10 Tricks to Get Your Site Ranking at the Top of Google Searches

Your website needs to be at the top of Google if you want to get lots of traffic and sales, right? That’s why it’s so important to learn how to get your site ranked at the top of Google searches — and stay there. There are many different techniques that will help you achieve this goal, including backlinking, article marketing, search engine optimization, and more. Here are 10 tricks that can help your website gain the kind of traffic you’re looking for — all while staying within Google’s search engine rules.

1) Learn how Google works

If you want your website to show up when people look for keywords related to your business, you're going to have research how it all works. First and foremost, you'll need to learn about Google's ranking algorithm; it's called PageRank. Once you've got that down, look into other factors that influence search results: inbound links (links from other sites) and anchor text (the words and phrases that come after a link on a page). People spend time learning and building links because they know they can give their site an advantage—and now you do too.

2) Make sure you have great content

This is one of those duh tips, but it’s definitely worth pointing out. No matter how many other tricks you use, if your content isn’t awesome people won’t share it and if they don’t share it, no one will see it. So make sure your content meets all expectations for quality (both for your readers and for Google) with titles that are relevant, well-written and catchy. Just remember to be honest—if you try cheating with Adsense links or sneaky redirects, you might be penalized . If you want more info on how search engines work and what they look for when ranking sites, check out Moz's beginner's guide to SEO .

3) Choose your keywords carefully

The success of your SEO campaign starts with choosing your keywords carefully. Many new business owners aren’t sure how to go about doing that. The best thing you can do is hire a professional—someone who has experience working with your industry—to make those decisions for you. This will allow you to focus on growing and promoting your business, instead of trying to figure out what keywords are going to be relevant in five years, or worrying about whether or not using them in your website’s meta-data will actually have an impact on ranking or site traffic. If cost is an issue, consider hiring someone for a few hours and then asking if he or she would be willing to continue helping out part-time at a reduced rate.

4) Optimize Your Title Tag

One of the most overlooked SEO tactics, title tags are a critical part of search engine optimization. The title tag is what your visitor sees in their browser window when they’re searching for something relevant to your business or site. It’s important that you optimize each page with a keyword-rich title tag that provides clarity and relevance on first glance, but it’s also just as important that you make sure it’s keyword rich enough for both users and search engines alike. In addition, make sure your title tag is short—no more than 60 characters will fit comfortably in search results. That way, you don't look spammy and dilute your key messaging!

5) Optimize Your Meta Description

Meta descriptions are one of those things that people don’t usually notice but can have a big impact on your site’s traffic. A good meta description will increase click-through rate by using strong language and including keywords in a non-obvious way. It’s also important that you don’t mislead users into clicking links with promises you can’t keep. If you do, you risk losing your ranking and face a penalty from Google. Simply put, meta descriptions are an important part of SEO: they make it easy for search engines to understand what your page is about and give users an idea as to whether they should click on it or not.

6) Use bullet points in your content

This is a hack that’s more than just to-the-point—it creates search engine optimization (SEO) opportunities. When you want people to find your content, you need to make it easy for them. The most effective way to do that is by writing in bullet points. That way, readers can scan your content quickly and find what they’re looking for (which also helps them remember key points). For example, look at this page title: 50 Things You Need To Do In 2016. It says exactly what visitors are looking for, which makes it easier for them to read and share on social media.

7) Do Keyword Research Properly!

This is a big one. If you don’t know your niche inside and out, if you aren’t sure what kind of keywords people use in searches that bring them to your site, you’re going to fail. So do your keyword research properly! Find out what search terms are being used most frequently in relation to whatever type of website you want your own site to rank for. Then find those terms and use them on your site as part of title tags, content headlines, ALT text descriptions for images...you get the idea.

8) Build Links To Your Website

Link building is a huge topic, so we won’t cover everything here. Building links is one of several ways you can improve your site’s ranking on search engines like Google. The more relevant links you have pointing back to your website or landing page, and the more diverse they are in terms of quality and authority, will help with getting your site ranked higher on search engines. Getting high-quality links doesn’t just mean having a lot of them; it also means making sure they come from relevant sources that will make people want to click through and learn more about your business. This process requires strategy, research and planning before executing any outreach campaigns.

9) Carefully Manage The Backlinks That Come To You

Backlinks are crucial for getting your site ranked well in search results. In simple terms, a backlink is any link that directs traffic to another website from your own website. A backlink is an authoritative vote from one site or page—that counts you as a trusted and reliable resource—in favor of another. If you’re not careful, you can end up with lots of links pointing to your site that will actually hurt your rankings (so-called Black Hat links). The good news is that many legitimate sites (like Wikipedia) will naturally be linking back to your site. As long as those sites aren’t sharing information that could potentially damage your reputation, they’re worth keeping.

10) Be consistent over time

Keep your content updated, and it will draw more interest. One of my favorite ways to do that is via guest blogging. By writing interesting and relevant posts for other blogs in your niche, you’ll be exposing yourself (and your expertise) to a new audience and making new connections within your industry. The result: more people coming back for more info. This doesn’t mean you have to spend hours each day on social media sites—though those certainly can help when used properly—just don’t let your presence lapse completely after an initial launch. Also make sure that all of your content is consistent with its messaging; what you say on one page should not contradict another page or piece of content.

Final thoughts

If you’re like most small business owners, you want your company to be found quickly and easily on Google. The more traffic that comes in through search engines, including mobile searches on tablets and smartphones, will convert into sales leads. It can also increase conversion rates on both mobile and desktop as customers find what they’re looking for faster.