SEO 101: How to Get on the First Page of Google
May 13, 2016
How hard is it to come up at the top of Google search results?
Without question, the rules for effective search engine optimization has evolved to a more complex marketing channel. As marketing professionals we need to refine our SEO processes multiple times a year.
Each year, Google changes its search algorithm around 500–600 times. While most of these changes are minor, Google occasionally rolls out a “major” algorithmic update (such as Google Panda and Google Penguin) that affects search results in significant ways.
Implementing new search engine algorithm updates, will keep your business at the top of search engine results in 2016.
Why your business should care about SEO
When potential customers are looking for your business services, 81 percent do research on search engines according to Ad Week.
Eighty-one percent of shoppers conduct online research before they make a purchase. Sixty percent begin by using a search engine to find the products they want, and 61 percent will read product reviews before making any purchase. On average, a consumer will visit three stores before making their purchase.
If you want to reach that audience, optimizing your website presence is important. SEO is essential in turning online traffic into potential customers for your small business.
You and I both know that there’s a lot more that goes into a good SEO than the first few keywords that come to mind.
6 Ways to Get on The First Page of Google
In this blog post on SEO, you will learn six essential tips when it comes to showing up on the first page of Google.
- Get Discovered with Local Keywords
- Clean Up You Location Data
- Intentional Website Structure
- Focus on User Experience
- Optimized for Mobile
- Have Original Images
1. Get Discovered with Local Keywords
How do you find the best keywords for your small business? This is a question that clients always ask me.
They want to understand exactly how keywords work, and how they will make back their money from local search engine optimization and pay per click campaigns.
One of the most fundamental steps when starting your search engine optimization campaign in 2016, is finding targeted keywords that prospects will use when finding your local business online.
If you are just starting out its important to have realistic expectations on SEO. You are not going to rank #1 for your local business in your community overnight.
- Naples lawyer
- Naples attorney
- law firm in Naples
Your best focus is to target traffic in the city tied to your companies business address. Targeting competitive regions should be done after basic SEO goals have been set and achieved.
2. Clean Up You Location Data
Moz conducted a survey in 2015 that listed off-site location signals as a major influence of search engine ranking.
As search engines, like Google, become more advanced they will rely on more offsite signals to determine the legitimacy of a business and local ranking of the businesses website.
What to do
Make sure your Name, Address, and Phone number is correct. Nothing kills your chances of success faster than bad contact information.
Make sure your website lists your NAP information (name, address, and phone number).
Verify on Google Maps
Unlike other aspects of Google search, Google Maps provide your company name, address, and a clickable phone number, so the 50% of Google local searches done via a smart phone can call you on the way to your store.
If you give a bum address or phone number, it severely diminishes your chances of a good ranking.
Get Reviews for your Google Maps listing. Next ask your current clients for reviews of your business.
According to a recent survey by Moz.Com, Google’s algorithm gives 9.8% of the weight of your listing to the number of steady, quality reviews of your location.
3. Intentional Website Structure
Website structure for SEO purposes of your web site should help users find the information they want in the quickest possible way, this is your main objective.
What serves users well will naturally serve search engines too.
Essential pages trustworthy websites
About Us – A well designed about page improves the credibility and trustworthiness of a web site.
Contact Page – Should serve your visitors with pertinent contact information like email, phone and business address.
Privacy Policy – Search engines, like Google, like it when websites have a privacy policy in place.
Sitemap – Help visitors easily find and access all of your website content from one page. This would be different than an XML sitemap for search engines.
URL Structure: The format of your permalinks should describe the basis of the content of each webpage. If you have WordPress, opt to enable clean permalinks vs. id post permalinks.
Cornerstone Content: Website owners use cornerstone content to answer the fundamental questions their newest prospects have.
4. Focus on User Experience
The user experience has a direct impact on your website structure and site-wide SEO. Remember the goal is to give people what they want as fast as possible.
Delays or confusion due to poor UX can increase your bounce rate and conversions.
Original Content: Original content is becoming more important than ever. The more original content that you can produce, image, video, or written content, the more users with actionable intent will be attracted to your website. People like things that they can quickly digest.
Navigation: The navigation of your website should help first time visitors access information as efficiently as possible. Group related pages like products and services together so it makes sense.
