How to rank in search results in Google

 Have you tried to top Google for a particular keyword, put in a lot of effort, perhaps for months, and still haven't noticed any improvement in your site's ranking?

 Even worse, the sites that rank higher in Google search results for the keywords you target may be of lower quality than your site, in terms of design, content, or services provided.

SEO is a complex world governed by a lot of algorithms, rules and factors, it is not a straightforward science. 

So it's not easy to improve your site's ranking and get to the first page, especially if the keyword you're targeting is very competitive.

 In this article, you will learn how to rank in search results and get to the first page of Google step by step.

Check your site

Before we get started, it is important that your site is well prepared for search engines. It's hard to rank for search results if your site is poorly designed, has poor content, is full of errors, or is unsafe. 

Even assuming that you make it to the first page, visitors will leave as soon as they enter your site if they don't like it.

You have to make sure that your site meets all the accepted standards, especially those that Google takes into account in ranking sites.

 These are some of the most important factors:

Design :

 The design leaves a quick impression on the visitor, as it is an indication of the professionalism and seriousness of the site owner.

 You have to improve the design of your site, and take care of all the elements of its pages, such as colors, fonts and menus. It should also be responsive to mobile screens.

Bugs :

Verify that your site is correct and free from bugs. Software errors can be the source of security holes, and they may also disrupt your site and make it unavailable, which will negatively affect its ranking.

User experience :

 User experience includes all things that can affect a visitor's experience about your site, whether positively or negatively, such as the speed of page loading, ease of navigation of the site, and advertisements.

Choose the right keywords

The first step in your keyword targeting strategy is to choose the right ideal keyword that is relevant to your website and business.

 You have to choose a keyword that meets the following three conditions:

There is no point in draining your efforts to appear on the first page of Google for a keyword that will not benefit you. 

The keyword should be of interest to your target audience. If you sell bikes, for example, you won't benefit much if you top the search results for the keyword "perfume" that has nothing to do with your business.

You should also pay attention to the keyword search rate. The best keywords are the ones that are most popular in search engines. Because you will not benefit from publishing search results in a keyword that does not exceed 10 searches per month.

The more competition for a keyword, the more difficult it is to appear on the first page of Google. If your site is new, it is best to avoid striving to be the top spot for highly competitive keywords.

 Instead, target keywords that have a medium search, because you have a higher chance of being searched in search results.

The ideal keywords are the ones related to your project, which have a lot of search on Google, but there is little competition for them. Of course, it is rare to find such keywords, as there is a relationship between these three factors.

The rule is that the more relevant a keyword is to a particular business, or the more searches a keyword has on search engines, the more intense the competition for it. Everyone wants to be the top in search results for those keywords.

Try to balance as much as possible. If you target a keyword searched by 1000 people and the competition for it is medium or weak, it is better for you than targeting a keyword searched by 100 thousand people, but the competition for it is intense. Because you may waste your effort and resources in vain.

 Analyze the competitors

After deciding which keywords you want to rank for in search results, the first thing you have to do is analyze the competitors, i.e. the sites and pages that rank first in Google relative to those keywords. For example, if you're targeting the keyword "Bluetooth headphones", go to Google and type this keyword into the text box:

These are your big competitors, enter their sites and pages, try to learn from them and benefit. Of course I don't ask you to copy its contents and put it on your site, that will probably hurt you, because Google does not like duplicate content.

What I mean is to analyze those pages; Try to discern its features, what distinguishes it, the way they distribute the keyword, the length of the content, whether they have a lot of images, and other factors. 

Competitor analysis is an excellent starting point, as it will give you ideas and insights that you can build on and leverage on your site.

 Distribute the keyword appropriately

There are strategic positions on your pages that Google gives special importance when estimating page rank. On top of these positions:

Page title :

 The title has a special priority with Google and other search engines, as it is probably the most important sentence on the page or article. 

You should put the keyword in the title, for example, if you want to target the keyword "Bluetooth headphones", choose a title like:

SEO experts are experts in the first paragraph.

 In addition to the main title, it is desirable to put the keyword in the sub-heading. Not on hold at every subtitle on the page, but one subtitle is enough.

 Google does not understand images, but rather analyzes the description and name of the image. If you need good feedback, you need helpful feedback.

 If you put links on your page, whether internal or external, make sure that the anchor of the link contains the keyword, as this is an additional indication of the link of the article to the keyword.

  are the contents that describe the page, and give some information about it, such as its title and a brief description of it.

 Most content management systems add metadata directly to pages and articles.

Check that the page title and description contain the keyword, it is true that it does not affect the site's ranking directly, but it does affect the click rate, because Google displays it in search pages.

Create content for keyword

The best way to get top results in Google searches is to build high-quality content around the target keyword, whether by creating pages or writing blog posts and articles about the keyword.

Know that people don't search for keywords per se. When someone enters a keyword into the Google search box, they want Google to lead them to the best sites that offer content related to those keywords. Its main goal is the content, and the keyword is only a means.

Keywords often do not constitute more than 1% of the content of the article or page, the basis is the remaining content.

 For this, you should focus on writing good and useful contents that satisfy the reader and provide him with what he wants.

Do not prioritize the keyword and neglect the remaining content, Google does not like content that targets keywords without providing any benefit to the reader.

