The simple way to get on Google

As an online marketing consultant and speaker, I frequently get asked about how companies can improve their Google (or other search engine) rankings.

And I have a simple answer: write lots of articles on the topics you want to be known for, and publish them regularly on your website.

Now, you may be thinking, “But Tim, that sounds like a lot of work!” And it is!

I said simple, not easy.

A lot of companies are searching for that magic answer to improve their search engine optimization, or SEO. But if someone says they can improve your Google rankings overnight, you might want to run the other direction. Quickly.

Sure, there are some things you can do on the backend of your website to ensure the best possible SEO from a site structure standpoint, but that’s not going to result in magically improved rankings overnight. Or at least not typically.

Improving your organic search results, which are based on how well your site’s content matches the keywords searched, takes time and effort. But it’s still a simple approach.

So, what exactly should you consider when it comes to writing article? Here are a few ideas.

Know your topics and keywords

Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. What are your customers searching for when they’re online? What questions do they have about the services you offer? Those are the topics you should be writing about.

There are lots of keyword tools available (some free and some paid) that can help you narrow down exactly what keywords people may be searching for, but you can also come up with lots of ideas just by thinking like your customer.

Write and publish consistently

If you really want to improve your SEO, you should be posting new blog content to your website at least once a week, which means four (sometimes five) times per month. It’s helpful to pick a specific day of the week so the people following your blog know when to expect new content from you.

If the idea of posting once a week sounds overwhelming, then start smaller and work up to once a week. Block some time on your calendar every month to write your content for the following month. Or, consider outsourcing your content creation if that’s a better option for you.

Struggling to come up with ideas for your blog? Check out my book, Blog a Week, for some easy ideas.

Create relevant content people want to read

Your content needs to be quality content, typically 300 to 600 words per post, that people will want to read. People as in human beings, not just the gremlins behind Google that are crawling your site and determining where it falls in the SEO rankings.

You’ve probably seen blog posts that read like a random string of keywords and don’t actually make much sense. That’s not what you want. Sure, that type of content will match a lot of keywords in the short term, but people aren’t going to keep reading (or sharing) that content. And Google will realize it’s not that great, too.

The process of publishing weekly content to improve your search rankings really is simple. But it takes time and effort to develop the habit of writing and posting consistently. It also takes time to see results from that effort, so stick with it!