10 Tips To Improve SEO Keyword Ranking in Google

How To Improve Your Google Rankings? Want to know the trick to boost your website rank in 2020? Read on to know the 10 top formula to rank higher on Google.

With the recent Google algorithm updates, we have seen so far, a traditional approach like keyword targeting, researching, on-page content optimization and page tagging optimization don’t hold anymore impact that they used to have.

Most importantly, each website is different. This means practising the same strategy will not promise any specific results for the website. The same modifications may affect websites differently and which is why it is necessary to test new strategies, continuous improvements, adjust as needed and monitor performances.

 
In today’s ever-evolving search algorithm, one needs to think out of the traditional approach and look at the bigger picture.
 
Everyone is trying and working hard for their website to rank on top of Google’s SERP. But have you ever thought why only a few of them to make it possible and rest fails?
 
The answer is that a successful person knows what exactly they need to do and where to put their efforts. This involves focusing on the websites overall experience, starting from building inbound links, optimizing old content for both the search engines and users and much more.
 
Here are the top 10 tips to improve your rankings in Google by looking at the website more holistically.

Tip #1: Assess Your Current Search Ranking

The first and the most obvious way to start is by measuring your search rankings. Without obtaining an in-depth understanding of your keyword performance, you won’t able to know how far and much have you have improved.

Image Source: Search Engine Journal
 
Some of us must have learned the hard way, but it is best to analyze data that will help in giving a good idea of:

• The most valuable landing pages and keywords are
• Where the most immediate improvement opportunities are
• What landing pages or keywords are underperforming

As far as the improvement goes, focus on the keywords that rank in position 5 to 15 on the Google since as these terms rank on the Google first page, considering these keywords may give you quick wins.

Tip #2: Choose the Right Keywords

To ensure keyword targets are positioned with the business objectives and offering real value, it is important to understand that using the right set of keywords is the key to success. While one term has a particular meaning to you may take a different meaning altogether in Google.
 
Knowing the type of content intent, whether it is educational, navigational or informational, it will help to know what stages are the users at. Doing a thorough analysis of SERP is necessary. Look at what is currently topping the top search results and try to include those keywords in your content, such as:

• People also ask
• Related searches
• Automated suggestions by Google
• Other advanced search features

Image Source: Search Engine Journal
 
Knowing what particular keyword is required will help you to conclude the development and creation of content.

Cross-reference your research on Keywords with paid advertising data can help fill gaps and exploring new opportunities. Don’t ignore the long-tail queries. They may low search engine results, but you may miss out on targeted audiences who are ready to purchase.

Tip#3: Fix Technical Issues

Positioning a solid foundation for a website also involves solving technical issues as well, which may interfere with your keyword visibility. A site page should be both navigated and found easily by the users and search engines.
 
If your website is not user-friendly and difficult for the search engines to crawl and users to navigate, your keyword rankings are sure to get negatively affected.
 
And vice-versa - if the website is responsive for both Google and users, the rankings are forced to obtain a positive response.
 
It is necessary to make sure your website has a solid structure, fixed technical issues or broken links and resolved replicated content issues. Doing a thorough SEO audit is required to ensure all the technical issues are being addressed.

Tip #4: Focus on the User Experience 

Brand equity and user experience are critical when it comes to navigating organic search visibility. While the experience of the user may not be search engine’s responsibility, but SEO and user experience must work together.

Here are some of the essential elements which provide an opportunity to improve SEO and UX:

• Keyword Research: Confirm and re-confirm that the targeted keywords have the right search engine and are positioned with the language of your targeted audience.


• Page Tagging: Ensure that page tagging encourages and engages one to click on your website.


• Content Optimization: Engage the user on the page by providing them with the logical next step or destination. This may involve navigation to another page, call to actions, or internal cross-linking at your site.


• Page Speed: Offer users the content they are looking for seamlessly and quickly across all devices. Be mobile-friendly, compress images, speed up the server and clean your code.

Tip #5: Optimize for Search Engines & Users

Many of us get fixated so much on content optimizing for Google that at times we forget that what is the end game -  to reach out to readers and audiences as much as we want.

While humans and search engines have their own way of analysing and understanding the content, but there are a few common things which will help to ensure the content created for both.

Both Humans and robots want the contents to be:

• Be concise and clear
• Provide information accurately
• Avoid confusion
• Cover the related topic and subtopic

This is crucial to keep in mind while generating content for your website. As we talk and thinking about ways to make readable content for both, the key is Header Tags.

Not only it will improve your content readability overall, but header tags will also ensure that the search engine follows the hierarchy of what is needed on the page.

