How to Fix Low Google Ranking For Your Business

Achieving a high level of traffic is essential to any business with an online presence. The more people that you can bring to your site, the more chance you will have of generating sales.

But if you’re not attracting many visitors to your website, what can you do?

There are several strategies that you can put in place to increase the traffic to your website, with search engine optimization being one of the most effective.

Here’s how you can fix your low google ranking for your business or website.

What are Google Rankings?

When completing any Google search, the entry that is returned first on the search engine results page (SERP) is the one that Google deems to be most relevant to the search term.

Google uses a complex set of varying factors to create sophisticated algorithms that will determine the ranking position for your business or website.

The types of things that may improve website rankings include:

The use of keywords throughout the site
The use of internal and external links of every page
Page load speeds
Whether the site is optimized for mobile devices

There are currently close to 2 billion websites online. Whenever Google is handling one of its 5.6 billion daily searches, all of these sites have to be checked and ranked for relevance.

So, if your business has a low Google ranking, it is because the content on your site does not appear to be relevant to the searches being carried out.

What is a SERP?

Search engine results pages are the returned responses to any search query. All of the entries are ranked.

If your business makes it to the top of the SERP, it will receive the highest percentage of click-through organic traffic based on the specific keywords that have been searched for.

In addition to organic results, there are several features of the SERP; these include:

Featured snippets
Knowledge panel
Local pack
Adwords
Shopping results
Newsbox
Reviews

Making use of these features can help your business improve on your low Google ranking.

What Is Considered a Good Google Ranking?

When you search on Google, the chances are that the top result that gets delivered will be relevant and will answer your query. Google is not in the business of delivering irrelevant search results.

On every page of the Google search results, you will find ten websites.

Sometimes the top result may not be exactly what you are looking for, but you will be more likely than not to find a suitable page within the first three-to-five results.

The click-through rates for the different positions on the Google SERPs are as follows:

The first of the search engine results pages is the most important. However, by the time you reach the final entry of the first page of the search engine results page, you will only achieve a click-through rate of around 2%, meaning that even the bottom of the first page of the SERPs is a low Google ranking.

In total, the first page of the SERP will achieve 91% of the total clicks relating to any given search. That means that the remaining 9% will be spread across all of the other results. The further down the second page of the results pages you go, the closer this percentage gets to zero.

What Does Ranking on the Second Page of the SERPS Mean for Your Business?

If your business is on the second page, this is a low Google ranking. If you are lucky, you may achieve one click-through for every 100 or more searches that are relevant to your business.

With such a low yield in terms of organic clicks, you will want to avoid being any lower than the first page of the search engine results pages.

What Does Being in the Top 3 Location-Specific Rankings Mean for Your Brick-and-Mortar Business?

46% of all Google searches are related to the location. Often, these will be looking for local businesses offering specific services.

If you have a brick-and-mortar business, location-based searches should be an essential element of your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy.

Google Snack Pack is a boxed area that sits at the top of the SERP whenever a search for a local query is made. These sit about the organic search results and, as a result, become more prominent.

Being in the top three location-specific ranking spots means that you will sit visibly above the organic search results and achieve a higher percentage of the click-throughs.

How Do I Know Where I’m Ranking?

If you are worried that your business has a low Google ranking, you should carry out an assessment to find out your current position in the SERPs.

There are several tools that any business can use to find out where they are ranking. One of the simplest tests would be to search for the keyword terms that you would like to rank for and see where you are. Of course, this will only show you where you are in the rankings.

The real detail that you need to understand is how often is that term being searched for, and what your click-through rate is.

Once you know where you are in the SERPs, you will be able to improve your low Google ranking.

Google Search Panel is one of the best free tools to use to help measure your ranking positions. Using this tool, you will be able to see the total number of impressions you will have made on the search results, as well as the number of times that your site will have been clicked on.

SEMrush offers tools that help you to identify keywords and measure your rankings.

Ahrefs and Moz both offer a comprehensive analysis of your search rankings. Both of these sites will allocate your website a score called a Domain Authority (Moz) and Domain Rating (Ahrefs). These scores will give you an idea of how influential your website is, and how likely it would be that Google might rank your website higher in the SERPs. Although they are not an official metric that Google would use, the scores are derived from what is believed to be the criteria that search engines use.

