How often do you dig beyond the first Google results page to find answers? How to Rank a Blog in Google’s Top 10 Google Search Results
Most of us rarely see the results that don’t make the top ten. That’s why it’s essential to learn how to get your blog to rank on google — preferably in the top ten results.
Ranking your blog on Google’s first page can seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. In this blog post, we will go over the steps you need to take to compete for those top spots. But first, let’s establish why this effort is necessary.
How important is Google blog ranking?
Google blog ranking is the position that a blog occupies in the search results of Google when someone searches for a specific keyword or phrase. The higher a blog is ranked, the more likely it is to be seen and visited by readers.
Blog ranking is important because it can impact the traffic and visibility of a blog. A high ranking can lead to more readers and potential customers for a blog, which can be beneficial for a business or individual looking to promote their products or services. On the other hand, a low ranking can make it more difficult for a blog to be found and may result in fewer readers.
It is important to note that Google uses a complex algorithm to determine the ranking of a blog in its search results. This algorithm takes into account a variety of factors, including the relevance and quality of the content, the number and quality of external links pointing to the blog, and the user experience of the blog. As a result, it is important for bloggers to focus on creating high-quality, relevant content and building a strong online presence in order to improve their ranking on Google.
How to get your blog to rank higher on Google
There are several steps you can take to improve the ranking of your blog on Google:
- Optimize your blog for search engines: Use relevant, targeted keywords in your blog’s title, headings, and throughout the content. This will help Google understand the topic of your blog and improve its ranking for relevant searches.
- Use internal and external links: Linking to other relevant and high-quality content on your blog and external websites can improve the authority and credibility of your blog. This can lead to better ranking on Google.
- Use social media: Promote your blog on social media platforms to drive traffic and increase the visibility of your blog. This can also help to improve your ranking on Google.
- Create high-quality content: Google values high-quality content and will often rank it higher in its search results. Make sure your blog posts are well-written, informative, and provide value to readers.
- Use Google Search Console: Google Search Console is a free tool that allows you to monitor your blog’s performance in Google search results. It can help you identify any issues that may be impacting your ranking and provide suggestions for improvement.
By following these steps, you can improve the ranking of your blog on Google and increase its visibility and traffic.
Choose long-tail keywords
Long-tail keywords are specific, longer phrases that are more targeted and less competitive than shorter, more general keywords. They tend to be more specific and focused on a particular topic or product, making them more likely to attract a qualified audience.
For example, instead of using the keyword “shoes,” a long-tail keyword might be “women’s red high heels.” This is more specific and targeted, and it is more likely to attract an audience that is interested in purchasing red high heels for women.
Using long-tail keywords in your blog can be beneficial for a few reasons:
- They can help attract a more qualified audience: Because long-tail keywords are more specific, they are more likely to attract an audience that is interested in a particular product or topic. This can help to increase the chances of converting readers into customers.
- They can be less competitive: Long-tail keywords tend to be less competitive than shorter, more general keywords. This means that it may be easier to rank for these keywords, which can lead to more traffic and visibility for your blog.
- They can provide more context: Long-tail keywords can help to provide more context and information about the content of your blog, which can help Google understand the topic and improve the ranking of your blog in search results.
Target attainable keywords
It is important to choose keywords that are attainable, meaning that they are realistic and achievable given the resources and expertise of your blog. Here are a few tips for selecting attainable keywords:
- Consider your expertise and resources: Choose keywords that are relevant to your blog’s focus and that you have the knowledge and resources to effectively address. This will help you create high-quality content that resonates with your audience and helps your blog stand out.
- Research the competition: Use tools like Google’s Keyword Planner or SEMrush to assess the level of competition for a particular keyword. If the competition is high and you are just starting out, it may be more realistic to choose a less competitive keyword to start with.
- Focus on long-tail keywords: As mentioned previously, long-tail keywords tend to be less competitive and more targeted than shorter, more general keywords. This can make them more attainable for a new or small blog.
- Test and refine: Start by targeting a few attainable keywords and track your performance using tools like Google Analytics. This will help you understand which keywords are most effective for your blog and allow you to refine your strategy over time.
By considering your expertise, resources, and competition, and focusing on attainable keywords, you can help ensure that your efforts to improve the ranking of your blog are effective and sustainable.
Create quality content
This one should go without saying, but creating quality content is vital if you want people to read and share your blog post. User engagement metrics are part of how Google decides the value of your content, so it’s essential that people who visit your site aren’t bouncing away again.
Google wants compelling and useful content at the top of its search results. That means writing original, well-researched articles that offer value to your readers. Great blog content:
- Answers user questions.
- Provides accurate information and cites reliable sources.
- Is grammatically correct.
- Uses images to illustrate ideas.
- Is original and relevant to its target audience.
- Gives readers actionable information.
- Entertains and informs the reader.
- Doesn’t waste words on fluff.
- Is scannable and well-organized, using subheads and lists.
- Is updated regularly.
