Why aren’t I ranking first on Google?
*AKA- All of my highly classified SEO secrets*
“If you’re going to post content on your site anyway, you might as well take the time to make sure google takes notice of your effort.” – The Content Factory
Do any of these sound familiar:
- Why aren’t I ranking higher?
- This random company is emailing me promising they can improve my Google ranking, should I sign up?
- What is our SEO strategy?
- I don’t want to pay for ads but I want to rank above the competitor paying thousands of dollars to Google every month.
SEO- or Search Engine Optimization- used to be a game you played with your website to rank higher in Google Searches. Tons- I mean TONS – of web designers, marketers, and other related services made a boatload of money selling monthly SEO services to small businesses for hundreds or thousands of dollars every month. In those days- you could work the algorithm in your favor by loading your website with keywords and other SEO tricks.
Fast forward to today…. SEO is really about doing all the OTHER things right. Yep, holy cow, the secret to SEO is….. there is no secret. I’m sorry to disappoint you, but having a well-rounded digital presence is the BEST way to improve your rank with search engines. What you are really doing is showing search engines how valuable your content is, that you are an authority in your space and that you are constantly improving the quality and relevancy of your content.
So what does that mean, Kate????
I get it, we all want the easy to digest, YouTube ‘How to Video’ version. But instead of giving you a prescription for improved SEO, I’m giving you a list of questions to guide you towards improving your search engine presence and ranking.
1. When was the last time you gave search engines NEW information to visit? By new information- I’m talking about improving and adding to the content on your website. Have you updated your portfolio? Did you add new products? How about a blog, video blog, new pages for a podcast, or media features?
2. Is your Google My Business listing up to date? Have your reviewed your services and service areas? This is the best way to show up in those ever-popular ‘near me’ searches.
3. Let’s talk about backlinks, baby! Is your website linked from anywhere else? Trade association, local chamber of commerce, social media? Those links create connections that show search engines that your website is being referenced by others, giving you the ‘oh so fancy’ look of being an authority in your space.
4. Are you set up with Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools? These FREE tools allow you to view the search terms and keywords that users are using to find your website on the search engine result pages, submit sitemaps, identify crawl errors, and much more.
5. Is your website mobile-optimized?
6. Search for yourself and your competitors. Who is ranking higher? Why do you think this is?
There are many more facets to perfecting SEO, but these questions can get you started in the right direction. You cannot wave a magic want and rank higher, you have to CHANGE or DO something. Remember- nothing changes if nothing changes. So go add some relevant content, publish an article with a backlink, keep ADDING to your digital presence and it will pay off.
If you found this information helpful, I would appreciate a share with your friends, neighbors, and fellow business owners. Subscribe to my weekly email series below to get all of this goodness directly to your inbox.
Kate
