5 SEO Tips That Will Make Your Website Rank On Google In 2020

By on March 14th, 2020

5min Read

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As search engines become cleverer and competition between businesses intensifies, the next thing you may be asking yourself is “What SEO tactics will help me rank higher on SERP and bring me more revenue in 2020?”

What follows is practical and time-tested advice on how to do that. I found tips that I believe can be real game-changers for anyone looking to learn more about search engine optimisation (SEO) in Sydney. Some might sound obvious to you, while others may look new. Nonetheless, there’s a lot to learn about each that you don’t want to miss out. Take a look:

BERT Update

BERT is a language processing technology that stands for Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers. Google announced this algorithm update not too long ago. It’s probably the biggest update since RankBrain. 

BERT is designed to assess search queries, particularly the relations and nuances between words, so as to understand the searcher’s intent. Google then uses the data gathered to avail the most effective results. 

This update is estimated to affect at up to 10% of all searches. So what does this mean for a website owner, marketer or SEO specialists? 

First off, according to Google’s search liaison Danny Sullivan, there’s nothing to optimise for with this new feature. Google simply wants to have a better understanding of the context of your content. Here’s what you can do to be on the safer side.

  • Sullivan tweeted that you should aim to create good content i.e. content that’s unique, useful, and compelling content for your readers
  • Develop content that responds to the searcher’s intent
  • Provide as much value in your content or even more compared to your competitor
  • Find ways to create better experiences for your customers/audience

Technical SEO Matters

Technical SEO is about making sure that your website meets the standards put in place by search engines. Note that technical SEO has nothing to do with content and marketing; its focus is on your website’s infrastructure. 

Common areas of technical SEO you should pay most attention to are page speed and security. Site speed has a direct impact on your site’s search visibility, user experience and bounce rate. A quick way to improve these three features is to have better website load times (3-5 seconds).

Site security is another equally important area. For example, if you haven’t switched to https yet, Google will label your site as insecure. 

Other areas to pay attention to include:

  • Your site architecture/design
  • Sitemap
  • Proper scheme markup
  • Meta tags
  • URL structure
  • Linking

Don’t forget that search engines tend to favour sites that display specific technical features such as fast website loading time, secure connection, a responsive design, etc. Technical SEO is the secret to getting this preferential treatment.

Follow The Best On-Page SEO Practices

On-page search engine optimisation (SEO) in Sydney involves optimising your web pages so that they can rank higher in the search engines. On-page SEO may sound a bit traditional in 2020, but the truth is it’s still just as relevant now as it was back then. Even though Google’s search algorithms have become more sophisticated, they still care about the old school elements like keyword research and optimisation 

Admittedly, the search engine is now better at understanding what users really want when they type a search query. It then uses the data gathered to deliver results that match their intent. 

One way to adapt to these new changes is to ensure your website and content are optimised based on the most recent on-page SEO practices. Here are the elements you should focus on:

  • Title tags
  • Meta descriptions
  • Header tags
  • Headlines
  • SEO writing
  • Content audit
  • User engagement 

Each of these elements has its best practices. Learn as much as you can about each. You can have a digital marketing agency in Sydney help you to implement each as well.  

Create effective Content

Effective content is the kind that not only pleases search engines but also the end-user (readers, customers, clients, prospects, etc.). Before you create one, have a proper content strategy in place. Define your goals, know your audience, and have an editorial calendar. 

Next, create content that is valuable and relevant. Some of the aspects you will want to focus on that will help you create effective content include readability, use of multi-media content, expert authorship, and consistently making fresh content.  

Google admits that they display results on their search engine based on page authority and relevance to enhance user experience. So, aim to create the best content for your topic/industry. 

Remember to optimise your content for search engines as well. Here’s a quick refresher: 

  • Add the keywords (and key phrases) at prime SEO areas like titles, alt tags, meta descriptions, etc.
  • Organise your content in a logical way
  • Promote it on social networks and through link building 

Make Your Website Responsive

Google gives preference to more responsive sites. In fact, they even have a guide on how you should go about it and a mobile responsive test to let you know how you are fairing in this area.  

Responsive web design is about making sure that your website responds to the behaviour and environment of the user. It involves taking into consideration aspects like screen size, device, orientation, platform, etc.

As the user switches between devices, your website should automatically adapt to the new environment. A responsive website saves users the pain of having to resize, pan or zoom a page during such moments.

Let’s also not forget that the number of mobile viewers is now bigger than that of desktop and there’s no sign of this slowing down. A responsive website will, therefore, increase your reach to customers on smaller devices.

For you to rank higher in the search engines now and in the coming years, these tips have to be part of your search engine optimisation strategy in Sydney. There may be many other tips out there, but these five are like the foundation you need to build a stronger and effective strategy.  What remains is for you to put all of them into action. Some are more technical others so you may want to enlist the help of a reliable digital marketing agency in Sydney.

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