Local SEO vs. National SEO- How Do These Differ?

Local SEO is about increasing website traffic in your local area, whereas, national SEO is about improving your website rankings on a national or global level.

Using services such as Google My Business as well as sites like Yelp, you can create local listings for your business.

Since 97% of people visiting brick-and-mortar businesses will do so after searching for them online, having a local SEO strategy is essential in fixing low Google rankings.

If you are running a national SEO campaign to promote your website, if you have multiple brick-and-mortar locations, then you can list all of these using local SEO techniques.

However, the key to your national SEO strategy will always lie in a broad SEO strategy that seeks to improve keyword usage, mobile site optimization,

Mobile vs Desktop - How do These Differ?

With over half of web users now accessing the internet from their smartphone rather than from desktops or laptops, websites need to cater to this trend.

If your website is not optimized, your visitors will very likely abandon their sessions on your site, leading to a high bounce rate.

If a page does not load, or content is hard to read or see, then nobody will stick around. With plenty of other results from their Google search, your competitors will benefit where you have failed.

In order to optimize your mobile site, you will need to consider the screen layout, how the text is formatted, and how easy the site is to navigate.

There should be no less content on the mobile version of your site, and everything should function in the exact same way. For all intents and purposes, the website should look and feel the same across different platforms.

Whichever platform the site is viewed from, the speed that it loads is essential. Ensure you carry out page speed tests and make changes to your website according to the results.

Organic Search vs Maps - How do These Differ?

Google Maps on the search engine results page are designed to provide instant local information to help you make quick decisions. This could be identifying where the nearest place to get fuel for the car is, or finding somewhere to eat that is close by.

It would be common to assume that the inclusion of your listing along with Google maps might mean that you are guaranteed to perform well in generating click-throughs. Organic results still perform very well, and can still provide double the amount of visits than those situated in the maps section. Of course, in your SEO strategy, it is useful to take advantage of every available tool, where relevant.

Why are High Google Rankings Important?

When was the last time you ever found what you were looking for on the second page of the search engine results pages?

The answer is probably never.

With 91% of all clicks from a search result being spread amongst the ten websites that make up the first page of the SERPs, it is clear that being on the first page is essential.

Moreover, with the top spot attracting almost a third of all clicks, there is a clear incentive for all businesses to get to the very top of the Google rankings.

What are the Benefits of SEO for Businesses?

Optimizing your website for search engines will improve your web traffic. You could view visitors to your website in much the same way as you might consider potential customers visiting a brick-and-mortar store. This digital footfall offers the potential for you to convert visitors into customers and sales.

If you are in the very top spot for all of the relevant search terms that relate to your sector of the industry, then your competitors are not.

What are the Costs of Ignoring SEO?

If your business has a website, then it needs an SEO strategy. Your search engine optimization cannot be left to chance. If you are not paying attention to how you drive organic searches towards your website, but your competitors are, this will result in a considerable loss of customers.

You may believe that your business is more established than your competitors. You may have been around for many years, and you might have had lots of great feedback from your customers in your time. But if you are not managing your SEO, then you are putting your business at considerable risk.

However, your competitors that have been around for much less time might have invested time and money in ensuring they rank at the top of the search results for all of the keywords related to your business.

If you have not done the same, then you will have a low Google ranking, and theirs will be considerably higher.

This will directly translate to additional leads. There will be a greater opportunity for your competitors to convert visitors into customers. You won’t have that opportunity.

How Does SEO Fit into Your Overall Marketing Plan?

Of course, SEO is not the only element that you should have in your marketing plan. Your SEO strategy should sit side-by-side with other marketing activities. These could include:

Social media marketing
Paid ads on social media and through Google AdWords
Direct marketing such as emailing or phoning clients

That said, SEO should be a significant factor in your marketing plan, and it is an area of essential investment.

Why Did My Rank Drop so Quickly?

If your website was performing well, but all of a sudden appears to have a low Google ranking, something has happened. It can often be confusing, particularly if you have been making changes that should improve your SEO.

There are several ways that your business or website may have a low Google ranking in comparison to the past. These include:

Blackhat techniques
Changes to the algorithm
Increased competition

Understanding why you have dropped ranking positions is important if you are to increase website traffic.