Breadcrumbs: Try using breadcrumbs to inform visitors where they are and how they can get back to where they were. Its a visual back button that also helps search engines group our related content together effectively.
Search box: If you have a large site with deep content, try having a predominant search box for visitors to use. Sometimes search boxes are not practical if your site has just a few pages.
5. Optimize for Mobile
With mobile search becoming such a dramatic part of online search, it’s absolutely crucial that you optimize your site in 2016 so that it is seen by searchers and engines.
According to Google’s book, the top three positions on a search page matter even more in mobile world since the digital shelf gets really small on mobile devices.
6. Have Original Images
So how and why should you use images in your business communications, marketing and social networks?
60% of consumers are more likely to consider or contact a business when an image shows up in local search results according to this study.
Not surprising, the better the photo the more traffic it can drive to your website.
Naturally, this scares a lot of business owners. But image creation doesn’t have to be scary. This article will guide you through everything you need to know to create amazing custom images without breaking your budget or taking up all your time.
Different types of Images
A. Public Domain Images (free). The public domain refers to images that are either very old or those that the creator has released into the public space.
These images are all free and safe to use and don’t require you to link or give attribution to the creator (although you can if you want). Here are more resources for free images.
B. Creative Commons Images (free and paid). Creative Commons is a non-profit organization that provides licenses to all types of creative work, including images.
The images you find in Creative Commons are usually higher quality than public domain pictures and sometimes on par with paid images.
C. Stock Images (free and paid). Stock images are created by professionals. They are typically very high quality photos.
While public domain and CC images have their time and place, most of your images should be stock images.
Conclusion
A good SEO strategy will not only benefit your sites placement in search engines, but also the usability of your site.
It’s one thing to get people to your site, its another thing to monetize that traffic effectively.
If you are committed to developing good SEO practices, you will get to the top of search results in 2016. Which of these SEO tips can your website use today?
153 responses to “SEO 101: How to Get on the First Page of Google”
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Great information
Hi Charlie,
This is a wonderful write-up. I do agree that local keywords can help in ranking. Also as you mentioned, I feel that Breadcrumb is the important aspect which is getting overlooked. We should focus on user experience too.
It was my first visit to your blog and I found many other articles helpful too. Looking forward to reading such more articles from you.
Best Regards,
Mohit Arora
My first visit to this blog and I don’t regret coming here. Thanks for the info. My website http://www.fabjulia.com is suffering from lack of traffic. Or could it be because its still a moth old?
Hey Juliana,
It can take months before you start to see ranking and traffic changes with a new site. Thanks for stopping by!
Charlie
Excellent and comprehensive article. I think the importance of local SEO will increase in 2017. As well see a shift in long tail keyword.
Thank you for your article!
I have one question, all blog comments are no follow and are not followed by google so how they are counted by google as a backlink. If some URL is not crawled or read how can its counting be possible. I am bit confused. Can anyone help me out. Kaisekare
Hey Dipak, Anything done in an organic fashion can been seen as beneficial. Even though it is a no-follow it can still be attributed to your site. But anything done maliciously will cause damage to your trust ranking. – Charlie
I appreciate that you have tried your best to give all the details about pertaining to rank on the first page of google.
I am using most of the tips you wrote here apart from Breadcrumbs. I must implement Breadcrumbs on my blog because that encourages our visitors to browse more of our site and reduce bounce rate.
Keep the good work going.
Hey Nikhil, Thanks for reading my blog on SEO and taking the time to write a comment! I am glad the tips are working for you. Keep up the good work! – Charlie
Nice website and great writing and can you reply me how to increase traffic ie what should be the rank value, bid, search column, KC for a keyword.
Hey Ram, All of that is on a website by website basis. it depends on your target market, location or service and competition. My Small Business SEO Guide is a good first step. – Charlie
Thanks for your information
Thanks for good information
I tried all this and am seeing good results, thanks a lot the site http://www.ipubliciseafrica.com naw ranks on music articles
Hey Franklin, Glad the SEO tips are working! – Charlie
I love this post, thanks Charlie
can you talk me how best backlink site to top on my website on google
thank you
I have tried almost all methods you mentioned. But, still not able to rank in first page of Google.
Any updates?
