Ranking on the first page of search engines is a dream come true for many businesses. The experience is nothing less than fascinating, but it requires a lot of effort to get there.
Things are even more difficult if you're just getting started. Startups often compete with bigger or known companies on the targeted keywords. These companies are often more resourceful and have a better know-how of industry best practices. So, it can be overwhelming to keep up.
Climbing SERPs may not be easy but consistency in your efforts helps you get there eventually. This may take some time as you'd be working your way from the ground up. So, patience is the key.
Around 67% of people click only on the first 5 search results displayed. So, your goal should be to rank at least among the top 5.
How to do that?
Here are a few tips that can help you get started.
1. Target the Right Keywords
Keywords are important. And choosing the right ones helps you climb the SERPs efficiently. Keywords make up the queries your target audience use to seek desired information via search results. And since your content addresses a particular query, search engines rank your page higher among recommendations.
Startups make a common mistake of trying to target all keyword possibilities, even if they don't distantly relate to what they do. This often backfires and they fail to become an authority on any of the keywords they target.
Selection of the right keywords requires planning and careful consideration. You have to keep your niche in the center when exploring prospects and ignore the fancy stuff. Once you've found the right keywords, create content around them. This will add relevance to your content and make it easier for you to rank higher on the targeted queries.
2. Produce Quality Content
Content is king. As per Google's guidelines, the search engine prefers quality content over all other things. That's why around 81% of the leaders consider content as the core of their marketing strategy.
Your content should cover all important aspects of the topic you're writing on. See if your content has the topical depth to surpass others targeting the same keywords. Search engines prefer content that helps readers find the solutions that they seek. So, catering to your target audience's queries in detail helps.
Search engines also consider user experience when ranking content. So, your content should be fresh, readable, and easy to comprehend. Content serves no purpose if it doesn't facilitate users but rather overwhelms them. So, keep it simple.
Take inspiration from industry best practices and optimize your content as per search engine guidelines.
3. Build Quality Backlinks
Building quality links is another strategy that helps you climb the SERPs. Around 91% of the websites are deprived of organic traffic for not having backlinks.
Quality backlinks determine your authority concerning particular search queries or keywords. They fuel your rankings as search engines consider your site among the top recommendations for certain user queries. But don't go overboard when building links. Build the ones that are of quality and avoid spamming at all costs.
Almost all search engines have no tolerance policy for spammy links, especially Google. Google views it as an illicit practice to boost search rankings and won't hesitate to penalize your site if found guilty.
And since Google controls around 93% of the search engine market share, you have to pay heed to their say on the matter. Quality over quantity should be your motto.
4. Use External Links
People often shy away from adding external links to their content. They think that it increases the chances of users bouncing from the site. It's a common misconception.
There are many reputable sites that publish well-researched content. And you can use their findings to make your content even more engaging. Using their research in your content to address the queries of your target audience saves a lot of time and effort. But you will you to add a link to the source. If not, the search engines would flag your content and penalize your site.
With a no external links policy, you're technically missing out on all the valuable content that you can use without having to worry about repercussions. This can also be an excellent opportunity to exchange quality links. Since you linked another site, it's likely for them to give you a backlink also.
5. Optimize Images
Images have a significant impact on your search engine rankings. But, people often neglect optimizing images even though they are part of your content. There are a few best practices to consider here.
Adding a title to the images using appropriate keywords is necessary. Would you write a blog without giving it a title? Of course not. Then why do it for the images?
Do not leave the alt text field blank. It helps you describe your images. So, even if your website is unable to load the media, the user experience is not affected.
Using high-resolution images improves the user experience, but try not to go overboard with this. Also, do not use crowded pictures or images with gradient backgrounds. Using heavy images will increase your site's load time which eventually affects its ranking.
Compression tools are a great help here. But if you're not careful, you end up using pixelated images. So, try to keep a balance between image size and quality.
6. Reduce Load Time
Your website's load time is of critical importance. Around 53% of visitors will leave if a site fails to load within 3 seconds. This not only affects your rankings in the long run but also your website's acquisition.
As said earlier, using optimized images has a huge impact on improving your site's load time. But things are not always that simple. Sometimes, the issues are a bit more technical.
Start with issues that are more easily identified like using heavy media files, running too many ads, a subpar hosting service, etc. All these things can increase the load time and affect the way search engines view your site.
So there you have it. The tips to help you climb the SERPs. There are other factors that you might need to consider if you're aiming for the first spot. But these strategies should be enough to get you started.