Boosting organic website traffic stands as a fundamental goal for prominent online enterprises. Achieving a top-ranking position in search engine results for specific queries is a universal aspiration among brands. Nevertheless, transforming this aspiration into a tangible outcome proves to be a challenging endeavor.
In this context, the significance of search engine optimization (SEO) becomes evident. SEO serves as a pivotal tool that empowers you to ascend the search engine results pages (SERPs) and enhance your website's visibility, ultimately resulting in increased traffic.
Drawing from my experience in website optimization, I've compiled a set of best practices that can help you outshine your competitors in an era characterized by an abundance of online content.
1. Targeting the Right Keywords
The initial step in your SEO strategy is to determine the keywords you want to rank for. These should be terms that your potential customers commonly use when searching online. To identify these keywords, you'll need keyword research tools.
Several factors come into play when selecting the best keywords for Google ranking:
- Search Volume: It's essential to know how often a particular keyword is searched each month.
- Competition: You must assess the level of difficulty in ranking for a specific keyword.
- Your Domain Authority: The age and quality of your website, as measured by domain authority, will affect your ability to rank for certain keywords. Established sites with a history of high-quality content find it easier.
- Relevance: It's crucial to focus on keywords that will attract qualified traffic to your website. There's no point in ranking for a keyword that doesn't align with your target audience.
✅ Pro Tip
For those beginning their SEO efforts, it's advisable to start with keywords that have low search volume and low competition. This allows you to establish a foothold and gradually progress. The definition of "low" competitiveness may vary by industry, but keywords falling within the 90-400 range can be a reasonable starting point.
2. Check the keyword intent
Broadly, there are four primary categories of keyword intent: informational, commercial, transactional, and navigational. When it comes to SEO, your main focus is typically on informational intent keywords. However, even within the realm of informational intent keywords, it's crucial to delve deeper to understand precisely what type of information users are looking for when they enter those specific keywords in their search queries.
3. Create Comprehensive, Extended Content
The key to achieving a high Google ranking involves developing in-depth, long-form content related to your target keyword. While this concept is most evident in blog posts, it can also be applied to landing pages.
Take, for instance, our free Website Grader landing page, which ranks on the first page for the keyword "website grader." At first glance, it might seem to have limited content, but if you scroll below the visible section, you'll discover a wealth of information in the form of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).
✅ Pro Tip
It's important to emphasize that I mentioned "in-depth long-form content." Google tends to penalize thin, superficial content, so it's best to focus on providing substantial and valuable information, avoiding unnecessary filler.
4. Conduct On-Page SEO
On-page SEO forms the foundation for achieving high rankings on Google. You can find detailed insights in my comprehensive on-page SEO guide or the accompanying video:
Here's a concise checklist for effective on-page SEO:
- Keyword Placement: Ensure your chosen keyword appears in your meta title, meta description, in at least two H2 headings, image file names, image alt text, the URL, and naturally within the body of your page.
- Internal Linking: Incorporate links to the page from a minimum of three other pages within your website.
- External Linking: Include 1-3 links on your page leading to relevant and reputable external sources.
- Optimize Meta Description: Maintain a meta description within the range of 155-165 characters, conveying the value that readers will gain by clicking on your page.
This outlines the essentials of ranking higher on Google. However, if you've already implemented these strategies and want to enhance your current rankings, read on.
5. Focus on Long-Tail, Interrogative Keywords
In many cases, keywords that strike the right balance in terms of search volume and competition tend to be long-tail keywords. However, long-tail question keywords offer an additional advantage by potentially enabling your content to outrank even the top results for broader, high-volume keywords, thanks to the "People Also Ask" (PAA) section.
Also read, How to Get into Myntra as a Data Analyst
For instance, consider the keyword "social media marketing," which boasts a hefty search volume of 32,000. WordStream holds the top spot, and Sprout Social is second. However, nestled between these two results lies the PAA section. If a user expands one of these questions, the page that addresses that specific question can now rank higher than Google's #2 result.
