How I Got on The First Page of Google – 10 Things To Know
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Want to get on the first page of Google? Let’s be serious, who doesn’t?
Many bloggers and website owners dream about having their blogs or websites on the first page of Google Search. And this for a good reason: 75% of people never scroll past after the first page of Google. But when I hear “I have a few months old website and I want to get on the first page of Google in 24 hours if it’s possible” or see SEO companies promising this, most of the time it makes me laugh.
Because it’s not a secret that search engines have complicated algorithms behind displaying their results. In Google’s case, there are over 200 ranking factors. Therefore, how to rank on the first page of Google Search is a hard question, with a complicated answer.
A new site has almost zero chances to hit the first page of Google (not mentioning the first place). One big impediment is the domain authority (DA). If in your niche there are many influencers or big companies that have hundreds of blog posts including thousands, if not tens of thousands of backlinks, then your chances to rank before them are almost zero.
My blog is almost 12 months old, so I say it’s still very new and small. Most of the times, I publish twice a month, 1800+ or 2000+ posts. In these circumstances, it never crossed my mind I could get on the first page of Google.
But, surprise!
When verifying analytics, I noticed than 2 of my blog posts had constantly higher and higher numbers of visitors, compared with the other blog posts. And they weren’t through the most shared articles on social media. I thought something is weird because I thought if one of my posts would hit the first page of Google, it will be one of the most shared articles.
While making some researches on Google I had a huge surprise:
My post “How To Design Viral Pins That Get Massive Traffic To Your Blog” ranks the first on Google SERPs. On Google US, on Google UK, Google Australia, and Google Germany, and it also ranks on the first page for other related keywords.
I said: “What????????????” How is this possible?
A blog with a MOZ DA 5 and no backlinks outranks websites having MOZ DA 25, 57 and 94? Moreover, a no-name blog surpasses Pinterest itself for topics concerning to design viral pins 😊.
Let’s see how I did this with this post and how you can also get this result.
My first suspicion was that RankBrain is pretty much responsible for this. Maybe I’m wrong, but at this moment I don’t have a better explanation.
What did I do? How did I get on the Google first page for free?
At first glance, the answer is easy: I used on-page SEO best practices for optimizing my post.
Included the Main Keyword “Design Viral Pins” in the Title Tag and meta description
Many experts consider the title tag as the most important on-page SEO element, while others consider it’s the second most important on-page ranking factor, after content. Also, having the main keywords as the first words in the title helps you in SERPs ranking.
However, the title tag is generally seen in two places: first, in the search results, as the top hyperlink and second it is seen in certain browser tabs.
We all search using keywords and the search engines return the results that are optimized for those keywords. But if the title and the meta description include the words you used for searching, most likely you will click on those links, suspecting that they provide you with the information you are looking for.
So, a title such as “How To Design Viral Pins” has more chances to get on the first page of Google than a fancy title like “How to find your way to an engaging Pinterest account”. Why? Because for sure it will not cross your mind to use those words for searching.
When you are interested to find a piece of specific information (in my case design viral pins), you will type probably the straight words you consider having the best chances to return the information you need: create viral pins or design viral pins.
Best practices for high performing titles in SERPs:
- Write titles having maximum 60 characters, to avoid getting them cut in search results
- Insert the main keyword in the title – no need to say
- Place the keyword first, if possible.
However, to be sure you write high-performing headlines, CoSchedule Headline Analyzer can help you.
The content is a 1:1 match for Search Intent
Search Intent (known also as User Intent) is the main goal people have while typing a query into a search engine. Not just a catchy headline. Sure, backlinks and other ranking factors still matter. But if your post doesn’t match with the search intent, it will not rank on Google Search.
What does this mean?
When writing a blog post, think first about what kind of information your audience is looking for. Do your homework. And match your content with the keywords you want to rank for and with the information your readers are looking for.
All the content included in the post “How To Design Viral Pins That Get Massive Traffic To Your Blog” is a 1:1 match for Search Intent.
Assigned H1 Tag To the Title of The Article
No need to say that H1 tag has the most importance for SEO. Therefore, check if your CMS assigns properly H1 to the title. H1 tag must include the main keyword and appears just once on every page.
Used subheadings marked as H2 and H3 tag
All the subheadings in the article are H2 and H3. It helps not just for SEO, but also for a better content structure.
I didn’t use the main keyword in subheadings (I missed that part), but I used Latent Semantic Indexing Keywords.
