Bringing visitors to your site is hard.
Maybe you’re new to this whole “building a website” thing. Maybe you’ve been at this for a while and are struggling to get the traffic you want.
But no matter what, you have a burning question on your mind: what is the fastest way to rank your new content in Google?
It can be hard to figure out sometimes. You think you’ve done everything right—but Google Analytics tells you that you just aren’t getting the traffic you want. What exactly are you doing wrong?
When you stare at disappointing analytics day after day, things can get pretty discouraging. You might even start to feel like having a website is a waste of time.
Sometimes, fixing the problem isn’t too hard. You might just need to adjust your strategy!
Sounds great in theory—but knowing what you need to do doesn’t mean you know where to start. Don’t worry, though: I’m here to explain.
Ranking on Google is as easy as one, two, three—or, in this case, one, two, three, four. That’s right; I have four simple steps to help you get your content out there. By putting them into practice, you can get your content to rank and start drawing in visitors!
One: Publish Good Content
Alright, that probably seems obvious—so let me explain.
The fastest way to rank your new content in Google is to have informative, well-written content. It needs to be engaging, fully SEO-optimized, and visually appealing.
“But wait,” you say, “What does that mean? What do I actually do?”
Okay, okay, it’s not that simple. Let’s dive in and break down how best to create content that will really catch a reader’s eye.
Know Your Target Audience
Before you begin writing anything, you have a very important question to ask yourself: who are you trying to target here? Knowing your target audience is key to creating content that will attract the right people and keep them on the page.
Let’s create an example: say you offer lawn care services. You want to reach homeowners, so you probably wouldn’t want to write a page that focuses on commercial gardening, right?
Seems simple enough—so let’s dig deeper. What sort of homeowners do you want to target?
- Are you looking for high-end clients who’ll pay a lot?
- Do you really love serving your community and want to offer affordable service to your neighbors?
- Are you targeting older individuals who can’t do the work themselves or younger ones who don’t have time in their busy days?
And that’s just one example. No matter the industry, you’ll need to figure out exactly who you’re targeting and how best to draw them in.
Market Research and Your Content Strategy
So first things first: sit down and really consider who you want to find this page. Think of things like:
- Am I searching for commercial or residential clients?
- What age range am I aiming at?
- What sort of income might my target audience have?
Create a list of every important factor you can think of. Once you have that, narrow it down to the most important parts. This will give you your ideal visitor.
Got that list? Good—because now you’ll need to use it to create a content strategy.
Knowing your target audience is important, but it’s not enough! You also need to create compelling content that will address their needs and keep them from leaving.
One of the best ways to create solid content is to create a hypothetical site visitor. Use the information from your list and ask yourself these questions:
- What would this person most want help with?
- What might this person want to know about the industry or your company?
- How can you help them with their problems?
Answering these questions can help you get a good start on your content creation strategy.
Write High-Quality Content
Knowing your target audience might be your first step, but it can’t be your last. Once you’ve settled on a target, it’s time to take aim and create that content!
Creating high-quality content is the fastest way to rank new content on Google. It can help you prove that you’re an authority on the subject—and, very importantly, lower your bounce rate.
Your bounce rate is how many people visit your site from the search results and then promptly hit the back button. Google doesn’t really like it when people do this. If it notices that visitors aren’t staying on your site for very long, then it’ll assume that your page isn’t very useful. This, in turn, means that it’ll lower your ranking.
Writing high-quality content is key to keeping people on your page—and showing Google that you know what you’re talking about.
Write to Your Target Audience
But how do you create quality content that will help people stick around?
Well, that’s where knowing your target audience comes in. Remember those questions you asked? Those are key to figuring out exactly how to address the concerns your clients may have. Use those as a jumping-off point to decide what sort of pages you should write.
Next, you’ll want to make sure that the content you’re writing lines up with search intent. Basically, make sure that what you’re trying to rank for is stuff people are actually searching for. Look at examples of similar content to get ideas—just make sure you’re still putting your unique spin on things.
Make It Useful
The content itself should be well-written and informative. Make sure you’re giving your clients lots of useful information, and you can really attract their attention!
As for creating the content itself, there are a couple of things to keep in mind to make it more engaging:
- Longer content usually ranks better; you’ll probably want to write something that’s 1,000 words or longer if you want to rank quickly.
- Break up large blocks of content with bullet points.
- Use shorter sentences and paragraphs to help with readability.
- Create easily scannable headings and use them to break up the page.
- Add images and videos to make the page more interesting.
Make Sure You Have a Functional, Visually Appealing Website
Having one amazing page isn’t enough. If you really want to rank well, your entire site has to be solid.
Your website should be easy to navigate, informative, and visually appealing.
You want someone to see your site and go, “Wow! This person really knows what they’re talking about!”
Here’s how to make a stronger website:
- Make sure your site works well both on the web and on mobile phones.
- Have an easy-to-use navigation menu and useful internal links.
- Create a solid design and utilize videos and images where appropriate.
Make sure you don’t use a lot of pop-ups, either. I know it can be tempting, but people get really annoyed with pop-up ads. If there are too many, they’re likely to just find another site.
Perhaps most importantly: utilize search engine optimization throughout your site.
Take Advantage of Search Engine Optimization
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an amazing tool that will help you improve your ranking.
SEO is what Google uses to determine if you’re an authority on a subject. Basically, Google searches for specific words or phrases—called keywords—on your page. When people search for those words or phrases, Google will then show your page in the search results.
Sounds easy enough, right? Well, in some ways, it is—but you have to make sure you’re using SEO correctly.
