how to rank your website on page #1 of google€¦ · google major algorithm changes google changes...

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION (SEO)

How to Rank Your Website on Page #1 of Google

AcademyEquinet

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Training CourseAcademyEquinet

Topics Covered

123

Introduction

Keyword Research

On-Page SEO

2

Top 3 Ranking FactorsSearch Results

Answers the searcher’s intent

Keywords are found on the web page

Strong backlink profile

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3

1. A

nsw

ers

the

sear

cher

’s in

tent

cancer treatment singapore

Which result is more relevant to the user search query?

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2. K

eyw

ords

are

foun

d on

the

web

pag

e

Search results for term:

conference room rental

SingHealth and NCCS both rank well for “cancer

treatment singapore”

5

clinics in singapore

3. S

tron

g ba

cklin

k pr

ofile

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Introduction to SEO

1

SEO Fundamentals

Why SEO is So Important?

to 80% ignore paid ads on the right side of the SERPs70%

of links clicked on by search engine users are organic results70%

Source: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/24-eye-popping-seo-statistics/42665/

close rate for SEO leads on average compared to 1.7% close rate for outbound leads (print or direct mail)

14.6%

of internet users use search82.6%

illion global searches conducted each month on average100 B

https://www.searchenginejournal.com/24-eye-popping-seo-statistics/42665/


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How Do Search Engines Work?

Algorithms

To calculate authority and relevancy of a webpage to a given search query.

Crawling

Search engine spiders crawl the web through following links

Indexing

Search engines store the information it collects into its index.

Ranking

A score is given to each of webpage after taking into account hundreds of ranking factors.

Search Results


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What is PageRank?“PageRank is a link analysis algorithm used by Google to help determine the relative importance of a website. Every website is given a Google PageRank score between 0 and 10 on an exponential scale.” - Bruceclay

Each link from one website to another is interpreted by Google as a vote. Depending on the number of outbound links a page has, the PageRank is split equally. Unless the link is nofollowed, in which case no link juice is passed at all.

PageRank is not…the ranking position of a page in the search results. PageRank is only one of the many ranking factors and it does not guarantee #1 position in the search results.

Site APR 8

Site BPR 3

Site CPR 0

PR4

PR4

Site DPR 2

PR3

Recommended reading: • http://searchengineland.com/what-is-google-pagerank-a-guide-for-searchers-

webmasters-11068 • http://www.bruceclay.com/blog/what-is-pagerank/

http://searchengineland.com/what-is-google-pagerank-a-guide-for-searchers-webmasters-11068

http://www.bruceclay.com/blog/what-is-pagerank/


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Google Major Algorithm ChangesGoogle changes its search algorithm around 500 - 600 times each year. That’s 1 - 2 times on average each day. Some algorithm updates have tremendous results on the search rankings. Below is a list of major algorithmic updates in recent years:

•Panda •Penguin •Hummingbird •Pigeon Update •Mobile Update •RankBrain

Panda Update (2011)

Penguin Update (2012)

Hummingbird Update (2013)

Lower the rankings of low-quality sites.

Decrease rankings of sites that engage in shady link building.

Relevancy and Knowledge graph update (Semantic Search).

Pigeon Update (2014)Improves distance and location ranking parameters for local search results.

Mobile-Friendly Update (2015)Impacts mobile search rankings of non-mobile-friendly pages.

Recommended reading: • https://moz.com/google-algorithm-change • http://searchengineland.com/library/google/

google-algorithm-updates

RankBrain (2015)A machine learning algorithm that aims to present the most potentially correct document in response to unfamiliar or verbose queries.

https://moz.com/google-algorithm-change

http://searchengineland.com/library/google/google-algorithm-updates


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How to Rank Page #1 on Google

On-Page SEO Off-Page SEO

• Keywords found on content

• Exceptional and unique content

• Fast page loading time

• Optimized for mobile

• Proper URL structures

• Good site architecture

• Optimized internal links

• Acquiring inbound links from reputable, relevant webpages through Content Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Email Outreach, etc.

