Think of a question and type it into Google.
Your search has now become one of the 40,000 queries that Google processes every second on average. This translate to a mind-boggling 3.5 billion searches per day or 1.2 trillion searches per year worldwide. (Internet Live Stats)
If your customers are anything like you (and they are), they’re searching for answers to their questions and solutions to their problems on a regular basis. Because you’re in the business of providing answers and solving problems, you’ll want them to find you in the results when they click Search.
According to HubSpot, 75% of people who use Google will not scroll past the first results page. That means if you want to be found, you need to do your best to get to page one. You might be thinking, “Well… how do I do that?” The best way to answer that question is by first explaining how Google works.
In a nutshell, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of knowing how search engines work and programing websites to rank well for keywords. In order to maximize your SEO efforts, you’ll need to first understand Google. When a user types in a keyword into Google’s search box, Google sorts through billions of pages in its index and comes up with a list of results that matches the term. Then, it sorts this list based on relevance and authority. Relevance measures how well a web page matches the user’s search phrase. Authority measures how important and authoritative that page is according to Google. Using these two standards, Google sends the highest-quality results to the top and the lowest-quality results to the bottom.
The authority of a web page is at the heart of the Google algorithm. The idea behind it is that the more authoritative a web page is, the more it is referenced and cited other places online. Google calculates the number of inbound links from other web pages and the power of those pages to determine how credible your site is. The more you have, the more authoritative you are, and the higher you’ll rank. The best way to rank well in the Google search results is to create worthy content that is relevant and of high quality.
Why Google Ranking Matters
By default, when users type a search term into Google, 10 results appear on the first page. If a user wants to see more results, he can click to the next page to see 10 more, then click to the next page to see another 10. However, most users don’t do that. A recent study shows that Google’s first page captures 89% of traffic, meaning most users won’t look beyond that when conducting a search. Even within the first page, the study found that higher you rank on the results list, the more visitors your website will attract, and if you’re the top-ranked result, you’ll capture about 42% of the traffic.
You can improve your overall Google ranking by choosing the right keywords and implementing them through a series of on-page and off-page SEO techniques. Not sure where to start? No problem. This free SEO audit will evaluate the current status of your website with a rating that will help you know how to proceed further. If you’re looking for some pointers, contact us and we’ll be happy to help.
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