3 Key Factors in Ranking Your Website Higher on Google
Has your business email ever been spammed by “SEO experts” promising you that they can get your website to the top of Google? I’m sure you have. And not just once….but ALL of the time. Believe it or not, I get those emails too.
Usually these emails talk about all of the things you’re doing wrong online and how they can magically bring your website to page 1 of Google in 30 days…
If it sounds too good to be true, that’s because it is.
Moving your site up the Google rankings won’t happen overnight. If that were the case, everyone would be on the front page. However, there are three key factors that come into ranking your site online. And depending on the city you service and what your local competition is doing with their SEO efforts, your site may be able to get to the first page of Google in as little as 3 months. But the truth is, it usually takes longer.
So where do you start? Here are the 3 key factors that go into moving up the rankings of Google. By applying these SEO efforts consistently, you’ll soon see your site move up the rankings and get in front of more customers searching for your services online!
Here are the 3 main factors in ranking your website on Google!
Quality, authoritative content…and a LOT of it!
When you search for something on Google, you expect that a list of relevant websites will pop up and connect you with what you are looking for. Whether you’re searching for a local auto repair shop or looking up a recipe for BBQ wings, you know you’ll find what you’re looking for through your Google search.
Google does this by connecting us with sites that have a lot of relevant content to our searches.
When you show Google that your business is an authoritative source for your profession, they will want to put you in front of customers searching for your services.
You can show Google this by having a LOT of quality content on your website. If your home page has one paragraph about what you do, Google won’t see your website as one that could answer questions people may be asking or provide information that they are searching for.
Look at the contrast in these two Seattle concrete company websites:
As you can see, the website to the right has a lot of content written on their website that informs people about concrete patios, stamped concrete, concrete countertops, and more! The first site (on the left) has some nice images, but doesn’t show that the company has any knowledge on concrete — even if the company has been a concrete professional for over 50 years!
Based on content alone, Google is going to place the site to the right higher in the rankings than the site to the left because it is the most relative site to someone searching for concrete services in Seattle. This site shows that they know what they’re talking about and have a lot of information on the subject of concrete.
Why does Google love content so much?
Content is what sets websites apart. Anyone can put up a website with some pictures. But the reason why Google shows preference to sites that have authoritative content is simple…
When Google connects web users to sites that match what they are searching for, people will keep using that search engine. If Google didn’t match them with the most relevant site to their search, the web users would leave and go use another (like Bing). Google makes money when people use their search engine, so they are going to keep giving people the best matches to their search results.
My Content Building Tips
Shoot for a minimum of 1000 words on your home page. The ultimate goal is closer to 2000 words. Pack it full of meaningful content and show expertise in your profession!
Shoot for a minimum of 500 words on all of your inner pages. This includes your service pages, about pages, and so on.
Make a separate page for each of your service offerings. By separating all of your services to their own pages, you make more room for content. Again, you want to aim for 500 words per page.
Feeling overwhelmed at the amount of content that needs to be written? Hire a copywriter to do it for you!
Blend in important keywords into your content. If you are a concrete professional in Houston, people online are most like searching “concrete companies in Houston”, so include that phrase in your content a couple of times, as well as others, like “Houston Concrete” or “Concrete Repair in Houston”.
Citations
In general, websites with strong content AND strong citations rank higher than those without.
So what the hell is a citation?
Simply put, a citation is a reference to your business on the web. The reference includes your NAP (business name, address, and phone number. Think of it as online Yellowpage listing. The more of these citations that you have, the better!
These citations also directly affect where your business ranks in the Google Map Pack, shown to the right —>
Getting citations are FREE! Sites like Yelp, Foursquare, Google, Bing, and others, are all places you can get your business a citation.
But…you want to have more citations than your competitors to outrank them. Usually, that means getting anywhere between 50-350 citations. And as you can probably imagine, that gets very time consuming.
The more citations you have, the more chances you have for people to find you online. The more people that find you online, the more calls you’ll get and the more money you’ll make!
Backlinks
You may have heard this term before. But I really don’t want to give you some complicated explanation for what it is. A backlink is simply a link to your site from another website.
When another website links to you, it’s like getting a vote in the eyes of search engines like Google. The more votes, the better.
But not all votes are created equal…
To really improve your SEO ranking, getting a link from an authoritative site is worth a lot more than a non-authoritative site. You also don’t want sites associated with pornography, gambling, etc. linked to your business website. (That may sound obvious, but there are a lot of sketchy “SEO experts” out there that have ruined site rankings for businesses by getting bad backlinks…)
It’s important to look at your competition and the backlinks that they have. Again, you are going to want to get more quality backlinks than they have to outrank them. Sometimes it only takes 1 or 2 high-quality backlinks to outrank a competitor who has 100 low-quality backlinks.
Let’s Wrap Up
Everyone will tell you something different about ranking on Google. You may be told that you need a faster page loading speed, or to adjust to a new Google algorithm to fix your SEO ranking…but these things are minor when it comes to ranking.
These 3 factors of ranking have rang true for all of my clients in blue-collar businesses. By building a lot of authoritative content, listing your site online through citations, and getting quality links from other websites to yours, you will see significant progress in moving up the Google rankings.
SEO is a worthwhile investment. Once you hit page 1 of Google, you will see a significant increase in calls and make more money for your business, and that’s always a good thing!
