Improve SEO: 10 Steps to Improve Your Rankings
Search engine optimization is as important as the success of your business. Thus, if you want your business to succeed, you need to work on your SEO. The traditional way of growing businesses has changed. Now, you need to prioritize digital marketing efforts equally as you do any other. So, the first step is to understand that SEO is a necessity. Second, let’s see what steps you should take to improve your rankings.
Know the market
Let’s begin with ground zero—any business should understand its market. There’s a difference between your direct competitors in the real world and those who dominate in the online world. In the online landscape, you compete against local, regional, and even global businesses. Thus, do your research to figure out who they are and what they offer.
Detailed keyword research and analysis
If you want your website to climb the ranks on the Google search result page, you should do the research. Keywords play a pivotal role, but only if you target the right ones. Firstly, you need to define core keywords. Secondly, you should come up with semantic variations so you’ll avoid keyword stuffing. You should use tools like Ahrefs or SEMRush to come up with relevant keywords that are easy to target. It’s about finding the keywords with relevant search volume and low competition.
The right URL structure
Now that you know your keywords, it’s time to direct your focus on your URL structure. Ideally, this part is done before the website goes live. However, you can and should alter it to make every effort in line with SEO efforts.
URL structure should be informative and in line with the purpose of the page. Make sure to include your primary keywords in URLs where it’s relevant and possible.
On-page optimization
The next step that will help you climb up the search engine ranks is on-page elements optimization. Most of the time, web developers aren’t skilled in SEO, so your website probably doesn’t have these optimized. That’s why working with an SEO agency is quite common at this stage. A professional team like SEO Sydney will help you optimize elements such as titles, meta descriptions, headers, and content. These elements have to include keywords you want to rank for. Also, it must be done smoothly so search engine crawlers can easily go through your website.
Focus on high-quality content
High-quality content will show Google that your website has something to offer its visitors. If the content is authoritative, relevant, and trustworthy, it will align with Google’s E-A-T concept. In addition, the content has to match search intent. So, if you’re targeting certain keywords, the content has to match the intent behind a search. The more relevant and valuable it is, the more it will be seen as high-quality and something worth pushing in search results. Of course, this applies to both product descriptions and blog articles. So, if you feel like you have to rush a piece of content from a writer, don’t. Just focus on quality articles that will benefit you in the long run.
Site speed
Website speed is probably a search optimization element that you should never overlook. If the website is slow, it signals a poor user experience to Google. Nonetheless, when the website takes too long to open, users will close it and move on to the next.
If you’re unsure about your site speed, check the bounce rate and test the loading speed. The loading time should be up to three seconds to ensure people stay and browse your website. Check your website speed so you’ll know which elements should be optimized.
Those elements include images, add-ons, and scripts added to the website. Your SEO team or the agency you work with will know how to speed up your website. The solution is to compress images and turn on lazy load and other optimization tactics.
Prioritise mobile responsiveness
The majority of searches come from mobile phones. Even when we’re working on our laptops, we’re likely to grab our phone, as it’s like an extension of our hand. Thus, your website has to be equally accessible on all devices. Both the mobile and desktop versions of the website have to offer the same user experience. The website design has to be responsive and functional on different screen sizes.
User experience
You build a website to show your products and services and ensure people can perfectly find their way on the website. That’s why it has to be user-friendly. This means people can navigate it with ease and understand the content and elements for navigation and overall usability. Design it with users in mind and make it easy for visitors to find what they’re looking for.
Quality backlink portfolio
Backlinks help with better website visibility and higher rankings. An SEO agency can also do this for you as part of their ongoing SEO strategy. Look for websites in your niche that are similar but also relevant and ask them to write a guest post for their website. You can also acquire these links by producing relevant and authoritative blog sections. As a result, your blog posts will be linked as references on other websites.
Implement schema markup
This section is often overlooked, as only an SEO expert will suggest implementing it. However, it’s relevant for search engines, as it makes it easier for them to learn additional context about your content.
As you can see, improving your website’s search engine rankings requires thoughtful work and a specific strategy. Search engine optimization has to be viewed as a long-term effort. If you do it right, you won’t have to worry about core updates. If you rush it or use shady tactics, Google may penalize you. So, if you are new to SEO tactics, focus on these ten steps.
It’s also important to evaluate your website every few months, especially if you’ve been adding new product pages and new visual elements. By ensuring core web vitals are healthy, you’ll ensure your website is fast, reliable, and user-friendly. Use analytics tools to monitor bounce rate and which pages get the highest traffic. These insights will reveal further areas of the website that need improving.