Used the Main Keyword in the first paragraph
Include the main keyword in the first paragraph and even better, in the first 100 words. This way, you’ll help search engines to correctly identify the subject of your blog post.
Also, sprinkle the target keyword all over the text, where it fits natural. In terms of the keyword density, there’s no one-fits-all formula. Just be sure to keep the right balance. You can be penalized by Google if you use too many keywords or overstuff your content.
Used Latent Semantic Indexing Keywords
Latent Semantic Indexing Keywords are synonyms or related keywords taken into consideration by Google when deciding the relevance on a page. Use some of them in your blog post, where they fit naturally. They will also help you to get on the first page of Google.
Wrote 1000+ High-Quality Blog Post
There is a real debate without a no strait answer about what the quality content means.
But despite all characteristics of high-quality content (number of readers, time spent on a page, shares or comments), one thing is certain: the uniqueness of the content is the most important factor to rank on Google Search. So, it’s important to avoid publishing duplicate content, otherwise you may be penalized by the search engines.
As it is perceived as providing a higher value to readers and gets a higher ranking in search results, the long-form content is the new trend nowadays.
According to serpIQ’s study, the top-rated posts usually are over 2,000 words.
Except for the value it offers to its readers, high-quality content is skimmable, visually appealing and easy to read. Therefore, instead of writing long blocks of text, organize your content in short paragraphs, use bullet points, break the texts with visuals and emphasize the main keywords with the bold format.
“How To Design Viral Pins That Get Massive Traffic To Your Blog” meets also all these requirements.
Enriched My Content with Visuals
In addition to the high-quality information you provide through your content, inserting visuals is extremely important. It not just makes the blog post or web pages easier to read and attractive but also boosts the reader interaction and shares.
So, consider inserting charts, videos, infographics and high-quality images into your content for increasing the time spent on that web page and shrinking the bounce rate.
Optimized Images – A Must-Have For Google Ranking
These are small details, but the “devil is in the details”. Therefore, provide the images with proper descriptive names and alt texts, and insert here the keywords. All of them help search engines establish the topic of your post in their algorithm. So, give them a hand and do yourself a favor.
Inserted Internal Links into The Content
Besides copy optimization, adding inbound links is also important for your on-page SEO strategy and to get on the first page of Google.
Interlinking will help you keep the readers more time on your site while passing from one page to another and reducing the bounce rates. The internal links also prove that you are offering additional information besides your page content and help search engines to index your blog post or web page.
Be sure to add 3-4 internal links per page or blog post. Select as anchor text a few keywords or phrases that can be linked to another helpful article or page for your readers and place them just when they are necessary or pertinent.
Add External Links That Relate to Reliable External Sources
Even if it’s a common mistake not to use external linking, this is an incredibly easy SEO strategy to increase your overall domain authority, search engine rankings and organic traffic.
It’s also very important to pay careful attention to the sites you are linking to and try to aim for those with high authority. Peak world-renowned publications like Forbes, Entrepreneur or quote influencers and the most important players in your industry. Hubspot, Moz, MarketingProfs, Content Marketing Institute, Backlinko or Neil Patel are more than reliable and truthful sources for the Marketing niche, as they provide high-quality content and have already gained the trust of their readers.
Inserted Social Sharing Buttons
Even if social sharing is not considered a ranking factor, it helps indirectly by supporting extending your reach. As you may notice there are social buttons on the left side of my post, and I used Sumo for this.
URL Is SEO Friendly
No need to mention that the first 3-5 words that appear in a URL have greater importance. That’s why the permalink should be relevant, as short as possible, and include the target keyword.
Here is the permalink for this article: https://www.boostingwriter.com/blog/2018/viral-pins-get-massive-traffic-to-your-blog.
Loading Speed Of The Site Is Good
Loading speed of the sites is counted as SEO ranking factor and a must use on-page SEO technique. User experience depends highly on the loading speed of the site. Experts say that users would not return to a site that loads slow, aim for a loading speed of under 2 seconds.
“Make sure they [web pages] load fast, for your users. I aim for less than 2-3 secs” John Mueller, Google”
Test the speed of your site with tools like GTMetrix or Hubspot’s Website grader and see how your website is performing.
For improving the loading speed, you may:
Consider changing to a faster hosting
Use a content delivery network
Use a caching plugin
Summarizing, this is all I did for this page in terms of SEO and for the moment it still hits the first position in Google search.
However, you must be aware that it’s one thing to get people to your website or blog, and another thing to effectively monetize this traffic. But if you are committed to develop good SEO best practices, listen to an expert for more insights on how to get on the first page of Google.
