8 Actionable Tips to Improve Your Keyword Rankings on Google
Google, in its quest to provide users with the most relevant search results for them, updates its algorithm several times a year. Although some of them are so minor that most will never notice the change, Google releases updates from time to time that has a significant impact on page rankings.
The days when it was enough to place keywords everywhere on the site, believing that the more the better, are long gone. The search engine algorithm has become more complex, therefore, it now better understands the purpose of queries. And this means that Google prefers sites that provide the most relevant answers to these queries. Resources that are simply filled with relevant words and phrases are left without a high bot score. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the various ranking factors and find out how you can use keywords more effectively to drive search traffic.
Content:
1. Measure your rating
The first thing to start with is ranking measurement. Without a clear understanding of the baseline performance of your keywords, you won’t know how much your metrics have improved. We recommend that you export your keyword data from Google Search Console and save it for future reference. So you can evaluate the results of your work and understand how much you have progressed in SEO
Analysis of this data will help determine:
- Most valuable keywords
- Opportunities for improvement
- Keywords that are ineffective
Regularly monitor the ranking of keywords to monitor the growth dynamics and notice the drawdown in time.
2. Target relevant keywords
In order for keywords to meet business goals and represent real value, it is important to understand what the search goal is, behind them, and the difficulty of ranking. Assessing the difficulty of ranking for a particular keyword will help you understand how much effort will be required in content development. If terms and phrases have their own specific meaning for you, then for Google it can be a completely different meaning.
Understanding the intent, whether it’s an informational, transactional, or navigational query, will help you identify the stage of the funnel that your page visitors are in. It is very important to conduct a thorough analysis of the search results. See which sites are ranking first in search results for your main keywords, look out for:
- Related Inquiries
- People also ask
- Google autocomplete suggestions
- Other advanced search features
Also, don’t ignore long requests. Despite the fact that their demand volume is likely lower, you may miss out on the target audience that is ready to buy.
3. Clean up the site structure
Having the right structure will help solve any technical issues that might reduce the visibility of a keyword. If your site is difficult for users to navigate, and search bots find it difficult to crawl, it will most likely affect your keyword rankings. It is important that the resource has a solid structure, working links, and unique content. In solving all priority technical problems, a thorough SEO audit.
4. Optimize keywords for users and search engines
Many people are so obsessed with optimizing content for Google that they forget about the ultimate goal of promotion, which is to attract the target audience. Despite the fact that search engines and people read and digest content differently, there are common characteristics that will help you create content with both factors in mind.
Robots and humans prefer:
- Clarity and brevity
- Exact information
- Lack of jargon
- When subtopics are related to the cover
This is important to consider from the very beginning of content creation.
5. Create compelling headlines
Using the right tags and headings will improve the overall readability of the text and enable search bots to follow the hierarchy from the most important on the page to the least important. It’s the first thing users see in search results and on social media. The title tag is a great opportunity to grab the user’s attention and encourage them to click through to the page. Determine the page you want to rank for each target keyword and then make your title stand out from the rest. Properly chosen title tags can improve the visibility of keywords and positively affect other SEO metrics.
6. Stay up to date with algorithm updates
A good SEO specialist is always up to date with the latest updates. This helps track fluctuations in keyword rankings and traffic. You will be able to identify potential reasons why the site is affected by the update and how it affects certain keywords and pieces of content. It’s important to always stay up to date with the latest changes, so you not only keep your keyword rankings stable but also constantly improve them.
7. Give answers to questions people ask
Google strives to provide users with the best answers to their questions. Looking at the new and improved SERP features that we have seen over the past few years, these are:
- Featured snippets (or answer blocks)
- People also ask
- Knowledge Panels
- Videos carousels
Optimizing for featured snippet results for high-priority keywords is now an integral part of your SEO strategy.
8. Constantly optimize and improve the content
There are many factors that are important for SEO, but the content is still the most important. Focus on the quality of the published material. The Google Guidelines explicitly state the importance of EAT, i.e. competence, authority, and reliability. Your content should convince both search engines and users that you are a trusted expert on topics related to the keywords you are using. But since the results of the search engine are constantly changing, it is necessary to regularly optimize and improve the content of the site. Refreshing content means that you offer users relevant and up-to-date information, thereby increasing the visibility of keywords. If the content is outdated, it’s likely that your suggestion keywords will rank lower.
Conclusions:
Given the latest changes and trends from Google, in order to ensure high keyword rankings, it is important to focus on what users are searching for and take into account the experience of site visitors. Focus on providing useful information to users by tailoring your content to their needs. This will please both users of your resource and search bots.