What are Blackhat Techniques?

Blackhat refers to SEO techniques that seek to improve your Google ranking in a way that is against the search engine guidelines. These may be unethical methods that don’t benefit the person searching for the term, and instead, only provide gains for the business or the website.

There are several prominent blackhat techniques. Keyword stuffing is one example. This is where keywords are forced into the content on numerous occasions in an unnatural fashion. The logic behind doing this is that the search engine algorithms will notice pick up on the keywords, and the site will benefit from increased rankings.

Keyword stuffing makes the content hard for humans to read. When this practice is detected on a website, it will be penalized, and its rankings will suffer as a result.

Cloaking is a blackhat strategy where the search engine is shown one page by the website, and a ranking position is given based on this. However, when a visitor goes to the site, they will end up visiting a completely different page.

A common blackhat SEO technique is to hide keywords that the site owner wants to rank for. The keywords will be written in a font that is the same color as the page, making it invisible to the visitor. However, the visitor will have been duped into visiting the page.

Finally, paid links to your content in order to increase rankings is not a practice that is allowed. If you are using a link building service, the links should be genuine.

How do Changes to Google’s Algorithm Affect Website Ranking?

From time-to-time, Google will change their search engine algorithms. They are never forthcoming with the specific details of how changes will actually affect website ranking and SEO practices. However, the SEO industry is always poised, ready to learn, and adapt.

The reasons for the changes may be to allow for changes in the way that people interact with search engines. For example, when smartphones rose to prominence and mobile searches overtook desktop searches, websites needed to be optimized for mobile devices. Those that weren’t optimized would suffer as a result, even if they had previously had high rankings.

Similarly, the growing use of artificial intelligence and voice search has led to further changes to the algorithms.

How Does Increased Competition Lead to a Low Google Ranking?

If there are other businesses offering similar services to yours operating within the same area, you will be in direct competition with each other.

It stands to reason that if you are looking to increase website traffic using SEO techniques, that other companies will be doing exactly the same thing.

The more competition that you have for that coveted top spot on the search engine results page, the more you will have to work on your SEO game. But SEO is not a one time fix. You will need to keep revisiting your site to make improvements.

How Will Issues With Google My Business Cause Lowered Google Rankings?

Google My Business is a powerful free tool for ensuring that your business appears in the local pack on the SERPs. However, there are times when your Google My Business can bring about problems in your Google rankings.

Take, for example, the issues that you may face if your business has multiple Google My Business locations listed. This could cause confusion.

If you have ten or more different addresses that your business operates from, you will need to set up a location group for your business. This will let you manage your business addresses in a much easier manner.

If your company's name, address, and phone number information do not match up between your website and your Google My Business listing, this can cause issues. Discrepancies between your website and your Google listings can affect your rankings as the potential misinformation may lead to negative customer experience.

What are the Best Practices for Google My Business Management?

There are several ways that you can ensure that you have optimized your Google My Business listing.

Ensure that you complete every field and that you list all of your information
Use keywords within your listing
Make sure that your opening hours are accurate
Include between three and five different good quality photos
Engage with customer reviews
Ensure your company is listed in the right category
Include any payment options that you accept
Write a well-written introduction to your business

As with every other form of optimization, if you want to maintain your position and avoid a low Google ranking, you should review the information that you have listed on a regular basis and make sure it is up-to-date and reflects your business as it is right now.

Can You Perform SEO by Yourself?

If you want to perform SEO by yourself to improve your low Google Ranking, you may have some success providing you make use of the right tools and devote enough time to the task.

Make use of all of the available tools to monitor and track the performance of your website. These will include:

Google Search Panel
Google Analytics
The internal tracker which forms part of the backend of your website

To monitor your site’s authority, make use of services such as:

Ahrefs
Moz

Use the following services to check that your keywords are effective:

SEMrush
KWfinder

By carrying out research using these tools and understanding relevant keywords that apply to your specific business, you will be able to create content that will reverse low keyword ranking.

Content creation can be time-consuming. Once you have assessed the relevant keywords and common questions that people ask around the topic, you will need to research all of the elements of the articles and write the piece.

It is possible to perform SEO by yourself. However, given the ever-changing landscape of search engine optimization, if you want to be sure that your website does not have a low Google ranking and stays ahead of your competitors, it is worth investing in professional SEO services.

