A common concern for website owners, whether they are new to the web or have some experience, is where their site ranks in search engine results. A high Google ranking means your website is more visible and can therefore generate more traffic, so it’s in your best interest to ensure your website can be seen by the right people.

Your website requires something known as search engine optimisation (SEO) to help Google determine where your site should be displayed. Many businesses will want to rank at number 1 for their industry but this is easier said than done.

The long game of SEO

SEO is reliant on a number of factors and getting your website to rank higher when it comes to ‘natural’ results takes a number of steps that should be implemented and maintained. If you work in a niche market, you may be lucky when it comes to your Google ranking, but more often than not you will need a solid plan in place.

If your website isn’t ranking as well as you’d hoped, you can use an SEO specialist to apply a number of strategies to your site to help your website edge up the search results. Here are just a few ideas.

Create more content

Regularly publishing articles and other content to your blog or website is one of the best ways to improve your SEO and therefore increase your Google ranking. Known as content marketing, it can be a key factor in your overall marketing strategy.

Providing the content is relevant and creatively written, your website will gain authority and be picked up by Google. On top of this, content can help to generate links back to your site and drive traffic; clearly content is not something to be forgotten about.

Research your keywords

Ensuring you are using the right keywords for your website pages can be crucial in improving your ranking. Including keywords into your site content should be as natural as possible.

On top of this, where you place your keywords on each page of your site can have a significant impact; placing your keyword phrase near the top of your content is preferable. Keyword density is a part of this, as overusing your keyword or repeating yourself can have a detrimental effect on your site.

Produce authoritative links

Google pays a lot of attention to hyperlinks both to and from your website. Using the right anchor text for internal links is a fundamental part of Google’s decision-making when it comes to ranking your site.

When it comes to external links, quality over quantity is vital. Focusing on links that have a strong domain and are relevant to your industry could have an encouraging impact on your rankings. It could even be worth using links within web pages as a way to emphasise keywords.

Utilise title tags & meta descriptions

Your website should have a unique title for each page; usually the keyword you are trying to implement for that particular page. This is important for both SEO and social sharing. Creating a title tag brings value to your page when it comes to relevancy, browsing and of course, search engine results.

The meta description is a 160-character snippet used in search results to summarise a web page’s content. This can generate click-throughs and leads, as it is a great opportunity to advertise content to searchers.

While meta descriptions are not necessarily part of the Google ranking algorithm, they can still have an influence on your site’s position and should be considered.

This brief insight into the workings of SEO should give you an idea of how integral it is to the success of your website. An SEO strategy should be a fundamental part of your website and if you feel like yours could be improved, contact us today.

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