In today’s highly competitive online landscape, businesses need a prominent position on Google search results to increase visibility and organic traffic to their website. Gaining the upper hand requires a well-designed strategy and a good understanding of optimization techniques and search engine algorithms.
However, outranking competitors is not easy, and you might be wondering how to secure a prominent position in Google search results when large brands often dominate the top spots. In this article, we will go through the basics of proven and effective strategies for effectively outranking competitor websites on Google, improving online visibility, and enhancing engagement on your blog or website.
Also read: How To Check Google Rankings (Best Methods)
What is Google Ranking?
Your Google ranking is simply the position that your website is listed in Google when a person searches for a keyword or phrase relevant to your website. With such a vast amount of information available, Google needs to determine which web pages are more relevant to a specific search term or keyword.
This is where Google ranking systems come into play. This is an algorithm designed to go through every single web page and find the ones with the most relevant and valuable information. Sometimes, it may seem as if your rank in Google has dropped for no apparent reason. If you’re struggling with a sudden drop in ranking and are unsure what to do, you can go over this Connective post on the main reasons for a decrease in ranking and how to fix them.
Also read: How Positive Comments in Content Can Increase Google Rankings?
The Basics of Outranking Your Competitors
More than 200 factors have either been confirmed or are thought to impact Google rankings. For instance, quality content, the strength of backlinks, and technical factors positively affect your site’s SEO, whereas spam or ads can negatively do so. Here are some factors that will help make your website stand out and improve your ranking.
Also read: Utilizing TF-IDF Score to Increase Google Rankings of Your Site
1. Content Quality and Website Design
The relevance and quality of your website are essential factors that the algorithm evaluates to determine how well your content matches the search query. The more informative your content is and the more well-designed your website is, the higher your Google ranking will be.
Go through the websites ranking well on Google to get an idea of what people want. Ensure that you provide valuable and thorough information regarding the search query. You can also use Google’s People Also Ask (PAA) boxes to find out what people want answered and which topics you should focus on for your next post or article.
Also read: 15 Great Blog Post Templates For Better Content Creation
Regarding web design, the more complex your design is, the lower your ranking. For example, large, unoptimized videos, images, and animations can slow down your website and decrease your ranking. Similarly, if your website is slow to load or has an outdated design, your website engagement will reduce, which Google can pick up on and drop your ranks.
Another thing to keep in mind during web design is mobile optimization. Google has a separate index for mobile search to ensure users have a good experience on mobile search. Since computer or laptop screens are in landscape orientation and mobile phone screens are in portrait orientation, problems often arise when viewing the website on a mobile phone. This is where you can use responsive websites, which change the display and orientation of the website according to the device it’s being viewed on, providing an excellent experience to users.
Also read: Importance of Human Written Content For SEO
2. Keyword Research
Keyword research includes finding and analyzing search terms that people enter into search engines and using the information gathered for search engine optimization (SEO). Keyword research lets you discover what people are searching for on Google and which keywords should be targeted for your marketing strategy.
Also read: 6 SEO Keyword Research Tips For Beginners
Competitor keyword research is an excellent way to determine how to increase your website traffic. Look at competitors ranking well and find out what keywords they’re targeting. You can do this simply by entering the competitor’s website into a keyword research tool like Ahrefs or SEMrush. They’ll show the top keywords the site ranks for, including information such as monthly traffic and the number of backlinks. However, keep in mind that keyword density is essential too. Having too much of a keyword will make Google think it’s spam and lower your ranking.
Also read: Best SEO Keyword Research Tools [2023]
3. Quality of Backlinks
Another significant factor is the quality of your backlinks. A backlink is a link from a third-party website to your website. They help search engines determine how relevant your website is to a search query. High-quality backlinks are like a recommendation from another website to view your website because it has valuable content. A greater number of high-quality backlinks ensures your success in search engine result pages (SERPs) and increases traffic to your website.
Also read: How to Get High-Quality Backlinks in 2023
Search engines use backlinks to determine the relevance of your website for search queries. Google will improve your rank if you have backlinks from a high domain authority website, so it is essential to focus on the quality of backlinks over the quantity. Create good quality material, such as infographics or videos, that others want to link to on their site.
Also read: TrustRank: How Quality Backlinks Raise Your Site’s Rankings?
4. On-Page SEO
On-page SEO refers to factors on your website that affect your search engine performance. For instance, your title tag should include target keywords. The keywords should also be included in your content but ensure it flows naturally.
Also read: On Page Seo
Write an engaging meta description describing what the page is about and will show up on SERPs. Similarly, your images should have alt tags that briefly describe the image’s content. This is all done to ensure that Google knows what your page is about and can rank you based on that.
Also read: The Ultimate Guide to On-Page Local SEO in 2023
Endnote
Outranking your competitors on Google requires a well-thought-out strategy. Creating high-quality content and backlinks, improving your web design, and prioritizing user experience can improve your Google rankings and establish a solid online presence among many other competing websites.
