Published by Daclaud Lee at January 10, 2022

How To Get Your Website Ranked in Search Engines

By Daclaud Lee, Project Manager / SEO Consultant at Archmore Business Web

Don't let your business miss out on the revenue opportunities available by not ranking well in search engines. Having a good keyword ranking strategy is essential to any website. Having a keyword on page 1 of Google search will increase web traffic, lead generation, and conversions. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that more than half of all search engine users click on a result on the first page, and the higher you rank on that SERP, the better off your website will be!

Get Top Rankings for the Right Keywords!

There are keywords that people are searching for and keywords that people are not searching for. You want to make sure that your website is ranking for the right keywords. Without SEO, I have seen websites who are in the financial advisory business accidentally rank for keywords that relate to taxes and accounting (since the two fields are very similar and may have related keywords). I have also seen beauty spas rank for keywords relating to plsstic surgery because both websites have content relating to aesthetics. You don't want this to happen, because you are losing out on potential customers!

1. Pick Your Keyword

Before you can get your website ranked, you will need to know what keywords you want to rank for. Keywords are the cornerstone of good SEO. No keywords, no traffic. When deciding on a keyword for your website, think about what people would be searching for to find your product or service. Start with a broad word that describes your product and will be popular in search, then add more specific keywords with the one you choose. When you choose your keyword, you want to make sure that people are actually looking for it. Typically the higher the number of people searching for a keyword, the more competitive and harder to rank it becomes.

Are you having trouble choosing keywords to rank for?

Learn more about the difference between long tail and short tail keywords!

2. Know Your Audience's Search Intent

Getting your website ranked for the right reasons is important for SEO. What is the motivation of your audience? If you don't know this, then you had better find out through market research! Every keyword or key phrase has a different type of search intent and you want to write your content to match the user's search intent. Does your audience want general information or do they want to make a purchase? Maybe they want to compare and contrast different products or services. Make sure your content is tailored to what your audience is looking for, so they do exactly what you want them to do.

3. Write Good Content Centered Around Your Keyword

Now that you know what your audience's intent is, you need to write content that fullfills their needs. SEO content is simply writing on your page for the search engine spiders. You have to use the keywords that people search for in a sentence about your product or service. Good content is the most important thing for good SEO. But don't worry, good content isn't as difficult to create as you think! Often times great content is created unintentionally. Just start writing and see how far it gets you.

What do I do if I still can't get my content ranked in search engines?

If you find yourself stuck and can't get your keywords ranked, then hire an award winning SEO expert to get your content ranked for you!

4. Make Sure Your Content is Authoratative

Having "good" content is not enough, you have to stand out from the crowd with authoritative content that is trusted by readers. Content that provides high quality information, solves a problem or answers a question will more likely get your keywords ranked higher in search engines. Google has algorithms that determine how authoritative a web page is based on certain factors such as bounce rate. Social media share signals are also important to determine a content's authority. If most people click off your web page, then that is a general sign that your content is not authoritative and lack legitimacy. A high share rate on social media sites will also enable a web page to rank better because it means that the content is legit.

5. Have Unique Images to Help Narrate Your Content

Having high quality and uinique images will help your website get ranked. Did you know that Google Image Search is it's own search engine? Having quality images on your website is one of the best ways to get to the top of Google. You don't necessarily have to hire a photographer, but having unique images can actually help your images get ranked better. You can always take your own photos using your smart phone.

Search Engine Trivia

Google Images is a search engine owned by Google that allows users to search the World Wide Web for images. It was introduced on July 12, 2001 due to a demand for pictures of the Green Versace dress of Jennifer Lopez worn in February 2000. In 2011, reverse image search functionality was added.

What if I can't Take My Own Photos?

Laziness and inability are not very good excuses, but sometimes you just don't have the time. Therefore, stock photos will work perfectly fine (hell, we are guilty as charged with using stock photos!). There's nothing wrong with that! If you cannot source your own photos for whatever reason, then you can always use stock photos to create a narrative for your content. While stock photos are commonly used by many different websites and offer nothing unique, it is better to have a stock photo to accompany your content then none at all. There are many stock photo websites out there that provide a library of images for you to use.

Do you have difficulty obtaining the right images?

6. Have a Good Website That is Well Structured

This should not come as such a surprise, but having a high quality and well structured website can help you rank for your keywords. The key determining factor is how well the rest of your website relates to the keyword that you want to rank for. For example, you have a higher chance of ranking for a particular keyword if the rest of your website has content revolving around the keyword that you want to rank for.

Important note on ranking factors: you do not want to be repetative! Each page you create should be centered around a unique keyword or key phrase that you want to rank for. You generally do not want to have two pages trying to rank for the same keyword. This is a bad SEO strategy and it may end up confusing the search engines. Eventually you will want to canonicalize the older content so your newer content will rank. However, you do want to write supplemental content to help your main page rank better.

7. Have a Good Internal Linking Strategy

Having your website well structured is one thing, but having a good linking strategy is another. In order to get your website ranked for your keywords, you have to have a good internal linking structure on your website with anchor texted links. Internal links are important for SEO because they provide link juice to your pages. This in a sense acts as an upvote for each page you link to internally. Keep your audience engaged with internal links to other pages that are related to the topic they are currently exploring. Keep them engaged on your website.

8. Use Schema Markup and Rich Snippets

Schema markup will allow the search engines to determine what your content is about. Schema.org provides a collection of shared vocabularies webmasters can use to mark up their pages in ways that can be understood by the major search engines: Google, Microsoft, Yandex and Yahoo. Search engines needed a way to understand user intent and context, so schema markup, microdata and rich snippets is a way to help search engines understand what your web page is about so it helps the search engines display what the user wants to see based on search intent and context.

9. Have Good Content Length

Very rarely will thin content rank high in the search engines. It is possible, but not likely and it really depends on the keyword that you are trying to rank for. There is no set limit when it comes to how long your content should be. It is commonly suggested that each web page have at least 1500 - 2000 words. However, it is certainly possible to rank a page that has a fewer word count and a page with an extremely high word count may rank poorly. It all depends on how well you write your content and how it centers around the keyword that you want to rank for.

10. Make Sure Content Is Easy To Read

Google does not like content that is difficult to read. Therefore it is necessary to use proper sentences that are short and to the point. Remember all the rules in High School English? Well, they still apply to your website's content! Search engine algorithms are sophisticated enough to know the difference between good writing and terrible writing. So, in order to appease the algorithms, make sure your content is easy enough for an elementary school student to understand. Google hates complicated content that requires PhD level of comprehension. The more simple your words are, the easier it is for Google to rank your web page.

Get Help With Your Keyword Ranking Strategy!

Archmore Business Web is a fulls service digital marketing agency in Columbus, Ohio that helps clients nationwide and around the world! Are you having a hard time getting your website ranked for essential keywords? If this is the case, then you need to contact one of our SEO consultants now! We can help you get your website ranked for keywords that will get you more website traffic!