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As we know, its never easy to gain search positions in Google now days as the rules keep changing almost daily. This becomes even harder when the listing we do have ends up against our personal reputation. This can be by way of a mistake in the way Google has understood our digital information or even worse, from a competitor that is trying to throw a spanner into our online exposure.
The idea is therefore to control any negative listings but importantly, to have our own digital footprint list in Googles SERPS for the services or products we provide!
Everyone thinks that having a website means Google will list you, this is simply not the case. Your website must tell Google what it needs to know in a way that the Google Bot will understand so that the information it then sends back to their databases is correct and enables the correct listing to be recognised.
So creating a site that ranks will require dedicated and ongoing SEO that is targeted and delivers against a strategy. So how is this done?
There are so many different items that must be managed but there are a few that MUST be implemented in order to stand a chance with these positions. I have listed a few below that do provide a place to start from;
#1 Make sure when building your site, it is optimised towards a target. This must be completed both behind the scenes (the code that the search engines see behind the site) and of course on site to enhance what your visitors see and their overall experience.
#2 Make sure the content on the website is well written, targeted towards the keywords you wish to rank for and unique. Don’t go OTT with keyword stuffing. It is no longer acceptable. Remember,content will always be king but it must be the right type of content. Short phrases and taglines are not enough in today’s online world, unique content providing the visitor relevant information will ensure an increased time on page. Don’t be fooled, search engines prefer a better user experience is delivered.
#3 Keep the graphics to a minimum. A site containing large graphics will slow the speed of the website and site speed is now part of Googles algorithm. All graphics must be tagged with descriptions, and their alt tags must be completed correctly. Pictures tell a thousand words, but content will win over straight graphics with Google every time. Use optimised images,you can find image optimising software online and this will make a real difference so, make sure you compress all images.
#4 The website must be fully responsive, in other words, work on mobile. Google has recently moved to a ‘mobile first’ index due to the way its audience utilises the web. The vast majority of searches are completed on mobiles and therefore your website must be open to this type of search. You may have had an existing website for many years and it not be mobile friendly however, this alone will now hurt how the site is picked up by Google. So make sure it works on all platforms / devices all of the time.
#5 Make sure you use Googles search console and importantly follow their suggestions. You must also create an XML sitemap and submit it to the search console for indexing. Its surprising how many website owners do not implement this simple method for ensuring Google knows about each of your webpages.
#6 Ensure you have a blog section. This way unique and authoritative content can be added regularly. Google will crawl the site frequently. The more they see that fresh content has been added, the more it will help improve your rankings and importantly, the more it will come back to look again. You must however, make sure you do update this regularly, its pointless having a blog that you only add content to once every six months.
#7 Update all plugins if using WordPress or any CMS. What this means is that just like a car, your website will need constant maintenance. The downside of not completing regular updates is that the site can be much easier to compromise or hack.
These are not the most important or the only items to implement however, they are a starter for ten that will ensure your site is trying hard to deliver its information in a way that search engines want to see and importantly, how your visitors want to see it!
For more information on how you can maximise your website online then please do call us and one of our helpful experts will talk you through how this can be improved.
