Search engine optimisation has come a long way from being dominated solely by black hat marketers to become more focused on the ultimate user experience. As a business owner or a marketer we all crave for more website traffic and higher Google ranking. However, have you ever wondered what is the real SEO secret that most have yet to demystify? It’s the simple fact that brands with a higher Google ranking have content optimised for their audience instead of the search engines.
As an SEO enthusiast, I like to follow the latest industry trends. In my previous article, I shared some tips on writing SEO friendly blog articles to get your content noticed by Google. Today, I’ll be sharing 7 SEO secrets that every business and marketer must own in order to rank higher in search results.
1.Understand Human Search Engine Requirements
Businesses can no longer improve their search engine ranking by using the old SEO tactics. Today marketers first need to understand the requirements of their target audience and create content accordingly.
With regular updates to Google’s search engine algorithm, it has started thinking more like a human than a machine. When someone types in a keyword to search, Google intrinsically takes that person as a human being asking the following logical questions:
- Where are you?
- What are you doing?
- What do you want?
Since Google has started to think in terms of its audience, businesses that need to rank higher with Google need to do the same. Businesses need to figure out their audiences’ pain points and craft their SEO strategy accordingly.
For example, if your target market is SMEs in Australia, you must craft content keeping the needs of this specific audience in mind. When businesses stop focusing on everyone, only then Google will show them in relevant search results delivering exactly the information their audience is looking for.
2.Create Mobile Compatible Website
With Google’s algorithm update favouring mobile-friendly websites in search results, responsive web designs have become less of a choice and more of a compulsion. Why has Google taken such a major step? Because it says that 1/3 of all searches are made through a mobile device! Hence, the search engine giant wants to direct its users only to websites where they can get a great user experience.
Imagine your customers drifting to your competitors’ website just because your website was not easy to view and navigate on a mobile device! The SEO secret is to have a responsive website that can be viewed on multiple mobile devices. Don’t use a separate mobile URL and don’t use redirects either. Google gives a better score to sites that provide a consistent experience between desktop and mobile.
3.Don’t Overlook the Social Influence
Social influence plays a highly critical role when it comes to ranking higher on Google search results. With the rise in social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, Google has started to take into account social signals to determine website ranking.
Google assigns more weightage to URLs that have the power to get more people talking. Moreover, likes, shares, followings or retweets by the target market of a given business strengthens its credibility and relevancy with Google!
4.Consider Localisation
The roll out of Google’s Pigeon algorithm update in 2014 indicates that Google is now using location as a key ranking factor for search results. The new algorithm connects web search and map search in a more cohesive way providing more accurate results for specific queries.
So what does it mean for your business? In order to rank higher in authenticity, business must ensure data accuracy and consistency across the web. Mentions of your business name, address and phone number are major local ranking signals. The more consistent this information is across the web, the better.
Secondly, the update has improved Yelp page ranking indicating that Google wants more people to go to Yelp and similar local directories. If that’s the case then businesses need to spend more time getting their target audience to their specific Yelp pages.
Lastly, Google is favouring local businesses with more high quality images and videos. Hence optimising your images can be yet another way to rank higher in local searches.
5.Use Long-Tail Keywords
The fact that searches are becoming more personalised, using long-tail keywords can help your customers find the exact value or service that you offer.
Let me give you an example. Ranking higher for a vague keyword like “Pizza Melbourne” may boost your ego, but will put you in competition with all Pizza businesses in Melbourne. Instead, the SEO secret is to use a more specific keywords like “Melbourne Pepperoni and Cheese Pizza” having the potential of generating more qualified leads.
6.Focus on Relationship-Based Link Building
For starters, let’s burst the myth that quality content naturally generates links. It doesn’t. Marketers need to build links so their website ranks higher with Google and the search engine drives more people to their website. However, many of us don’t see beyond the literal term of link-building.
Following Google’s Panda update, link-building must be seen not just as a way to drive traffic but to build credibility and authority. People link to a website when they perceive it as a reliable and authentic source of information.
Neil Patel in his advance guide to link building suggests that businesses must focus on relationship-based link building. This can be done through content that provides value to other bloggers and influencers in your niche. The more value your website provides, the more people will link back to it.
7.Avoid Duplicate Content
The last SEO secret I’m going to share is about duplicate content. Duplicate content is when the same content appears on more than one URL. With the same content on multiple websites, it becomes difficult for Google to rank it according to its relevancy to a search query. Thus, Google will show that website in search results which appears closest to original.
Having search engine optimised original and fresh content will bring more quality leads to your website. Having original content on your website makes you a unique source of value that your customers can’t find anywhere else.
The SEO secret success formula is to focus on optimising your content and your website for the people rather than for search engines. The more user friendly, valuable, sharable and authentic your website and its content is, the higher it’s likely to show up in search results.
Chad Pollitt puts it this way: “SEO is not something you do anymore. It’s what happens when you do everything else right!”
Have you been trying to improve your website’s search engine ranking with little or no success? We can help improve your visibility, get your site rank higher with Google and open floodgates of targeted traffic to your website!
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