You want to make sure that your keywords:
- Have a good ratio between searches and competition
- Match your content’s intent
- Are included correctly throughout the page
Keyword Research
First: you need to decide what your keywords are.
They can’t just be words that rank well; you need to choose words that match your content, or else you won’t get the right sort of traffic.
For example, if you’re writing a page about fixing air conditioners, you might use something like “HVAC repair” or “air conditioning services.”
Make a list of keywords you think would be useful. Using tools like Google Ads can be great for brainstorming ideas and expanding on this list.
Next, you’ll want to check how many searches these keywords are getting in your area—and how much competition they get. Keywords with high search volume and low competition are the most useful, but those can be hard to find. Try for a mix of keywords for better results.
Again, tools like Google Ads will be your friend here since they can help you get more information on how keywords stack up against each other.
Usually, you’ll want to start with your primary keyword—that is, the term that you most want to rank for and is the most relevant to your page. Add other keywords to boost your ranking and help you appear in other searches.
Use Your Keywords Naturally in Your Content
Once you’ve got your keywords, it’s time to put them into the content.
Your primary keyword is, obviously, your most important one. This means that it’ll be the one that’s used the most throughout the page. You’ll want to use it at least three times, usually in:
- The first heading
- The first paragraph
- Somewhere else in the body
This way, Google will see it and note that the page is useful for that search term.
You’ll also want to include your primary keyword at the beginning of your title. Google puts more emphasis on terms that show up earlier in the content—so including the term in your title will give you a better chance to rank for it.
You can sprinkle other keywords throughout your copy after that. If you really want to boost visibility, though, then it helps to put them in your H2s and H3s.
Two: Use Internal Linking to Boost Visibility
So you’ve created a compelling page and filled it with high-quality SEO. You’ve published the page, and now you just have to wait for visitors to roll in, right?
Well, not quite.
Writing good content is important, but that alone isn’t the fastest way to rank your new content in Google. There are a couple of other things you should do to build visibility.
The first? Go through your site and include internal linking.
Internal linking is exactly what the name implies: including links throughout your site that lead from one page to another.
I have a couple of tips if you’re struggling to figure out where and how to include links:
- If you have pages that are already ranking pretty well, then put in some links to your new page. This way, when people visit those pages, they can easily click through to your new one.
- The homepage is also an excellent place to add internal linking. It’s probably the first page people will visit on your site, after all, so it’s a great place to include all sorts of links.
- Make sure that you include the links naturally; Google—and any visitors—will notice if a link feels shoehorned in.
Once you’ve included internal linking, you’re ready for indexing! Grab the URL of your new page, head on over to the Google search console, and paste the link into the title bar. Then just submit it, and you’re good to go.
Three: Build Backlinks
Having an awesome website with a lot of internal linking is a great foundation—but it isn’t where you should end. An amazing site doesn’t mean much if no one actually sees it.
Utilizing SEO is a great way to naturally draw in traffic, but there’s another thing you can do to attract visitors: build backlinks.
Backlinks are, essentially, links from external sites to yours. They’re great for two reasons:
- They act as a way to advertise your site or new page.
- They prove to Google that you’re an actual authority on the subject, which means it’ll put you higher in the rankings.
Once you’ve got your page created, then you’ll want to get as many backlinks as your time and budget will allow.
How Do You Build Backlinks?
Saying you need backlinks is all well and good, but actually getting them can sometimes be a challenge. Thankfully, there are some easy ways to build quality backlinks effectively:
- Write guest blogs. This is a fantastic way to link naturally back to your site. Writing guest blog posts is beneficial for everyone involved. Not only does it provide useful content for someone else, but it can also show off just how much you know about a subject. And then, of course, you can use it as an opportunity to link back to your site.
- Have your page put on a resource page. People are always looking for useful resources. Adding your page to a list of other authoritative sites can be a great way to drive traffic. If you find a resource page that you think your new content would be a perfect match for, then contact the site owner. It’s always worth a shot, and if they add your page, then you’ve just found yourself a perfect way to enhance visibility!
- Give interviews and promote yourself on podcasts. Much like writing guest blogs, being a guest on a podcast or giving an interview are great ways to showcase what you know. Plus, whoever handled the interview will usually put a link to your site in the description.
There are a lot of other ways to build backlinks, of course—but there is one major thing you shouldn’t do.
You might’ve heard some people suggest buying backlinks. Don’t. This isn’t technically allowed according to Google’s policies, and Google will tank your content if it finds out.
Four: Promote on Social Media
Building backlinks with other reputable sites isn’t the only way to get information about your content out there. You have other tools at your disposal—specifically, social media!
Social media marketing is an amazing tool in this day and age. People are on social media at all hours of the day, so promoting yourself on social media can be a great way to attract more attention.
If you want to get the most out of your social media posts, then:
- Post links to your content across all your social media platforms
- Make sure you’re posting at the ideal times to generate traffic
- Add a short, snappy description so that people are more likely to click your link
Whether you post on TikTok, Instagram, or another site, establishing your presence is half the battle.
Kick Back, and Let the Analytics Roll In
You’ve done everything you can to create amazing content and get it out there. Now all that’s left is to keep an eye on Google Analytics and see if it’s working.
If you’re not getting the rankings you want, then it may be worth it to revise your content, update your keywords, or get the word out there a little better.
Ultimately, the fastest way to rank your new content in Google is to make sure you have high-quality content—and to use whatever strategies are available to reach your target audience. With a little effort, you can create outstanding content that will really drive traffic to your site!
