Ranking your blog article on Google’s first page can seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be.
In this article, we will go over the steps you need to take to compete for those top spots.
Let’s dive in!
1. Optimize for Keywords
The first and perhaps most important part of your SEO strategy is optimizing for the right keywords.
Keywords are important on-page SEO. To rank your article on Google, you need to understand what keywords are best for your blog articles.
You’ll need to conduct some keyword research before writing and use the results as the basis for your content. There are so many keyword research tools available, both free and paid, that you can use to find valuable keywords for your article. Check out how to do keyword research for a blog post.
Once you find your keywords, you can use them in your article to optimize them for the search result. This include:
a) Include the Keyword in Your Title
The first and most basic way to optimize your keyword is to include it in the title.
The closer you place it to the beginning of the heading, the more likely it is to rank high in Google’s results.
b) Include the Keyword a Few Times in Each Article
While keyword stuffing is an old SEO technique that I don’t recommend, you should definitely include the keyword a few times in your article.
Write for humans, not computers, but if there’s a natural opportunity to include the keyword, use it!
c) Include LSI Keywords
A more advanced technique for getting your articles to rank well in Google is using Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) keywords.
These are related terms that Google uses to determine the quality and breadth of the content you’ve written.
d) Include the Keywords in H2 or H3 Headings
The best articles are divided up into different sections under specific headings.
To show Google that your article covers the keyword you’ve included, make sure to list this phrase in your subheadings.
2. Optimize Your Content
Google is constantly changing its search algorithm.
To make sure you stay on top of the search results page, you need to look beyond today’s tactics and focus on long-term strategies that will keep you on top of search results.
Here’s how to create content Google will reward you today and for years in the future.
a) Write In-Depth Content
It’s no secret that Google rewards in-depth content.
This type of content is better for use and thus ranks higher in Google.
b) Improve Content Readability
While Google values length, it also ranks content by how easy your content is to read.
So, to write content that is easy to read. You can use tools like Grammarly to check your content’s readability. Some WordPress SEO plugins also come with a readability checker.
c) Update Your Content Frequently
The world is constantly changing, and Google wants to present its users with the most updated content possible to reflect this.
To improve your article’s results in Google, you should update them frequently.
3. Include Technical Ranking Factors
While it’s easy to notice the visible factors that improve your rankings, there are other techniques to keep in mind, as well.
By improving these technical ranking factors, you can boost your article’s ranking in Google.
a) Make Your URL Keyword-Rich and Readable
URLs include terms that clearly describe the page’s content and are easy to read for both humans and search engines.
Good URLs serve two SEO benefits.
First, Google can find the keywords in this URL. This allows you to get an SEO advantage over other articles in the same space.
Second, users are more likely to click on relevant links. And the more users click on your links, the higher your rank in Google’s search!
b) Write a Compelling Meta Description
If you don’t provide a description for Google, it will show a random snippet of your article.
Usually, this isn’t the kind of message you want to deliver to potential readers. Instead, you should write a compelling meta description that shows up in the results.
A great way to include a meta description is to use an SEO plugin like All in One SEO for WordPress. You can edit the SEO title, URL (slug), and meta description with this tool.
c) Optimize Your Images
An often-overlooked way to boost your article’s ranking in Google searches is by optimizing the images you’ve used.
Even if you only have one or two images, you can easily optimize them for even better SEO results.
4. Improve Your Links
There are a few different ways to improve your links, and each of them is valuable. This include:
a) Promote Your Content for Backlinks
The best way to get higher search engine rankings for your articles is to acquire a number of backlinks from other sources.
There are plenty of ways to do this, but the best way is to Promote your content.
Doing this will improve your relationships with other site owners and can lead to natural backlinks that will skyrocket your rankings.
b) Do More Internal Linking
The easiest and simplest way to improve the links to your articles is to do it internally.
While it’s difficult to convince others to link to your content, you can do it for free on your own website!
By doing this, Google can easily crawl your site and find the best content you have to offer.
c) Fix Broken Links
While links are great for the user experience on your site and boost your SEO rankings, broken links do just the opposite!
If you have links that used to point to a great page that no longer exists, you should fix them as soon as possible.
d) Improve Your Anchor Text
Every clickable link says something. While it’s not a deal-breaker for Google’s ranking algorithm, it’s a good idea to give yourself the advantage of keyword-rich anchor text.
This means that instead of linking to articles with text like “this article” or “click here,” you use phrases like “best blogging platforms.”
5. Fix Your Layout
Even if your blog’s articles are top-notch, your content could still be lingering down the page of Google results because of your site’s layout.
User experience is the new SEO. This means you must make your layout as easy as possible for your user to navigate and explore. This include:
a) Make Your Site Mobile-Friendly
Google is starting to make the mobile version of your site the primary ranking factor.
In other words, a poor mobile experience will hurt you, even if your desktop version works flawlessly.
It’s a good idea to make sure your mobile site is at peak performance to get the best rankings for your articles.
b) Make Your Site Quick to Load
The slower your site is, the less likely it will appear in Google’s results.
Even shaving off a second of page-load speed will boost your authority and drive more traffic to your page.
This is especially important for the mobile version of your site.
Site speed is more important than many people realize. Even a fraction of a second makes a difference!
Check out how to speed up a WordPress site.
6. Go Beyond Text
As the Internet becomes based on more than just text, you can improve your Google search results by including more than just words.
By using different types of media, you can be sure that you’ll place well in Google’s results now and in the future.
a) Include Social Sharing Buttons
With the advent of social media, more and more people want to be able to share your content with their friends and others on their favorite social media channels.
If you don’t have social sharing on your website already, it’s time to add it.
One of the easiest ways to do this is by adding a social media plugin that shows social sharing buttons on the side of every blog article you write.
b) Embed Different Types of Media
If you don’t include other types of media in your blog articles, you should include them.
65% of the traffic from the Internet comes from video.
It’s a huge way to gain momentum for your brand and provide even better content for your visitors.
I’d recommend including video, audio, pictures, and even special types of content. This can include calculators, tools, and other features.
c) Prepare for Voice Searches
The biggest new trend with Google is voice search.
Over 20% of mobile searches on the Google app were by voice.
This is a huge opportunity to take advantage of, and you should optimize your blog posts for voice as soon as possible.
Conclusion
If you want your blog articles to rank higher on Google, you’ll need to put in some work to make it happen.
By using the strategies and tactics I’ve recommended in this article, you can make massive SEO.
It will take time to see results as you will see your rankings slowly climb versus just jumping to the top of page one.
These techniques are sure to skyrocket your rankings and increase the amount of traffic you see coming to your site.
That will directly result in more sales, revenue, and profit.
