10 Tips to Retain Your Top Rankings in Search Engines

Achieving top rankings in search engines requires time, patience, and effort. We do everything possible to get there. And once we reach there, it feels like we have achieved everything.

But, we need to remember that we must retain the rankings to enjoy the benefits. 

You can find much information on the web about reaching higher rankings. But, there is only a little when it comes to retaining the results. 

Today we will talk about a few tried and tested tips to retain your top rankings in search engines. 

Produce High-Quality Content

Whether you are trying to improve your website SERP or retain the ranking, content plays an extremely crucial role, and nothing works better than genuine efforts. 

Write relevant blogs regularly and keep updating the previous ones as well. You build trust when you serve engaging and high-quality information to your customers. 

The best bet here is to be consistent with your writing. Posting at least one blog weekly is essential to keep your audience engaged. 

When your blogs are relevant and engaging, users’ screen time increases, and you can keep your users engaged by linking to relevant blogs.  

Place Keywords in the Right Place 

Keywords play a vital role in helping you with search engine optimization. Only some people like to target specific keywords, but if you do, there are some things you need to keep in mind.

• The keywords should fit naturally in the sentences and not feel forced. 
• Place keywords in moderation. Too many keywords will not make it any better. Instead, choose a few keywords and place them one by one. Avoid putting too many keywords in a single paragraph. 
• Pick relevant and high-ranking keywords. A keyword planner is the best way to find the right keywords for your website. You can use Google keyword planner or any other tool per your needs. 

Leverage Links the Right Way 

You will surely get consistent organic reach if you do the links game right. Let’s first understand the types of links. 

Outbound link: when you link popular websites in your content. 

When using outbound links, make sure the links are relevant. For example, the results can be disappointing if you sell beauty products and link food websites. 

Internal links: when you link a website page to another page of the same website.

The best way to improve users’ screen time is by adding internal links to the website content. For example, you can add links to relevant topics, further reading, related products, etc.  

Backlinks: links on other websites that redirect to your website. 

The more backlinks you have on high authority websites, the higher you will reach. If you want to stay on top, it is crucial to keep checking the backlinks are redirecting well. Also, keep adding backlinks consistently. Do it slowly because too many at a time can serve as a red flag. 

Build a Strong Brand on Social Media 

Thousands of new people join social media every day. People from different age groups, educational qualifications, professions, and interests are present on social media. 

Building a solid social media presence among such a broad audience will help you in many ways. 

However, it is essential to have patience. Start slow and focus on one app at a time. First, finalize the social media that works well for your niche. Then, start posting and ask for feedback.

The insights you get on social media are constructive in transforming your brand reputation. Share user-generated content to build trust among your customers”, says Cristian Ward, CEO of San Diego SEO Company Inc.

When you have enough followers on social media, you get consistent traffic on your website by sharing informative content. You can share links to your blogs on social media and even run ads for better reach. 

Keep Checking Your Competitors 

Your competitors can make you lose your top position anytime, so you must keep an eye on them. 

Do thorough research about the following:

• What your competitors do
• What is their marketing strategy
• How much they are spending, and
• What are they focusing on

A detailed case study will give insights into some trends you can follow. First, you will get to know about their strengths and weaknesses. Then, analyze where you can do better than them. 

If you make any changes based on the research, analyze the outcomes. Any change in your website can affect some other elements, and it is crucial to understand the circumstances well before implementing any changes. 

You can use methods like A/B testing to see how the website page will perform with changes before actually implementing them. 

Keep Your Website Updated

Broken links, ugly URLs, expired pages, and outdated content can bring your rank down in no time. If you want to stay on top, ace the website game. 

As mentioned earlier, update content regularly. In addition, blogs and other information must be updated on time to stay relevant. 

Keep checking for any broken links or expired pages. If your users experience too many 404 or other errors, it can threaten your ranking. Also, ensure all the navigation buttons and links to your other profiles are acceptable. 

If your website needs revamping, plan a renovation with an expert and prepare well. 

Also, ugly URLs are a big turn-off. You can customize and shorten your website URLs with tools like Bitly.  

Mind Your Website Speed

A slow website increases bounce rates and reduce customer engagement. It eventually leads to reduced screen time, sending negative signals about the user experience you offer. And, once Google feels you need to serve a better user experience, you will no longer be on top. 

What to do? 

• Check what’s making your website slow. Less loading time makes visitors happy. 
• Make sure all the pages are working and easy to navigate. 
• Do not forget to link relevant pages on each page to offer a better user experience. 

Create a Responsive Website 

Are you tired of all the noise about responsive websites? Well, it’s worth the hype. 

A responsive website is one that automatically adjusts to screen size. So whether you open the website on a smartphone or a PC, it will load smoothly and visualize each element. 

How does it help? 

• You get a wider audience. 
• It enhances the user experience. 
• Reduces bounce rates because many visitors might be returning because the website didn’t open well on their device. 

See how our website is responsive on all devices.

Check Your Indexing 

Indexing is fundamental to retaining your top rank in Google search results, and it makes sure Google knows that you exist and allows Google crawlers to navigate through your website when someone makes a related search. Sometimes, the website indexing is off; turn it on.

If you have recently migrated your website, make sure you migrated all the pages well. Pages redirecting to 404 errors disappoint users and send red flags to search crawlers.

Use Google’s search console to see if your website is indexed. 

Keep Up with the Latest Trends 

Google keeps updating its policies to serve the best user experience. To stay on top, you must keep up with the latest trends. 

Not only that, but you can also leverage the new features it brings to score better. For example, Google brought the featured snippet element that serves information to answer specific questions. 

Also, the search engine uses search intent to sort information. The question sorts what type of information the user is seeking and provides results according to that. 

You will strengthen your place on top if you optimize your website and content according to these features. 

Conclusion 

If you were looking for this, you have already reached the top. If yes, you know how to optimize your website while being patient to see results. You only need to learn that now is not the time to rest. 

Keep working on your website. Follow the above tips, experiment with new things, and consume a lot of fresh content daily. The more you learn, the better you will experiment, and the more you test, the better the results will be. 

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Author: Amit Kumar Khare

Amit is a tech enthusiast and loves writing about it. He is a senior developer with good hands-on experience in digital marketing.