How to get Ranked on 1st Page in Google
Jan 09, 2023 | Karthika Ganesh
Every article written is aimed at reaching that first page of the Google search for a specific keyword or keywords.
As per stats, 75% of the people never reach the second page of SERP results. All types of businesses need to get their website on the first page.
So what makes the algorithm decide which article is supposed to be at the top? How to get ranked on the first page of google with the heavy competition?
With high domain authority and backlinks, many websites dominate the first page. So as a newbie business or small business, it looks scary to climb the mountain.
Reaching it organically is not an easy task. But with the right set of strategies and tools. If done right, we can achieve it.
And that’s exactly what we can help you with. Let’s look at practical and tangible ways to get your content to the front page of Google’s SERPs.
From keyword research to backlinks, we have got you covered. Let’s get started!
Why first-page matter?
A recent study shows the first Google search result receives a click-through rate (CTR) of 28.5%.
The CTR drops sharply for the second and third results, to 15.7% and 11%, respectively. This indicates that the top three Google search results receive around 55% of clicks. Even though it is on the first page, the clicks drop to just 2.5% for the tenth place.
Snippets or the first organic search result receive 19x more clicks than PPC ads.
Have a look at the below image for a better understanding.
Also, getting on the first page will provide you with immediate exposure to your webpage. People trust the websites that rank better, which eventually increases the credibility of your product or service with your customer.
Ranking on the first page of search results can give you a competitive advantage over your rivals. You are more likely to get users to visit your website if it appears as one of the first results when they search for a specific term.
Best strategies to rank on the first page of Google
If you are starting up now with low domain authority, we know it looks like a big task. So let’s help you here. Follow the below strategies and increase your chances of ranking higher.
1. Start with keywords
Keywords are the backbone of any webpage or content you publish. You can’t publish a blog which people won’t search for.
So smartly selecting the keywords is very important. You need to use three or four types of keywords in your content.
- Primary keywords
- Secondary keywords
- Long tail keywords
- Semantic keywords
If you are starting the website, you can focus on ‘“long tail keywords” to make yourself visible to your audience.
For example – Rather than targeting the keyword – Diabetes, you can use type 1 diabetes remedies to reach your audience easily.
Use proper SEO tools to find keywords. While finding keywords, there are some key things to keep in mind.
First and foremost, is that the primary keyword you select should serve the content intent. To give you an example, the ideal primary keyword for the topic “Top 11 Benefits of Having a Mobile App” will be – “Benefits of mobile apps” OR “Mobile app benefits”.
The second will be the keyword volume and difficulty. Don’t always go for the keywords that have high volume, because that kind of keyword usually has higher difficulty. This means that it will be much harder for you to rank, no matter the quality of content you provide.
Expert advice – select niche keywords which have low volume and difficulty.
Why? If suppose the volume is only 20, then we are sure these are 20 potential clients in look for the service/information surrounding the keyword.
Also, neither the volume nor the difficulty will remain the same, it fluctuates with time and with time changes people’s interests. For example – the keyword “Software Development Plan” had a volume of 30 and a difficulty of 25% in March 2021. But now, it has around 600+ volume and the difficulty is above 70.
Invest in keywords for the future.
And when it comes to the usage of the keywords. Don’t try to stuff it everywhere possible. Instead, write the content with the intention of helping your customer and add it in such a way that the keyword fits perfectly like a jigsaw puzzle.
Expert advice – use your primary keywords once in the introduction and conclusion. And use it about 6-7 times throughout the rest of the content [for 1500-2000 words].
2. Search and Content Intent
Once you get finalised with the keyword, you can start you create your fresh piece of content.
We know Google’s algorithm is going to analyse the page, but the ultimate aim of the algorithm itself is to provide value to the people who search.
Every content you publish should give value to your customer based on the customer’s interaction with your content. Google will move the position of your page.
You can just add keywords to a piece of content and publish it. Research better and publish content with good value to your customer.
Google can easily filter keyword stuffing, and the chance of ranking on the first page will become slim.
