(Newswire.net — July 23, 2019) –Have no fear, we are going to show you some simple steps that you can be doing yourself.
SEO is a complicated practice. Many small businesses and digital marketing agencies try to master the process of SEO, which makes sense because it can bring large returns in revenue if you have the patience and knowledge to apply SEO best practices. Resources are available online to learn more about SEO. A few places to check out are MOZ, Search Engine Land, and Search Engine Watch.
Let’s take a journey together to review the main ranking factors that Google looks at when showing your domain in a search query. The top three, according to MOZ, are backlink signals, on-page signals, and behavioral signals.
Backlinks For Days
Backlinks are the cornerstone to keyword ranking factors. It is the most challenging aspect of SEO to master and the most time-consuming. Every year, MOZ puts together the top organic keyword ranking factors. Backlinks have been consistently at the top of that list year-over-year. There are roughly 200 ranking factors that make up a search query in Google. Let’s review a couple features that make up a great backlink.
- 1. Anchor Text: Anchor text are the words that are hyperlinked in an article that point to your website. There are strategies you want to follow when creating your anchor text profile. A third of your website’s anchor text should be branded (your company name), another third should be money keywords (dentist in Albany), and the final third should be generic. If you over-optimize with money keywords, then you are in danger of incurring a Google penalty.
- 2. Link Domain Authority: Domain Authority (DA) is the metric MOZ uses to determine how authoritative a website is. The higher the authority the better the backlink is going to look for your website. Your DA will also increase the more relevant backlinks you receive.
- 3. Link Domain Quantity: The number of backlinks pointing at your website. Typically, the more backlinks the better (assuming they are authoritative and relevant).
- 4. Link Domain Relevance: Is the website relevant to the industry that you are in? For example, if you are a restaurant, it would be awesome to get a backlink from the Food Network. This is both a relevant backlink and one that has a high domain authority.
There are a few strategies that you can apply to your backlink building effort. The first would be blogger outreach. This is the practice of emailing a set number of opportunities and asking them to link back to a piece of content on your website. Another strategy that many SEO reseller experts use is to write a guest post. The strategy isn’t as effective as blogger outreach; however, it still works.
On-Page Signals
We just wrapped up talking about backlink signals. The next topic is going to be about your website and its on-page signals. This is the second top ranking factor, according to digital marketing experts. Let’s take a journey through what makes up on-page signals.
- NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number): This is a simple one to have on your website. On the foot of your homepage and on your contact page, place your name, address, and phone number so users know how to reach you.
- Keyword in Title: After you’ve done your keyword research, you want to add those keywords to your website. If you are a ‘dentist in Albany’, then add that keyword to the title tag, H1, and the marketing copy.
- Domain Authority: The higher your domain authority the better your odds are going to be to rank high on a search query. You can easily increase your domain authority by acquiring backlinks that are relevant and also have a high domain authority.
Behavioral Signals
Behavior signals are partially a combination of the first two ranking factors. Increasing the number of backlinks and updating content on your website will factor into your click-through rate and dwell time.
- 1. Click-Through Rate: When somebody lands on your website, do they immediately bounce off or do they explore your website? If you have engaging content, then you’re going to increase your chances of them exploring your website. A high click-through rate will send a signal to Google stating that users are finding relevant information on your website.
- 2. Dwell Time: How long is somebody staying on your website? Having engaging content it’s going to increase the amount of time somebody spends on your website. Engaging content may include long-form blogs, videos, or infographics.
- 3. Mobile Click-to-Call: If somebody is on your mobile site, can they click your phone number and call you? If they can’t, find a web developer to add this feature. It is pretty easy to do and a simple win.
Conclusion
We went through the top three ranking factors according to digital marketing agencies. SEO does take time and patience, so don’t get frustrated if you don’t see immediate results. Check in on a monthly basis using tools such as ahrefs.com. Tracking your domain authority and keyword rankings will give you an idea of how well your SEO campaign is working. Hopefully, with a better understanding of what’s involved in these ranking factors, you will be able to master them yourself. If you find yourself frustrated and want to try out marketing agencies again, then at least you are armed with this knowledge when interviewing potential companies. Mastering these ranking factors will put you well on your way to ranking number one for the ‘dentist in Albany.’