Ranking high on Google, the world’s top search engine, is essential for businesses to succeed these days.

Reports note the stark difference in the amount of traffic that sites on the first page of organic search results receive compared to those on the succeeding pages. To be more precise, the top result gets 31.7% clicks while those on the second page only get 0.78% clicks.

Landing on the first page of organic search results, especially getting the top spot, is no easy feat.

For one, coming up with an SEO strategy to rank high on Google can be challenging with all the algorithm changes that the company implements. Experts estimate that the search engine company makes around 500 to 600 tweaks each year.

While it may be challenging, making your site rank high on Google is not impossible when you have experienced SEO specialists spearheading your website optimisation efforts.

What’s an Effective SEO Strategy to Improve Your Google Rankings?

Google’s ranking algorithm can be likened to a secret recipe in that what it is and how it exactly works is unknown to the public. Even seasoned SEO specialists have yet to crack how Google ranks its search results.

Recently though, some of the company’s executives gave an overview of how their search algorithm works.

It starts with the search engine creating a shortlist of pages for a specific query. The pages on the list should have content that is relevant to the query. Google then uses its ranking signals to trim the list, assigning scores or numbers to the entries to determine their position on the search engine results pages (SERPs).

Still pretty vague, isn’t it?

What’s clear and certain so far is that Google considers various factors when determining the positions of websites on the search results pages.

SEO specialists estimate that there are hundreds of ranking signals. Some of these factors, like page speed and mobile-friendliness, have been known to the public and confirmed by Google executives. But many of these ranking signals are still unknown even to SEO specialists.

Based on the information from Google employees, taking these factors into consideration is essential for an SEO strategy to be effective. But instead of focusing on a single metric, the strategy should tackle all other signals as well.

Google executives say that zeroing in on a factor or two isn’t the right move if the goal is to rank high on Google search results. You need to strive to improve your entire website, ensuring that its various facets adhere to the search engine company’s requirements.

Effective SEO Strategy – All About Giving an Excellent User Experience

Understand that Google’s goal is to give people a pleasant experience when using their search engine. It is all about providing the best solutions to their problems or answers to their questions. This is why, when generating the shortlist for a given query, the company puts a premium on the page’s content.

If your site offers relevant and quality content for a specific search query, it is going to get better rankings.

Google knows, though, that excellent user experience is not just about providing the best answers to queries. It is also about being able to access the needed information in a fast and efficient manner. This explains why page speed and website functionality are factors that Google considers when ranking websites.

In case you didn’t know, Internet users can be very impatient. They have no qualms about abandoning a website if they cannot access or find what they need immediately.

Your page load time, in particular, greatly matters in SEO since it has been noted as a primary ranking factor. Moreover, reports show that longer page load times negatively affect conversion. Google recommends a page load speed of two seconds or less.

Similarly, page layout and design impact conversions. According to a report, 38% of searchers stop using a website if the layout is unattractive.

If you want to keep your visitors engaged, your site should be well-designed and easy to use. Moreover, searchers should be able to find what they are looking for quickly.

Here’s the thing:

Even if you have the most relevant content for a search query, users are going to exit your site if it takes too long to load or is not easily navigable.

What’s the takeaway?

To rank high on Google search results, you have to balance the technical and human aspects of optimisation. Similar to offline marketing where all your business print and collateral needs to reflect your customers’ needs, in online world you need a strategy that optimises your website for search engines and users.

Relevant and authoritative backlinks, title tags, keyword density, fresh content – these are some of the widely known factors that affect rankings on Google search results pages. An effective SEO strategy shouldn’t take these things for granted, but they shouldn’t be its sole focus. It is also about the users, specifically giving them a pleasant experience.

Need help creating an effective SEO strategy? We have seasoned SEO specialists who can help you improve your Google rankings and conversions. Call us today on +353 (0) 89 466 2000 or +353 (0) 1 960 9023 or visit our website to schedule a free SEO consultation.