Ranking Your Business Higher On Search Engine

One of the most common questions I get is “how long does it take for this ranking to happen?” or the more general, “how long will it take for me to rank?”. Of course there is no definite answer; ranking isn’t a science with equations and definitive rules. Google is constantly changing its algorithms (more than 500 changes in 2011 and ranking isn’t based on a hard-and-fast rule, because ranking is driven by what Google thinks the user will find most relevant. Ranking is a complicated process of matching keywords to queries and delivering the best results for those queries.

There are many ranking factors, some have been confirmed by Google, while others remain speculations from SEO experts. Some ranking factors are more important than other ranking factors depending on who you ask or where you look online. It can be difficult to navigate all of this information about ranking factors. In order to rank well, it’s important to understand what makes up a good ranking factor so that you can concentrate your efforts efficiently in the areas that matter most for your site and business goals.

If ranking was as simple as writing a few articles and building backlinks, ranking would be easy for everyone. It’s not that ranking requires no work at all; ranking involves hard work, but it can also be very rewarding. Ranking is an opportunity to find success in your business or website by making sure the right people are seeing your site when they search online. It’s not something you do quickly and forget about. Search rankings are always changing because of Google updates, competitors improving their SEO skills, and general fluctuations in popularity on the web. All of this change makes ranking an ongoing process rather than an event.

How long it takes to rank depends on what you are trying to achieve with ranking – if you are looking to rank for one word ranking or ranking for multiple words ranking. Ranking for one keyword can take forever, while ranking all of your keywords takes just a little bit longer than the expected time period.

Here is an example:

Let’s say you are trying to rank #1 on Google for the phrase “lawyer Seattle.” It’s not enough to do SEO around that phrase; it will be very difficult to achieve this ranking because there is so much competition. Instead, focus on ranking for other phrases like “personal injury attorney Seattle” and “injury attorney Seattle” to start with. By getting those rankings, you will slowly increase your presence online by ranking higher and higher on Google search engine results pages (SERPs) over time. Then when you have time, you can narrow your ranking efforts to ranking just for “lawyer Seattle.” It’s a matter of being patient and ranking strategically.

Websites that are ready to rank tend to do so quickly at first, but caution is important because ranking flips from page 1 to page 2 overnight. Ranking also often takes longer than expected since Google evaluates ranking from a big-picture perspective – the whole site as a whole rather than individual pages or keywords.

Ranking takes a remarkably long time when you choose a competitive industry like law or finance, but it still works if you continue focusing on what makes up good ranking factors. The right content marketing strategy will produce better rankings in these types of industries over time without wasting too much energy on ranking factors that don’t move the needle, such as backlinks.

Good ranking factors include:

Keyword research and analysis Content marketing SEO technical execution Excellent customer service Social media profiles Google+ profiles High-quality link building Local ranking for specific locations

Ranking takes time, effort, and patience because ranking isn’t built in a day or overnight with shortcuts like buying links. Ranking is built over time when you work on all of the ranking factors in parallel without focusing too much on any one ranking factor since they are all important in their own way.

Keep reading to learn more about each ranking factor…

Keyword research & analysis

The most valuable part of ranking well is having the right keywords – the phrases used by searchers when looking for your site.

The idea is to focus on ranking for keywords that closely align with what you are offering so that you can attract people who are more likely to want what you’re selling, rather than wasting time ranking for keywords that don’t convert into sales. The best way to find the right keywords is by doing thorough keyword research and analysis .

Content marketing

Once you have figured out which ranking factors are most important, it’s time to put the theory into practice.

One of the most effective ways to build content around ranking factors is something called evergreen content , which is technically any piece of writing not published in a printed or electronic issue of a periodical or newsletter. Evergreen content is created with an eye for ranking well for long periods of time.

Evergreen content is important because it takes a while to rank if you have the right keywords, so having relevant evergreen content gives your website more ranking time without ranking being built on a per-issue basis. This is especially helpful since Google’s algorithms update so often – ranking may drop or even disappear after any given change .

SEO

Technical SEO refers to all of the elements that need to be in place before ranking can happen. It includes factors such as properly tagging pages and URLs, using meta descriptions with every page, and making sure that title tags are used appropriately.

Also included in technical SEO is making sure that there aren’t problems with crawling by search engine bots , which is the technical term for search engines’ bots crawling your site. Google, for example, has a ranking factor called crawl rate . If a site isn’t receiving many visitors from Google Search , it’s likely because there are problems with crawl rate.

Customer service

Providing great customer service that results in positive reviews is one of the easiest ranking factors you can control. People who have had an exceptional experience will often leave feedback on sites like Yelp or City search , and major third-party review sites tend to rank nicely in Google results.

Social media profiles

Google LOVES social media profiles . Having lots of followers on social networks tells Google that you’re important – the bigger the audience, the better ranking signals it can collect about your site.

Building your social media profiles takes time, though. Most followers won’t just show up overnight – you have to work for them by engaging people in your industry and sharing valuable content that they will want to share with their friends. This is one reason why ranking fast in Google’s social search result is so hard – ranking well in Google Social Search involves ranking really well in Google Web Search first .

Google+ profiles

Google has its own social networking platform called Google+ , which boasts more than 400 million users. Google considers the number of circles you’re a part of in addition to the amount of engagement you get on posts when ranking your site, so having an active profile on this platform can go a long way towards getting more ranking visitors from Google.

Keywords ranking

By analyzing keywords in your site’s content, you can discover potential ranking factors that could be driving up or down traffic. By looking at the metrics for ranking in Google both now and over time , you’ll have a better idea of what to work on going forward .

What’s next?

Tips For Better Ranking

Once ranking has been improved, it’s important to keep working on your SEO so that ranking doesn’t slip back down . Ranking is never easy, but if you follow these steps closely, it won’t be long before you’re ranking well again! [ARTICLE END]

  – place keywords within sentences instead of beginning or ending them   – use ‘the’ sparingly because it really counts against ranking

– include location keywords in URLs (e.g. ranking-in-vancouver.com)

– use common ranking terms like ‘rank’ and ‘search’ as anchor text (e.g. ranking fast in google search ) to ensure ranking success

  – make sure title tags fit within 70 characters

– be slightly longer than meta description tags because ranking factors are included

– include meta keywords that don’t encourage spamming but do show ranking intent

  – use social platforms to build strong profiles/audience

– avoid buying fake fans/followers on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc.

– instead, focus on building relationships with real people

– ask your friends and family about ranking success stories

– link back to your ranking site from your social profiles

– engage with people in the industry by posting valuable content that aligns with their interests

  – Google+ business pages rank well because they play on Google’s strengths as a ranking platform

– ranking within Google+.com is difficult but ranking within Google Social Search is possible if ranking within Google Web Search is possible first

– ranking within Google Social Search relies on ranking within Google Web Search because ranking factors are included in both platforms

– ranking well in Google+ means ranking well across the entire Google network, including web search results to social search results

– put yourself out there. Join relevant communities. Make quality posts. Build relationships with real people

– submit business listings. Google will reward you for ranking well within Google Places (maps) because it’s considered a ranking factor

– stay active on your profiles across the social web. Post highly valuable content that aligns with the interests of your audience. Respond to comments and build strong relationships to keep ranking high

– ranking is never easy. Keep working on SEO to prevent ranking from slipping back down

– ranking is a moving target so stay on top of ranking factors to keep ranking high

– ranking is a matter of trust, so build strong relationships with your audience and Google ranking will follow.