TLDR;
- Create quality and unique content.
- Generate a sitemap.
- Submit a sitemap to Google Search Console.
- Get a modern theme that is fast, covers Schema Markup, Social Metatags, is mobile friendly and provides good User Experience.
Polaris theme has all of the above, plus Accessibility, so that people with disabilities can use your website. More specifically, people can perceive, understand, and navigate your website better if they are color blind, or have other disabilities that require the use of text-to-speech functionalities provided by Web Browsers, etc.
Understanding Google: Think of Google as a Librarian
Google is like a librarian. Librarians organize books by topics and subjects. This makes it easy for visitors to find what they’re looking for.
A librarian might also draw attention to popular books by creating special displays.
Similarly, Google ranks web pages by relevance to search queries. Pages that answer the search well are displayed at the top. And some web pages get featured in special displays like “featured snippets” and “People Also Ask” questions.
What Are Google Ranking Factors?
Quality is the #1 Google ranking factor.
The source of this article expands on how to pick keywords well and how to plan your content so you reach quality goals.
Backlinks (links from other sites to yours) are another significant factor. In Google’s eyes, backlinks indicate that others value your content.
If you have a local business, some unique factors come into play. An optimized Google Business Profile and good Google Review ratings can elevate your business in local search results. In this case, Voting Count schema markup should be used instead of Reviews.
Performance. Page speed is something of a relative ranking factor. If competing pages all load in roughly the same speed, then quality is going to influence rankings more than speed.
Accessibility. Page experience and how well your site functions on a mobile device.
• Understand Keyword Basics
It’s common to hear site owners say “I want my website to rank high.” But websites don’t rank: individual web pages do.
When a page ranks high, it ranks for specific keywords. Keywords are the same thing as search terms (also called search queries). These are the words or phrases people enter into search engines.
So the first step to ranking well on Google is to determine which keyword(s) you want a page to rank for.
More on this on the aioseo article.
• Pick Keywords (Topics) that are Easy to Rank for
Some keywords are nearly impossible to rank for. No matter how much content you create to target those keywords, you may never rank.
To avoid disappointment, and make progress, choose keywords that are easy to rank for.
The idea is new to many site owners. Learn how to find easy keywords.
• Choose Buyer Intent Keywords
Did you know you can choose keywords that signal buying intent?
The searcher using these keywords may be in the early stages of buying and exploring “how-to” articles to solve a problem. Others may be on the brink of buying.
Example of buyer intent keywords are:
- Geico vs. Progressive
- Best WordPress form plugins
- Brazilian teak hardwood flooring
So how do you find these keywords? Use a keyword research tool like Semrush. For each keyword entered you’ll see a “keyword intent” label.
Only Commercial or Transactional keywords signal buying intent.
• Optimize Your Page for Better Ranking
Optimizing your page (also called on-page SEO) can help Google understand your content better so it can rank it for relevant keywords.
Schema Markup: Add schema markup to your theme. This helps Google better understand your content and surface it for relevant queries.
• Improve Page Experience
Page experience is a Google ranking factor and rolls together several things like page speed, site security, and how well your site functions on a mobile device.
Page speed is something of a relative ranking factor. If competing pages all load in roughly the same speed, then quality is going to influence rankings more than speed.
You can use Google’s PageSpeed Insights to get diagnostics for your site. But be aware: it takes some technical knowledge to understand and act on the tool’s suggestions. WordPress users would be wise to simply switch to a theme that loads fast and works well on all devices. (Q2A Polaris theme already has that nailed. You can run a PageSpeed Test to check it out.)
Source: This is a summary of the aiseo article. Check out their article if you want to keep reading a more in depth explanation of it.
