Search engine marketing made easy – tips for better search engine rankings
As the world becomes more digital, people and companies want to be at the top of search engine results. Being higher up means more people will see you and visit your website. And the more website traffic you get, the more money you’ll make!
Can I improve my search position quickly?
The truth is that better search engine rankings take time and consistency. However, that’s not to say you won’t see some benefits quickly.
However, the full results of your strategic approach will take time. But following these tips will lead you to better-ranked positions and increased online visibility.
Find out how we helped drive record-breaking success for our client
Tips for better search engine rankings!
Ready for better search engine rankings? Here are our proven tips on how to use search engine optimisation and pay-per-click to appear higher in search results.
1. Optimise your website
You’ve got to get the basics right before you heavily invest in your marketing. After all, what’s the point in sending traffic to your website if it doesn’t convert?
There are several things you can do to get your website ranked higher in search results. Make sure your website is:
- mobile friendly,
- has a fast loading speed,
- and a clear site structure.
Other ways to optimise your website for better search engine rankings are to always use header tags, alt tags and meta descriptions. These help search engines understand your site content better.
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2. Conduct keyword research
There are a number of tools out there to help you do keyword research. It’s important because you want to make sure you’re ranking well for search terms that people are actually using
Once you’ve identified good keywords to target, incorporate these naturally into your website. Good places to start are website content (headings, subheadings and body copy). The next step is to start writing keyword-focused blog content.
3. Create regular high-quality content
Search engines prioritise good, relevant and new content when ranking websites. So regularly publish fresh content on your website, including blog posts, articles, guides and videos.
It’s incredibly important to make sure that the content is original and engaging. Always write for the end-user. You can use this content to work on improving your internal linking. Do all this and in time you’ll see better search engine rankings.
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4. Build a high-quality backlink portfolio
A backlink is where another website links to your own. They are an important ranking factor in search engine algorithms. However, they can be good, great or bad for your overall ranking.
Make sure that you’re working on building high-quality backlinks from reputable websites. There are a number of tools you can use to identify opportunities for backlinking including Ahrefs and Moz.
5. Monitor your analytics AND optimise
You should regularly monitor your website’s analytics to track progress and identify areas for improvement. Google Analytics will help you monitor your website traffic, bounce rate, and other key metrics.
It can help you show when pages might need to be revamped as they aren’t performing as well as usual. It can also help show you how your users navigate your site. Use this information to optimise the site structure. Small tweaks can really go a long way to improving your search engine rankings.
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6. Don’t be afraid to use targeted landing pages
Using landing pages to target specific audiences is a great way to get better search engine rankings. Typical landing page types people use include locations, industries or customer types.
For example, having a dedicated landing page for trade customers and for retail customers can help you offer more relevant content. Your trade customers aren’t likely to be experiencing the same problems as your retail customers.
They also likely won’t always value the same unique selling points (USPs), so tailoring pages to specific areas, customers or preferences goes a long way to improving the user experience.
7. Keep your titles short but engaging
Using long titles is not a good idea. Besides making it hard for your readers to comprehend the complete information, it also harms your keywords’ SEO impact.
To ensure that your titles fit the SERP length appropriately, keep them between 135 and 159 characters. There are SEO plugins available that detect titles that exceed character counts.
8. Use descriptive anchor text and not words like“click here”
If you’re hoping to rank for a specific word, using that keyword as your anchor text is crucial. Anchor text is the text you see on the screen that contains a link to other pages.
It’s better to use “Sell your dog” as anchor text, rather than “click here to sell your dog” where you link the words ‘click here’. It not only makes it clear to the end user but also to search engines exactly what to expect when they click the link.
9. Optimise your content for search intent
There are four common types of search intent, and you need to make sure that there’s content on your website that ideally has something for them all.
Search intent types:
- Navigational – looking for a particular website e.g. Copper Bay Digital’s website
- Informational – looking for knowledge or information e.g. how do I improve my search ranking?
- Commercial – where they’re looking for information to decide where to buy a product e.g. best digital marketing agencies in Wales
- Transactional – they’re ready to buy today e.g. sign up for digital marketing
The idea is that if you provide content for all search intent types, you’re more likely to get seen by a wider range of people. You’ll also be more likely to show up multiple times to an individual who is looking for your product.
To do this you need to think about the reason why you’re creating content. Is it to provide information? Are you comparing your product to another’s to showcase your USPs? Making sure you have this awareness will also help show what types of content you’re missing out on.
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10. Use paid ads to appear top
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising can be a great way for your business to stay competitive in a crowded market. If you’re struggling to rank well organically, it’s a way to quickly get your business in front of your target audience on search engines.
When you run a PPC campaign for your target keyword, your ad will serve at the top of the search results page. This ranking means you’re able to appear above your competitors in better search engine rankings.
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Can Copper Bay help me better my search engine rankings?
Definitely! We work with a number of clients to improve their search engine marketing. Whether you’re looking to polish existing blogs, have regular SEO-optimised blogs written or looking to test the waters of PPC, we’ve got you covered.