• Local citations

• Search engine submission


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ReportingOff-Page SEOOn-Page SEO

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The 4-Step SEO Process

Step 1: Conduct keyword research

The first step of any SEO campaign is to conduct keyword research. Doing SEO without knowing what keywords your site should rank for is like firing at a target without first taking aim.

Detailed keyword research and analysis sets your SEO campaign up for success in the long run.

Keyword Research

Step 2: Make your site search engine friendly

Once you have gathered a targeted list of keywords, the next step would be to input those keywords into your existing content. You can also use your keyword list to give you new content ideas.

Other on-page SEO factors include site speed, mobile optimisation, site architecture, and internal linking.

Step 3: Link building and local citation building

After taking care of your on-page SEO, here comes the hard part.

Off-page SEO activities include link building and building local citations.

Step 4: Reporting and analysis

Your SEO campaign doesn’t stop here. Check your keyword ranking reports, regularly monitor your site health through 3rd party tools such as Google Webmaster Tools, check your backlink reports, and identify potential areas for improvement.


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Keyword Research

2

How to conduct keyword research

like a pro

What is Keyword Research?Keyword research is finding out what search terms

your potential readers are using, so that you can optimise your site better with the data.

Your job is to know what those keywords are and optimise your

website for them.

Your readers use keywords/search terms to search for your

business.


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Why is Keyword Research Important?

To provide the best answer to a question, you first need to understand the intention of the question, also commonly referred to as the searcher intent. Keyword research can help you to identify buyer personas based on the questions (search terms) they ask.

By conducting keyword research, you’ll discover exactly what questions your consumers are asking. The next step would be to understand the searchers’ intents and create content that will provide the best answers to each question.

Knowing what keywords your potential customers are using can help you better optimise your content for them and for the search engines (e.g. by including the keywords in your title tags, URL, meta description, copy, and image alt tags.)

Discover Personas

Create Useful Content

Optimize Your Content

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The 4-Step Keyword Research Process

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Brainstorm Build Organise Prioritise


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How to use Google Keyword Planner

Step 1: Sign into Google AdWords with your Gmail account.

Conducting Keyword Research (Google Keyword Planner)C

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Step 2: Set up your AdWords account if you have signed in to AdWords for the first time. Once done, navigate to Tools => Keyword Planner.


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Step 3: Click on “Search for new keywords using a phrase, website or category”.


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Step 4: Enter a seed keyword (e.g. “training room rental”) and click “Get ideas”.


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Step 5: Explore the “Ad group ideas” and “Keyword ideas” tab and start building your keyword list.Other keyword research tools

Here are some other keyword research tools, both paid and free, to consider:

•Google Suggest •Ubersuggest •Keywordtool.io •semrush •Thesaurus

Once you have gathered additional keywords from the other KW research tools, plug them back into Google Keyword Planner to estimate the average monthly search volume of each search term.

Conducting Keyword Research

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https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/106230?hl=en

http://ubersuggest.org/

http://www.semrush.com/features/keyword-research/

http://www.thesaurus.com/


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Some examples of keywords in various buying stages:

“Awareness” keywords: •what is liver cancer • liver cancer

“Interest” keywords: •liver cancer symptoms • liver cancer statistics

“Desire” keywords: •liver cancer screening singapore • liver cancer treatment singapore

“Action” keywords: •sgh liver cancer specialists •sgh liver cancer treatment costImage Courtesy of

Hubspot

Types of Keywords You Should Target

AIDA Funnel (User Intent)

}}

InformationalContent

Product-CenteredContent

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http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/34158/How-Inbound-Marketing-Aligns-With-the-New-Purchase-Loop.aspx


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There are many third party softwares that can automatically analyse the keyword difficulty level (how difficult is it to rank a keyword on Google) such as: • Moz keyword difficulty tool• Ahrefs keyword difficulty tool• SEMrush keyword difficulty tool

To evaluate how competitive a keyword is without the use of tools, you need to look a range of on-page and off-page ranking factors in order to understand what caused a webpage to rank on the top 5 positions of Google such as: • Keywords in Title tags, H1 tags, URL• How useful and relevant is the content to the

search result• Quality and quantity of backlinks to the page• Overall domain authority

How to Evaluate Keyword CompetitivenessTitle Tags

URL

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https://moz.com/tools/keyword-difficulty

http://www.ahrefs.com

http://www.semrush.com/features/keyword-difficulty/


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On-Page SEO

3

How to fix internal site issues and optimise your pages to boost rankings.

