That said, the process of search engine optimization can be tricky and not everyone has the skill set to do it well for their business. On the other hand, many small businesses don't have it in the budget to hire a professional to do that work right now. We're going to discuss how to improve website ranking as someone without any experience with digital marketing.
We'll only talk about ways to improve your ranking without spending any money doing so. Hopefully, the ideas below can provide you a pathway to success online.
How to Improve Website Ranking Without Spending Money
We're going to break down a few of the key ways that businesses can find success through SEO. The nice thing is, a lot of the pillars of a great digital marketing campaign don't cost any money in the first place. The money you spend typically goes toward the skill and expertise of the person running your campaign.
That means a little time and effort can give you similar results without having to dip into the budget.
The ideas below all fall into the category of "search engine optimization." You've probably heard the term, but some of you might not be too familiar with what it actually entails. SEO is the process of creating and managing a website with good Google search rankings in mind. That means doing things in accordance with whatever Google's search algorithm dictates at that time.
Google uses something like 200 search factors to determine which sites are relevant to a particular keyword search. All of those factors try to sift through sites that won't provide value to find the ones that will. In the end, Google can only thrive if the results they produce actually help the people who make the search.
Your aim in optimizing your site, then, is to be useful first and optimize second. As the algorithm progresses, it will only get better at recognizing quality content and better at cutting out those sites that focused too hard on optimization alone. That said, there are some areas that you need to focus on as you start trying to improve your rankings.
Let's take a look at the key factors to hone in on for improving website rank on top search engines like Google and Bing.
1. Constructing Your Actual Site
Building a website isn't too hard to do. There are a lot of services online that guide you through starting, designing, and managing a website. Additionally, those sites tend to do some of the baseline optimization for you.
Things to consider are load times, site organization, dead links, and user experience. These are things that Google looks at to ensure that the user will be able to use your site intuitively. Beyond that, though, you need to think about your niche and your target audience.
Your home page, for example, might be optimized for one of your most sought after keywords to rank for. In order to figure out what that keyword is, you have to start using keyword research.
2. Keyword Research
Google offers a few free tools that help you research and use keywords effectively. The process involves narrowing down a target user base, looking into their most-searched keyword phrases, and finding the phrases that pose the least competition and the most traffic.
You wouldn't want to optimize for the term "Ford cars" as a car dealer, for example, because the highest rankings would be bogged down with Ford's posts and other powerful business' discussions about ford. You could, on the other hand, have the chance to rank for "Ford cars in Charleston."
As you start to build your authority online, you'll be able to compete for more optimal keywords. Building your credibility in search rankings requires some time, a little success, and a few tricks of the trade. One of those tricks is called link building to earn website backlinks.
3. Link Building
Link building is the process of getting other successful sites to link to your pages.
In Google's eyes, a link from one site to another is a sign of credibility. It's like a vote given in favor of a page's relevance. When you get a vote from a leader in your industry, that vote matters even more.
It's tough to get other people to link to you, though. Sometimes you need to reach out to other websites, offer to write a blog in exchange for a link, or try networking to engage with other businesses. But the real question is: How Many Backlinks Does A Website Need to Rank On Page One?
It depends on the quality of links you're getting in relationship to the other success you're having with your digital marketing campaign. It also depends on the keywords you are looking to rank for, your overall website, authority, and a wide variety of other factors. So unfortunately the answer is: it depends.
4. Content Creation
The final free way to increase your site's traffic and rankings online is content creation. This process requires that you write content in response to the keyword research that you're doing. Your primary pages should be optimized for specific keywords and so should each piece of content that you produce.
Additionally, you should be making that content often enough to keep up with keyword trends. When a new popular keyword pops up, your goal should be to produce content that's optimized for that term quick enough to fit right into the top results.
Let's say, for example, that you see the term "quick fix for bedbugs" shows up. Maybe that term is loosely related to your business because you're a mattress company.
Even though you aren't an expert on that issue, you're still sure to have some input. Also, there's a clear route from bed bugs to mattresses. You can write a piece of content on the topic of getting rid of bed bugs while offering up your superior mattress as a clear option for customers to start with a new bed altogether.
Over time, all of the content you produce will be out there, picking up backlinks and generating more good ranking karma for your site at large.
Want to Learn Some More About SEO?
Figuring out how to improve website ranking is a process, but it's doable to build backlinks and increase organic traffic. We're here to help you move forward and start seeing results on Google, Bing, Yahoo, YouTube, Baidu, Yandex, AOL, and other top search engines worldwide.
Explore our site for more digital marketing insights that could help you make a name for your business online. Visit the SEO section of the Bootstrap Business Blog to learn more about website search engine optimization and improving PageRank for increased organic traffic.
