If you’re similar to most people, you don’t scroll further than page 1 of Google search results after entering a query in the box. This positioning is a problem if you’re on the other side. What can you do about your website if it doesn’t make it onto that page or isn’t close to the top? Google Search Central explains that modifications incorporating best SEO practices might get you moved from page 2 of Google to the top of the search engine results page (SERP). The guiding principle for SEO is to create websites that improve user experiences, and with that in mind, you can begin developing your strategy.
Starting With a Google Business Page
Having a Google Business Page (GMB) is crucial for ranking in local searches. Forbes writes that it is frequently the first thing potential customers see when searching for businesses, and a customized GMB listing can also improve the local SEO ranking. It also has Google Maps integration to help people find you, plus options like direct messaging and customer reviews. The latter can give your company social media credibility, which is more important than ever these days.
To get started, you’ll need to go to the Google My Business page and create a Google My Business account. Fill out every part of the profile with accurate, complete information. When you get to the “From the Business” section, you can summarize your offerings; this should be heartfelt and unique without going too overboard. There are ways to optimize this, like adding keywords, having the most critical information in the first 250 characters (there are 750) and mentioning what makes you stand out from the competition. Don’t include details about pricing or sales, HTML or links; this is against GMB policies.
Not Being on Google Page 2
According to Born Intelligence, Google page 2 is an unfortunate place “where the forgotten content and websites go to die.” Average web users usually don’t go past the first top-five listings on SERP pages and the rules for getting ranked high on page one change often. Search algorithms pick the most relevant pages for queries and then rank them according to which ones provide the most relevant information and answers.
HubSpot explains that an effective SEO strategy incorporates the proper technical setup, optimized content, and links. People who aren’t familiar with the technology and the latest updates can benefit from an SEO specialist who can design a website navigation plan that includes a simple URL structure, links, a sitemap, robots.txt files. They can come up with some creative SEO solutions for you. A technical SEO audit can also help with this.
More About SEO
Your site’s content should be original, relevant to what your potential customers are searching for, easy to understand, trustworthy, and engaging for users. Your content matters. This engagement starts with keyword research; you need to focus on the phrases your target audience enters into their queries. You should then incorporate these into your content, including your page’s web address (URL), headlines of articles, subheadings, and the first 100 words of your content. You should also place the keywords in meta-titles, meta-description tags, image file names, and ALT tags.
Besides those keywords, to get on page one of Google, you’ll also want to have external links (backlinks) that take users to other appropriate pages on the topic at hand. This backlinking shows that your content is a valuable resource. Internal links are also crucial, as they let search engines crawl on other pages on your site. You’ll also want to incorporate multimedia into your website because high-quality images, videos, infographics, and audio signal that a page has the quality to keep users engaged.
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