{"id":6488,"date":"2018-08-06T14:44:37","date_gmt":"2018-08-06T09:14:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tribelocal.com\/?p=6488"},"modified":"2018-08-06T14:44:37","modified_gmt":"2018-08-06T09:14:37","slug":"improve-google-rankings-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tribelocal.com\/improve-google-rankings-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Step-by-Step Guide to Improve Your Google Rankings"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” bottom_padding=”1%” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” shape_type=””][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1533541746413{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”]What does the quote signify? It signifies the importance of attaining a first-page rank on the most famous search engine of all, Google. Achieving a first page rank on Google is not easy<\/strong>. Maintaining the position is much more difficult in comparison. A lot of factors have to fall in place at the right time. Let us look at the factors that affect your ranking on Google.[\/vc_column_text]
\"Google<\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_custom_heading text=”Factors that affect ranking on Google” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center|color:%2311487f” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]Search Engine Optimization is a continually improving field. One has to keep up with the changes in Google Search ranking algorithm. However, specific factors retain their importance. The following aspects play a stellar role in helping you secure the top rank on Google.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_custom_heading text=”1. Content is always the King” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]You might have the best-looking website in the world, but it is of no use if it has crap content in it. Your content must provide real value to the user. If you can supplement the written content with excellent visual content<\/a>, you are on your way towards acing the search engine ranking pages.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]There are various types of web content. Though there is no thumb rule regarding the length of the content, it is always better to have an optimum word count. Naturally, it depends on the subject. Statistics show that longer and comprehensive content achieves a higher ranking. Nevertheless, do not compromise on the quality aspect at any time. Quality beats quantity every time.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Keywords play a significant role in determining the winning quotient of any web content. The use of semantic keywords is one of the vital Google ranking factors<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_custom_heading text=”2. Backlinks matter a lot” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]Backlinks<\/strong> play a vital role in ranking your website on Google. There was a time when the quality of links did not matter. The number of backlinks<\/strong> did. However, the Penguin algorithm changed everything. Today, the focus is more on the quality of backlinks<\/strong><\/a>. The more backlinks<\/strong> you get from authority sites like the .gov and the .edu domains, the higher is your ranking on the SERP. The Google algorithm penalizes websites that seek backlinks<\/strong> from cheap websites.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_custom_heading text=”3. A mobile-friendly website is vital” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]People no longer rely on computers and laptops to browse the internet. They have better devices in the form of tablets and smartphones. Therefore, it becomes imperative for your website to be compatible with the small screens of these appliances. Having a mobile-friendly website is necessary. In fact, you can go one step further and have a separate web application for mobiles. Given a choice, people will always prefer to use a mobile-friendly website<\/strong> rather than the regular one. Having a mobile-friendly website guarantees higher visibility resulting in a better ranking on the SERPs. Google gives preference to websites that have mobile-friendly features.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_custom_heading text=”4. Loading Speed ” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]We are living in a jet age where people expect to do things as quickly as possible. Under such circumstances, you cannot expect your customers to wait for an eternity for your page to load on the internet. The attention span of customers is going down day by day. Therefore, your loading speed becomes a vital factor<\/a> in determining your ranking on Google.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_custom_heading text=”5. Schema Code” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]You cannot expect a person residing in Florida to look for products and services in Texas. It implies that SEO is going local in a big way. Under such circumstances, Schema markup code can help search engines get a better understanding of aspects like address, phone numbers, customer reviews, and so on. Local businesses benefit significantly by implementing a site-wide schema code. It helps to tell Google the exact location of your business. Schema code is indeed one of the top Google ranking factors<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_custom_heading text=”6. Brand value and social signals” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]Branded searches play a significant role in determining your Google rankings. The more traffic you generate from branded searches, the higher are the chances of recognition by the Google algorithms. Similarly, social signals from powerful social media channels like Facebook, Quora, and Pinterest, and so on correlate with the search rankings. Sites that combine branded searches with social signals exhibit higher chances of achieving greater search visibility.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_custom_heading text=”7. Domain Power” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1533209249013{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”]Exact-match domains still wield a lot of influence. One of the best examples of domain influence is as follows. When you search for the word \u2018cars\u2019 on the internet search engine, you expect the top brands of cars to show up on Google. However, you get a website by the name of cars.com. It shows how exact-match domains are dominant Google ranking factors.[\/vc_column_text]
\"Complete<\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_custom_heading text=”8. HTTPS encryption” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]When you have people all over the world browsing the net continuously and using the internet to carry out sensitive tasks like banking and so on, it becomes imperative to access secure websites. Hackers are waiting for silly mistakes from the internet users to wreak havoc. Therefore, it becomes vital for websites to have robust security features. HTTPS encryption is one such factor that affects Google rankings.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_custom_heading text=”9. User Experience” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]Providing a user-friendly experience to your customers is the need of the hour. Customers love to access sites they are comfortable with as compared to sites that are difficult to navigate. Hence, websites providing a better user experience tend to rank high on the Google search engine in comparison.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]We have seen the critical factors that can affect your ranking on Google. Now, we proceed with discussing ways how to rank higher on Google<\/strong>. We shall touch upon a variety of subjects that can show how to improve Google search ranking<\/strong>. Let us begin with the use of keywords.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_custom_heading text=”How to identify important keywords for your business” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left|color:%2311487f” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]The best way to identify the right keywords<\/strong> for your content is to imagine yourself in the shoes of your customer and look at things from the customer\u2019s angle. Do what the customer would do under the circumstances. Let us suppose you are looking for popular restaurants in your vicinity. What will you type on the search bar of Google? The most obvious answer would be \u2018popular restaurants near me\u2019 or \u2018best restaurants in my area,\u2019 and so on. If you want to go deeper into your search, you might add the name of your location, or the type of food you are looking for. In short, you will use keywords to locate the best restaurant near you.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1533209640620{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”]Therefore, you should have such keywords in your content that would make it easy for Google to search for your website among the thousands of similar ones. As you type out your search and look at the results displayed on the first page of Google, you will find some suggestions at the bottom of the same page. These are semantic keywords that people popularly use to search for the particular product or services.[\/vc_column_text]
\"Complete<\/div><\/div>[vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1533209670908{margin-top: 20px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”]Using generic keywords will generate general searches. However, if you want people to search for your business particularly, you should employ long-tailed keywords in your content. It is always better to have a couple of long-tailed keywords such as \u201crestaurants serving vegetarian food near me for lunch.\u201d We agree that the web traffic for such a long keyword would be less. Nevertheless, they provide specific results.[\/vc_column_text]
\"Complete<\/div><\/div>[vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1533209933328{margin-top: 20px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”]You notice that the search has become a localized one now. It signifies that using the right keywords is vital to narrow down your search.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_custom_heading text=”You have to note some essential points while using keywords.” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left|color:%2311487f” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]\n