What is On-Page SEO / Why is it Important?

1 Search engines look for cues (i.e. keywords in the title and URL) on a webpage to determine whether it is relevant enough to rank for a set of search terms.

There are also other factors that search engines take into account such as site load time, crawlability, and click-thru-rate.

On-Page SEO is understanding these ranking factors and fixing any issues to make your site more friendly to the search engines.

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4 Without fixing your on-page SEO issues, it can be difficult to rank well even with good off-page SEO.


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EOUrl: www.singhealth.com.sg/breast-cancer-treatment/1) Keywords

in URL

<title>Breast cancer treatment in Singapore</title></head>

<h1>Cost of breast cancer treatment</h1>

Book a consultation for breast cancer screening and treatment

Image Keyword

inserted into Title and/or

Alt Text

<h3>Prognosis of Breast Cancer</h3>

Breast Cancer is curable…

liver cancer treatment …

Book a cancer screening session today.

<head><meta name=“description” content=“We provide the best and most effective breast cancer treatment options in Singapore.”>

5) LSI Keywords in Content Area

6) Quality & Uniqueness of

Content

2) Keywords in Meta Description

3) Keywords in Title Tags

4) Keywords in Subheadings

7) Keywords in Image Title & Alt Tags

9) Interlink articles with relevant anchor text

(Site architecture)

8) Link out to relevant sources

if possible }10) Design

& UX

11) Mobile-friendly

12) Page Loads Fast

13) Page is crawlable/indexable

14) Include social sharing

buttons

15) Https Secure

On-

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On-

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Title Tag (Best Practices)Ti

tle T

ag (B

est P

ract

ices

)

Optimise for multiple keywords

Keep the length of your title between 50 - 60 characters.

Place the keyword closer to the front of the title.

Ensure your title is unique, outstanding, and appealing.

Include your brand name in the title tag - In front for the homepage and at the back for other pages of your site.

Ensure it is wrapped around the title tags <title>Example title</title>

Recommended reading: • https://moz.com/learn/seo/title-tag • https://searchenginewatch.com/sew/how-to/2154469/write-title-tags-search-engine-optimization

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https://moz.com/learn/seo/title-tag

https://searchenginewatch.com/sew/how-to/2154469/write-title-tags-search-engine-optimization


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Domain & URL (Best Practices)D

omai

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URL

(Bes

t Pra

ctic

es)

Avoid rewriting dynamic URLs into static URLs e.g. (www.example.com/index.php?page=icdl-module&id=31)

Keep your domain name and URLs short and easy to understand (< 100 characters) and use lower case letters. Consider removing “stop words” such as and, or, but, a, etc.

Include your keywords in your URLs.

Avoid using uncommon TLDs such as .info, .name, .biz, etc.

Keep all sections of your site in one domain or subdomain and avoid nesting folders into deep layers.

Use hyphens and underscores as word separators but avoid hyphens on domain names.

Https secured

Recommended reading: • https://moz.com/learn/seo/title-tag • https://searchenginewatch.com/sew/how-to/2154469/write-title-tags-search-engine-optimization • https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/76329?hl=en

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https://moz.com/learn/seo/title-tag

https://searchenginewatch.com/sew/how-to/2154469/write-title-tags-search-engine-optimization

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/76329?hl=en


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On-

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Meta Description (Best Practices)M

eta

Des

crip

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(Bes

t Pra

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Use only alphanumeric characters in your meta description. If wrapped in quotes “ ”, Google won’t display it.

Make your meta description is unique, outstanding, and persuasive.

