Today, the Internet connects businesses around the globe with millions of consumers and potential clients, providing a convenient and relatively inexpensive channel where the former can showcase and sell their products and services. While this opened consumers to plenty of options, it intensified competition among business owners. Many have since turned to search engines, banking on rankings to help keep themselves visible to any consumer who performs an online search.
7 Keys to Improve your Store’s Search Engine Rank
If you are one such business owner, and you notice your website steadily sinking in the ranking despite all your efforts at search engine optimization (SEO), do not panic. There are some things you can do to remedy, if not to turn the situation around.
1. Add internal links.
Despite the several algorithm updates that have happened over the past two years or so, internal links have not entirely lost their value. In fact, while Google tends to favor high-quality content nowadays, it might take a good dose of internal linking to achieve the results you want.
What you must understand though is that internal linking may not work the same way anymore. Yes, it still involves linking your website to another, but using the ages-old rich anchor texts will not work to your advantage anymore. Opt instead to use phrases that sound more natural or organic instead of the often contrived-sounding rich anchor texts.
A warning: shifting to non-rich anchor texts does not produce immediate results, so do not count on seeing your rank rise overnight. The process usually takes around three months to yield any noticeable effect.
2. Increase the speed of your website.
Most of Google’s latest algorithm updates were done to improve user experience. It is for this reason that Google is giving more authority to sites that can produce understandable and informative content. To further enhance the experience users derive from performing a search, Google also made sure to take site loading speed in determining a website’s rank. This means that the faster your site loads, the more reasons Google has to out you up the ranking.
Don’t worry. Increasing your site speed does not have to be overly technical. Just go to Google Page Speed and sign up. Make sure to follow the steps indicated, and you should notice some change in your website’s loading speed.
3. Build links in pages except the one losing ranking.
When you notice one of your pages losing valuable rankings, you may have the impulse to build links to that page. After all, it appears to be the most logical thing to do. But doing so can cause a further drop in your ranking.
You see, Google has become smarter with time. It is alerted when pages get an unnatural boost in the number of their links in a brief period of time. This practice, especially when combined with the use of rich anchor texts, can cause Google to give you an even lower rank.
Instead of linking to the page with the falling rank, focus on building links to the other pages within your website. Make sure to use non-rich anchor texts, too. Over time, you will notice that your rank will stabilize, and the failing page may even rise in the rankings.
4. Keep your content fresh.
Google wants its users to find high-quality information. Websites that are able to provide exactly this have greater chances of making it to the top rank. As such, you must make sure to update your site’s content as often as you can.
As an ecommerce website, you can do this in several ways. First, you can attach descriptions to your products. You can also add a blog or news section to your website. This is easily the simplest way to transform your online shop into a repository of content that your customers can repetitively go back to. You can provide information about your products, tips to acquire great deals, or stories about the latest happenings in your business. The choice is yours.
5. Boost your click-through rate.
Your click-through rate is a measure of how many people are clicking on your online ad or email campaigns. Having a high click-through rate is a great way to increase traffic to your site and consequently boost your ranking in Google’s results page. If Google detects that your click-through rate is too low for your rank, it might put you in a much lower position.
There are several ways to enhance your click-through rate. First, optimize your title tag and meta description using some of the following keywords:
- How to
- [List-related numbers]
- Free
- You
- Tips
- Blog post
- Why
- Best
- Tricks
- Great
You can also use Google Authorship. This allows you to display your picture every time your content pops up as one of Google’s results. This allows your content to stand out from other results, enhancing your chances of getting a click and added traffic. Follow these steps:
- Have a profile photo with a recognizable headshot.
- Place a byline containing your name in all of your content.
- Make sure that your name in your byline matches your name in your Google+ page.
- Make sure that you have an email address on the same domain as your content.
6. Be mobile-friendly.
More and more people are using mobile devices like mobile phones and tablets to browse the Internet. Chances are, your customers are looking at your products through their iPad or their smart phone. Ensuring that your website is compatible with these devices is a sure way to keep users visiting.
Google also takes note of which website are mobile-friendly and which are not. Those that belong to the latter category are regarded as incapable of providing a positive user experience and as such, are deserving of a lower score. Use Google Analytics to see what your visitors are using to access your site for you to have a better idea on whether to go mobile-friendly or not.
Another way to address this issue is to use mobile-responsive layouts. These layouts are designed to adapt to the size of the screen of the device being used to view the site. This way, your website will look easy on the eyes no matter what devise your consumers use.
7. Go Social.
Many people are using social media today. Joining the trend is one of the best ways to remain visible to your customers. Using social networks like Facebook and Twitter, you can keep your consumers updated on what new products you have to offer. You can also use the likes of Instagram and Pinterest to give buyers a peek at your offerings. You can also use your social media accounts to spread your links and to encourage users to visit your site.
Leading the rank is an essential strategy for any business in the Web. The strategies and steps mentioned here do not work like magic. As with any SEO-related endeavor, results usually take time to appear. It would be a good idea to combine the approaches mentioned here for best results.
