Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) specialists often claim that they, and they alone, have the inside knowledge on how Google’s algorithm works and that they can guarantee you, and no one else, the top spot on Google’s search results promising an endless of traffic, forever!
While all manner of tricks can be used in attempts to game Google’s Search Engine Results Page (SERP), ultimately the following three areas endure as the most foolproof way to get progressively closer, if followed consistently and over time, will bring tangible organic search traffic rewards.
Awesome Content
If you can provide content on a topic better than anyone else this is a tried and tested way to rank well. It is no wonder that Wikipedia consistently rises to the top of search results. Of course, popular topics are covered very comprehensively, so in order to have cut-through, your content needs to be both written and also planned well.
Researching both the popular and less popular keywords for your chosen topic is key. Building keyword groupings first and actual content articles addressing these keywords will ensure you have enough content coverage. Also, staying on top of new and trending topics will allow you to capitalise further on people’s desire for the latest information. It is no surprise that news articles on topics like Donald Trump and Prince Harry are so numerous right now!
Authority links to your website
The foundation of Google’s patented ‘page-rank’ algorithm is based on the number of links across the web pointing to a particular web page. This is used as a logical way to gauge how important a piece of content is. Although some links will generate more value than others based on the quality of that website. For example, government website links will often carry more weight than most other sites. While you can convince other sites to link to yours in a number of ways, in the end, if your content is of superior quality it will naturally attract links.
Hygiene factors
A site that loads quickly, structured logically and complies with good coding standards will always rank better than one that doesn’t. Web crawlers (robots) are constantly scouring the internet and are trained to look for certain cues to help them do their job. The better you assist these crawlers the better they are able to display your content in search results.
There are always improvements to make in this category and while Google may change weightings on one factor over another to prevent people gaming the system, the closer you can build to best practice standards the more compatible your website will be both now and into the future.
When perfecting your SEO practices, addressing these three areas will have you on track to be hitting the number one result more often. It is important to remember that SEO is a marathon, not a sprint and like training for a marathon if it was easy, everyone would do it! Yet if you are determined to succeed you will come out of the SEO race top.
Take advantage of our free digital audit to assess the state of your current search performance.
