If you’re worried about not ranking on Google, we have some tips for you. First things first. You’re always ranking. A website either ranks well or doesn’t rank well. But, if you’re not showing up on the first page of Google, you basically don’t exist.
Don’t worry; there are plenty of things that can be done. Read on for an infusion of hope!
My Website Has All the Pages, but I’m Not Ranking on Google?
Ranking poorly does happen even if you think you’ve done things right. We’ve seen some business owners who have every page they need for each service and product they sell but don’t rank. This is because they haven’t optimized their pages properly. It’s all about tweaking; we have the tweaks for your SEO success.
Tip #1: Optimize your Google My Business Profile
When you optimize your Google Business profile, be specific about your business category. We’ll stay with the dentist example for this one. If you’re a dentist specializing in cosmetic dentistry, you want to choose that category. Choosing the proper category for your business is important because… again, Google aims to match searchers with what they want.
Here’s info on Google My Business – How to choose a category for my business.
One of the great things about Google Categories is that it will allow you to choose up to 10. This means you can match the category to the specific page covering a keyword you’re trying to rank for locally.
This is why it’s important to know your competitors. Investigate their websites. Study their products and services and make sure you know if they’re covering keywords with pages and blogs so that you can do it better. That makes it sound underhanded and slimy, but business is business.
Take it to the mattresses. Yeah, I just dropped in a Godfather reference. I’m pretty proud of myself, actually.
Read this blog. What pages should I add to my website? And the magic of service pages for more helpful information.
Tip #2: Every Page is a Landing Page
EVERY page on your website should be treated as a landing page. This means that every page someone lands on must be optimized well and with your local competitors in mind. In addition, you want every page to be user-friendly and compel your customers to act. If you have a product that is not yet quite mainstream, consider offering a sample in exchange for an email.
Tip #3: Error Pages and Broken Links
Google doesn’t like broken links and error pages because you’re forcing the user to find an error result. An example of this would be ‘this page no longer exists.’ Performing a local SEO audit will help find these issues.
Because of Google’s primary goal of getting the searcher to their desired destination in as few clicks as possible, broken links and error pages won’t help with that and will hurt your authority.
Here’s a list of 10 Local Marketing Tools You Should Start Using to grow your online presence.
Tip #4: Maintain Your Website and Update Regularly
We’ve had clients come on who haven’t maintained and updated their websites on a regular basis. This is a problem and will affect your ability to rank well. Keep your sites updated monthly. They will have the opportunity to rank for the keywords that matter. It’s like maintaining your car. It matters.
Tip #5: Harness the Power of Testimonials
That word-of-mouth power is real, and your local customers are the fuel. Don’t be afraid to ask for testimonials. Need help brainstorming some Good Testimonial Questions For Clients? Here Are 20. Use product or service keywords and location keywords, and before and after images. Make sure to put the primary keyword in the backend’s ‘alt text’ box.
Tip #6: Optimize All the Things
Assuming you’ve read this, added all the necessary website pages, and optimized them, it really is going to be up to the power that comes with blogging and patience. We know we know… that last word. It’s no fun to wait around for water to boil when you need it ‘yesterday.’
We understand. But you’re an entrepreneur, so we know that means you are in it for the long haul. Are you blogging yet? Let’s cover this one…
Tip #7: Blogging
So you’re not a writer. Or maybe you are. Either way, blogging is for everybody. While the content should be good, it doesn’t have to be perfect. We really mean this. Perfection is overrated. What your customers want and need is your expertise. You are the authority in your space and blogging offers you a great way to communicate with your audience.
While blogs can be relatively short, it is best when they’re longer.
Here are some tips:
- 1000k + words (1500k is the sweet spot)
- Do your keyword research
- Quality and relevant content (related to keywords)
- Research your competitors and know what they’re putting out there
- Be consistent with your blogs (once a week is great)
- Use backlinks to help build your authority
If you can, hire someone to write the blogs for you. If once a week is overwhelming, then try for a bi-weekly blog. As long as you’re consistent in putting something out there, you’ll be farther ahead than you would have been otherwise.
Follow the guidelines your platform offers for blog optimization. We love using WordPress for our blogs. WordPress uses RankMath to help optimize your content for the best ROI. In this case, much of that will be your time which we already know is precious.
Tip #8: Patience
What a concept. We know this is how it works but somehow, most of us want what we want now and haven’t yet mastered this mindset of patience. I personally can’t handle the unknown very well. However, I also know if I change course too much or change too many parts at once, I won’t be able to distinguish what was working (if anything) and what wasn’t.
It’s going to take time. That’s how Google works. There are occasional exceptions to this rule, but it’s a hurry-up-and-wait kind of thing for the most part.
I’ve seen Instagram Reels lately that highlight ‘the rule of 100.’ I haven’t researched this rule myself, but it doesn’t matter because the fact is that every time I hear it, I’m inspired.
The rule of 100 states that if you spend 100 hours. in a year, which is 18 minutes a day, all of us, in any discipline, karate, violin, piano, whatever, if you spend 18 minutes a day, which is 100 hours a year, you’ll be better than 95% of the world. in that discipline. It’s just the consistency.
Ranking and SEO are hard to build and master. But, if you commit a portion of an hour each day to learning and getting better, you will. It’s not a secret. It’s a rule.
So then… it comes down to consistency and patience. This is much easier said than done. We know this. But, think about it this way… If you start now, you’ll be so much further ahead one year from now. You’ll probably even be ranking on page one of Google.
Feeling overwhelmed? We know this can be difficult, but it doesn’t need to be. Schedule a Call, and we’ll audit your website to see how it’s performing. Then you’ll be better positioned to know what needs to be done. Take control. You’ve got this!