Reaching page one of Google’s search results is the Holy Grail for all Internet marketers. But is it so easy to attain? Why would Google give you preference over others and show you up?
There are so many speculations over this theory and persistent competition going on to obtain that coveted number 1 position that drives the most chunk of traffic. But until and unless you belong to the team of Matt Cutts, or you yourself is the man himself, you cannot tell how exactly SEO works. How can you be sure and testify whether the natural (organic) results get the most clickthroughs, or the Paid ads take the cake?Do the netizens scroll over the page number 2 or they don’t? What are the nature of the traffic you would receive by attaining #1 position? Will they convert, or just stay within the limits of being just another web traffic? This may overwhelm you.
But this is for sure, that only with 8% of people making it to page 2, page ranking is a vital factor in inducing your sales and revenue. If you are not in the first, then you are the last. And of course, this doesn’t happen within a night. By just focusing on SEO and PPC, you might be losing your opportunity since other marketers are working hard on to get their website to page 1.
But I must say, it is totally uncertain as to how long it takes actually to be #1 in Google’ search results. Not even a SEO professional can cross his/her heart and tell you the exact number of days it will take. The factors to be taken into consideration are, the keywords you are using in your content, the methods that you are executing, the amount of time you have allotted, and the nature of the competition you are in.
However, there are a few things that you can do to give that timeframe a little impetus and get your job done a little faster than others. 🙂
So how to get on the first page? Is it the Keywords?
Well, yes. But you see, here we are talking about specific keywords. You would surely not want to attract a person who’s looking for wooden furniture, while you have a female clothing line. So basically you don’t want to rank high when someone is searching a product or a service completely unrelated to your business. Hence, your site has to be optimised for Google’s search engine ranking factors.
But there’s a good news. You don’t have to bet your bottom dollar for this. The only thing you must do is to write!
Yes, write. But write something that delivers value to your prospects (or existing customers). You need to write a lot. A lot on business, online marketing, digital marketing, and most importantly, on topics that your existing and potential customers take a liking. You have to produce fresh contents in the form of blog articles regularly, or Infographics, Animated Videos, Presentations, or just small social media posts.
And remember, Google is way smarter than all of us. So if you are just penning down something just for the sake of it, Google can detect it and penalize you. So don’t try to outsmart the search engine behemoth. Instead, start a meaningful discussion, answer to complex questions. In short, give your readers value. When Google sees your contents are providing value to your readers, you would automatically be upgraded to the upper position.
It’s all about the quality of the Website
The online reputation of your website depends mostly on the kind of contents you produce. If you don’t seem to have an authority over your business domain and don’t come out with regular fresh contents, you may lag behind to reach the topmost position. Moreover, you are ought to find it and fix the issue if you have penalized by Google for it. You have to submit a reconsideration request then before Google includes your website in its search results.
As you constantly upgrade your website and produce value-added content, this will come into the notice of Google’s crawlers and they will often return to your website whenever a search result has to be generated. Provided your content is relevant to the search and satisfies the reader, your keyword density will be high enough to boost your ranking.
Technical aspects must never be ignored
What’s the worth of a content, if your website is hard to interpret for Google. Well, what my point is, your website must be technically sound. Such as, the page loading speed should be super fast, the HTML outputs must be valid, images must be named correctly, and according to relevance, captions must not be forgotten, etc. If your website is difficult for your target audience, as well as Google to reach, you are not on the correct track then.
Quick Results – a Myth that needs to be debunked
What comes in the short term isn’t something that you can sustain for long, you need to be patient and self-restraint in order to see long term benefits. Even you cannot expect the best and experienced SEO professionals to give you a fixed timeline within which your website will show up in the first position. That is simply a matter of time. The process might take several months to get you expected results. Or if the competition is less, then you might see faster results.
Sub-par SEO agencies though make bigger promises to get to the top within 2-3 months. Which are technically nothing more than false promises. Quick SEO results are myths. This is rather a long-term marketing strategy that needs to be nurtured with time and patience. you must stick to your content generating schedule before you see positive effects of your hard work.
Always remember, SEO is not a campaign that has fixed start and stop date! So once you start, do not stop. Once you start seeing results, don’t be contended and it back. If you do that, your rankings will decrease eventually, and you will be back to square one. Because nobody wants to see outdated contents and information.
Give your Audience what they want
Your prime focus should be what you are giving to your audience. Is it worth for? Or just another boring write-up? Give them the food for thought, something of substance that would cater to their requirements. If you are giving a content, then make it enough engaging to hold your readers’ attention. If you are offering any service, ensure the write-up must be so catchy and lucid, that it makes the potential customer click on the call-to-action button.
And finally if you are selling a product or a commodity, do a market research and make the product as competitive as it can be. Also, make sure the product description is well written and appeals the potential buyer.
Don’t concentrate on the perfect English
If your content is good and worthy of reading, your readers won’t mind a typo here and there. But yes, don’t take it for granted and avoid proofreading, because major typos and bad sentence constructions can throw off your readers.
But whatever it be, value is the utmost factor that matters the most and makes something loved and praised by all. If you want, you can give your content to someone who’s good with grammar and can fix the errors.
Over to you
You’re now equipped with enough knowledge to push your website on the first page of Google for relevant keywords completely on your own. Live long and prosper. If your website regularly performs well and lives up to expectations, you will remain on the first page for a long time. You just need to be patient and give SEO time to work. And, if you have accomplished the easy website optimization tips list above, you might see your article or product ranking on the first page of Google sooner than you think.
So now you are quite well informed as to why reaching the #1 position in Google’s search results is not a matter of one or two months. And why SEO is a long- term campaign that needs to be nurtured and maintained with dedication. You are now quipped with enough knowledge to try and push your website to the top. If your website is optimized according to the tips above, who knows, you might see your next article on the first page if Google. 🙂
Godspeed!
