SEO: What is Google ranking websites for?

Posted in Tips: SEO, Tech, WAHM, Social Media
what is google looking for seo

Curious what google is looking for? Here are a few tips to improve your SEO game for free.

  • Make sure you get an SSL certificate installed if you want to keep up with competitors. 
  • Google favors sites that are optimized for “Advanced Mobile Pages” (AMP). This is especially important if you have a post-driven site. 
  • Make sure there are no dead links or bad redirects on site. 
  • Your content needs to be unique from any other site, aiming for 600+ words per page. 
  • Google favors sites with the following pages that are easy to navigate to from the homepage: “Privacy Policy”, “About”, “Contact” (this page should be the last listed in your navigation bar). 
  • Content, especially headlines, should be written as they are spoken into a voice search like Siri or Alexa. “What is the best way to tie a shoe?” would be a good example of a headline for a blog post about shoe tieing.
    • An FAQ page or section is another way to include “voice search” style text.
  • Tools like KwFinder.com and SEMRush.com are great keyword tools.
  • Organic content takes 3-5 months to rank… keep this in mind to pump out web content early on your marketing calendar, even if not advertised on social media.
  • For every one internal link, post two external links. 
  • Insert main keywords and points of interest in the first 200 words of a post. 
  • Find ways to get your site backlinked. Buzzfeed, news sites, pinterest, local business directories, asking other bloggers for a feature (or paying for a feature), etc. The higher quality the link source, the better.
  • Remove all hidden content. Eliminate all dropdowns from your navigation bar. Make content pages within 2 clicks from the homepage. Remove accordian-style layouts or anything that shows and hides content. Shy away from the use of sliders because it’s only showing one image at a time and Google won’t read all of the images that are in the carousel.
  • Insert lots of sidebar content to increase engagement and page time (which will increase organic SEO).
  • Remove “hamburger style” menus on standard sites.
  • Increase mobile page speed as google will count this before standard desktop speed.
  • On your homepage, clearly and articulately state who you are and what you do.
  • On your about page list your credibility and accolades (degrees, appearances, awards, etc).
  • Expect a dip in traffic for site overhauls. Traffic will return when google bots relearn your site.
  • Make sure you database, theme, and plugins are always up to date.
  • Add change and improve content on your site regularly so that Google considers your content relevant.
  • Lastly, write, write, write and share, share, share!

I am happy to help improve your organic search traffic using these tips on your wordpress site. Depending on your industry, I may have a few additional recommendations. Contact me!