The goal of every website owner is to rank first on Google, as this would mean an increase in traffic to the site. Search engine optimization is essential in making money from your website, as if no one visits your website, you will make no money. Of course there are other methods to get traffic to your blog, SEO however remains the best.

However, ranking number one on Google is easier said than done. For this reason, this post will be looking at six practical ways to make this possible.

1. Focus On Niche

Google, in 2013, rolled out a significant algorithm change in the Google Search known as the ‘hummingbird.’ Hummingbird ensured that websites that have materials on everything will not rank as high as websites that focus on a particular niche, and are thorough. Hummingbird looks more in-depth at the content on individual pages of a website to lead users to the most appropriate page.

The content of the website should be detailed and thorough in such a way that visitors to the site have every single question in their mind answered while going through the site.

For example, if you own a website that focuses on products for human hair. Before jumping right into it by listing out the various products, you should talk about the hair type, texture, and even colour. It will ensure that you covered every possible detail.

2. Optimize Title Tag And Meta-Description

On a Google search, there is a link at the top, which is the title. The description below is known as the meta-description. It is considered a “mini advert” and is vital if you want your site to rank high on google.

The text in the title tag and meta-description should be unique and descriptive and should contain the essential keywords. For example, you google-searched for hair products, but you do not see any word that pertains to “hair products,” you most likely will not click on that link. It is crucial to add keywords to your tag and description, such that it invokes the curiosity of the guests. And that, in turn, means that they click on the link.

There is a limit to the character length, so it is crucial that you do not waste space, and focus on using the keyword as earlier highlighted.

3. Acquire Quality Backlinks To Your Site

Consumers are most likely to conduct local searches, and this is a big plus if you want your website ranked highly by Google. Links play an essential role in Search Engine Optimization, and inbounds links have shown to be one of the most important ways of achieving high rankings on google.

It is essential your website gets listed correctly on top online business directories and review sites like ‘Google my business,’ for example.

Essential information like phone numbers should be listed out correctly, and you should avoid discrepancies like abbreviations and misspellings, as this can affect the search result.

Another way to acquire links is by guest posting on popular websites in your niche, as this will definitely increase your visibility. Posting new content on your site is imperative as bloggers and other persons will want to refer others to your website. Thereby adding your links on their websites.

The good thing about getting links is that there are many SEO tools that can be used to help you find websites where you can guest post on and get quality links to your website. With the help of some of these tools, according to the experts at https://seojet.net/blog/seo-competitor-analysis-tool/, you will be able to analyse what your competitors are doing and try to do the same and even outdo them. You can’t do SEO without SEO tools. The good thing is that there are many of them for different tasks. Some are created to help you check where your competitors are getting traffic from, while there are others for social signals and there are some others for keyword volume check and many more.

4. Google Search Console

Google Search Console is a tool created by Google, and it is free to register. It shows you the impressions, clicks, click-through site, and other sites that have linked to your content.

An impression means each time your link appears in a search result for the user. With the Google Search Console, you know all the keywords that are getting you impressions, and the pages on your website that are getting you traffic.

The google search console also tells you about any issues with your site, and even if your website is mobile-friendly or not.

It is a must-have tool if you want to improve your ranking on google search.

5. Online Reviews

Highly positive and good quality reviews from your customers improve business visibility on Google search. Many people trust online reviews before purchasing a product. I go through all the comments on a site before deciding whether to do business with them or not.

It is crucial that you respond to the reviews left by the customers on your website, whether positive or negative, as this shows that you care about your customers. One important place to get reviews is ‘Google My Business Page.’ Whenever your customers leave positive comments, these reviews show up on Google when someone searches for your link.

6. Improve User Experience

Google reasons that if a user spends more time on a page, it’s probably because the page was found useful. Since Google wants to give the best results, it pushes the site with steady engagements up the ranking, and into the front page. It is one of the many things that makes Google the best search engine in the world.

Two ways to improve the user experience on your site are; make your content easy to read, and improve your site speed, because nobody wants to waste time loading a page.

Search Engine Optimization is essential in improving the ranking of your site, and the strategies listed above, when adhered to, will improve the ranking of your website on Google. I can’t wait to see your sites on the front page of the biggest search engine in the world.

By Eddy

Eddy is the editorial columnist in Business Fundas, and oversees partner relationships. He posts articles of partners on various topics related to strategy, marketing, supply chain, technology management, social media, e-business, finance, economics and operations management. The articles posted are copyrighted under a Creative Commons unported license 4.0. To contact him, please direct your emails to [email protected].