Think about this question for a moment:
How exactly do you measure SEO success?
For SEO experts, keyword ranking and organic traffic are still the two most important SEO metrics that matter. Therefore, you need to do everything in your power to improve how your website performs based on these two metrics.
Difficult, sure. But not impossible.
With the right strategy, you can improve your ranking and get a boost in your organic traffic. Here are five website-ranking tips to get you started.
Know your high ranking keywords on Google
It’s hard to set a plan into motion when you don’t know where you stand. And since everything is measured in the SEO world, you need to create a ranking report that will help you figure out the right keywords to target.
Putting together a ranking report is actually a lot easier than you think. First, you need to pull up data from your Google Search Console.
If you still don’t have an account, simply sign up with your Google account and register your website here.
Second, find a tool that will help you track your ranking on the SERPs.
Luckily, there are plenty of keyword tracking tools you can choose from. Some you can use for free, while others charge a monthly fee.
If you have the money for it anyway, you might as well invest in SEMrush.
Not only is it easy to use, but it’s also packed with features that will help you plan your content and advertising strategies. For those looking for a free keyword position tracker without the frills, Google Rank Checker is an excellent alternative.
Do keyword research
Once you know where you stand exactly, it’s time to do keyword research using this 2-step process.
First, identify the keywords that will potentially increase your traffic if they rise up the ranks, and second, make sure to keep an eye out for potential keywords that you can add to your list.
Using the keyword tracking tools mentioned earlier, look for keywords that you already rank for on the first or second page of the SERPs. These keywords should have a decent monthly search volume to be worth your effort.
As you do keyword research, look for keywords that you might have missed. Again, they need to have a decent monthly search volume and their keyword difficult value should not be too high.
For this purpose, you can use SEMrush to find keyword ideas using its Keyword Magic Tool.
Once you have a list of viable keywords to target, you can start building your SEO and content strategies from there.
Spy on the competition
Got your target keywords? Then start learning from the competition. Now you can start thinking about your competitive advantage or how to increase SEO rank by doing what your competitors are doing, but on a different level or a much larger scale.
Basically, you need to go through your competitors’ content to see how you can give your readers a better experience. Aside from looking at the type of content that they create, study their titles, headlines, and page descriptions. Check how their pages are structured and how long their content is.
Once you’ve answered these questions, try evaluating your own website and content. If you see elements that can still be improved on, add those to your to-do list. Make it your goal to be better than everyone else.
Improve your on-page SEO and content
Many people think that SEO is beyond their control, but in reality, you can bump up your rankings by working on your on-page SEO and content. All it takes is a smart plan and the perseverance to do the best that you can.
There are two ways to go about this. You can optimize your existing pages or you can create new pages targeting keywords that you’re currently not ranking for. Of course, if you want to get faster results, you can try doing both at the same time.
To optimize your existing pages, do an SEO audit. You can use a tool like BlogPatcher to find out the SEO score of your most relevant pages.
It also shows issues and errors that you need to fix to further optimize your content and help it rank higher on SERPs.
If you’re building new pages or publishing new content to target keywords, one way to make sure that you’ll actually follow through is to create a content calendar. Updating your website regularly will not only help you increase your rank, but it will also give your readers reasons to keep coming back to your website.
Start link building
Even though a lot of people are claiming that link building is dead, it’s still one of the most effective ways to increase your Google ranking fast.
According to SEOexplode, high-quality backlinks play a significant role in search engine ranking. So, if you want to yield the best possible ROI, you need to develop a link building strategy for your website.
Even with Google’s countless algorithm updates, backlinks are still very much relevant in today’s SEO landscape. Why? Because it signifies value. If a website has incoming links from relevant websites, then it’s deemed to be useful for the readers. In effect, the website should get higher ranking in the SERPs.
But before you start building links, know that Google doesn’t look favorably on all links. Links built using black-hat SEO techniques can cause your rankings to drop. You want natural links that add value to content and ultimately improve the readers’ experience.
Link building is a tedious task so make sure to go for link building opportunities that will make a difference. Contrary to popular practice, this is not just a numbers game. Aim for quality over quantity.
Conclusion
There are plenty of tips to improve SEO so don’t feel limited by what you’ve just read. With proper keyword research, you can uncover different opportunities to improve ranking in search engines. At the end of the day, it’s all about adding value to your target audience. The more value you bring to the table, the greater your organic reach will be.