Images should be included as they are more engaging with their pictorial reference. It overall makes a huge difference for the users and also provides an opportunity to optimize the search engines further through file naming and ALT text.

Tip#6: Create Distinctive & Engaging Titles

As a part of SEO Title tags are the most critical element in a webpage. Not just it is the best SEO practice, but also because it is the foremost thing a users finds in search results and also on platforms over social media.

Title tags are the biggest opportunity to attract any users eyes and encourage one to click on it. Decide what page you want it to rank, give it a suitable title tag embed with targeted keywords to stand out from the rest.

But how else can you encourage the users to click? Over 100 million headlines analyzed by Buzzsumo, they learned that:

• Voyeurism and Curiosity gain more engagement
• Emotional titles navigate interactions more
• Providing number and list post in headlines are a powerful tool
• Meta descriptions though don’t have any impact on rankings, but they work well with title tags. Incorporate keywords if possible.
• Use clear call-to-action

The main goal of the meta description and title tags should benefit the users, trigger engagement and provoke emotion, all applying the best SEO practices at the same time.

Tip#7: Algorithm Updates

Why should we care about recent algorithm updates by Google?

Because a good SEO expert stays top and updates of that stuff. Among many other reasons, it helps in ensuring the keyword rankings are steady and constantly improving.

Knowing when and what is the algorithm update all about, it officially aids in tracking purposes and allows one to trace the keyword and fluctuations in traffic to the root cause. This will help in unwrapping series of potential reasons why and how a site was hit by an update, pieces of content or certain keywords needs improvement.

Tip#8: Answers the Questions People Are Asking

It is by now clear that Google is on a mission to provide answers to the users. Let’s take a look at all the increased and new SERP features we have seen the last couple of years:

• People Also Asked
• Featured Snippets
• Dictionary Definitions
• Knowledge Cards

And the list goes on.

Image Source: Search Engine Journal

Tip#9: Build Valuable Inbound Links

Start with your website by searching for opportunities to create strong cross-link from keyword-rich anchor text. By doing so, it will help in driving audiences to relevant content and build a keyword association. But crafting this internal linking strategy is only half the battle, the other is to generate a highly valuable and authoritative inbound link strategy from third-part websites.

This can be stressful, but there are some main tactics. Create content which is link-worthy and based on the analysis of what is ranking on Google SERPs and also on Keyword research to help in improving and generating inbound link rankings.

If you want your website to be linked, remember to link other websites to yours. You get as much as you give. One must leverage social media to support the link building.

Tip#10: Strategic Content Promotion

Apart from the above tips, it is also essential to accelerate the non-SEO channels to navigate visibility to your website and aid link building efforts.

More the content gets it audiences, more is the opportunity to have:

• Drive social media shares
• Generate inbound links
• Rank better
• Gain traffic to one piece

While there are different tactics applied for promoting the different content types, but creating a checklist is helpful. This way, when it comes to promoting a website, one will have all possible tactics in one place. This may include:

• Social media channel distribution
• Sending out emails to the subscribers
• Letting your internal team know how to encourage shares
• Reaching out to cross-linked mentioned in your content
• Sharing it directly with influencers or certain expert
• Answering related questions topics on Quora or another platform
• Social Media Advertising
• Creating presentation

Bonus Tip: Continuously Optimize & Improve Content

And, it doesn’t even stop here. Search engine results are evolving and constantly changing, and this calls for continuous improvements and optimizations to the content.

If your content is out of date, the keyword rankings associated tends to decline. Refreshing the content will ensure that your content is offering the audience with the best of information with increased keyword visibility.

Content optimization should never be done once. It is a continuous process of upgrading your piece with every updated information you get. If your content doesn't generate the results you want or ranking on Google, it is best to re-optimize it for search intent, relevance, readability or engagement.

Your goal is to offer the audience a content piece which is better than else and satisfy all displayed queries. The whole concept is to fix it if it is broken. It is also best to avoid your keyword ranking decline if the ranking is in the first position on Google. Don’t risk it by changing the title tag or else it could harm the keyword ranking.

Final Thoughts 

Tactics like on-page content optimization or page tagging are not that important unless you follow these 10 essential tips and tricks that SEOs look at your website.

If you are not driving the results you need from following certain tactics, it is time that you take a step to look at your website more holistically. And, remember also that it may take time testing, failing and again testing more to find out whether the tactics will have a good impact on your site.

Hopefully, this article has provided you with some new considerations and ideas to help in improving your keyword ranking. If you have any other suggestions or queries, we would love to hear it from you in the comment box below.