You know that good content drives the rankings up. Or at least, that’s what you’ve been told.
But somehow, you can’t seem to move up in the search results and it’s driving you up the wall.
You might be wondering if the systems put in place for these rankings are too complex. How to increase your visibility on Google without spending days and nights on it?
Well, we’re about to show you how 6 tiny changes can make a very big difference, you can either implement them by yourself or hire a professional Baltimore SEO Company.
Table of Contents
Tip #1: How anchor text works better than a page description
As you may or may not know, anchor text is the clickable text or phrase within a hyperlink.
In Google’s own rulebook, anchor texts count as a great way to boost your content rankings, because they work as mini-descriptions of the pages they link to. So when you’re linking to your website, service, or product page, make sure that the anchor texts describe it as concisely and as accurately as possible.
Here are some examples of different approaches you can take:
- Exact match – the precise word or phrasing
- … and it’s the best Baltimore local business you can find.
- Partial match – the anchor text contains the words, but not in the exact order
- The local business in Baltimore is booming, as you can see.
- Phrase match – there are additional words along with the exact match
- … and it’s the best Baltimore local business you can find.
- Naked URL – where the anchor text is actually the link itself, with no phrase to cover it up
- The local business in Baltimore (LINK) is booming, as you can see.
There are plenty of other nuances, but these seem to be the ones most commonly used.
Tip #2: Meta descriptions can get your page more clicks
The way people read search results today is by quickly scanning for the one that best answers their question.
As seen in the definitions above, a meta description briefly describes what the page is about. The better you can fit it in the 150-165 character limit, it’s more likely to rank better.
Noticing something?
The first ranking website has the most direct answer to the search query. The rest focus on other aspects of the topic (its importance, the character limit, how to write the best one, etc.).
Focus on writing the most concise meta description to the content you want to rank. If the readers find out what you offer just by scanning the page, they’re more likely to click.
Tip #3: Spice up your blog posts with the right title
We all know that great content drives rankings up. However, just like the meta description above, your great content can be missed if the title isn’t catchy enough from the search results page.
Take a look at these two titles, and see which one you would click on:
- How to improve your SEO ranking
or
- 10 tips to improve your SEO rankings in the next 30 days!
What makes them so different? What makes the second title so easily clickable?
Well, from the first one, you can’t really tell what kind of text it is. A report, a news article, a blog entry… maybe it’s a 5-minute read, maybe it’s a 15-minute read. You can’t know!
From the second one, you get several pieces of information – it tells you the number of tips and the timeframe within which you can achieve success. Already you can tell the information will be useful.
Not to mention that with a more creative title, you can rank for additional keywords. Make them SEO-heavy. For example:
- “How to Boost Your Website on Google: 10 Proven Practices from SEO Experts”
- “Do You Know How to Increase Your Google Presence? Best SEO Tips to Increase Visibility“
- “5 Things Baltimore Local Business Does to Maximize Google Search Results”
- “How to Increase Google Ranking for Free: 6 Tips from Baltimore Local Business”
That way, your keyword shows up in the rankings for other, preferably related keywords.
Tip #5: Optimize, optimize, optimize
One of the best pieces of advice on how to increase SEO traffic is to fully optimize your webpage and content for mobile.
A lot of searching and reading nowadays happens on handheld devices. They’re more accessible and easier to navigate, hence a more common choice among readers.
Mobile-optimized pages need to be more readable, colorful and be able to load faster. When working on your website and content for the desktop, keep the handheld users in mind as well.
Tip #6: Linkable assets are your best friend
Linkable assets bring the so-called SEO “pizazz” to your website. Materials related to your product or service, like video tutorials, graphs and images make for great companion pieces to the content.
One underused linkable asset that improves Web presence on Google is a shareable Tweet within an article. Simply taking a quote, and a link for the reader to share it can go a long way, but only if clicking on it links back to your page.
Another is a colorful infographic. People love saving and sharing them, and there’s a science to back it up. Whatever statistics or numbers you may have, displaying them in a colorful, easily digestible manner is bound to bring you more clicks.
You can also insert widgets like a Youtube player with a tutorial or an ad, Google maps with a specific location, and more. Links to tools or apps that can be of use to the reader are also very good options.
To sum up
Search Engine Optimization is crucial for Google search rankings. No matter how good your content is, there’s no visibility unless you do the necessary steps to make it more Google-analytics friendly. Work on optimizing the content through anchor texts, meta descriptions, creative (and keyword smart) titles and linkable assets. However, these are just some of the hidden little avenues you can use to your advantage. There’s plenty more beneath the surface, if you are not sure what is SEO, you can read this guide.
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