Improve your Google ranking (2020 edition)

It takes Google a few weeks to recognise & completely index new websites, but there are a few things you can do in the meantime to assist in increasing the ‘score’ by which Google ranks your website in organic (non-paid) search results.

 

The Secret Formula

Google’s formula for ranking search results is exactly that – a closely guarded secret. So how can you get to the top if no one knows the formula? Over the years a number of patterns & solutions have been found – simply by trying an idea, monitoring the results then making adjustments and seeing what happens.

As there are literally thousands of factors that play into the ranking algorithm, every little bit counts.

 

Are You on the Map?

Ensuring your business appears on Google Maps is a key one. If the business is not on there as yet, you can add it via Google My Business. A quick tip – if your physical business location straddles two suburbs, set your suburb as the one you want to be most found in.

For example, I once had a customer wonder why their Google Maps business listing wouldn’t appear under searches for the phrase “Self Storage In Morningside” when their business suburb was listed as being in nearby Cannon Hill on Google Maps. After adjusting their suburb in their listing, they started appearing a few weeks later.

 

Inbound & Outbound Links

Having other relevant websites linking to yours will increase your domain authority. The word relevant has been intentionally emphasised – if you sell dog collars but your local mechanic links to your website from theirs, this won’t do anything for your domain authority. In fact, it can sometimes negatively affect your Google ranking. However, if a pet store, product reviewer or a doggy daycare place links to your site, these efforts will have positive results.

If you happen to run a self storage facility (nb. one of my largest client categories is self storage), getting your local Self Storage Association to link to your website from theirs will help immensely. As overarching organisations for an industry, these types of organisations generally already have very high domain authorities – so if they link to your website, it can greatly assist your ranking. The same goes for any industry association your business is a member of.

In the case of the Self Storage Association of Australasia (SSAA), they have a Member Listing you can be on, with a website link. You can also request to be added to their Online Storage Finder website too. You could also ask Storman (creators of popular management software for the self storage industry) to link to you from their site, as they too have a good domain authority when it comes to Self Storage-related searches.

If my company built your website, we too will link to it – including on all of our social media channels.

 

Keeping It Fresh

Post regularly on your site to keep content fresh. By posting relevant blogs regularly (eg. once a month), Google will keep coming back to your site to check for new content, thus also adding a small amount of ‘weight’ to your search engine ranking.

My company has a blog writing service where we write blogs for a number of our clients, so just get in touch if you’d like to make use of this. Again, if we built your site for you, please refer to your instructional how-to video & guide for details on how to create blog posts on your website (or we can do this for you if you prefer).

 

Be Social

Be sure to setup social media pages & accounts (eg. Facebook, Instagram etc) for the company. These also link back to the site to improve the ranking.

 

Spread the Word

Ask customers to leave Google Reviews for your business (once you have a Google Maps / Google My Business page setup). If you have any big-name clients, getting reviews and traffic referrals from these will help your ranking.

 

Paid Advertising

Facebook & Google Advertising is another way to get traffic to the site quickly, without waiting for your Google ranking to slowly increase. Spend can be as little as $5/day and can be turned on or off at any time to fit in with budgets and seasonal changes at your business.

Facebook Ads are good for general Brand Awareness, as it lets you target people in & around your place of business based on factors such as age, gender, interests and so on. It’s cheaper than Google but not as targeted.

Google Ads display based on what people are searching for – so it’s more exact and more targeted, but more expensive as a result of competition amongst businesses similar to yours – especially large brands that are willing to, and can afford to, pay more per click.

 

Next Steps

I hope these tips provide some assistance in helping you boost your site’s search engine ranking. My company provides SEO services and runs ads on Facebook & Google’s advertising platforms for many clients, so just get in touch if you’d like to know more.