Even though tons of information is available online, you almost land at similar results you have searched for every time you search on a query. Google plays a crucial role in displaying the most relevant search results that users want. Hence, marketers emphasize improving rankings without penalizing the search engines.
Google has specific protocols for how the search algorithms work. Google's ranking systems consist of a whole series of algorithms. In order to present you with the most useful information, the search algorithms scan through multiple factors such as phrases of your query, relevancy, and usability of pages, locations, and many more.
Now, let's understand what a Google penalty is and why it matters for your website before looking at ways to improve your Google rankings.
What is a Google Penalty?
When a website comes under scrutiny because of any issues, a Google penalty occurs. Consequently, a site is negatively influenced, and Google's search rankings drop.
Google may decide to penalize a website because of the recent algorithm modifications or a manual evaluation of your site. It is advisable to avoid Google penalties at all costs because your site must be getting traffic through the search engine. Here are some useful tips and tricks that boost your Google rankings;
Thoroughly Understand Google's Ranking Algorithm
While you are finding ways not to penalize your Google rankings for your site, it is imperative to know how the algorithms work.
The Google algorithm is not a mystery. Although officially Google keeps the updated algorithm secret, you can improve rankings through well-documented details (to improve rankings) that will help you increase or maintain rankings.
Moreover, Google algorithm's most significant point is the PageRank system. It is a patented automated process that defines where each search result looks on Google's search engine return page.
Most users tend to focus on the first few search results, so taking a spot at the top of the list generally means increased user traffic. Hence, keep a close eye on the algorithm, and eventually, you will get an idea to boost website rankings.
Analyze Your Site's Current Search Ranking
This is a crucial element while you want to improve search rankings for your website. You should assess your site's current SEO status to get an idea of where you stand as you cite where you need to be. This is notwithstanding whether the website is brand new or has been running for some years.
The audit will help to determine the strategies that boost the Google rankings of your site. The SEO audit results page will reveal the performance of the following metrics:
● The website's rank for certain keywords
● A highest ranking page for the main keyword
● An average monthly searches for the set of keywords, and many more.
This analysis can quickly identify the flaws and strong aspects that boost search rankings.
Make Sure Your Site has a Responsive Design
You never know which device the users will use to surf on your site. Hence, it is crucial to create a responsive website that can be easily accessible across all devices with the ultimate user experience. If your site is not responsive, you may get an increased bounce rate or sometimes decreased conversion.
Briefly, responsive website design will offer a great user experience to your potential customers and help boost Google rankings (directly or indirectly).
Track and Measure the Relevant Metrics
Keeping track of the essential metrics is mandatory to improve rankings on Google. Once you understand your site's key data, then only you will be able to optimize the website and boost rankings. Some of the important metrics include;
● The number of daily visitors on your site
● What causes the bounce rate increase or decrease
● Organic traffic conversion
● Keyword rankings of your site
Getting a higher ranking of a website is not an overnight task. It takes time and strategic actions in the right direction. The accumulation of the metrics will prepare the blueprint for you to improvise the rankings and boost conversions.
Look for Current Penalties and Rectify Those
It is an obvious and much needed trick while improving Google rankings. While Google will compensate your SEO efforts, it will also punish a ranking website if the algorithm notes that skeptical practices were unfairly used to obtain the top rankings. Execute the research and discover what Google would punish you for and dodge it as soon as possible. Here are some common practices penalized by Google.
● Hidden text or Keyword stuffing
● Cloaking (Full version of content accessible to Google, but users can access only partial content
● Sneaky redirects
● Hacked site
No matter for what reason, the Google penalty occurs. It will be devastating for your site. From decreasing the rankings to a negative impact, the website affects diversely because of the penalty. Hence, it is advisable to find the Google penalty at the earliest and act upon it to remove the penalty.
Focus on Keyword Research
It is essential to execute a well-researched practice for keywords you need to target for your business. Understand what your potential customers will search for while searching for the products or services you offer. A great way to run an effective keyword research is by doing a thorough competitive analysis. Understand what's working for your competitors and reverse engineer their strategy.
