In case you haven’t heard, Google is the biggest search engine in the world! If you want your business to be found, you’re gonna need Google’s help!

There are a lot things Google uses to rank business’ websites over their competitors. Here are the top three things you need to consider to rank first on Google:

1. Find the Right Keywords

What is a Keyword?

Before you try finding the right keywords, you’ve got to know what a keyword is.

A keyword is the topic your content is about. These are the words or phrases people search with on Google.

For instance, if you lived in San Antonio and you wanted to buy tortillas, then you would search for “San Antonio tortilla shops”.

Google will automatically look for websites or businesses that sell tortillas in San Antonio. In this case, La Luz Tortilla Factory comes first in the search results because according to Google, their content fits that key phrase best and they’ve had the help from a local SEO company.

Why are Keywords Important?

Keywords are everything and anything people search for on Google. If you want your business on the first page of Google, you need to find the best keyword that suits your business and revolve your content around that.

For example, if you’re a lawyer who handles personal injury cases, you want to focus your content around personal injury and the types of cases you handle.

More specifically the types of injuries such as “18 wheeler accident lawyer” or “medical malpractice lawyer”. You should avoid emphasizing that you’re a “lawyer you can trust” or “we fight for you” because,

• that doesn’t tell Google what you offer
• customers won’t know what services you offer
• it’s cliche and played out

Revolve your content around what your ideal customer would search for and they will find you!

How to Find the Right Keywords

The first thing you should do when trying to get your business on the first page of Google is to find the right keywords. That is, what are your ideal customers searching for?

Here are three ways you can find the right keywords:

First, you can use keyword research tools such as Ubersuggest or Semrush and they will show you exactly what people are searching for.

You want to target keywords that have low SEO difficulty but high search volume. Once you find the right keywords, revolve your content around it.

Secondly, target long-tail keywords, it’s possible to rank for these terms easier than generic keywords.

For example, instead of going for “running shoes,” you should try “long distance running shoes for women.” Long-tail keywords have less competition and are easier to rank for.

And lastly, target location based keywords. If you’re a plumber in Kerville, Texas, try ranking for “plumbing services in Kerville” or be more specific with the type of service you offer.

One last tip on your keyword research journey:

When trying to optimize for a certain keyword, DO NOT stuff the keyword. That’s when you use the phrase so many times it’s obvious and annoying to everyone reading it. Google knows what you’re trying to do and will penalize you for it.

Remember, you’re a business trying to help people. Be helpful, not annoying.

To recap:

• Use keyword phrases instead of single keywords
• Find long-tail keywords with low competition
• Target local keywords if you’re a small business
• Don’t stuff your keywords – use them sparingly and only when they make sense

2. Optimize Your Website 

Once you’ve chosen the right keywords, it’s time to optimize your website!

This means making sure your website is structured in a way that makes it easy for Google to find and index your content.

There are two main aspects to optimizing your website for SEO: on-page optimization and technical optimization.

On-Page SEO

On-page optimization is all about the content on your website. Start by ensuring all your important pages are reachable from the homepage—this is called site architecture. Then, use keyword-rich titles, descriptions, and headers to help Google understand what each page is about.

Writing a lot of content for each page is extremely helpful. Google likes websites with a lot of quality content and will rank them higher in their search results. Try to write at least 1,000 words for each page on your site.

You can also use infographics and other visuals to break up the text and make it more engaging. This can also help with your social media content!

Technical SEO

On the other hand, technical optimization has more to do with the behind-the-scenes aspects of your website. Google needs to be able to crawl and index your website in order to rank it—if there are technical issues that prevent this from happening, your ranking will suffer.

An easy way to help Google crawl and index your site is by using an XML sitemap. This is a file that tells Google which pages on your website are important and how often they’re updated. You can create an XML sitemap using a tool like Rankmath or Yoast SEO.

Also, optimizing your website’s speed is crucial. A slow website will not only frustrate visitors, but it will also hurt your Google ranking. Use tools like Pagespeed Insights and GTmetrix to test your website’s speed and find ways to improve it.

Lastly, ensure your website is mobile-friendly and that there are no broken pages or links. More and more people are using their smartphones to browse the web, so it’s essential that your website looks good and works well on mobile devices. Google has a Mobile-Friendly Test tool that you can use to see if your website passes muster.

3. Create High-Quality Content 

The final and most crucial step is to create high-quality content. Google wants to help its users find the best possible results, so it will only show websites that have high-quality, well-written content.

There’s no magic formula for creating high-quality content, but there are a few things you can do to increase your chances of success:

• Write original, well-researched articles—duplicate content will get you penalized by Google.
• Keep your content engaging and readable—nobody wants to read a boring, dry article.
• Update your content regularly—Google loves fresh content. A good rule of thumb is to aim for at least one new blog post per week.
• Use images, videos, and infographics to break up your text and make your content more engaging.
• Write catchy headlines that make people want to click.
• Promote your content on social media.

If you can create high-quality, original, well-researched, engaging, and fresh content, you will be well on your way to ranking higher on Google.

Conclusion

By following the steps above, and with a little effort, you can climb your way to the first page of Google.

Just remember to be patient – it takes time for Google to crawl and index websites and even longer for them to update their rankings. But if you keep at it, you’ll see results!

I hope you found this helpful and that you continue to see better results from your SEO efforts. If you need help, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I’d be more than happy to help you get more traffic from Google!