How to Create Content that Ranks Top of Google
If you own a website or publish any type of content, you’d want it to rank higher on Google. Ranking at the top positions on Google has proven to be an efficient way to attract internet traffic.
While making your content rank higher on Google isn’t a magic trick, it is also not impossible. Instead, it is a valuable skill set that you can learn and hone with research, hard work, and proven process.
More than 90% of businesses acquire the assistance of the best search engine optimization services to ensure their content ranks higher than competitors. A higher ranking will guarantee more visibility, traffic, brand recognition, customer base, sales, revenue, and return on investment.
If you create and publish content that is unique, helpful, interesting, thought-provoking, and worth sharing, it is bound to rank near the top of the search results.
However, not everyone can create top-ranking content. Fret not, because today, we will tell you how to create content that ranks top of Google. So, without further ado, let’s get started.
How to create content that ranks top of Google
Here are the steps for creating content that should easily find its way among the top search engine results pages of Google.
Selecting the right keyword
The first step is to select the right keyword for your content. Every content you write for SEO purposes must focus on at least one primary keyword. This is the backbone of a good SEO content marketing strategy.
Ideally, the content should also contain three to five relevant keywords. But, it is not a mandatory requirement. There are various online tools available that can help you determine target keywords for your topic, such as:
- Google Keyword Planner
- Keyword Chef
- Keysearch
- KWFinder
- Longtail Pro
- Ubersuggest
Analyzing search intent before writeup
The second step is to analyze the search internet for the selected/targeted keywords. This step is crucial because if your content doesn’t match the user’s search intent, it will likely not rank high on Google.
Before writing up your content, it is recommended to do a quick search for your keyword on Google. Then analyze the top-ranking pages to find out what type of content is being published for that particular keyword.
After identifying the pattern in the top-ranking content, you can then plan your content around the same format to meet the user search intent.
Creating unique meta/page titles
The page title, also known as the meta title, is an essential HTML element that informs Google and users of the topic for the specific web page.
This page title will be displayed in the SERPs for your URL listing. So it’s essential to create a unique and enticing title to attract more attention and clicks for your content.
Some helpful tips you should follow when writing meta titles:
- Create a unique page title for every page on your site. Never duplicate it.
- The title should accurately describe the page content.
- The title should include your primary keyword.
- Try also to include secondary keywords naturally.
- Keep the page title under 60 characters when you can.
- Make it click-worthy by adding numbers, using emotion, or creating curiosity for the user.
Creating good meta descriptions
The meta description tag is another HTML element that Google can use for your web page listing as a snippet in the SERPs.
Meta descriptions provide search engines with a summary of what the content is about so the user can do a quick assessment of the page to find out if it will meet their needs or not.
Write good meta descriptions that are appropriately optimized for both SEO and click-through rates to improve the rankings for your content because Google may use your meta description more often than not.
Some helpful tips you should follow when writing meta description:
- Create meta descriptions that accurately summarize the page content.
- Make sure to write a unique description for every page. Never duplicate it.
- Make sure to include your main keyword in the meta description.
- Try to include secondary keywords naturally without repeating too many exact words.
- Keep the meta description under 160 characters when you can. The meta description can be truncated in the SERPs if it’s any longer.
Use headings to emphasize important content
Headings are the framework for good content because they create a hierarchical structure to the document for search engine crawlers and users to navigate through the page.
If headings are skipped, it can hurt your content rankings in the search engine.
Here are some tips for getting the most out of your headings:
- First, include a single H1 heading on the entire page.
- Next, have the primary keyword in your H1 heading.
- Next, break up the main sections of the page with H2 headings.
- Next, include secondary keywords in one of the H2 headings.
- Finally, use H3 heading tags to break up the sub-sections of the content under H2 headings.
- Only use heading tags where it makes sense. Too many heading tags on a page can make it difficult for users to determine where one topic ends and another begins.
Make your expertise and authoritativeness clear
By making your expertise and authoritativeness clear to the search engine crawlers and website users, you can create content that can rank higher on search engines.
Make sure to write about topics for which you are qualified and link social media accounts, email, and other similar types of content that you have published on the internet.
In other words, these significant websites have writers and editors who have demonstrated expertise and authoritativeness on the topics.
You must follow the same best practices if you aim to create content that can rank higher on Googe. Don’t try to hide who you are, who writes your content, or what qualifications make you and your team qualified to write on such topics.
Include internal and external links
Internal links are essential for improving user experience, keeping visitors on your website longer, and helping the pages rank higher in the SERPs.
External links are good for SEO as they help search engines determine your web pages’ usefulness, expertise, and quality.
By linking to other authoritative websites, you indicate your content can be trusted. You show your users and Google’s algorithm that other websites agree with what you write.
Be careful and make sure you only link from trusted authorities from your niche. The sites often judge a website it links out to, and if you link out to too many low-quality sites, your site will have a bad reputation and potentially suffer in rankings.
Optimizing your images
Always use descriptive filename and ALT text attribute for every image you include within your content. In addition, try to use target keywords for either of those fields whenever possible.
The ALT text attribute works as an alternative text for the image if the web browser cannot display it. It also serves as an HTML field search engine crawl for indexing purposes. A properly optimized ALT text field will help your images rank in Google Image Search.
Making your website user-friendly
If your content is optimized for mobile devices, its chances of being ranked higher in the SERPs are higher.
You should also ensure that your website is mobile-friendly and that you are using a responsive website theme, fast-loading pages, and design elements that fit well within mobile screens.
You can quickly test your mobile pages with Google’s Mobile-Friendly Testing Tool to see if the content works well on mobile devices.
Add structured data markup
Structured data or schema markup is a unique code that you can add to your web pages to describe individual elements of your content to Google so it can better understand what content is on your pages.
Search engines can use this information to display your content in more helpful search results, commonly referred to as “Rich Snippets” or “Rich Results.”
A few examples of structured data include:
- Review rating stars
- Recipe information
- Event dates and locations
- Hours and phone numbers
- Organization details
- Top news stories
- Video information
Final Thoughts
We hope that our article about how to create content that ranks top of Google will be beneficial to you in creating content that will quickly rank at the top positions on Google.
By following our suggestions mentioned above, you can create content that can surpass your competitors, rank higher on the search engines, and give your web pages the best chances of getting found for the keywords you’re targeting in the SERPs.
Also Read: How to Write SEO Optimized Content?
