Climbing the search ranks to the top isn’t something that can be done overnight. However, if you want to start improving your search results and make your way from page twenty to page one, there are some simple and free strategies you can employ to help you get there.
1. Ask For Links
If you have Google Alerts set up to inform you every time someone mentions you or your business on the web — and you should! — you can check to see whether or not they’re also linking back to your website. If they haven’t included a link, you can contact them to request one. While they may or may not add the link, it can’t hurt to ask.
This is also one way for you to deal with stolen content. You might decide that attribution is more beneficial than issuing a takedown notice and instead request that the site’s owner attribute content appropriately and link back to your site. How you handle plagiarism of this kind will likely depend on how much of your content was used without attribution. The greater the offense, the less understanding you’ll be.
CMS Wire reports that Google+ has the highest impact on SEO ranking. But they also acknowledge that sharing content on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest can boost your search position. While some see the relationship between Google+ content on Google’s search results as a sneaky way to boost Google+ participation, it seems no one can deny that it works.
So how can you use social media to your advantage? Share your content frequently and use relevant hashtags to categorize your content and increase its visibility. Likes and shares are markers of your influence, so focus on generating high-quality content your readers will be compelled to share across their networks.
3. Teach Others
Play your cards right with this one, and you might even get paid to build your site’s rank through public speaking engagements!
When you speak at events and lead webinars, the hosting organization will typically publish an online bio that introduces you to participants. In that bio, you get the chance to talk about yourself and your business, and you also get the chance to include a link to your website and social accounts. Building relevant backlinks in this way is another solid method for rising to the top of search results.
Many events and webinars are heavily publicized, meaning you get more chances to earn additional links through news stories, press releases, and blog posts. Plus many people in your real-life audience will follow you online, increasing your social influence and visibility and creating a virtual feedback loop that search engines will notice.
While writing effective page titles and descriptions, employing an effective keyword strategy, and hiring SEO experts to evaluate your site can all help you get your website on top of the list, it’s important to keep your eyes peeled for other creative ways to show those search engines that your content is valuable to readers.