For example:-
If people search for “how to make tasty pasta”. Google understands the searcher needs a step to step guide or video. It shows that kind of content on the first page.
To rank better, you can create content like
- How to guide
- Tutorials
- Sky scrapper content
- List posts
- Reviews
- Comparisons
Discuss the content to full, and never leave it halfway through. Make sure to provide valuable content along with keywords. By providing valuable content on your website, you will build trust with users, and why not Google’s algorithm as well?
3. Be resourceful
A landing page or blog is not enough to compete with your competitor. You need more engaging content for the users to consume the content easily. You can add
- Infographics
- Images
- Videos
- Gifs
To increase engagement with your users.
When you add images, never forget to add alt text. You can embed video links on the page but you should make sure the page loading speed isn’t affected.
4. Make the content SEO optimised
Now you know what kind of keywords to use and how your content has to be. We can move on to optimise the content for SEO.
URL
Make the URL keyword rich. Add the primary keyword in the URL.
Example – If the primary keyword is “Types of badminton racket”. Make the URL as domain.com/types-of-badminton-racket.
Don’t use the entire title in the URL. Lengthy titles are not SEO-optimised.
Primary keyword in the title
The primary keyword has to be on the title of the page or blog. You don’t need the exact keyword in the title, but it should be present nonetheless. However, using something completely unrelated is not.
Example – For the keyword “benefits of mobile app” the title can be “Top 11 Benefits of Having a Mobile App”
Add power words or modifiers in the title
Add words like
- Best
- Top
- Cheapest
- Smartest
- Effective, and more
To make your content feel good for people who search.
Title hierarchy
Use the title in H1.
Subheadings in H2, H3, and H4
Content length
Google loves lengthy content and makes sure to create blogs of a minimum of 1500 words.
Links
Link to external resources from good websites. For example – Adding stats and linking the proper web page is better.
5. Backlinks
For websites that are starting out and websites with less domain authority, backlinks play a major role in ranking on the first page of google.
Backlinks are an essential part of search engine optimization (SEO). They are links from external websites that lead back to your own website, and they play a crucial role in how search engines like Google determine the ranking of your website in search results.
When a search engine tries to determine the quality and relevance of a website. One way to do this is by looking at the number and quality of backlinks pointing to that website. If a website has a lot of high-quality backlinks, it is likely that the website is authoritative and trustworthy.
That’s where the value of backlinks comes in. By actively building high-quality backlinks to your website, you can improve your website’s ranking in search results and increase its visibility to potential customers. This, in turn, can lead to more traffic to your website, more leads and sales, and, ultimately, a stronger online presence for your business.
Backlinks help your website appear on the first page of Google search results by influencing the ranking algorithms that search engines use to determine the relevance and quality of your website.
By building high-quality backlinks, you can increase the chances of your website ranking highly in search results and reaching a wider audience.
Suggested Read: A complete guide on Off-page SEO
6. Post high-quality content regularly
Search engines prioritise websites with fresh and relevant content. You must post content regularly to show the search engines that your website is up to date.
By posting content regularly, you can attract more traffic users. Thereby more the chances of backlinking and signups, which eventually increase the chance of ranking.
Publishing quality content regularly is an essential part of a successful SEO strategy. It helps to establish your website as an authority, keeps it fresh and relevant, attracts backlinks, and increases traffic – all of which can contribute to higher search rankings and a stronger online presence.
7. Optimise for snippet feature
One effective way to rank, not only on the first page but even above the first rank is to optimise the content for the snippet feature.
Here are some tips for optimizing your content to potentially appear in a featured snippet:
Identify common questions related to your topic
Start by identifying the questions that people frequently ask about your topic. These types of queries are most likely to trigger a featured snippet.
Use a clear and concise format
Featured snippets are designed to provide a quick and easy-to-understand answer to a question. Make sure your content is organized and formatted in a way that is easy to read and understand. Use bullet points, numbered lists, and short paragraphs to break up the content and make it more visually appealing.
Use headings and subheadings
Use headings and subheadings to clearly structure your content and make it easier for Google to understand the main points of your article.
