3 Simple Tips To Improve Your Website Ranking

 1: USE KEYWORDS AS A GUIDE, but not the be all end all 

• Keywords are great for giving us an indication of topics that readers are interested in
• Use keyword phrases that point to niche topics, eg. most expensive car, harley davidson rather than generic terms, eg. motorbikes
• It helps to determine preferred word usage eg motorbikes is a preferred search term in Australia and motorcycles in Thailand.
• Don't stuff similar keywords in your article for the sake of repeating it, eg. intentionally repeating camry again and again just because it is a popular search keyword will hurt rather than help. Instead, try placing it in the title and or in the first sentence. Again, don’t force it if the sentence becomes unnatural. 
• You can use a few popular keywords in the same article. Eg. car dvd player, car camera and car audio are popular searches in China. They can be put together for an article about upgrading your car accessories with more emphasis towards China; for instance, adding an example of a Chinese person who had spent thousands pimping up his ride
• Don't let the keywords limit your ideas. Giving readers what they know they want is great, but giving readers what they didn't know they want is better – readers will consider your site as a genuine news provider. Refer TIP #3 below.

 2: SHOUT IT TO THE WORLD

• Facebook, Tweet, Email every article (sharing buttons are available at the bottom of each article).
• Place the link to the site everywhere, anywhere possible - your Facebook account, websites, blogs, email footers, etc.
• Search engines will assume that your site is worth reading if other sites are ‘recommending’ it.
• Online advertising (Facebook, Google) is a useful boost of initial traffic to the site or steady flow if carried out regularly. Be mindful that if this is only conducted once off, your site ranking may just as easily fall if not supported by good content.

 3: CONTENT IS KING! 

• Quality content will organically elevate the site in the search ranking. And when you get to the top this way – the hardworking way - it will be harder for you to fall.
• With good content, readers will naturally spend more time on your site and click on to other pages, both of which are good for your site’s ranking. Your pages will register a low bounce rate, ie readers continues to click on other pages in your site (this can be determined from your Google Analytics, if you've installed it or something similar).
• Readers will also share your site on social networking sites of their own accord, which leads to more links out there leading back to your site (refer TIP#2).
• Duplication of content from other sites is a big NO-NO. Search engines are able to determine which content came first, and the copycat will be deemed as a low quality site. Avoid copying content verbatim unless it is a quote.
• What is good content? Just put yourself in the readers’ shoes:

1. is the information useful, unique or valuable to you?
2. Is it engaging and newsworthy?
3. Does it offer intelligent observation, well-balanced and comprehensive narrative?
4. Does it blow your mind and make you go “WTF! I’ve gotta share this!”

If you get excited writing the content, chances are that your readers will get excited reading it too.


I wrote this '3 Simple Tips To Improve Your Website Ranking' for a client whom I helped set up Automology, a news portal cum blog for the automotive industry. The client contributes articles aggressively and wanted to know how they could improve their site's ranking (hurray for pro-active clients!).

I've picked up a few tips along the way, but at the end of the day, quality content is of utmost important. Hence, hire a copywriter! (pick me! pick me!)