Ranking number one on Google is a coveted goal for many businesses and website owners. Not only does it mean increased visibility, but also potentially more traffic to your website that could lead to higher sales figures.
But achieving this top spot can be a challenge; even the most experienced marketers have trouble ranking high in Google. How can an ordinary business owner hope to rank first?
Fortunately, ranking number one in Google doesn’t have to be out of reach.
With the right strategy and knowledge, anyone can learn how to achieve the highest spot on Google’s search engine results page (SERP).
While SEO is constantly changing and evolving, there are certain steps you can take to get on the path to success.
It won’t be easy–it takes patience and dedication to rank first–but if you follow these steps, you’ll be on the road towards achieving that coveted top spot.
Step-by-Step Instructions to rank #1 in google
By following these steps, you can learn how to rank number one in Google:
1. Identify your Niche
SEO can be tough, but as long as you understand the competitive landscape, being a small business owner doesn’t mean you have to stay behind your competitors.
It’s important to create content with your industry expertise, not just something out of your passion and hobby.
You’re also in luck if your website domain name is the same as your own name. That gives you the flexibility to pivot and dive into new topics by updating what makes sense for your readership.
As they say, knowledge is power so success in SEO is yours if you make the most of it!
2. Do Keyword Research
Keyword research is an essential method of finding the best page of google Positions for technically minimal effort.
Search engines are always in search of better and more relatable content, so making use of keywords that match what the search engine is looking for could boost your website’s google rankings significantly.
There are plenty of free and paid tools available to perform keyword research, but why not utilize what we already have been proven to be effective?
Personally, I recommend using Ahrefs.
Ahrefs provides a fantastic platform to quickly and efficiently figure out which keywords can get you on page one.
With its intuitive UI and wide range of criteria-based metrics, it helps save both time and money while making sure you’re optimizing your search engine performance in no time.
- How to do Keyword Research with Ahrefs?
- Simply open up the platform and press ‘Keyword Research‘ to begin.
- From there, enter your target keyword and press ‘Matching Terms‘ to expand your options.
- You can use keyword difficulty (KD) and volume as basic guidelines when choosing which terms to target.
- If you have a High domain rating that allows you to target more competitive keywords with confidence, but if you’re just starting out you may want to opt for easier targets – nothing like a quick win before going in for the tougher stuff!
- If you find yourself stuck in a keyword rut, the best thing is to keep repeating the same process until you come up with the list of keywords you wanted in the first place. Now that you have that all-important proverbial ‘list of keywords,’ it’s time to pick out the cream of the crop. So go ahead and choose from them wisely, because as they say, a smooth keyword research process yields sweet SEO results!
3. Match search intent
When it comes to figuring out the intent of google searches, it pays to put the keyword into google and hit enter.
Analyzing the top 10 search results can reveal a lot of information – what kind of content is the most common?
Are they blog posts, videos, product pages, PDFs, or images?
This can provide great insight into how you should craft your content in order to rank higher on google.
- The types of Search intent:
- Informational Intent – When someone is looking for information – Such as how to rank in #1 in google, or how to be a photographer
- Transactional Intent – When someone is looking for the best options to buy – Such as the best canon camera, or the best SEO reporting tool
When it comes to Google search and SEO strategies, understanding the intent behind keywords is critical.
For informational intent keywords, try creating videos and blog posts that answer questions, whereas for transactional intent keywords, product/service pages, or landing pages will necessarily deliver better results.
4. Create SEO-optimized content
Once you’ve identified your niche, chosen targeted keywords, and matched the search intent, it’s time to get strategic!
Whether it’s informational or transactional content, the same rules apply to both of these content.
URL
Your URL should always contain the main keyword that you’re trying to target, and it shouldn’t be too long or full of dashes.
In other words, don’t use the entire title like “10-best-canon-cameras-in-2022” – Instead, use “best-canon-cameras“
H1 Title Tag
Your main keyword should be in the H1 title
Use Headings: H2, H3, etc.
Make sure to include related keywords in your headings.