Hey Nirmal, How long has it been since you made the updates? – Charlie
Hey Mamun, could you possibly rephrase the question. I’m not 100% sure of what you are asking. – Charlie
Where can I find a good developer to do all these things for me? I’ve already wasted many months behind some unreliable freelancers who always does half work.
Kindly advise.
Hey Shiv, We offer these services for websites in english. Please feel free to reach out if you have questions. – Charlie
Good Article, I have notice improvement on my website https://www.pagzos.com/ after i took advice from this post. However it is very difficult to write quality content as most of your competitor had already covered that topic
Good Article
Hi, I am trying to rank my website in the first page in google search engine. However, it doesn’t happen to be in the first page. Besides that, i have a blog in order to drive more leads to my websites, however, it doesn’t meet my expectations. Are there any advice from you, Charlie?
My last question is, how could I make sure the blog I wrote is able to backlink to my websites? For your information, my websites is was developed by previous programmer, and my blog is using WordPress.
I would like to get your advice on how to resolve my problem. I will be very much appreciated with your reply. Thank you.
Hey Keith, Thats a tough one to answer! It depends on multiple factors that relate to your industry and geographical location. Also how your business generates revenue. We do have our RankEngine service which does all of this for our clients. Or I have an ebook which gives people a firm foundation of knowledge on SEO for small businesses. if you site is new my best advice is to keep publishing great content and wait a few months. But if you are interested in more info feel free to reach out. – Chalrie
Thanks for the SEO tips, very good information.
Hey Charlie, great piece there.
We started our business 2 months ago and it’s mostly targeted towards local customers. I have been trying non-stop with the seo optimisation but to no avail. I don’t even know on which page our website ranks for the targeted keywords (I am pretty sure it’s not found within 8 pages) let alone ‘first page’. Any advice will be much appreciated. Thank You.
Hey GuruRaj, Its still early for you guys. I would give it some more time before really worrying. My ebook on Small Business SEO is a great foundational resource. Let me know if you have other questions! – Charlie
Hi Charlie you content is very helpful and i got google first page ranking using your tricks on my website http://ulkaria.com/ suggest me something so that it will come on top 3 in google
Hello Charlie,
Thanks for the post which is really awesome. I was crazy to rank a post on google first page. Then I searching a good post which provided real information with SEO and rules for google ranking. When I got you post then I feel so cool really.
Thanks again for that is a am also happy to get a huge free stock image resource from your post detail.
Wonderful article Charlie. Although, you missed one of the most important stuff and that is the Speed of your website. Recently, I optimized my website to get a score of 85 on google pagespeed insight. I have documented all the necessary steps which people can find here.
It plays a major role in listing your website at the first page of SERP.
Very informative article, I will also apply it on my website too.
Thanks for sharing the info..It helps a lot to improve any website traffic as well as SEO.
Charlie, Great ways. Making website search engine friendly and improve the user experience in the only thing in the SEO 2017.
The concept for the SEO has changed… On-site and Off-site are basic
You have already mentioned well above. The backend of your website is for the Search Crawlers. and, the front end of your website should be for the user including structure, content, interlinking, etc.
I have also mention a few shortcuts to get first page google ranking that should be applied with your tips.
Let me know what do you think.
i need an expert in seo to help me with traffic and get my site on first page google.
skype id………. paulus.caesar
Excellent information on your blog, thanks for sharing…
Nice post, thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the information you provide.
Please sir i want to rank this blog on 1st page of google
http://www.lungcancerprevention.info
can you do it for me?
Thats a tough one for sure! If you have time sign up for our SEO forum and post more details. Link: https://www.seomechanic.com/register/. We can also track the conversation better.
Sir,Thank you for your valuable information and that help me to improve my keyword ranking.
If you have time sign up for our SEO forum. Link: https://www.seomechanic.com/register/.
It is the first time I visit your site, and I have to say I am impressed with this extensive information and that help me to improve my website serach engine thank you very much.
Hey thanks for the write up is helping my business http://www.marijuana-man.org
Thanks alot
Nice blog. Thanks for sharing useful infomation.
Thanks a lot. Nice article with brief information.
Hello,
I have done most of the suggestion what you suggested but now my website in on 3rd page. I want to see in first page. How ?
Hey Adam when did you implement the changes?
