Easy Ways to Up Your Rank on Google
Are you a having trouble getting traffic to your site? Google is one of the best sources of traffic interested in exactly what you are writing about – but those top spots are very competitive, and it takes a lot of work to get up there! The good news is, there are some simple steps you can take right now that will.
Optimize Your Titles
Titles do a lot of heavy lifting. They set the stage for the reader so they know before reading whether the post will interest them, and they also help to draw in the audience. In addition, putting together an exciting, keyword-rich title will draw readers in from Google who spot your post amidst the results and realize it is exactly what they were looking for! There are a lot of reasons to put work into your titling process – so spend a few more minutes on it for your next post!
Here is a great example of a keyword rich title. The title of the post is Walking Mama: Fitness with the Stroller. Not only is it an exciting title, sure to grab the attention of any parent eager to multi-task their time with their kids and their time getting fit, but it’s got some great keywords – walking, fitness, stroller, and mama (which Google will make bold even in a search containing “mother” – Google’s algorithm understands how words relate). Which brings us to…
Use Keywords
As I mentioned in the last example, keywords are crucial. This tip involves keywords in the body of your post. You see, the keywords you use help Google understand what your post is about. You’ll get the best results if you write the way people are likely to search – casually, using common words for things and not overly-scientific language.
When writing your posts, however, you do want to be aware of some problems with keywords. Having a good amount of keywords is useful, but if you over-do it you are actually harming yourself! This is called keyword stuffing. Google is smart and will notice this, diminishing your page rank in their database. The annoying thing is, there is no set limit where it goes from being a great density of keywords to being keyword stuffing – you just have to wing it! The best bet is to think about it but not obsess over it – strive to make your post sound natural.
Interlink Your Posts
A great way to make your site more powerful is to strengthen the ties of the blog. This can be done by interlinking your pages. Lydia does a great job of this here on Cluttered Genius, regularly linking to other posts and even putting together a compilation of her best posts. By interlinking pages, you are telling Google that visitors to one page of your blog are pretty likely to enjoy this other page, oh, and this one too – and that translates to more of your pages rising the ranks in the search results.
It goes without saying that interlinking your blog also makes it easier to navigate. Linking to related pages always gives your readers something new to discover. Think of it like successful rehabs. They have a team of people behind them that are working to help them. Make your blog and its posts your team, and have them help each other out along the way.
Guest Blog
Guest blogging is always a great way to get your name and your blog’s name out there. If you are writing for another blog, don’t miss the opportunity to link back to your own site! Bringing this kind of attention to your blog will gain you more traffic, not to mention you will get more links to your blog!
But where can you find these opportunities? While blogs related to your own are a great place to start, you can also look in a variety of other places. If you graduated college, even if you attended college online, your school probably has an alumni portal or a blog – see if they are looking for guest bloggers! Your hometown newspaper is also a great place to check for writing opportunities. Look outside the box to find the best spaces to share your writing and your blog.
Follow some of these tips and your blog is sure to take off! Just like anything else in life, practice makes perfect. Start out with a few of these tips then build up your site to make it a powerhouse!
If you have any other tips to share, let us know in the comments below. Happy blogging!
Aaron Walker is an online marketing specialist who recently made the move into blogging. You can see more of his work by following him on Twitter.