A lack of expertise in SEO and a lack of access to the best tools and resources can make the process of improving your business’ website rankings more time-consuming, and ultimately, more costly.

Do You Have the Monthly Budget for Online Marketing?

Planning to keep all online marketing in-house can be very costly. Outsourcing even a portion of these activities can help to decrease the marketing spend while also increasing the effectiveness of marketing activities. If SEO is not a core competency of your marketing team, it’s time to outsource.

SEO is a time-consuming task. It takes constant effort to add new content to your website. The content needs to be fully optimized and primed for the right keywords.

This takes research. It can be a full-time job and will take much longer if you’re not an expert in the field of SEO.

Do You Have the Resources to Manage an In-House Team?

Having the infrastructure to set up an in-house team is going to be essential. It can take a lot of time and energy to develop the team and to put all of the necessary resources in place.

Resources might include the hardware needed to carry out the work, but it will also include tools, training, and support for the department.

Do You Have the Proper SEO Skills and Tools to Avoid a Low Google Ranking?

While there are plenty of free and cheap online tools that can be used to enhance your SEO, to make sure that you have a competitive edge and have a winning SEO strategy, you may need to pay for specific tools to carry out the job.

You will also need to make sure that the team member that carries out your SEO is well trained. This could mean additional training if you are using your existing team to fulfill the roles.

Are You Able to Keep on Top of Changes to Google’s Algorithms?

Google’s algorithms change from time to time, and when they do, you may find that your business’ website suddenly starts to experience a low Google ranking. This may be after devoting a considerable degree of time, money, and energy to carrying out SEO improvements to your site.

Changes in Google’s algorithms can be detrimental to the performance of your website. These changes come in quickly and without notice, making it hard to stay ahead of the game.

The SEO world will work fast to try and understand any changes in algorithms, and many experts will very quickly adopt new practices to ensure the websites they manage do not see a dropped Google ranking.

Will your employees have the skills and abilities to adapt promptly to change?

Hiring an SEO Agency to Improve and Retain Your Google Rankings

When it comes to consistently performing well in the search engine results pages, one of the best things that you can do is outsource your SEO needs to an agency that specializes in improving and retaining Google rankings.

An SEO agency will be able to react quickly to changes in the algorithms.

Link building

Link building should be an essential element of any SEO strategy.

In order to help Google recognize your website as being an authoritative source, you will need to have many other websites linking to you within their content.

The more inbound links your website has, the more likely it will be to be seen as the best source of information by the search engines.

One of the ways that SEO agencies can provide this service is by teaming up with bloggers to provide guest posts with valuable links to your website. An SEO agency will ensure that all link building activities are whitehat and will not harm your Google ranking in the way that blackhat techniques will.

Expert Service

When you hire an SEO agency to improve your low Google ranking, you are hiring experts in their field.

Many SEO agencies will have developed their range of services alongside the changes in Google’s algorithms. They will have an astute understanding of the different techniques and how they are best used.

The types of services on offer will include:

Local SEO
Keyword research
Mobile optimization
Content creation

SEO agencies will understand the type of web traffic that your business will be looking for, as well as the needs of the business. From this information, they will create a bespoke plan for your business.

Tracking and Management of Keyword Ranking

Keywords are a massive area. There are often thousands of different keywords that your website should be ranking for.

There will be combinations of keywords, long-tail keywords, and keywords that form parts of questions.

Through the right research, these will be identified on your behalf. Then, once implemented in your site’s content, they will be tracked, monitored, and adapted to ensure you are getting the desired results.

Is Your Google Ranking Where it Should be?

Are you doing everything that you possibly can to reduce the chances of your business’ website suffering from a low Google ranking?

Are you using:

Keywords?
Link-building?
Local SEO?
Mobile optimization?
Page speed optimization?

You don’t need to be an expert in search engine optimization. However, having a basic understanding will help you to understand the importance of it.

By putting your SEO needs into the safe hands of an SEO agency, you will be able to dramatically increase your organic traffic. An SEO agency will do everything possible to get your website into the coveted first position on the search engine results page, increasing the organic traffic to your website.

Don’t leave your position in the Google search engine results pages fall to chance. Optimize your site and improve your low Google ranking.

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