Having a website that ranks well on Google is important to small businesses. Websites that are on the top of Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs) get a significant percentage of the traffic missed by lower-ranked websites. Learn what you can do as a small business marketer to help your website ranking.

More ranking statistics

rankingsJust to drive the point home regarding rankings, here are time more stats according to “Beginners Guide to SEO” by SEO Moz:

  • The first ranking position in the search results receives 42.25% of all click-through traffic
  • The second position receives 11.94%
  • The third position on the first page obtains 8.47%
  • The fourth-placed position on page one receives 6.05%
  • The others on the first page are under 5% of click-through traffic
  • The first ten results (page one) received 89.71% of all click-through traffic,
  • The next ten results (normally listed on the second page of results) received 4.37%
  • The third page receives a total of 2.42 %
  • The fifth page receives a total of only 1.07%
  • All other pages of results received less than 1% of total search traffic clicks.

Ranking factors to focus on

The following ranking factors are likely what you’re already doing if you’re focusing on a well-rounded marketing approach, but if you feel like your site is still struggling, make sure you can confidently check these boxes.

Create high-quality content

quality contentYes, content still matters, but not just any content. It’s essential to create high-quality content that people actually want to read. Find out what your readers want to know, what kind of questions they’re asking, or what their pain points are, and provide content to address that. Make sure you’re incorporating (but not stuffing!) relevant keyword phrases into that content to make your work more easily found online. If you’re not sure what keywords you should be focusing on, do some keyword research or have an experienced small business marketing professional do it for you. Keep voice search in mind when you create content, meaning don’t forget those longer search phrases typically used in voice search.

Have a user-friendly site

There is nothing worse than finding the information you’re looking for online, only to be sent to a website with horrible user experience (UX). Make sure your site is user-friendly. Make content easy to find, easy to read, and easily navigable. It’s also critical that your site is mobile-friendly; in other words, make sure you can read your site on a phone or tablet. You may also want to make your website secure if you haven’t already by purchasing an SSL certificate. Google has basically stated switch to https or lose rankings. While you’re at it, check the page speed of your site. No one likes the spinning blue wheel while they wait for your website to load. Visitors will bounce off, giving your website a high bounce rate if it doesn’t load quickly.

Follow the basics of onsite SEO

onsite SEOThere is really no reason for your site not to be SEO-optimized. For WordPress websites, plugins like Yoast SEO or All-In-One SEO take you through the step for every page or post you add to your site. You can also engage the services of a small business marketing company to do it for you. Here are the basics you should do to make your site optimized:

  • Meta descriptions
  • Alt image tags
  • Internal links
  • Title tags
  • H2 – H4 tags (as applicable)

Yes, there are other items, but these are a good place to start. Taking the time to get these right can go a long way in how well your site ranks.

Build quality backlinks

Of all the items we suggest, backlinks can be the most challenging, but with great content, they can be achieved. A site with high quality, diverse content will naturally attract backlinks. Here are a few ideas to get those backlinks to your site:

  • Blog posts
  • Expert interviews
  • Case studies
  • Infographics
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Free tools
  • Lists

Helpful, sharable content is key here. HubSpot provided a great list of backlink strategies you can try.

Your small business website ranking is an important factor in helping you get found online and attract quality leads. Following these suggestions will set you on the right path to success.

Patty Hughes
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