Do you want to promote your site to the top of the search results? Well, it’s more than real. And what’s more, you can do it on your own. Now more and more entrepreneurs decide to give up searching for SEO specialists and thus, they simply become ones. The main reasons for it include a limited budget and a desire to understand how search engines work.
By following these proven tips, you can save the site from weaknesses, get the maximum benefit and spend the least amount of money. We have prepared step-by-step instructions that will help you promote the site yourself almost for free and enjoy amazing results in the near future!
Analyze Your Competitors
To bring your site to the top of search results, you need to become better than your competitors. Without knowing them, you will not be able to understand what methods can be used to achieve this.
Of course, competitor analysis requires time and energy, so better free up your schedule to complete it properly. For example, you can send your school tasks to a custom term paper writing service to focus on another business. With talented helpers, you will finally take both your academic and work performance under control.
Create a list of competitive companies that rank in the top 10 results in Google search engines. To do this, open the Incognito mode in your browser (ctrl/cmd+shift+N) and type the query that is targeted for your business. That is, the one your potential customers use to get to your site. The main competitors should not include marketplaces and world-known companies. Also, don’t pay attention to competitors who are promoting themselves by placing paid ads.
When studying competitors’ resources, search for several indicators. The task is to get statistics, evaluate solutions and note the pluses that can successfully complement your site. Here’s a checklist for evaluation:
- Site’s usability: appearance, convenience, cool features, etc.;
- Site structure: sections and content;
- Age of the resource (for it, rely on the web.archive.org service);
- Monthly traffic metrics (can be estimated using similarweb.com);
- Donor sites that host external links to the site;
- Activity in social networks.
Enter this information into an Excel spreadsheet for further comparison.
Pick Up The Best Queries
The most common mistake beginners make when doing SEO on their own is focusing on high-frequency queries. When compiling a semantic core, you need to take into account various keywords and distribute them across pages depending on which problem the user is trying to solve.
In addition, promotion using low-frequency queries will require much less time and financial resources, but at the same time, it will bring the most targeted traffic and give quick results. This can be done using Google Keyword Planner. Now, distribute keywords across pages depending on the goal pursued by the user.
Move On To Internal Optimization
At this stage, it is necessary:
- Think over a clear and understandable site structure based on the semantic core for each page;
- Think over the Title and Description and add them;
- Write the headings H1 – H3;
- Check for links to all promoted pages of the site in sitemap.xml;
- Adapt the resource for use with all types of devices;
- Check the display and operation settings of the site in the main browsers;
- Minimize site loading speed (you can rely on Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix.com services).
Come Up With Quality Content
Content is a magnet for users. It is the key factor helping them decide whether to stay on the site or move on, leaving the resource forever. The variety of content attracts visitors with different preferences. Therefore, we recommend not stopping at one solution only, but supplement it with new options.
The quantity is not enough, quality matters most. In order for your site to attract users and search engines, make sure that the content is:
- Unique;
- Easy to read;
- Free of mistakes;
- Adapted to various devices;
- Aesthetically appealing;
- Well-structured;
- Optimized for search queries.
Do External Optimization
Speaking of external optimization, we mean the quantity and quality of external links that lead to your site from other resources. If no one talks about a company or product, and there is no information about it from users, bloggers, or social networks, this can only mean one thing – the company and its website are not worth attention.
Search engines don’t appreciate sites that aren’t referenced by external sources. Also, collect external links that you can use and place them on your site. Search engines will definitely mark and evaluate it too.
Don’t Forget About The Socials
The popularity of social networks has not passed by search engines, which prefer sites with active groups and communities. It wouldn’t hurt to explore this topic in more detail by attending some great marketing events and conferences. In fact, the more subscribers, likes and comments your communities gather, the more links to them will be on the site. And of course, the better the project will look, as search engines look for:
- Links to the site in social networks;
- Likes;
- Reposts;
- Community activity;
- The number of people joining it.
Study User Behavior
Do you want to know how to promote your site to the top? Study the behavior of site visitors. This is what search engines do in order to assess the relevance of your resource. Search engines track:
- User transitions from the search;
- The amount of time spent on each page;
- Page browsing time;
- Transitions to other pages of the site;
- Bounce rate: Google rates a bounce as less than 8-10 seconds of a user being on the site.
Therefore, to make Google like your page, strive to increase the time users spend with you. Of course, high-quality diverse content, thoughtful usability, adaptation to mobile devices and high loading speed will assist you with that. Also, don’t forget about creating Q&A pages and chats.
To Wrap It Up
Website promotion doesn’t stand still. Constant changes in search engine ranking algorithms, the emergence of new tools and services, as well as demanding users affect how the system works these days. You can easily master all of the above steps as they are easy yet effective. Plus, no one knows the peculiarities of your business better than you, right?
