Need a little help to improve your Google ranking? When it comes to SEO (Search Engine Optimization or Optimization for Search Engines), as much as every step by step is followed to the letter; there are no overnight results. So planning and persistence are critical!
Although the company does not officially reveal the criteria, it is estimated that Google uses around 200 ranking factors. This makes room for many SEO techniques and “shortcuts” scattered around.
But don’t worry: we prepared this article precisely to end any confusion on the subject and clarify the priority items in your site’s configuration. Ready to take your brand to the top of Google? So let’s go!
Start With The Content
We start by approaching SEO On Page, which consists of optimizing the site itself, from the pages’ code to the keywords and internal links. In this article, however, we will leave the more technical settings aside to focus on building the content, ok?
Unique And Relevant Content
The first step for a good SEO strategy is to define and select the topic covered in the content, something essential for it to reach the right people. There is no need to worry about robots first: think about your audience and discover the main questions they want to clarify.
Keywords
Keywords are at the heart of a good SEO strategy and must be carefully selected. After all, they are the ones that direct users’ search for your content. The tools most used in this work are Google Keyword Planner and SEMrush.
As for the keyword distribution, the recommendation is to be present in the title, in some subtitles (if possible), in the first paragraph, and throughout the text. It is neither necessary nor indicated to repeat it exhaustively. Remember that variations of the term are also allowed, as Google is semantic.
Example of Keywords.
Title (Title Tag)
The title usually consists of the user’s first contact with the content, also serving as an “invitation” to your post. That’s why he needs to get attention, generate empathy in the audience or promise a solution (which must be presented, of course). Title Tag example.
Description (Meta Description)
The description is also displayed in the search results, reinforcing the title’s invitation and encouraging user access. An important detail is that the meta description is not officially listed as a ranking factor on Google. However, as it can directly influence traffic, we think it is essential to consider it. Meta Description example.
Friendly URL
Confusing URLs, full of symbols, random numbers, and broken words, disorient the user, who doesn’t understand where he is. Not typical of professional websites.
As a rule, the ideal is to display the title followed by the main domain, inserting words separated by a hyphen and avoiding accents, symbols, and excess numbers. Friendly URL example.
Heading Tags
Heading tags consist of the internal title and subtitles of pages configured with H1, H2, and H3 to H6 tags. These tags help the search engine to identify the hierarchy of information distributed in the content. The H1 tag is the page title, the H2 the topics, H3 the subtopics, and so on.
Improve Navigation
Now that your content is ready and well configured, you need to consider the structure that will receive it. The quality of the website pages appears as an evaluation criterion for ranking in Google. It is good to consider the factors that guarantee efficient navigation, such as those listed below.
Loading Speed
In 2010, Google’s managers made it clear that the loading time of websites’ pages directly affects the user experience and, therefore, is also a factor considered in the ranking. You can use Google Page Speed to analyze your website’s loading performance.
Responsiveness
Responsive websites are those prepared to run on mobile devices, such as tablets and smartphones. Since 2015, Google has used responsiveness as a ranking criterion. You can test your website using the Mobile-Friendly Test.
Usability
From the architecture of the pages to the ease of navigation and access, everything contributes to a good user experience, increasing the time spent on the pages and reducing the dreaded bounce rate from the architecture of the pages to the ease of navigation and access.
SSL Certification (HTTPS)
Do you know that little padlock left on the website’s URL? It indicates that the website encodes information using encryption, so your browsing is safe. Although it has not yet noticed an impact of this mechanism on rankings, Google recently reported that portals that use it gain priority in searches.
