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rank higher in search engine results

What should I do to rank higher in search engine results?

In order to get more organic traffic, you’ll need to rank higher in search engine results.

After all, the first page of Google gets 95% of web traffic.

This post will provide a step-by-step guide to help you to rank higher in search engine results.

1: Understand how search engines work

Google is constantly changing their algorithm – in fact, hundreds of changes are made to it each year, but not all of them are announced, and some of them are actually unknown by the general public.

But why?

Well, Google’s mission statement is to ‘organise the world’s information, and make it universally accessible and useful’.

Therefore, if everyone knew exactly how to rank in the number one position on the first page of Google, they could just hack the system without putting in any work, and Google wouldn’t be able to fulfil its mission, as it’s in Google’s best interest to optimise the user experience.

However, being aware of and understanding the implications of the algorithm changes that are published is beneficial.

Tip: keep up to date with the official Google Webmaster central blog for any updates.

2: understand where you are currently ranking

There are several tools that you can use to identify where your website ranks in search engines for your keyword terms.

Once you have assessed this, it is worth checking things such as your site speed as this is a ranking factor.

If your site takes more than a few seconds to load, the user is likely to return to the search results and visit a different site.

Tip: use Google PageSpeed Insights to assess your page speed.

Also, it might seem obvious, but make sure that your site is mobile-friendly. After all, 60% of searches are conducted on mobile devices.

3: Improve your SEO

In order to do this, think to yourself: how does my audience find my site?

Identify the keywords that your target audience is using to reach your site via search engines.

Use keyword planning tools to help you to achieve this.

When it comes to your on-page SEO:

  • Include your keyword within the first 100 words of your posts
  • Use 2-3 internal links
  • Optimise your images
  • Include social share buttons
  • Use outbound links

4: Create GREAT content to rank higher in search engine results

When it comes to content, you must create high-quality content that is USEFUL and adds value to your target audience. Therefore, when writing content make sure that you optimise it for both search engines and also your target audience.

  • Do this by backing your copy with credible data
  • Powerful storytelling
  • Create headlines that are shareable
  • Make sure that your content is original
  • Create different types of content such as e-books, infographics, videos and webinars
  • Structure your content with headings and subheadings

I hope this post has given you valuable insight into the things that you can do to gain a better ranking. If you need help with creating an SEO-driven content strategy, contact me!

We have a specialist team of SEO experts! 

P.S. we’re pleased to announce that we’ve been recognized as one of the Top 25 Search Engine Optimization Companies by Design Rush