How Do I Improve My Google Ranking?

If you find yourself asking “How do I improve my Google ranking”, trust us, you are not alone. You probably know from your own experience that when you type a question or product or service into your search engine, you rarely scroll past to the second page. In fact, studies show that people almost always click a link on the first page of Google when they are searching for something online. As a business owner, this means that you NEED to have your business showing up on the first page of Google. Easier said than done right? Today, our social media and digital marketing experts are here to share our top 5 tips on how to improve your Google ranking.  

1. Focus on Links: First, internally, go through your website and ensure that all of your links are function, fix any broken links. Send blogs, articles and media to other websites featuring your link, and encourage others to reshare your link. You can check your link mentions by setting up a Google Alert for it. If you find a page where someone mentions your brand but does not include your link, contact them to activate that link. 
2. Write Search Engine Optimized Content: If you are looking to improve your Google ranking, you need to not only publish relevant content, but also use targeted, specific keywords and phrases that potential clients would search before landing on your page. Content is the most important thing on your website, so highlight, bold, italic and repeat your essential keywords (not too much or you will be flagged), and find that balance between good honest targeted writing and SEO content. 
3. Improve your website user experience: The structure and information layout of your website is essential to making it easy for both users and Google to search for and match the words and images people are looking for. This includes optimizing your website for the mobile experience, including high-quality images that do not slow down the website loading time, ease of use and accesibility.  
4. Use Alt Tags and Meta Descriptions: These can be integrated through the backend of your website and are essential to let Google know what your webpage is talking about. Each tag will describe what you are talking about in images, content and blocks on your website.  
5. Update Your Business Information on Google My Business: For brick and mortar companies, it can be extremely useful to update your business information in Google My Business including physical address, phone number, category and attributes. You can then verify your business location(s) so that they show up in local maps and search results. Finally, by keeping your hours accurate, adding photos and regularly responding to user reviews, you will increase the chance that new viewers will come and visit you in person. By including this information in your Google My Business, you are more likely to show up in search engines. Google bases its local ranking on relevance, distance and prominence. 

When it comes to improving your ranking on Google, it will take time. How much time it will take depends on a myriad of factors (and how much money you are willing to spend on SEO). We recommend continuous improvement and updating to your website, content, backlinks and directory listings. If you need support improving your Google ranking please contact our team of SEO experts today.  

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