4 SEO techniques to get your blog ranking at the top of Google

Ranking at the top of Google is becoming increasingly challenging with the growing competition as more businesses move online. The top result on Google is the most highly esteemed place to rank, taking 40% of clicks, but the majority of the remaining clicks are to pages within the first page of Google, so achieving measureable results is paramount.

Blogs drive traffic to your site

Blogs are a fantastic opportunity to increase your ranking since they are engaging knowledge-based pieces which are keyword rich with relevant content. They are also a useful way of driving traffic to other areas of your site and encouraging conversion. Laddering the domain authority from a blog post by using internal links is great way to achieve long-tail ranking performance. Google regularly updates the algorithm that affects the rankings of organic search results, including the latest Panda 4.2 update, which makes it more difficult to maintain a top spot. Search engine optimisation (SEO) is a widely used tool, but companies need to understand how to grow in organic ranking. Here are 4 techniques to get your blog ranking consistently at the top of Google.

#1 – Optimise the appearance of your blogs

Optimising your blogs will help to reduce the number of bounces when people click on your site. The more successful clicks through, with an increased visiting time, will rank more highly in Google search results. Posting regularly is another effective method of increasing genuine engagement and encouraging people to read your blogs properly. This can also help you to improve your SEO across different posts, by seeing which have provided the best results and repurposing these. Republishing older content that has achieved good results will also help improve rankings.

#2 – Be careful about duplicate content

When you’re repurposing content or expanding existing content, it’s important to avoid copying sections of it. This can negatively affect your SEO, whether it’s copied from a different site, or just in different places on your own site. So keep your blogs unique to avoid being penalised for this. Writing about the same topic can be tricky, but why not try writing a series surrounding the same topic, to boost your keyword ranking for related phrases, and elaborate more on topics of interest. Guest blogging is still a powerful technique to get a high quality link portfolio.

#3 – Social amplification of content along does not replace organic links

Link building has long been a fundamental part of SEO. If there are links directing to your site, Google recognises it as having greater credibility. Previously, back-linking was the most effective way to go about creating these links, but as this became more well-known, more websites started abusing this and creating links from any site that they could. This link forming is penalised in SERP.

Google now recognises which links are relevant and from credible sources, meaning that businesses need to find other ways of creating genuine links. Content amplification by sharing your blogs across your social media platforms is a great way to get increased engagement. As your posts get more likes and shares across Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google Plus, it will also provide the benefit of increased engagement and brand interest. However, social amplification alone won’t necessarily increase your organic rankings. High quality links remain at the core of SERP. The focus has shifted to quality over quantity.

#4 – Be ready for all platforms

Following the latest Google update, businesses are now seeing the importance of having a mobile-responsive website that is user-friendly on any device. Fewer visitors come from desktops, so it is vital to ensure that your blogs are readable, including any imagery, no matter what screen size they are being viewed on. Ensure your pages are optimised using ALT tags on images and keyword themes are grouped together to leverage the power of semantic linking.

Find out more about refining your SEO strategy by giving us a call today on 020 7100 0726.

Author: Steve Pailthorpe – Follow us on Google+