Include your target keywords in your meta description. (Note: Meta description is not a ranking factor)

Ensure it is wrapped around the meta tags <meta name="description" content=“Example meta description content that will often show up in the search results snippets.”> and placed in the <head></head> section.

Keep your meta description between 150 to 160 characters.

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Use structured data markup if it is appropriate to the content. (Use a WordPress rich snippets plugin if you are using WordPress. Use schema-creator.org/ if you wish to create your own snippets.)

https://developers.google.com/structured-data/

https://wordpress.org/plugins/all-in-one-schemaorg-rich-snippets/

http://schema-creator.org/


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On-

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SEO

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Image Optimisation (Best Practices)Im

age

Opt

imis

atio

n (B

est P

ract

ices

)

Use unique, high quality, custom graphics/photos where possible to increase chances of people embedding/citing your images.

Reduce your image file sizes and use the right image file type (e.g. JPEG is preferred over PNG / GIF).

Make your alt tags descriptive of the image and include your target keywords when possible (do not stuff keywords). <img src=“http://example.com/uploads/car-showroom.jpg alt=“car showroom”>

Use a descriptive image file name i.e. (car-showroom.jpg instead of DM9902.jpg)

Recommended reading: • https://developers.google.com/web/fundamentals/performance/optimizing-content-efficiency/image-optimization?hl=en • http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/ultimate-guide-to-web-optimization-tips-best-practices/ • https://www.shopify.com/blog/7412852-10-must-know-image-optimization-tips • https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/114016

Include your images into your sitemap and submit your sitemap to search engines.

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https://developers.google.com/web/fundamentals/performance/optimizing-content-efficiency/image-optimization?hl=en

http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/ultimate-guide-to-web-optimization-tips-best-practices/

https://www.shopify.com/blog/7412852-10-must-know-image-optimization-tips

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/114016


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On-

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Content Creation (Best Practices)C

onte

nt (B

est P

ract

ices

)

Ensure your content is unique and has E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness).

Primary and secondary keywords should be included in subheadings and distributed evenly throughout your copy.

Include keywords that are closely related to your main keywords (also known as Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) keywords) throughout your copy.

Mention your primary and secondary keywords early on in your copy.

Recommended reading: • http://static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en//insidesearch/howsearchworks/assets/

searchqualityevaluatorguidelines.pdf • On-Page SEO Cheat Sheet

Link out to relevant internal pages of your website or relevant external websites where appropriate.

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Ensure your main content (MC) and supplementary content (SC) is relevant to your target keywords and provides the best answer to the searcher intent.

Write like you’re the subject matter expert and worry about keyword optimisation later.

http://static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en//insidesearch/howsearchworks/assets/searchqualityevaluatorguidelines.pdf


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On-

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Des

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Design & UX (Best Practices)

Text is readable, images and multimedia are high quality.

No excessive placement of ads above the page fold. Ads are not to be disguised as content or be intrusive to users.

Main content elements stand out while supplementary content are displayed in a more subtle manner, making page easy to scan through.

Use breadcrumbs, submenus, navigational menus to provide users a better user experience when navigating through your site.

Page layout is designed with the enduser in mind.

Page renders fast (optimal loading time < 4 seconds).

Page is browser and device responsive.


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On-

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SEO

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Site

Arc

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Site Architecture (Best Practices)

Related pages are well interlinked with appropriate anchor texts.

Main navigation menu is well organised, with the most important pages placed there. (Users can easily understand the theme of the site just by browsing through the main menu.)

Site is well organised into main categories and subcategories. (Proper URL structure is recommended. E.g. example.com/parent-category/child-category/post)

Target keywords are well organised and optimised on individual pages in order to avoid keyword cannibalisation.

Indicate paginated content with rel=”next” and rel=”prev”.

Use breadcrumbs.

Recommended reading: • https://moz.com/blog/site-architecture-for-seo • https://moz.com/blog/information-architecture-for-seo-whiteboard-friday

https://moz.com/blog/site-architecture-for-seo

https://moz.com/blog/information-architecture-for-seo-whiteboard-friday

how to rank your website on page #1 of google€¦ · google major algorithm changes google changes...

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