Crawling the ranks of SEO can feel like fighting riptide. Every push forward can peel back by the end of the day. The buoys of stable indexes are gone, and algorithms have come to shape every content delivery service, from searching guides on how to fix appliances to top songs by streamable artists.
While there is no “quick fix” or easy road to the top, there are several tips you can use to improve the functionality of your site in the eyes of Google’s hivemind of bots and page-crawlers. The first of which might as well be keeping it brief—which is exactly why we’re getting into it right away!
1. Keep it Fresh!
Keeping it fresh applies not only to creating new content but updating your older digital resources. Your blog on the iPhone 4 might not be relevant as we creep into new devices. Still, by keeping your links up to date, your image hosting stable, and your internal linking consistent, your page will increase in reputability! Google uses many metrics in its search engine algorithm to rank pages, and little will sink a page faster than being broken.
2. EAT Your Words!
Google doesn’t like taking directions from strangers on the street. Some of the metrics the search engine looks for are related to three simple principles: Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness. This means that the more your page has in terms of qualifying traits, the more favorably it will treat your page.
Reviews, qualified links from other trustworthy sources, and social proof such as case studies and public forum mentions will make your page the fix-it-all expert of your field in the eyes of Google. Approval never felt so good.
3. State Your Intentions!
The robots are getting smart. Very smart. Perplexing queries such as “where get cat BIG” were once unnavigable messes of human laziness to the search engine giants—nowadays, these truly complex queries are interpreted by machines as what they are: looking for products and services just like yours.
If you were a customer, what would you want to find on your site? Easy access to content. Simple, to-the-point content (we’re looking at you, 6-gigabyte recipe pages) and intuitive keywords. Consider asking questions like “why” or “how” on your website. Many searches begin this way, and Google can quickly pick out the resources that best answer these questions humanly. Your message matters.
An easy-to-use site goes along neatly with our final list item, making sure it isn’t broken!
4. Make it Work!
Recent updates to the algorithm (pssst… there are on average 1.5 a day) have been directed at ranking pages based on functionality and speed. With a considerable increase in mobile users worldwide, having your page functional across all devices will move you up in the SEO rankings. Compressed images, working links and graphics, and full functionality are critical.
Keywords should be frequent and qualified in sensible paragraphs, not scattershot out like a handful of birdseed. Like the above point, making your site make sense for users is the quickest and most organic way not only to increase your site’s visibility but the likeliness of likes, shares, and follows.
Your users are human—write for them, and the rest will follow!
Finding a way out from the bottom of the pile can seem overwhelming in your marketing niche. That’s why experts like Megan Killion Consulting exist—to help clarify your business not only for your intended market but for yourself and the flippant SEO deities.
Let’s get in touch and start your ship up that river. Setting sail for Page One isn’t going to be easy, but the results speak for themselves.