Everyone wants a top Google ranking because consistent and top-ranking will bring more traffic, visibility, and profit.
Getting high rankings is not easy. Even the most skilled and knowledgeable marketers find it difficult to rank at the top on Google.
So, how do you increase your chances of getting a top-ranking? There’s no way to guarantee top ranking, but this post will show you some strategies that even a small business owner can use. These strategies should significantly increase your ranking opportunities.
1. Go niche
When searching for SEO success, it’s essential to understand your competitive landscape. It’s unlikely that you’ll be able to compete with huge companies that have vastly larger marketing budgets. But, at the same time, there’s always a chance you could outperform them.
Going niche is important. Here’s what it means-instead of trying to compete with other companies for popular keywords, create your unique content for less competitive keywords. This might involve shifting away from more general and towards more specific products and services.
For instance, instead of exclusively offering general digital marketing services, you could consider specializing in “digital marketing services for real estate.” A more specific keyword phrase will likely be easier to rank for, which will mean that your site can start ranking much faster.
2. Choose relevant keywords
Anyone can get the number 1 ranking in Google Search results by picking and targeting the right keywords. First, find the keywords people are typing into search engines to see you. Then, doing proper keyword research will help you rank higher in organic search.
You can use tools like Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush to find relevant keywords with a moderate search volume but little competition.
Once you have a website with some authority and start ranking for multiple easy keywords, it’s time to move to more competitive keywords.
3. Optimize On-page SEO
Once you’ve found some easier keywords to rank for, don’t forget to use them in strategic places on your page. Most importantly, focus on using them in your:
- URL: For example, instead of
www.yoursite.com/hgx6e.htm, use
www.yoursite.com/your-keywords-here - Title tag.
- Headings: H1, H2, H3, etc.
- Image alt tag.
- Throughout your content.
Keep in mind that Google (and your readers) favor well-researched, in-depth articles covering all aspects of a topic. So, while using keywords is an important part of SEO, this should not be the only focus when writing content.
To know more about which on-page element carries the most weight for SEO, check out our post, Which On-Page Element Carries The Most Weight For SEO?
4. Add tons of content to your site
If you are looking to be the top google search result, adding new content regularly is a must. But don’t just add content for the sake of it. Your content should be useful, high-quality, and provide value to your customers and prospects.
This content will help you boost your rankings in two ways. First, the more content you have, the more keywords that Google can index. Second, the more content you have, the easier it is for other sites to link back to your site.
5. Gain links to your site
Links are still very important for search engine optimization. Some strategies for acquiring links to your site include:
- Guest blogging is an effective link-building strategy, but it also brings other benefits such as increased brand awareness and exposure to a new target audience. If you do it right, guest posting can lead to conversions and higher rankings in Google searches.
- Creating content that other bloggers find useful and will want to link to. (e.g., Guides, tutorials, how-to posts, etc.)
- You can find broken links on industry sites and ask them to replace them with links back to your site.
- You can create a listing for your business on sites like Yelp, Bing Places, and Google My Business.
To know more about link building, check out our post, Why Backlinks Matter And How To Build Powerful Backlinks To Boost Your SEO Ranking
Final Thoughts
It’s not possible to guarantee that you’ll rank number 1 on Google but targeting the right keyword and audience can increase your chances of ranking higher. Once you’ve done that, focus on creating and promoting content that will get great SEO results; this will help get you up there in no time!
