Getting to the top of Google search is every small business owner’s dream. Wanting it does not make it an easy feat because thousands of other businesses are vying for that position. Getting first-page visibility means better opportunities for sales and business growth. In this article, we will tell you what you need to know about SEO whether it’s for a new site or an already existing one. Let’s get started!
How to get my business on top of google searches?
This is the most asked question by business owners once they’re ready to launch their site or when they’ve launched it already. When buyers search for products with keywords related to your brand, your business should be among those showing at the top. Having quality content and a great user experience is one of the ways you can fast track your appearance on Google's first page.
If you’re looking to optimize your website for search engines so you can gain more sales, better exposure, and develop leads the essential tips we will be sharing next will teach you all you need to know. Each important aspect of your website will be categorized and under each category, we will discuss all the different things you need to pay attention to.
Metadata and Content
Website Word Count
To rank on search engine result pages (SERP), your website pages need to have at least 250 words, although the highest-ranking pages have 1000 words and above. To be on the safe side 500 words should be your least word count when creating written content for your website. Bear in mind that, regardless of the number of words, quality is key so you need to deliver an excellent user experience.
Your future clients are asking questions on search engines daily; your content should have the answers. Create only content that is highly informative and insightful for readers. It is part of Google’s ranking criteria.
Keyword mentions and Density
Keywords are gold in the world of search engines. It is important for you to optimize relevant keywords on your site pages so that when users search for those terms your website will appear. Not all keywords read well so it’s important to keep readability in front of your mind. Feel free to break up the keywords for a natural language flow.
Keyword density is the number of times a keyword appears on the page of a website in comparison to the overall number of words on the webpage. Many business owners make the mistake of overstuffing their web pages with keywords. This has a negative effect on user experience and your SERP rankings, so the key is to moderately optimize your webpage contents. For instance, on a page with a 1000-word c count, use the relevant keywords 6 times, mentioning it at most once in the first 100 words.
First 100 words
Your primary keyword should be used in the first 100 words on your webpage. This applies to both the website content and blog posts. This enables the search engine bots to recognize what your page is all about. Even though this is not as important as it used to be, it helps to increase engagement rate and site traffic. There are many keyword density tools you can use to calculate this; although the tools are not entirely accurate when you’ve broken the keywords, they can help to give you an idea. Keyword density checker and Semrush are great tools you can use.
Call To Action
In marketing, a call to action is essential for helping customers to make a decision. It can be a line of text or a button that directs your webpage visitors to take an action. A website can have multiple calls to action because they all serve different goals. CTAs should be aesthetically pleasing and very attractive to get webpage visitors to take action and click through your website. A high click-through rate is very good for your site's SEO.
USP
In marketing, there is what they call a ‘Unique Selling Proposition’, it is what sets your business apart from the competition. The most attractive USPs are very specific and catchy, in the end, it is what your customers will know you for and specifically associate with you.
Plagiarized Content
When content is duplicated across more than one webpage, it delivers a weak user experience. This has a terrible effect on your website's SEO because it confuses the search engine bots. The bots will become confused about which page’s version should rank higher than which. Plagiarized content across your web page will lead to loss of traffic and ranking, in fact, Google has a penalty for it.
Meta Tags and Description
Many people tend to ignore meta tags and descriptions, but they are a great way to optimize your webpage and draw traffic. Including your primary keyword in the meta title and description is helpful for your site's SEO and users visiting the page. It’s one of the easiest ways for bots to know what your page is about.
Meta Title tags are extremely important for on-page SEO, for better optimization, place the primary keyword very close to the front of the title tag. One SEO best practice would be to keep your meta title short, at least under 60 characters because google only shows the first 50-60 characters of your title anyways.
Internal Links
Internal links are hyperlinks that lead users to other pages on your website. They are great for helping users navigate the site and for establishing a hierarchy of information. It also helps to spread your specific page rankings across the website.
External Links
External links are the opposite of internal links, they lead to a page outside of your domain. If you link to another website, it is an external link. You should pay attention to external links because they are an essential source of ranking power.
Local SEO
This is a vital part of SEO that some businesses do not leverage! There are so many resources you can use to help your business rank locally. Trust us when we say people are searching daily for a business like yours; the question is will you be in the answer Google provides? Let’s talk about some of the critical things you need to put in place to rank on search engines locally.
Google My Business
This is one of the most important you can get for your business because it directly impacts your online visibility and local rankings. There are many listing and citation sites for your business, but Google My Business has a more comprehensive individual business database. Google uses your profile on GMB to help give your business better visibility online when people search for things related to your brand locally. Start by creating your Google My Business profile.
Social Media Optimization
Linking your business’s social media pages to your website is highly beneficial. It helps drive traffic to your page and build trust between your brand and site visitors. Google My Business now offers a custom GMB short name for businesses that links to your profile. You can now add this short name with the link to your GMB page on your website’s header or footer. This will help Google to rank your business website locally.
Name, address, Phone number and Citations
It is essential for your business name, address, and phone number to be the same across every online platform. If there are any changes as your business grows, don’t forget to update it because different NAP information for one company can affect your business negatively.
Also, leverage the use of different citation sites to list your business. These sites have the reach your business doesn’t and can help push it locally. Try out citation sites like TrueLocal, Yelp and Tupalo. Don’t forget that your information must be the same across all platforms.
Business growth is a strategic feat that requires all hands on deck and lots of planning and work. At iCreate, we know all your business needs to succeed in this new age; our knowledge and experience give us an edge. Take your business to the next level with our modern marketing services. Watch us help you achieve your goals effortlessly.