Awesome. Charlie you deserve 1000+ Ratings. your discover is really working…thanks a lot
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Amazing infromation
Hi Charlie,
I finished my site a week ago and if it is not much to ask i would really like to have a professional and honest opinion on the design part: http://azcleanrepair.com/
I am still trying to find a way to improve my ranking, however my market is very competitive.
Hi Charlie, I am new to providing SEO as a service. I’m a web/graphic designer by education. I’m doing live webinars as a way to train entreprenuers on how to do their own SEO. What I was wondering is that I don’t see that you offer a paid service, so how do you package your services for SEO?
Hey Cheryl, Thanks for leaving an awesome comment! We actually have a 30 minute session with potential clients to see if we are a good fit. Based on that we set our rates. Its hard to offer one size fits all SEO solutions. Every business is different and requires a different set of tools and resources. Does that answer your question?
I wrote an article about this topic that I would like to share with this forum.
Thanks for sharing the marvelous info. It is an excellent article which helps me a lot. I expect we will get this type of informative article more and more.
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I got many clues from this post and got benefits to my website. http://digitalmarketersindia.com/
Great job Thanks for leaving an awesome comment! We actually have a 30 minute session with potential clients to see if we are a good fit. Based on that we set our rates.
Getting on top of Google search is tough. I wonder is it posible for a new blogger to rank his website on Google with few nice content but without any backlinks?
Yup you can! But your content has to be something people want.
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hello Sir My One Question Please reply me I ma New User in Internet My website Crack Software And I Wana Top On google my keyword
1) Google See How many Time Url Open ?
2) can google increase rank how many time url open and bounce rate 50% ?
3) what can i do my website show in google fisrt page and second page ? please help me
4) if my url open in youtube 1k can google increase rank ? pleas reply me please please help me my webiste thatssoft.com 05 October 2017 purchase domain pleae tel me my website position and seo ?
Hi, This nice post about the ranking the site in the google. It’s very beneficial for newbie. Keep it up.
very nice content.
how to optimise this http://www.sajhanote.com website ..
What search results do you want to show up for?
very nice content.thank you a good post sharing
[…] Charlie Rose – SEO 101: How to Get on the First Page of Google […]
I am very happy to visit this blog. Thanks for the info. My website http://www.red-pixels.com is suffering from lack of traffic. may be because its new.
HI
I submitt directeries and classifieds and socialbookmarkings,forums but not use I don’t understand y my url didn’t get 1st page
It takes more than just creating backlinks. Time is a huge factor and the quality of content on your site.
Seo changed a lot this year
Feels like it changes a lot every month!
Good Work . I appreciate your work. Keep it up.
Charlie, thanks for this amazing checklist to rank number one on Google with detailed explanation of each. It will surely help everyone to get organic traffic.
This was an awesome read thanks for sharing your knowledge on getting google first page ranking! All of this info is very interesting and informative to read on.
Hello Sir
Can You Please Seen my website http://www.aimpackersmovers.com and tell me what can i do on page and off page for improving ranking on google 1st page. i am doing seo last 1 year on this website its not rank on 1st page Please Help Me
Hello sir really fantastic article. You cover up the all the points. This is very helpful to me. Thanks for suxh type of article.
Your post is very useful and Informative. Sir your article is really good for increase rank fast in Google. Thanks for share.
I appreciate your informative post. You have shared a great tips to get rank on the first page of Google.
Hi many pages of my website are on 11 to 15 positions on Google. How can I get the first-page ranking?
Hey Charlie, I want to know how I can rank my website on first page of google search. I had already tried all the ways you told in this blog. But con’t find my site. Help me sir plz…
Hey Reetu, How old is your site? ~ Charlie
[…] your competitors are doing, you can formulate a strategy for passing them by on your way to the top of the search engine […]
Thank you very much!
How long does it take to get to the first page??
It depends on how competitive the keyword is you’re going for. If its something niche it could be rather quick.
Nowadays, it’s really tough to featured in Google’s first page. Majority of sites on top are authority brand, publications, old popular site.
But, by using these tips one can reserve positions in Google’s 2nd page. Once you entered in 2nd level…you are not far from 1st level.
Thanks for sharing this great article…
Yes its getting tougher and tougher to make it to the first page of search results.
Thank you sharing your great opinion about Google the first page rank our website but if you detailt all topic we are more and more benefit.
Very useful and informative post. Thanks to sharing it.
