Basic Search Engine Optimization for better SERPS Rankings
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a critical element of a successful digital marketing strategy. Being on top of the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) is the dream of every single business in the world. Google is dominant when it comes to the search engine market, with a market share of 92.62%. In South Africa, this figure rises to a staggering 95.54%.
When your website is on the first page, you get higher volumes of web traffic, which improves visibility significantly. Think about it. How often do you check the second or third page of Google search results?
A boost in SERP is excellent for your business because your target audience considers you to be a legitimate company. As they perceive you to be authentic, they are more likely to purchase your products and resources. Also, it has a positive impact on your brand image, making you an authoritative figure in your industry.
To improve the SERP for your website, you need to use search engine optimisation or SEO. It is a series of techniques which make it easier for your target audience to find your site. Below, you will find basic SEO for better SERP rankings:
Do adequate keyword research
The keywords you use in your website design will determine how easy it is for your target audience to find your content. Due to this reason, you need to put yourself in the shoes of the consumers and understand how they use search engines.
Google Keyword Planner can help you in this situation and shows you the popularity of specific words, along with the level of competition. Depending on the domain of your business, you can choose appropriate ones which match your offerings.
You can use Google Adwords, which will display advertisements linking to your website for specific keywords. Make sure the SEO keywords you use for your site are relevant to the topic of discussion. If it is irrelevant, visitors will leave your website immediately, which starts to reflect on the bounce rates. As a result, your SERP ranking will go down, making it harder for people to find your site. Also, diversify the keywords by using both short-tail and long-tail ones to improve the reach of your business.
Improve page loading speeds
Will you stay on a website which takes at least 30 seconds to load, despite having a blazingly fast internet connection? You will assume that the site doesn’t work and open another link to get the necessary information.
Consumers think along the same lines, which is why loading speeds are a factor in SERP rankings. Part of SEO includes the optimisation of your website design to remove delay between a click and the opening of the page.
Try to use smaller file sizes for the script files for your website, optimise the images, and keep the code clean. Also, you must focus on decreasing the number of redirects on your website, which hurts the SERP ranking. The content delivery network is an excellent SEO alternative for improving page loading speeds, which stores local copies of your site for users.
Post-high-quality and relevant content
The number of time users spends on your site is crucial to your SERP ranking. If people leave your website as soon as they open a page, it hurts your search engine results. You need to make sure you have high-quality and relevant content on your website so that visitors stay for more extended periods. It is known as dwell time, which is an integral part of SERP rankings, which you can improve with SEO.
Depending on your area of expertise, you need to create content which will attract your target audience. One way is to identify key consumer pain points and address them in your blog. You can also make interactive videos, which help your target audience in different ways.
As you know the importance of being on top of the SERP rankings, you must focus on SEO techniques and make it a part of the website design. Remember, it isn’t a time-consuming activity, and the above methods are easy to implement. If your website isn’t performing as expected, you can always use Google Analytics to take a closer look at the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). With this data, you can work on areas where your website design is lacking and improve your SERP rankings!