 Even if you succeed in leading search results in Google, if your content does not provide the reader with what they are looking for, they will leave.

Things to keep in mind when writing content

Sometimes some website owners try to trick people into their sites, so you find them stuffing their pages with keywords, and typing deceptive titles. 

If the visitor enters and finds poor content, and sometimes they may not even find what they are looking for, the page or article may not have anything to do with the keyword.

The question here is, what do the owners of such sites expect, what is the visitor supposed to do when he enters, does he forget what he came for and continue browsing their sites.

 Of course not, he will leave immediately, and probably never return. Here are 5 essential things to keep in mind when writing content:

sub keywords 

You can target more than one keyword on your page or article. You should focus on one keyword, but it is preferable to target some sub-keywords that are related to the keyword.

Sub-keywords are usually less important than the primary keyword, either because there is less research for them, or the competition for them is more intense.

 But they are generally useful, because they cover some other possibilities that people might be looking for, as a proportion of them will use less popular keywords.

For example, if “Bluetooth headphones” is the main keyword, then words close to it or synonymous with it can be targeted, such as: “Bluetooth headphones” or “Bluetooth headphones” or “Bluetooth headset” and others.

Article title

The article title should be attractive, give the reader an honest idea of ​​the content of the page or article, and express briefly its content, and what the user can benefit from reading it. It is preferable to use clear and explicit headings that show the benefits of the article and contain the keyword. 

inclusivity

There is no perfect number for the length of articles, but it is recommended that articles be at least 250 words long. It is desirable that it exceed 1000 words.

 In any case, the article should include all aspects of the topic and be complete and satisfactory in which the reader will find everything he is looking for, because if the article is superficial and does not cover the topic in depth, the visitor will come out for more from other sites, and he may go to one of your competitors.

This will weaken your competitive position, may reduce your dwell time and increase your bounce rate, and this will have a negative impact on your site's ranking. It reduces the chance that a visitor will click on an internal link, or click on the call to action button.

Next to duplicate content

Google does not like duplicate content, but there are SEO experts who claim that it is punished for it. In all cases, you should avoid copying the contents of other sites, as it is an unethical act and intellectual theft of the efforts of others. And to write 10 good, original and non-repetitive articles that provide benefit to the visitor is better than 100 copied articles, which may do more harm to your site than benefit it.

 Consider Key Density

Keyword density refers to the frequency of the keyword in the text. It is calculated by dividing the number of times the keyword is repeated by the total number of content words. It is calculated using the following equation:

Key Density = (number of times the keyword is repeated) / (total number of content words) * 100

SEO experts recommend that the key density be between 0.5 and 1%. But remember not to abuse the keywords, they should appear naturally as part of the text. You should avoid unnecessary keyword stuffing, because it is a black hat SEO technique that Google penalizes.

 Add Internal Links

If the keyword is important to you and central to your project, you can target it on more than one page, and link those pages through internal links. Search engine bots browse websites by following both internal and external links. Therefore, adding internal links will make it easier for Google to reach all the pages of your site. It also makes it easier for visitors to find what they are looking for on your site.

 Pay Attention to External Links

Links are one of the most important factors that Google relies on to rank sites and pages. The more links directed to a particular page, the better its ranking.

 Because Google counts every link to your site as a vote on it, it assumes that the only reason for adding a link to an external page is because of its quality and good content.

Of course, this is not the only reason for adding links. Many site owners try to deceive Google, by buying ready-made links, or exchanging them with other site owners.

 Google is aware of these practices and is fighting them, especially through the penguin algorithm.

you should avoid shady backlink building techniques, and the best way to build links is to create quality content that people will like and automatically refer to.

 It is not easy, and it takes time, but it is better in the long run, and it avoids any problems with Google.

There is a well-known rule in the SEO world called the 50/50 rule, and it says that you should devote 50% of the time to writing content, and 50% of the time to promoting it and building links. In the internet world, marketing is as important as the content itself, even if you are posting the best content, if you don't take any time to promote it no one will see it.

There are many ways to promote your content and bring traffic to your website, such as driving traffic through social media platforms, and relying on guest articles whether by publishing articles on host sites, or hosting other bloggers to blog on your blog.

 Update the content constantly

Google prioritizes newer content over old content. You should update the contents of your site periodically, preferably when the New Year approaches. 

The reason for this is that a percentage of the content is usually linked to a particular year.

It is common to see headlines such as: “The Top 10 New Programming Techniques in 2020.” Updating such articles, even if it is limited to changing their titles to:

 “The Top 10 New Programming Technologies in 2021” can have a huge impact on your site, because people They prefer new content, especially in the areas of commerce and technology.

 Track, Analyze and Evaluate

Search engine optimization is not a static science. Its rules are governed by the algorithms of search engines.

 Google takes into account more than 200 ranking factors and algorithms, and what is more, these algorithms are constantly changing, and accordingly a lot of SEO techniques change, so what works today, may become after year is ineffective, or even harmful.

The best way to ensure the effectiveness of your strategy to lead search results is to monitor and measure your results continually. You should monitor your site’s ranking in Google weekly.

 If you see that your site’s ranking is improving, that is a promising indicator. Keep doing what you're doing until you get to the first page of Google, or to the top.

 And if you notice that your site is static, not moving up the rankings, then you should review your entire strategy and check that you are heading in the right direction.