Thanks! Which SEO tip did you find most useful for your site?
Thank you for sharing this useful information.
No problem! What tip did you find most helpful?
Can you provide with a strategy that would work on latest trends like for Crypto community? I have recently launched a website related to ico tokens.
Great suggestion! I’ll see if we can put something together.
Very helpful article. Nice job. Take a look at my website https://verwayathens.com
I’ll check it out. Are you struggling with your SEO?
Hi Charlie, thanks for sharing the article.
Currently I’m working on call center software- keyword for freshcaller product, link are as follows “https://www.freshworks.com/freshcaller-cloud-pbx/call-center-software/”
It is currently ranking in 18th position (US) and 2nd in India.
Can you please help me out with this, to get in to top 3 positions for call center software keyword.
Time and pressure is the ultimate tool. also make sure you have relevant content. Its more likely that the US market has more competition.
I have tried almost all methods you mentioned. But, still not able to rank in first page of Google.
How long ago did you complete the steps?
hi very good article
thanks for sharing keep up the good work
thanks for taking the time to read the article! Good luck with your page one efforts!
I always follow your content for my website ranking. It’s really help a lot.
Glad these SEO tips are helpful.
I am very inspire from you and always try to learn something from you, after learning from you I also have worked on our website.
i am very new only 3month
I would give it some more time. Pressure and time :o)!
how sir??
Work on creating more relevant content about your topic.
This particular increase in online traffic provides positive and very real opportunities to nurture new businesses and boost revenues. The increased revenues mean a very strong return on investments, which is the very reason for starting business. Used in this context, SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION marketing is now part of doing business online in today’s marketplace.
Thanks for your SEO insight. We totally agree.
Great tips again Neil. Been trying to break the first page of Google but can only do so on less competitive keywords..
Thank you so much for this great idea that you have included here.
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i need a free seo optimisation adsense my website
My advise is to review your content. thats the most important part with Adsense.
Many thanks for sharing valuable info about SEO, I’m sure people would find best tips from this blog.
Great blog. You share the information is really useful. Thanks a lot for this beauty Enjoying article with me. I appreciate it very much!
good article
very helpful for me
thanks a lot
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thank you for good article.
Glad it was helpful. Also if possible please refrain from posting your name in Persian script. Due to some fraudulent commenters trying to inject spammy backlinks in the past we typically mark them all as spam. These days we all have Google Translate ;o).
nice content,could you please tell me how many backlink are good for a site.
Depends on the age and authority of the site. Sometimes a lot of backlinks to a new site looks really bad. Whereas 1,000’s a day to certain sites is seen as normal.
People often ignore content for the most part and try to rank. I believe content is king and you definitely want your readers to stay on your website and get value out of it. Targeting longer tail keywords helps too.
thank you CHARLIE ROSE for this great article
I SEO an article for the specific keyword (Laminate in Persian)
Someone told me that article doesn’t last long on the first page compared to the page that shows all the products
is that true?
Thank you CHARLIE ROSE for the great information about Seach Engine Optimisation (SEO)
The main part of SEO is Keyword research and most of the marketers do not take it seriously but it is one of the most important factor to rank higher on google search engine result pages.
This makes sense. I agree with the points you’ve outlined above.
Also, it’s very important to carry put on page optimization. This means adding the keywords you want to rank for to the:
Meta Title
Meta Description
Alt Tag
URL
Body
It will go a long way in helping your website rank faster.
Thanks for taking the time to leave an informative comment. How long have you been doing SEO?
Great article. Great tips for better positioning on Google
A little over a year now. Although I still need to learn more off-page optimization
Do you work with local businesses in Nigeria?
very well explain….thanks for sharing keep writing
Very nice artical, Perfectly described. I wanna try the following points. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us and hopes you will help us more..
Thanks
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Never really thought about using original images, all I do is use images which are labeled as ‘free to use and modify’. Do you also use alt tags in them?
I wonder if it will help if the alt tag should have just a description or if a URL is better?
Great question! Check out this post on Image SEO.
Thanks for sharing great tips to achieve the top ranking on search engines. Kindly share your tips to bring my website informative blog on the first page of SERP.
can this help in ranking my blog to google first page.
Yup it sure does. If you have more questions you should join the SEO Mechanic community.
Link: https://community.seomechanic.com