up to people cheating this system too, which forced them to change the process again to get the best results rising to the top.
Now that these two factors are less important, how do you make sure your website ranks in a top position on Google?
Here are some handy tips to improve rankings.
Key Words Are Still Important To Improve Rankings
Although Google is putting less of an emphasis on keyword volume, search engines still rely on keywords to determine what your website is about and how to relate it to relevant searches.
What has changed is that it’s less about volume and more about context. Google will try to work out if your page is a match based on the search words people are using and whether related sites provide backlinks to yours, boosting your pages’ authority.
To maximise your chances of appearing in a search, you will need to recognise what people are searching for and what exact terms and questions they are asking so you can select your keywords and improve rankings.
You can use keyword tools such as keywordtool.io and Google Trends to research how people discuss your industry on social media. With a little research, you can get a better understanding of the searches and search terms people use. From this, you can create content that answers these queries which will help to improve rankings.
Seek Out Your Customers
Having your own blog enables you to create content related to your industry which provides Google with context to what your site is about.
To achieve higher recognition, boost brand awareness and improve rankings, you will need to go where your target audience is active. The most obvious avenue is social media. An increasing number of people are now on social platforms, so it is vital to build a presence where your target audience is already spending time.
Establish Connections With Top Sites
You can help spread your business message by joining forums and groups that are relevant to your company. Answering questions and taking part in industry-specific discussions can be used to build valuable connections. By engaging with publications that matter to your customers, you will also boost your own businesses positioning.
These few efforts can go a long way in regard to establishing your brand’s presence and ideally get more visitors and relevant links back to your page.
Providing online presences that cater to customers needs and interacting with clients online is the best way to improve rankings for your website. The basis of the process is that Google aims to deliver the most relevant search matches to each user. The search engine determines relevance by observing how many people visit your site, by your page’s content and by websites that link to yours.
In a nutshell, establishing you brands presence within the appropriate communities can strengthen your status with Google, helping to improve rankings and boosting your search engine performance.
If you would like to know how F1RST can help with your website’s SEO, please get in touch with us.
