Your business needs recognition stat, and ranking on the first page of a Google search is imperative to having customers find you. With search engine optimization ranking techniques changing almost daily, you need to know the best way to keep your business ranking high and within sight.
That’s why we asked 14 successful entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following question:
Q. What is one key thing you do to keep your SEO ranking on the first page of searches, especially if you’ve only recently gotten there?
1. Keep producing relevant content
If you want to keep your No. 1 spot, then you need to keep doing what you’ve been doing! This means producing relevant content, supplemented with hot keywords that people are searching for. If it’s your website, then use your blog to keep adding valuable content; if it’s a page, then update it every quarter, whether it’s rewriting the content or adding new keywords—and it wouldn’t hurt to do both! —Codie Sanchez, www.CodieSanchez.com
2. Ensure your site is free of errors
If you’re on the first page of Google for your top keywords, you’re clearly in a great search position. While it’s critical to continue doing what you have been doing, it’s also important to ensure your site does not have any critical errors. Nothing will hinder your SEO efforts like poor on-page structure. I recommend a continuous audit of your site from various tools and SEOs. —Brandon Pindulic, OpGen Media
3. Win the Google snippet box
To keep your site on the front page, you need to focus on winning the Google snippet box at the top of your keywords. To do this, focus on answering common questions from people searching in your niche. The simplest way to win the snippet box is have a title containing a common question, and then placing a table with the answer, or a step-by-step list, directly below the question. —Bryan Kesler, CPA Exam Guide
4. Improve your post-click experience
One metric most marketers undervalue is post-click engagement. To maintain high SEO rankings, you need to maintain a low bounce rate, longer session duration, and higher conversions. This demonstrates that your web pages provide exactly the information Google users are searching for, along with additional information that’s also useful to them. —Firas Kittaneh, Amerisleep
5. Look at other front-page contenders
Take a close look at the other nine results on that search engine results page, especially the ones that rank higher than you. What are they doing different: More links? Longer content? Different keywords? You goal is to create the best content for that query, and the competition is the perfect guide to what Google thinks is “best.” —Vik Patel, Future Hosting
6. Use search engine console to look at key metrics
Under Search Analytics in the Google Search Console, you will see info on queries driving traffic to your site, CTRs, impressions, and position. If you see a keyword generating a ton of impressions and ranking high, but getting a low CTR, then it is time to optimize the meta title and description to encourage more clicks. Words to increase CTR include list, top, best, guide, etc. —Alejandro Rioja, Future Sharks
7. Focus on user-engagement signals
Once you start ranking, you have to prove to Google that you deserve to stay there. Google starts measuring how many people pogo-stick (immediately return to the results), how long they stay on your site, and how many people actually click on your listing in the top results. To improve these signals, edit your meta title and description so it reads like an ad. Then enhance your page with images and videos to keep visitors on your page. —Marcela De Vivo, Mulligan Funding
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8. Keep doing keyword research
It’s often easier to rank for less competitive or long-tail keywords than top search phrases (though it’s nice if you can rank on the front page for both). Keep up with the latest search trends so that you can create content for people who are searching for your type of business. Remember local search terms if they’re relevant to your business. Then keep creating great content using popular keywords. —Shawn Porat, Scorely
9. Do guest posting
Guest posting helps us build consistent backlinks month after month. We now know the base number of backlinks we will generate every month, and any other links are a bonus. This helps remove the volatility and helps us remain at the top of Google searches in our industry. —Syed Balkhi, OptinMonster
10. Use tools to help you
We use the Yoast plugin to make sure we have our blog posts optimized and ready to go. Another tool we use is the free headline analyzer tool by CoSchedule to optimize our headlines for Google search. Find out which tools will help cut down your time with SEO so you can focus on creating great content that converts. —Jared Atchison, WPForms
11. Think about conversational language
It’s expected that by 2020, 50% of all searches will be done by voice. People search differently by voice than they do when typing. Search engines are already beginning to rank by looking for more natural and conversational language as results. Clients should begin looking through their digital ecosystem and start providing more conversational versions of information. —Andrew Howlett, Rain
12. Keep updated and keep posting
Pillar posts seem to be a big thing these days. It’s important to diversify the content you are posting around the keywords you are targeting so that you can position your site as holding thought leadership on the subject. This will be critical when it comes to pushing the right content directed to those keywords. — Nicole Munoz, Start Ranking Now
13. Add some numbers
This is a really simple tip that can produce big SEO results. In order to increase hits and raise your search ranking, incorporate common numbers, such as three or five, into your titles and meta descriptions. People like to receive their information in bite-sized chunks, and will appreciate content served to them in this way. —Bryce Welker, CPA Exam Guy
14. Keep doing what got you there
We rank on the first page for the search term “digital marketing company.” We’ve been on the first page of search results for about the last 18 months. We’ve maintained that ranking by keeping our foot on the gas pedal, and continuing to do the successful things that we’ve done in the past to get us to the first page, instead of patting ourselves on the back for getting to the top. —Brett Farmiloe, Markitors Website Development
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