Meta Description:
Your meta description should also contain the main keyword that you’re targeting, as well as descriptive copy about the content of your page.
Content Body:
The content body is where you can go into more detail about why your page will help the reader.
It should be informative, entertaining, and convincing enough for them to want to stay on your site.
Include relevant images, videos, or GIFs as well as other keywords throughout the content.
These are all great ways to improve your SEO performance and get higher rankings in google search results.
A great way to improve your On-Page SEO is by using SurferSEO.
SurferSEO is an amazing tool that can supercharge your on-page SEO.
Rather than spending hours doing research, SurferSEO instantly gives you the perfect keywords and other information essential for great on-page SEO.
All you need to do is add it to your content and SurferSEO does the rest.
From title tags, headings and images, SurferSEO has everything you need for optimizing your website for search engine success.
5. Cover the topic in full
It’s not enough to just align your content with search intent and write blog posts about it – you need to go above and beyond for organic traffic success.
Searchers don’t just want the main topic addressed; they’re often looking for subtopics to be covered too.
Take, for example, “how to start a photography business” – blog posts addressing this topic are likely to appear in the top-ranking results.
Sure, they’ve matched searcher intent – but how much more could they have achieved with thorough coverage of the question?
Don’t just stop at blog posts and start to create more supportive articles – take time to research People also ask section and Related Searches on Google, and create content based around that too.
6. Add internal links
Internal links are blog post superheroes. They get to the heart of on-page optimization in an efficient and keyword-rich way.
Nobody can overlook them (um, seriously?) because they not only benefit your rankings but also keep users within the wonderful experience that is your blog for longer.
Plus, since you already have all the content written on your blog – getting those internal links up is absolute cake compared to developing new content from scratch!
A great plugin for internal links is Link Whisper.
This trusty tool automates the process of setting up internal links, saving you time and stress so you can concentrate on creating awesome blog posts.
It’s like having your own personal link fairy to make sure all your blog posts are connected and easy to navigate.
But make sure to check if the Anchor Text matches the post you are about to link to.
7. Acquire more backlinks
You can think of link-building as running the hottest (or perhaps unpopular) school election.
You want as many “votes” as you can get in the form of backlinks if you want to get ahead.
The more backlinks pointing to your website, the higher your ranking is going to be within Google’s search engine.
However, they’re not so easy to acquire – link building can be quite a challenge. So make sure you’ve got your game face on if you want to rise up those search rankings!
8. Track rankings
Tracking where your pages rank for their target keywords is the next step in getting a real-time read on the effectiveness of your link-building efforts.
Every build, content optimization, speed boost, Link Building, and other SEO moves you make offer an opportunity to figure out if you’re stepping up or standing still on the SERPs — so why let such valuable intel go untapped?
For that, you can use tools like Google Search Console or Google Analytics to make sure of your tracking
With Google Search Console and Google Analytics, you can gain useful insights about how effective your website is at optimizing for search engines and converting traffic into leads or sales.
9. Update the page after it ranks higher
Keeping your webpage updated is a sure way to stay fresh and relevant – and Google notices.
If searchers want timely info, like the “top Google searches” for the week, then Google will gladly bump up pages with up-to-date content.
It’s like clockwork – when our page gets stale, traffic drops off and rankings take a dive.
But give it a quick update and bam!
Suddenly spikes in traffic appear as we shoot to the top of search results!
So if you want to keep your site ranking high, might as well make sure it’s always as fresh as a daisy.
Wrapping Up and My Experience With Ranking #1 in google
When it comes to ranking well on Google, most people get overwhelmed and frustrated as soon as they hear ‘link building.’
It can be intimidating, no doubt. But here’s the thing – there are plenty of simple and accessible things you can do first that are within your control to get the results you want.
And if those don’t work, invest in some more challenging options like link building. I should know.
After many days spent researching SEO tactics and best practices, I finally cracked the code for ranking #1 on Google for certain keywords in my niche.
Trust me, when you start with the basics first, it makes all the difference depending on how hard you’re willing to commit to getting it right.
