Why Is My Site Ranking So Low in Search Results?
Is your website not ranking as well as it should?
Are you not sure why your website is not ranking well in Google’s Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs)? If your website appears in the first three pages on Google that is a good thing. However, if it appears on the fourth page then you need to be worried. Unfortunately, even if you rank on page 2, you won’t see much traction.
Below are some ranking factors you should review if your website is not ranking as well as you would like:
Fix Bad Redirects
A bad redirect is what happens when an internet user opens a URL, but instead, they are redirected to a different one. For instance, you might have a website that deals with women’s fashion, and you want to direct visitors to the jeans section.
Instead of placing a URL that directs users to the category of jeans, they get directed to the homepage instead. That is a bad thing since it doesn’t fulfill the needs of internet users. If you make that mistake on your website, your site will rank low.
There is something you can do to identify bad redirects and fix them as soon as possible. Visit your Google Analytics and extract all your landing pages ranking in organic search. From there, upload them in Screaming Frog, and you will be able to see all your bad redirects.
Remove Duplicate Content From Your Site
Duplicate content could kill your website. Today, it is not as crucial as it used to be, but it might still end up hurting your site search result. There is no need to create content and publish it only to learn that you share traffic with another website.
Aside from affecting the original page, your site will also rank low in SERPs. Therefore, you need to avoid duplicate content on your site as much as possible. When Google detects duplicate content, it tries to pick the right page to rank. However, it might as well end up picking the wrong page.
You should use Duplicate Content Checker to find duplicate content and fix them before they bring down your website. On the toolbar, click “I’m not a robot” and head to check your content.
Review Your Header Tags
Every highly ranking site utilizes heading tags to showcase its content. This allows search engines to easily understand what your page is about, and the easier it is for them to understand, the better your results will look. Along with that, they use other heading tags, like H2-H6 to establish a clear structure and make their site more readable. A highly readable site is always a huge plus when it comes to Google.
Changed Content
It is okay to make some changes to your website. You may want to do that to increase the speed of your website. The only challenge with that activity is it will affect the ranking of your site on SERPs. Content is the most important thing since it is what Google uses to rank your page. That makes it impossible to do changes without affecting site ranking.
To find out about this, you must use Google Analytics. From there, you need to export all the landing pages ranked in the organic search. Your web developer can provide you with a backup of your website. Be sure to check for any changes that might be affecting your website.
You can fix the problem once you have the list of your URLs to update. For instance, consider using the old backup of your website to come up with better ones. As you do that, you must not forget to include all the missing keywords.
Irregular Publishing
Many bloggers think they can only publish content when they want. To make your website rank well, you must have a plan. Also, each time you upload content, make sure it is of the best quality. You need to understand that even optimized content should be uploaded regularly. That is then you will see improvement in your site ranking.
Experts suggest that you need to publish at least two to three pieces of content each week. That is the sure way to keep your readers engaged while giving your competitors a run for their money. We are sure you have seen sites that don’t seem updated for the past year. Such websites, even if they have relevant content, will never rank well in search engines.
Do Not Ignore Social Signals
Do you currently use social media? If you have a website, you need to give it a social media account. Many businesses have social media accounts that they use to interact with clients and launch advertisements. But again, not so many businesses have active social media accounts. You should know that with social media, you will be able to know how you rank in Google.
Since you would like to hone your SEO efforts and improve site search results, you must be active on social media. Don’t forget to always keep your information updated. Google has a way of using social signals to rank sites. If your social media account is not active, your website will rank low, and vice versa. As such, you have all the reasons to stay on top of the game by leveraging the power of social media.
Closing Thoughts On Getting Your Site To Rank Better
A bad redirect is what happens when an internet user opens a URL, but instead, they are redirected to a different one. Such things might also affect the speed of your website. It is one of the top reasons your website might rank low in SERPs, and we have seen how you can fix it. Many other things might deter your website from getting that good spot in SERPs. All you have to do is identify them on time and fix them before things get out of hand. Being active in social media can also help your company gain a competitive edge against your rivals.
Be sure to follow our SEO blog for more tips and tricks, and contact us to schedule your consultation. We’d love to work with you!