Your website is perfectly optimized, yet you still appear on the second page of Google search results or lower. While 2021 brings about new opportunities and new tricks that may or may not work for improving your Google search ranking, the bottom line is that it always takes hard work and dedication to your business.

Content is Still King

Building quality content is hard work and takes time, a lot more than you’re probably willing to spend on it. While general knowledge of search engine marketing dictates that you write at the very minimum 300 words on a web page for it to rank, research actually shows that Google prefers long form content of more than 600 words per page.

While the length of the article matters, it’s not so much about whether you write a specific amount of words. Google’s basis for preferring long form articles is user experience. They make this determination by tracking a number of statistics, including:

Bounce rate – The percentage of customers that leave the page immediately. Ahrefs provides a more in-depth understanding of bounce rate.
Engagement – What the customer does on the page. This includes clicking on your links.

These statistics tell Google how engaged browsers are with your site. The more value you add to your pages, the more engagement you’ll receive.

Inbound Links are Essential

The other important factor to consider is the number of inbound links to your website.

Inbound links are essential because Google still uses them as a main factor when ranking you in their search results. Well-ranking, popular websites that link to your article boost your ranking because of relevancy; The more relevant you are the higher Google will place you in their results.

It’s not always about the number of inbound links you have either. When searching for websites to ask for links, look for those that have the highest rankings.

Improve Your User Experience Now

While obtaining a first place ranking takes time, there are a number of simple steps you can do right now to help get your website on the right path:

Add More Content

The easiest way to improve your ranking is to add more content to your site through blog & page content creation.

This doesn’t always mean the content has to be written and stuffed with keywords. Never place repeat the same keywords in your articles as Google views this practice in a negative way. Consider getting straight to the point with your content and adding more visual elements like videos, infographics and pictures.

Always remember the goal of your content is to solve a problem or fill an informational gap.

Hunt for Links

After you’ve improved your on-page content, start looking for ways to build more inbound links.

Start by using Google to search for articles that offer similar content. Figure out which websites link to them, and contact those websites in an effort to have them link to your content instead.

With persistence and quality content, hunting down links by personally contacting website administrators or blog owners can pay off huge.