Include relevant images and videos
Including images and videos in your content can help to make it more engaging and appealing to users. This can also increase the chances of your content being featured in a snippet.
Optimize for mobile devices
Google is increasingly displaying featured snippets on mobile devices, so it’s important to ensure your content is optimized for mobile viewing. This includes using a responsive design and making sure your content is easy to read on a small screen.
By following these tips, you can increase the chances of your content appearing in a featured snippet and attracting more traffic to your website.
You can also take a look into how to optimize for Google featured snippets?
8. Reduce bounce rate
Google doesn’t encourage websites when people visit a page and bounce back to the search result. It is possible that a high bounce rate is a sign that your website does not provide a good user experience, which can harm your search engine rankings.
Tips to reduce high bounce rate
- Add a table of content and link it to the specific section
- Provide the core value of the content piece as early as possible
- Reduce the loading speed to a minimum
- Add visuals, charts, graphs and videos
- Have the introduction to a minimum
- Talk about the pain points in the introduction
Pro tips our experts rely on to rank on the first page of google
Keep an eye on tech SEO
Even though the tech SEO is perfect for most of the site. Minor issues will really hurt the overall SEO health.
- Check your website is optimised for mobile
- Check the loading speed of the website
- Check the indexing of your page
- Check the core web vitals
Promote the content on social media
Social media is a powerful tool that helps you rank on the first page. You can promote your webpage on
- Quora
The more engagement you get on your social media, the more the chances are for you to increase the traffic coming to your blogs/web page. Therefore, the more will be the chances for your content to rank on the first page of google.
Even though social media promotion doesn’t directly improve your website’s ranking in search results, it can still play an important role in a comprehensive SEO campaign. Promoting your content on social media can increase your website’s visibility, attract backlinks, and drive traffic.
Look into your competitor
Conduct proper competitor analysis and see the keywords they are ranking for, the resources they adding and their content strategies. By doing so, you can pinpoint the keyword gap you have with your competitors and the potential keywords you can try out to outrank them.
Also, you can evaluate the user experience from their site, which gives a basic understanding of your customer preferences.
Wait for results
There is no set time frame for how long it takes to rank on the first page of Google search results.
It can depend on various factors, including the competitiveness of your industry, the quality and relevance of your website and content, and the effectiveness of your SEO strategy.
In general, it can take 2 or 3 months for content to rank highly in search results. In order to evaluate the quality and relevance of your content, search engines will take time to crawl and index your website’s pages.
Also, it is possible to see improvements in your search rankings within a few weeks of implementing an SEO strategy, depending on the factors we discussed.
The key is to be patient and to consistently produce high-quality, relevant content that is optimized for search engines.
Track and monitor
Once you publish the content with the proper strategy, you can see the webpage move higher than before. You must tap on the results from time to time to understand what kind of pages and keywords provide better results.
- Use Google Console to find the CTR
- You can find the same content ranks in different positions for different keywords. Try to find it.
- Keep an eye on impressions and clicks
To increase the CTR (Click-Through-Rate), you can follow the below tips
- Use sentimental words like best, top, etc. in the title
- Use short URLs
- Make the content snippet friendly
- Make a compelling meta description
Best tools to rank on the first page of search results
All above mentioned things like finding the keywords, performing competitor analysis and more. You need the best tools in the town to create and optimise content to rank on the first page.
The answer to the question of how to rank on the first page of the google search lies in the proper leverage of the below-mentioned tools.
- Suitejar
- Google search console
- Google Analytics
- Moz
- Semrush
Takeaway
We hope this blog answers your question on how to rank on the first page of a google search. It seems like a big task, but it’s possible.
The key factor is to use the best SEO tools which help you optimise the webpage and website according to your needs. Never let anything affect the speed of the webpage or website. SuiteJar is a Free SEO tool you can use to track keyword ranking, conduct keyword research, backlink analysis and more.
You can also revamp your old content and optimise according to the above-given strategies to improve the rankings.
Rely on the above surefire strategies to rank higher on google searches. Curious to know how Suitejar helps websites get rank better and improve traffic. Sign up for FREE and check out.