10 Best Ways To Rank High In Google Search
1. Backlinks
If you are trying to rank high in Google, Backlinks are essential. Having good ranking sites linking back to your website is one of the best things you can do to grow and rank well in organic search. I use Google Pagerank to look for similar sites that rank well in my niche, and then contact them about possibly doing a guest post on their site and then have them do one for my site as well. Also, make sure that the links are relevant, DO NOT pay for these links because you have no idea what type of site they are being placed on. If the backlinks to your site are not relevant, it could negatively affect your rankings. Think of backlinks to your website as votes from other people stating that your content is worth going to.
Not all backlinks are created equal. If you receive a link from CNN’s website, it will obviously be weighted more than some small blog with little to no traffic.
2. Content Is Always King
This is true in every form of online content creation, BUT if you content is no good, your site will not rank well. When creating your website, you can do all of the so called “SEO Top Practices”, but if at the end of the day your content stinks you will not rank well in search. You need to create compelling, unique, and relevant content for your site to succeed in search. If your website offers great content, other websites will naturally want to link to and help you with your backlink strategy. This one should not have to even be on this list BUT some people think they can just post anything on their site and begin ranking well in search, this is just not the case. Bring value to the people coming to your site, and you will reap the rewards from search engines.
3. Guest Blogging
What better way to get some valuable backlinks out there than to post on someone else’s already well ranking site. The idea behind guest blogging is to get a link to your website posted on an already established website/blog. Another favorite method is just to contact bloggers in your niche and ask them for a link. Try and develop relationships with bloggers in your space and form partnerships to help both of your sites out. A great technique that I have found is to reach out to these people via social media and forums, and just start talking with them about your content and what you want to accomplish.
4. Make Your Content Shareable
Social Media is HUGE as we all know, and a great way to rank your content higher is to make sure that you are making it easier to share. As you can see at the bottom of this post, I make sure I have buttons from all of the big social media networks available for my readers to click and then share very quickly. When your content gets more sharing and distribution on social media, you’ll begin to gain more traffic. In turn, this leads to more natural links from genuine websites and sources because your link is being shared all over the internet. Engagement is KEY in growing your site, and although it doesn’t have a DIRECT effect in search, it will be essential in getting your name out there.
I recommend a plugin called Shareaholic if you are on the WordPress platform. It’s free and has great features that can help you make your content shareable. Check out Shareaholic HERE
5. Your Website Needs To Be Fast
If your site is slow, this will be taken into consideration by Google when ranking your site. Page load times are included in the algorithm that Google uses to rank sites. If you sites pages are loading slow due to a lot of images and flash components, it will affect how your site ranks in Google. If you are using WordPress, there are a few things you can do to speed up your site. Download a plugin such as WP Super Cache that will remember certain aspects of your site and make it quicker next time someone visits.
Mailmunch has a great post on the best WordPress plugins to increase your site’s speed that you can find here.
6. Word Count (250 Words or More)
Your posts on your site need to be at least 250 words or more. It is said that Google will not rank your pages if they are less than 250 words. In each 250 word segment try and include your target keyword at least 2-3 times. Be careful NOT to keyword stuff your articles, but you will need to sprinkle it in your posts.
7. Fresh Content
If there is one thing, Google loves more than anything else it is juicy FRESH CONTENT. If you want your site to do well in search, make sure you are posting consistently. Google absolutely loves frequently updated websites. It tells them that you are putting effort into bringing relevant content to your readers and that they should send people your way.
8. Add ALT Text On Your Images
If you have been uploading images on your website without adding the ALT text during the upload process, you are doing it wrong. “ALT text” (or alternate text) is a way of putting a brief description (using a few words) of what your picture shows. The primary purpose of this software was for blind people, so they know what is in the picture. All search engine’s including Google are virtually blind, meaning they rely on words as well and also utilize the ALT text of images. This is just another small thing you can be doing that will separate you from most of the other content creators out there.
9. Your Title Tag
Google also gives weight to the title of your page. By the title, I mean the text that is between the HTML <TITLE> tags in the <HEAD> section of your webpage. It is a good practice to try and place the keywords you are trying to rank somewhere in the title of your post.
10. Mobile Friendly
As you begin looking at your site’s analytics, you will see that the majority of your visitors are viewing your site from a mobile device (Smartphone or Tablet). With that being said, your site needs to look good and be easy to navigate on all devices. If you are on the WordPress platform, make sure before you select a theme that it is mobile friendly. A “Buzz” word that is thrown around a lot in the web design space is “Responsive” if a theme is responsive it will be optimized for mobile you will have no problem.
When testing your site on mobile check for the following issues:
- Different screen sizes that present obvious and usable interface issues
- Mobile or tablet users have difficulty viewing your site due to cut-off pages
- From an SEO standpoint, best practices are followed so that search engines recognize the difference between device specific sites (if different sites exist) and this eliminates duplicate site errors.
In closing, if you are seeking out an article like this, you are already on the right path. I am not stating that these ten tips are the ONLY and BEST, but I am saying that if you follow these practices and do them with each post, you will notice a big difference in how your sit is ranking in search. Remember that content is king, and by bringing value to the people who come to your site will have them staying on your pages longer and helping you out in the long run.
If you are looking to start a Blog/Website and want to know some best practices on how to get started, see our post HERE.
