How to start ranking a new website on Google?

As a search engine platform, Google rank websites on how valuable they are to those searching for a particular topic.

For a new business, a website is essential for gaining new clients and awareness around the products and services on offer.

To be found online, showing up on a Google search is vital for any business, so if you are starting out, you want to give yourself the best opportunity to start being seen online from the minute you launch your website.

In order to rank well on Google, there are a few steps you must take to ensure your new website is fit to start ranking highly on search.

However, if you are looking for the main area to focus on when it comes to showing up online, the number one key is, write long-form content. You want to be the resource hub for your audience.

You want people to come to you and find you for the information they are looking for on a regular basis.

Step 1: Long-form content and produce video

The key to ranking well as a new website is to produce videos and back it up with long-form content. This is the number one thing you need to do to build up your website without paying big dollars on Google ads.

How do you find content your target audience is interested in? Easy, use Google! Type in your business niche and see all the top Google searches, you will find a lot of them are questions. These are the types of questions you can answer in your long-form content blog posts!

If you are still struggling to find content to write on, Answer the Public is a great source to generate ideas on what content to write about. All you do is type in your business niche, and it will create a series of questions people are asking via search engines.

For example, you might be a service-based business who wants to start gaining more traction using your website. So, you might create a series of blogs and videos on topics people are interested on learning about or need to know more about.

In Google, you can type in “SERVICE OFFERED how to” and scroll through the suggested search items. This will help you generate an abundance of ideas on what to write about. You can also use Answer the Public to do the same.

If you are a product-based business, you can start producing content around your products including “how to use” or “how to maintain”, followed by content based around the product type – things that will interest your audience regarding your niche.

Once you have your idea, you can start creating short-form Youtube videos and long-form content on your topics to help generate more attention to your page. Remember you want to be a resource hub for everything to do with your business. This way, people will only come to you for the relevant information they need!

To start ranking on Google, you need a strategy and your strategy is long-form content. Once you have your long-form content, you need to start promoting and expanding on your topics to help generate more attention to your website. 

Step 2: Social media promotion

Now you have your piece of content, it isn’t just a matter of posting the blog and leaving it for people to hopefully find, you need to promote it.

The best way to get traction on your posts is through your social media channels. You want to do more than post the link with a short description and hashtags, you want to tailor it for all the different platforms you use.

For example, on Facebook, you might want to give a bit more detail in your status compared to Twitter. For Instagram, you might want to post a snippet of what you are offering the customers on your story.

When you have posted your article for followers to see, you might also want to use Facebook Ads to reach more of an audience. Organic reach on Facebook is not enough to gain the attention you need on your posts or website – especially with the Facebook algorithm.

You may want to run ads within your business radius and build an audience while also sending traffic to your blog. If you are based in Sydney, you might do a 20km radius from the CBD. However, if you are an online business, you can also target different countries and other demographics.

For example, you might be a plumber who has just written a blog post on emergency plumbing topics. You run an ad on Facebook and someone in your target audience sees it, even though your audience might not have a plumbing emergency right away, it is a good resource for them to have for the future.

These resources of information can lead to awareness, likes, and hopefully shares and comments down the track, this leads to a positive impact of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).

You need to put your content out there in order for it to gain traction with your desired target audience. The more it is seen online, the better.

Step 3: Acquire links to your articles

When writing any piece of content, you want to also build links within your article. You want to link to other reliable sources, but you also want the link to your blog to show up on other sites.

Forums such as Quora is a great way to get your blog article across the internet, but you have to be smart about it. Answer questions in forums that are relevant to your blog topic and add the link to the blog as a resource.

Google will take this into account that you are located on other pages online, which can help with your SEO ranking.

You can also message other business contacts and influencers within the industry and start conversations with them to engage and interact with your business and content. Once you have made contact, you can begin building relationships and ask them to provide feedback and comments on your content.

The more people engage with your content and the more times your content shows up on different pages online, the increased chance you have of ranking higher on Google.

Step 4: Learn basic SEO

Finally, to start ranking your new website on Google, you need a basic understanding on technical SEO. You need to understand the importance of metadata, titling your images and media sources online, and what it takes to build strong keywords.

You can also use plugin apps on your website builders to help with SEO, but it is important you learn more about it. Creating good titles and descriptions is so important for SEO as is your websites mobile responsiveness – mobile is used most for web browsing.

When it comes to titling your articles, use strong language followed by a call to action, grab people’s attention, so they read what you have to say!

After all, SEO is the most important factor to get you visible on Google, so you need to optimise your website.

Final thoughts

When it comes to ranking well on Google, it all starts with content, how you share the content and how you get people to engage with your content.

You need to remember, your website is a go-to source, an information and resource hub where people can do to find out everything they need based on your niche.

Be a publisher, produce video, link them online as best you can without trolling and get a better understanding on SEO to boost your site to rank on Google!

Content production is all about consistency, get a calendar going and start producing!

Are you a new business online? If so, what are you struggling with the most when it comes to gaining awareness?