By far the most effective metric of success is a site’s online ranking. Where a website appears in SERP (search engine results pages) gives you a good indication of how popular it is with internet users. Unfortunately, many business owners completely overlook ranking status. It is just not a concept the average person is familiar with. Ignorance of it can negatively impact a site’s performance and discoverability, however. Therefore, as a business owner, it is something you need to put a lot of focus on. Here are some factors search engines use when ranking websites and their respective content:
Regular Content
Creating and publishing regular content on your website is one of the most effective ways of increasing its rank. Content helps you to stay ahead of Google’s algorithm updates, which occur on a regular basis. The content posted should be relevant to your business, so consider hiring a writer to write for you if you are not skilled enough to do this. Your site’s content must be authoritative, explanative, and up to date – changes happen in all industries so if your content is not relevant to those happening on your own, consumers won’t take you seriously, and nor will Google or any of the search engines.
Mobile Users
A large chunk of the internet’s users use their mobile devices and tablets; unless your website is optimized for these people, you will alienate them. Alienating people in this way can put them off from wanting to do business with you. As major search engines are aware of how many of their users and customers browse on mobile devices, unoptimized sites are regularly pushed to the bottom of search engine results pages. Optimizing your site for mobile usage is therefore one of the best things you can do.
Page Speed
Internet users have high standards. The quality of websites has come a long way from how they used to be. In the past, slow-loading pages were common; nobody really batted an eyelid at them. Now, however, people expect websites to be fast and responsive. If yours is not then you will have a hard time ranking it. None of the major search engines will give your site priority over other people’s if it is slow. Search engines actively test page speeds when they are deciding who to rank, so ensure yours are fast enough.
Website Layout
It is common for those new to search engine optimization and website ranking to think that it is only technical features that contribute to a site’s ranking, but this is not true; cosmetic features are also taken into consideration by search engines. If your website does not look attractive then it will not rank highly. The vast majority of websites do not look nice and this is why so many businesses fail to rank. A professional developer or web designer will be able to work with you to create a beautiful website, unique and completely different from anybody else’s.
Internal Links
In your website’s content, you need to feature links that direct visitors to other people’s websites and pages on your own. Internal links are a very good way of boosting your site’s ranking. Studies show that they can give websites significant authority. Building authority on your website is one of the best ways of increasing its ranking and improving its performance. Inserting links also makes your website look a lot more professional and authoritative. The insertion of links is not difficult and does not require any real technical experience, it’s a matter of highlighting text and selecting from a dropdown box.
External Links
External links are equally as important. More often than not these are featured on people’s blogs. You can pay bloggers to post your links although it’s a much better idea to work with a professional link-building service. A link-building service will include links to your website in written content along with links to more authoritative websites. By doing this, search engine algorithms are tricked into associating your website with the high DA websites included along with it, boosting your website’s ranking and making it look more authoritative.
Using Keywords
Also in your website’s content, there should be keywords. Keywords are search terms favored by consumers relative to specific niches. There are online analytics tools you can use to find out about the latest keywords. Using these tools means you can insert them yourself. Inserting and using these keywords will boost your site’s ranking. When consumers type them in, eventually the ones you have posted on your website will begin showing up. Inserting keywords will not increase your ranking overnight however, which is why you need to consistently include them in your articles and posts.
Regular Updates
Once a machine has been built, maintenance is required. Your website is no different. If you do not maintain and look after your website it will either stop working or become irrelevant. Content, features, and images need to be updated on a regular basis. The software you are using to run your site should also be updated. Performing updates will improve the way your website runs and looks. A good way to make your site more authoritative is to update content, by posting the latest news and information in your industry; updating your site should be one of your main priorities if its ranking concerns you.
Page Optimization
Go through your website’s many pages individually and optimize them, ensuring that they run fast, have high-quality images, and fix any glitches or errors. If you do not do this then something will end up being wrong with your website, whether you notice it or not. Going through your site and optimizing it page by page is the best way of eliminating errors or faults. Until your site is fully optimized for users, it will never rank highly. No search engine is going to give your website authority over another person’s if it is riddled with glitches. Improving page optimization is something that can be done independently or with a professional’s help. If you have no tech experience, hire help.
Ranking your website higher on search engines is the easiest way of getting more attention from consumers. Individuals turn to search engines, not the Yellow Pages. If they cannot find you on the first page, they are likely to click through to somebody else’s business. Click-through rates fall dramatically the lower sites get in the search listings.