You’ve launched your business and built a beautiful new website, but you’re left wondering how to rank your business website on Google. It may feel like an impossible task, but there’s good news: you can do it yourself and you don’t have to spend a fortune in the process. (In fact, you don’t have to spend anything at all.) Here are 7 ways to improve your chances of getting found on Google that I regularly practice with every single website client. And they work.
But first, a quick crash course on how Google ranks website pages.👇
60-Second Search Engine Crash Course
Crawling: Search engines find pages with automated programs that crawl around the internet, scanning and downloading the content of people’s websites. This includes the text, images, and videos.
Indexing: Once the content is downloaded, Google analyzes the content and may choose to store the information in its database of web pages.
Serving Search Results: When someone types a search term Google, it serves them the results of that term that’s indexed in their database of web pages. The way search engines determine what they will serve and how web pages rise in the top of those search results is through the quality of the content, the use of links that point to other quality websites, mobile-friendliness, and page speed and responsiveness
Now that you understand the basics, here are the exact 7 things I do on my clients’ websites to boost their SEO:
1. Create a Solid Brand with a Clear Target Audience
Ranking on Google all starts here. You need to know 1) who your brand is for, 2) what that audience is struggling with, 3) what solutions they’re searching for, and 4) what words and visuals will attract them to your website. If you waver on who you want your website to reach, you’ll never target what those people are searching for on Google.
If this is something you struggle with. download my free Brand Clarity Starter Kit to nail down this crucial element of getting your SEO right.
2. Develop Clear, Concise, Keyword-Friendly Website Copy
Search engines favor websites that have 1) relevant, clear, engaging copy that is useful to your audience; 2) that includes terms people are searching for; and 3) that sounds like it was written for a human by a human.
This means if you solely rely on ChatGPT to write your content, you may want to think again. Search engine algorithms are onto AI-generated web content, so proceed with caution and always edit your content with the goal of adding your brand voice—which should also sound like a human voice.
Side note: All my website packages include keyword-friendly web copywriting—something you typically have to outsource or add on that can double the cost of your website budget.
3. Use Relevant, Descriptive Website Titles and Headlines
Search engines crawl the titles and headlines of your websites, first, to understand what your site is about. That’s why it’s important to include your search terms in the hero statement of your website (the first line of text on your banner image). You also need to create a clear, logical structure of headlines and subheadings throughout each section of your website.
For example, if you’re a local business who wants to attract local business, it’s crucial to include your location on the hero statement. So if you’re a gluten free cupcake baker in Nashville, Tennessee, a searchable hero statement might be “Best Gluten Free Cupcakes in Nashville.”
This not only helps search engines understand what your website is about; it helps your visitors quickly find what they’re looking for. If your visitors don’t understand how your website can help them within the first 5 second of landing on it, you’ll lose them to the next Google search result that is more clear.
4. Use Reputable Backlinks
Backlinks are links from other websites that point to your own. They help Google verify your content is reputable—especially if other high-authority domains link to your site. And the more high-quality backlinks you obtain, the higher your site can rank on search engines. Think of this like an endorsement from another website that’s recommending your content. (And who doesn’t want 24/7 referrals?)
Your backlink strategy will depend the type of website you run. For example, if you host a blog, writing articles for online magazines or guest blogging on other popular blogs is a great way to get your URL out there. If you’re a web designer, adding your name to the bottom of each site you develop is a great way to get new traffic to your business.
5. Add Keywords to Images
An area a lot of small business owners ignore on their websites is adding keywords and descriptions to their images. This is important, because it means you will not only come up in traditional search engine results, but images search results, as well, which expands your reach.
Below is a screenshot of the image search results for Lindsey Beharry Design Co. Notice all but two of the images link directly back to my website or social media.
An easy place to start is to give your images descriptive file names that include your keywords. Once uploaded to your site, give each image alt text that describes what’s in the image. Both of these strategies provide context for search engines and improve the accessibility and visibility of your images in search results.
6. Add Keywords to Your Meta Data
Another area that can be overlooked is adding keywords to your website’s meta titles and descriptions. Meta titles are the titles that search engines show in their search results. They should accurately reflect the content of each page on your website, as well as incorporate relevant keywords. Meta descriptions are the content search engines display that describe what your site is about. They should be concise and persuasive to entice users to click through your website from the search results page.
You can usually find your metadata settings under the “Settings” option of each web page.
7. Make the Site Mobile-Friendly
It’s estimated that over 50% of website visitors, globally, view websites on their mobile devices. If the mobile version of your website is messy, confusing, or hard to navigate, visitors will click away from your site. This increases your site’s bounce rate—a metric used to determine your site’s user engagement. And this could indirectly hurt your search rankings.
Most website builders include a mobile builder or preview of your site for various devices and sizes. Be sure to thoroughly test the usability of your site across multiple devices and screen sizes.
One Last Piece of Advice
As you make these changes to your site, it’s important to keep in mind that your site won’t be searchable or ranked higher in search results the moment you push publish. SEO is a long game that can take many months to see real, tangible results and increased traffic. There are many other things you can do in the meantime to create a cumulative effect, such as writing blog posts or creating content through social media, Pinterest, email marketing, lead generations, or ads that all link back to your site.
If you stay consistent with these 7 SEO strategies for every new page and piece of content, you will begin to experience the benefits of SEO.
If you're ready to stop struggling with your website, schedule a free consultation to get started now.