Google's keyword planner is a useful tool for keyword research. It will guide you through the relevant keyword phrases, average monthly searches for the keyword ideas, and much other vital information.
Besides, You can even use this tool to track your competitors' keywords usage. As a rule of thumb, it is recommended to choose keywords that have relatively low competition. Have a look at these steps while conducting keyword research;
● Create a list of important, relevant phrases that relate to your business offerings
● Think of the keywords that users may use to find your business
● Understand how the search term impacts your offerings
● Take advantage of the readily available keyword research tool
When you execute the right keyword research processes, you will surely get the keywords relevant to your products or services. Rightly opted keywords will help improve the search engine result pages' visibility, and eventually, improved ranking.
Go for Keywords With High Search Volumes and low Competition
As mentioned earlier, you should conduct sufficient research and choose the right keywords. When you are focusing on improving Google rankings, choosing the low competitive keywords will be fruitful in the long run. It enhances the chance to rank on specific keywords and boost traffic on your website. Low competition keywords will be helpful in some scenarios such as;
● An industry with fierce competition
● Startup business
● New website
● None or low domain ratings
Thus, while trying to improve the chances of rankings on Google, choose keywords with low competition and high search volume.
Optimize Content With the Right Keywords
"Content is king," and it will be influencing your site's ranking majorly. Google always focuses on quality content. Usually, it is recommended to have high-quality pages on your site instead of having high volume content with low quality.
For instance, writing a blog with optimal content quality is a great way to improve your site's overall content quality. Besides, make sure to write content in a user-friendly tone. The information written on a website should be easy to understand for both users and search engines like Google.
In addition, regular updates on your website's content will play a vital role in boosting rankings. So, make sure to regularly place useful, informative, and user-friendly content on your website.
Build Links and Maintain an Online Presence
Link building can harm or enhance your website rank. Similar to low-quality and high-quality web content, low-quality links will draw penalties, while high-quality links will bring good rewards. It’s always good to measure the value of links. The more valuable link means a higher position of a website.
High-quality backlinks present Google that your website has significant values. However, make sure you focus on creating high-quality articles and building links because Google now no longer pays attention to links from content distributing websites.
Additionally, assess your links' quality, remove broken and low-quality links, and generate quality links. These actions will surely help in boosting your site's ranking on Google.
Boost Your Google Rankings and Propel Your Business
All in all, it is imperative to prevent Google from improving/maintaining your site's rankings for the SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages). Whether you want to strengthen your online presence or promote sales, higher ranking positioning will definitely help. Follow these tips and tricks and take the next step to grow your business; ● Understand Google's algorithm ● Focus on quality content ● Generate high-quality backlinks ● Perform keyword research and choose the right one ● Use low competition keywords for the quick results ● Execute SEO audit for your site ● Identify existing penalties (if any) and correct them ASAP ● Track and analyze important metrics ● Opt for responsive web design These tricks will help you to improve your Google rankings. Also, it minimizes the risk factors of getting penalized by Google. As Google is a leading search engine (saying dominating wouldn't be wrong), so you should look for certain tricks and work accordingly for the best results. If you think about getting help from an expert while working on your site's Google ranking, it would be beneficial. Of course, you can do SEO on your own for most things to get higher rankings on Google; however, expert advice will be more fruitful for your business! Growth Hackers' SEO strategies are always up-to-date and implemented properly and efficiently. As one of the top digital marketing & growth hacking agencies in the digital landscape, SEO is one of Growth Hackers' specialty services. Contact Growth Hackers today if you want to improve your Google rankings without getting penalized, and propel your business.
Rakshit Hirapara
I am a content marketer at PeddleWeb, an internet advertising company in India. I hold spectacular skills in digital marketing, branding, lead generation, customer retention and few more. I have been featured in major publications like SEOBlog.com, einsteinmarketer.com, Hyken, User.com, Martech.zone, and a few more.