If you’re serious about improving your site’s organic traffic, you may want to hire experienced freelance writers or even a fully-managed content marketing team to help you create a library of engaging, authoritative content on your site.
Optimize for search engines
Optimizing your blog for search engines can help improve its ranking in search results and increase its visibility and traffic. Here are a few tips for optimizing your blog for search engines:
Use relevant and targeted keywords: Choose keywords that are relevant to the topic of your blog and that your target audience is likely to search for. Use these keywords in your blog’s title, headings, and throughout the content to help Google understand the topic of your blog and improve its ranking for relevant searches.
Use internal and external links: Linking to other relevant and high-quality content on your blog and external websites can improve the authority and credibility of your blog. This can lead to better ranking on search engines.
Use alt tags for images: Alt tags are short descriptions of images that help search engines understand the content of an image. By including alt tags on your images, you can help improve the ranking of your blog for relevant image searches.
Use a clear and easy-to-navigate structure: A clear and intuitive structure can help search engines understand the content and organization of your blog and improve its ranking.
Use a responsive design: A responsive design ensures that your blog looks and functions well on all devices, including smartphones and tablets. This can improve the user experience and help improve your ranking on search engines.
By following these tips, you can optimize your blog for search engines and improve its ranking in search results.
Improve your site speed
Google wants to deliver the best possible experience to its users, which means it favors websites that load quickly. In fact, site speed is now a ranking factor for both desktop and mobile searches.
To improve your blog’s page speed, start by compressing all of your images. You can use a free online tool like TinyPNG to compress your images without losing quality.
Next, install a caching plugin on your WordPress site. This will create a static version of your website that loads faster for visitors. The WP Rocket plugin is the most popular caching plugin in the WordPress directory.
Finally, consider upgrading to a faster web host. If you’re on a shared hosting plan, your site speed will be limited by the other sites on your server. If you upgrade to a VPS or dedicated server, your site will have its own resources and load much faster.
Structure your site
Organizing your site’s content using internal links, pillar pages, and topic clusters can help search engines understand your expertise and which pages to prioritize in search results. A pillar page is a long-form, comprehensive guide that covers everything there is to know about a specific topic.
For example, if you run a blog about interior design, your pillar page could be titled “The Ultimate Guide to Interior Design.” This page would then link to a series of other articles, known as topic clusters, covering specific subtopics related to interior design.
One topic cluster might be titled “How to Choose the Perfect Paint Color for Your Home,” while another might be called “Small Space Decorating Tips for Apartments.”
Be sure to link all your topic cluster pages back to the pillar page so that Google can see its relative importance in your structure. Organizing your content in this way signals to Google that you’re an authoritative source on these topics, which can help improve your ranking.
Generate backlinks
Backlinks are links from other websites to your blog. Google sees these links as votes of confidence — the more backlinks you have, the more popular and authoritative your site appears. That’s why link building is such an important part of SEO.
There are a few ways to generate backlinks for your blog. One is to reach out to other bloggers in your niche and ask them to link to your site in one of their blog posts. You can also submit guest posts to other blogs in your industry, including a link to your own site in your author bio.
Finally, you can create high-quality content that other bloggers naturally want to link to. This is known as “earning” links and is often the most effective way to build backlinks over time.
Use Google Search Console
Google Search Console is a free tool that shows your site’s performance in Google search results. It also allows you to submit your sitemap to Google, which can help improve your ranking.
To use Google Search Console, you must first verify that you own your site. Then, you can start exploring the various reports to see how your site is performing. The Search Traffic report shows how many people find your site in Google search results and which keywords they use. The Links to Your Site report shows which websites link to your blog posts. These links can help improve your ranking.
The Crawl Errors report shows you any errors Google found when indexing your site. These need to be fixed as soon as possible, as they can hurt your ranking. The final report, Sitemaps, allows you to submit your sitemap to Google. A sitemap is a file that contains all of the URLs on your website. Submitting your sitemap can help Google find and index your site more quickly.
Add FAQs to your pages
A well-formatted FAQ list at the bottom of your page can help you get featured snippets in Google search results. A featured snippet is a box that appears at the top of Google search results, containing a summary of the answer to the searcher’s question.
To get featured snippets, start by adding an FAQ section to your blog posts and pages. Include questions people are likely to search for, along with short, concise answers. Then, format your FAQ list using HTML header tags for questions and regular text for the answers.
Google will only consider pages for featured snippets if they’re well-formatted and easy to read. Finally, submit your page to Google using the “Submit URL” feature in Google Search Console. This will help Google find and index your page more quickly, which can lead to a featured snippet.
Challenging but possible
Ranking a blog in Google’s top search results can be challenging, but it’s not impossible. Creating high-quality content, generating backlinks, and using Google Search Console can improve your ranking and increase your site’s traffic.
If you’re considering turning to an expert for content strategy or freelance writing, talk to a content specialist at ClearVoice. We can help you create a content strategy that will improve your ranking and help you get more traffic to your site.