The beauty of it is that you can't predict which long-tail keywords Google will feature in the PAA section, providing your content with a chance to surpass the #2 ranking for high-volume keywords.
✅ Pro Tip
When targeting PAA questions, your primary goal should be to rank for the specific long-tail question keyword. The added benefit is the potential for extra ranking visibility through the PAA section.
6. Ensure Content Readability
Google's focus is increasingly shifting towards providing direct answers rather than just displaying a list of web pages. This has led to the emergence of "zero-click searches," where users can obtain the information they need directly from the search results page, without the need to click on any specific result. While this may not be ideal for those aiming to drive website traffic, you can still leverage this trend. Becoming the source from which Google generates answers is a valuable strategy to rank higher.
The best approach to optimize for this trend is to make your content easily scannable and extractable by Google. This way, Google can use snippets of your content to create answer-rich results, such as Featured Snippets, Passage Ranking, and even meta descriptions. Here's how to achieve this:
- Utilize Heading Tags: Ensure your headings are structured using HTML tags and do not rely solely on increasing text size and weight for headings.
- Emphasize Readability: Make it easy for readers and, consequently, Google to extract information from your content. Use lists, bullet points, bold text, and headings generously.
7. Include Explicit Statements
When targeting question keywords, it's essential to provide explicit answers within your content. Even if your answer is multi-faceted, include a clear statement that directly answers the question. This tactic enhances your chances of securing valuable search results in real estate, like the Featured Snippet.
For instance, consider the search results page for "How long should a blog post be in 2022." The top-ranking Hook Agency likely secured the Featured Snippet position by including a sentence that explicitly states, "The best blog length for SEO in 2022 is 1,760-2,400 words," while the second result, Wix, answers the question but lacks this explicit restatement.
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8. Incorporate Meaningful Visuals
Adding images to your content can improve your ranking in multiple ways. Firstly, it enhances content engagement and keeps visitors on your page longer. Secondly, regular search results are becoming increasingly visual.
Additionally, including images provides an opportunity for your images to rank in image search results. However, for content aiming to rank higher, generic stock images or irrelevant graphics won't suffice. You should use images that illustrate concepts, add value, and align with the keyword's intent.
For instance, when searching for "January marketing ideas," you can see that Google gives preference to screenshots of January social media posts and event landing pages, making results highly visual.
9. Implement a Table of Contents
Google appears to favor content that includes a table of contents. Often, Google displays these links in a post's meta description, making them more prominent in search results. To create a table of contents in your blog post, follow these steps:
- Go to the HTML view of your post and insert the following code above each H2 or H3 heading you want to link to:
Make sure to retain the quotation marks, and if you use multiple words, separate them with dashes or underscores. Then, at the top of your post, create your table of contents and add a link to the #section-title for each item.
10. Optimize Your Meta Titles
Your SEO title, also known as the meta title, is the title that appears in the search engine results. Similar to headings, you have limited creative space in your meta title.
It's often best to stick with a title that aligns with what's already ranking on the first page of search results. Keep your SEO title under 60 characters, place the keyword at the beginning, and consider popular modifiers, such as including the current year in the title.
While you might opt for a more creative H1 title for your page's actual title, keeping the SEO title concise and keyword-focused is essential for ranking. Using a title like "How to Rank Higher on Google: 10 Perilous Pitfalls to Avoid" may not be as effective for improving your ranking.
In summary, the search engine results page (SERP) has evolved significantly beyond a simple list of 10 blue links. Google now places importance on visual, easily extractable, and up-to-date content to create informative SERPs that offer immediate answers.
By applying these strategies, you can elevate your ranking, achieve even higher positions, and ultimately establish authority within your industry while meeting your website traffic and conversion objectives. Explore our digital marketing solutions to learn how we can assist you in this endeavor.
