Understanding Google’s core algorithm updates can be overwhelming for business of all sizes and for those in charge of your business’s website. Here are some actionable steps to help ranking for Google is possible by following these steps:
- Focus on User Intent
“In 2022, the SERP (search engine results page) will pay more attention to the search intent,” co-founder of RevenueGeeks Adam Wood says. Search intent is Google’s way of understanding the intent behind a user’s search. The pandemic impacted worldwide human behavior, including search behavior. Consumers were home-bound, they turned to Google for product information instead of on-site salespeople.
“Because of this shift in customer search intent, SERPs returned more comparative and informational articles instead of product pages,” Wood adds. He believes brands who understand this trend will succeed in dominating organic search. “The problem will be in knowing the users’ needs and meeting them.” Wood predicts educational material will be a significant growth driver in organic search this year. Business should research what themes to cover, how to structure content, and what content type to use for a particular query.
2. Produce site-wide quality content
It is crucial to pick the proper search terms to target and analyze the competition that is currently ranking for those terms. “Look at what’s ranking in terms of length, quality, site speed, and whether it’s a well-known website,” Jeff Campbell, owner of multiple websites and six-figure-earning blogger, suggests. “For a new site with a relatively low domain authority, it’s best not to go after phrases where the top search results are well-known websites.”
He also suggests making your article 20 percent longer than the top search results if that added length is comprehensive and not fluff. “Go deeper into the topic, include original research or statistics, and Google will reward you with better rankings.” Continue the process to ensure that you are producing the same quality of content site-wide instead of having a few quality content assets. This strategy will help boost your search position for a range of terms.
3. Consider localizing content
Local SEO is increasingly important. Optimize your site content for maps and local search. It holds a powerful position in driving traffic to your website. The following tactics can help you rank for local search terms:
- Solicit and respond to reviews.
- Authentic customer reviews
- Star rating is the most crucial factor in determining a business’s quality.
- Set up and optimize your Google Business profile.
- Optimize metadata
- Ensuring your contact information is 100 percent correct everywhere on the web
- Link to your contact information or “about us” page on both your Google Maps and Google Business Profile.
- Visibly display your business name, address, and phone number.
- Local indicators should be prominently displayed on every page of your website, like on your website’s footer.
- Ensure that these identifiers are consistent everywhere you place them so that search engine crawlers can connect all the pages where they appear.
- Create location-specific content and product pages.
- Create location-based pages for each area you service.
- Add optimized header tags that include the search terms locals use to look for the services you’re offering.
- These tags will help your readers and crawlers understand the flow of the page and what to expect.
- Include landmarks, city, and street names in the content of these pages to optimize them for local SEO further
4. Pay attention to quality rater guidelines
Google primarily uses search bots (artificial intelligence) to scan and rank the millions of web pages on the Internet. However, it has recently implemented human review. These people are called “search quality raters.” They are actual human individuals who look at Google search results and determine if the websites truly solve users’ problems or questions. Google then uses those insights to better understand if its core algorithm is working as intended. No additional optimization measures are needed for quality rater guidelines. Quality raters are there as a secondary measure to ensure Google’s algorithm serves up the best results for its users.
Need help implementing these steps? Call 248.528.360.