Google Page 1 Search Results
We all want to be on Page 1 of Google because that is where 90% of searchers look and look no further.
The problem is that results change depending on what people search for, how and from where.
This post is not a way to get search engine results, but rather a planning for things to consider and plan to help you with this goal.
Local search results page 1 in the simplest form are results that are location based for people looking for businesses in a certain area over a topic. This sort of search would be: “mexican restaurant eugene oregon” or “digital marketer springfield oregon.” If you are on a smartphone with your location service on, it might be more like, “coffee near me.” In any of these cases, you will get Google’s “local search results” page that usually has the map and 3 places marked on it.
Many small businesses in Oregon could care less about general search results and instead care about the “local search results” rankings. There are many ways to help improve this, the first and most important factor is that you care to learn and dedicate the time needed to improve this.
That may sound simple, but it means taking dedicated time that can not be pushed off day-after-day. It may or may not include paying a service provider to help you with additional GMB, Google+, Yelp, Facebook type items, depending on if your time or your expenses are more important.
After that, it can be up to the Google algorithm and the proximity of potential customers. The good news is that potential customers are more likely to hit the map to see more than just the first 3 results.
If you are looking for general non-local search results, the most important thing to begin with is search terms or “keyword phrases.” There is a reason that it says “phrase” after “keyword” and that is because it is near impossible to rank high on single words or even small word combonations. The good news here, is that people are getting wordier with their search terms, mainly because of voice typing.
With that said, top ranking are generally complex and require patience. This is not something those in the search engine optimization or SEO community say because they want to endlessly bill you. It is because “tricks” are actively being sought by Google to prevent ranking manipulation. They want to help people find what they really want and not what clever SEO people have tricked the “bot” into ranking.
Here are some generic topics of ranking factors, in no particular order:
- Secured sites (HTTPS vs. HTTP)
- Websites that are mobile-friendly
- Page speed
- Schema markup
- Webpage content quality
- Webpage content length
- Social signals
- Quality backlinks
- Optimized images
- Domain age
You may be annoyed or confused at this point, but rest assured there are ways to do this yourself without paying someone like us to help you. Like before, it requires time to do this and patience. You can also hire out these items and you will still need time to discuss goals and budgets with your seo service provider, but you will not need the time or knowledge to carry out the tasks.