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Maybe you have started blogging or you have been blogging for some time, and you are looking for ways to improve your Google search results to get more traffic. In this article, I am going to show you how to improve Google search ranking for free.
If you have been trying to build traffic to acquire new customers, it’s important to learn how to optimize your SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, early so you can have a better chance at having your posts ranked higher in Google from the start.
One of the books that really helped me with tackling the SEO for my site is this book about accomplishing SEO easily. The author, Debbie, dramatically increased her traffic (500,000+ visitors a month) by applying these SEO tips and now makes over $15,000 a month consistently with her blog. I highly recommend you check out her bundle of this Easy SEO as well as her Backlinks for SEO books by clicking here. She’s often running a discount and if you use this link, you’ll save $20 off the bundle.
Now onto some ways you can improve your Google Search ranking for free!
Why is it important to figure out how to improve Google search ranking for free
If you are hoping to get more traffic to your website, then you will want to learn how to improve Google search ranking for free.
You may not realize it, but you can do a quick search in Google to help you find a keyword or phrase. This makes Google an amazing FREE resource to help you get more traffic.
If you’ve been reading my posts on blogging, then you know I highly recommend that you use a self hosted site to create your blog. This will help you get to the top of a Google search because you can make your site mobile friendly and fast loading.
If you are interested in creating ablog of your own, check out this freetutorial that will help youstart a blog ofyour own. It walks you through getting aself hosted site. I’m currently using Bluehost and they are offering self hosted sites for around 3.95 per month (this lowprice is only through my link). When you sign up through myBluehost linkyou will also get a free domain name (you get to pick a name for your site!). Getting your own self hosted site means you own the site (no one can ever take it down or take it away from you). If you have been wanting to make money online with a blog or website, this is the first step. In a year from now, you will be so glad you started this for yourself! The sooner you get going the better!
Tips for How to improve Google search ranking for free
1. Use Yoast!
Yoast can be easily added as a plugin on your WordPress panel. Simply go to “plugins” and search “Yoast.” Then add it and activate the free version. Yoast will automatically start helping you learn how to improve Google search ranking for free. When you are writing an article, if you look to the right in WordPress, you should see two new additions in the “Publish” box. These are the Yoast readability indicator and the Yoast SEO indicator. They will change colors as you optimize your post, turning from red to green.
Also, a Yoast box will show up below your post editing box. Look for the box that says “Focus Keyword.” If you are looking for how to improve your Google search ranking for free, start by choosing a great keyword to place in this box. Here’s what the Yoast editor looks like… notice where it says “Focus Keyword.”
2. Choose a keyword that is specific.
To find a great keyword or phrase to use for your post, go to Google’s search bar. Start with a keyword you want to write about, such as “Instant Pot Recipes.” As soon as you start typing in this keyword, Google will drop down a list of top suggestions starting with the most popular.
Click on one phrase that may fit what you would like to write about, such as “Instant Pot Recipes Chicken.” Now click the cursor back inside the search bar after the word “Chicken” and the suggestion box should drop down again with a list of related keywords even more specific, such as “Instant Pot Recipes Chicken and Rice.” You can continue this process getting more specific as much as you like. Once you have figured out how to improve Google search ranking for free using this step, you can begin crafting your post around this keyword.
3. Write and use your Keyword or Keyword Phrase repeatedly throughout your post.
I usually start by writing my keyword at the top of my post. When I do this, I also put together a title for my post with the keyword. Then I pick 3 or 4 sub-headings with the keyword, such as “Instant Pot Recipes Chicken is a Simple Dinner,” “What goes great with Instant Pot Recipes Chicken” and “Tips for making Instant Pot Recipes Chicken.” You will want to make these at least a “Heading 2” by clicking on the “paragraph” drop down and selecting “Heading 2.” These headings help you lay out a simple outline for your post. Then all you have to do is write 100 to 300 words under each heading mentioning the keyword maybe once or twice. Notice I have done this with this very post. My keyword phrase is “how to improve Google search ranking for free.”
4. Use the Yoast editor box below your post to help you stay on track.
The Yoast editor box will show you how you can improve your post by making suggestions about what to change. By fixing a few or all of the problems in red or orange, you can optimize your post for Google easily. To stay in the green, make sure to place your keyword in the first paragraph of your post. Include the focus keyword throughout your post as well as in some of the headings. Write a post at least 300 words or more in length. In fact, Google loves content. So if you can produce articles with over 1000 words, and even get them into the 2000 word range, your article will have a better chance of ranking higher. Use a unique keyword and make sure it is in the URL for the page.
For help with how to improve your Google search ranking for free, keep the paragraphs and sentences easy to read. Sentences should be on the shorter side containing 20 words or less. Make sure to use active voice instead of passive voice in your writing. Finally, to help your writing flow, use transition words, such as, first, second, third, finally, next and then.
Secrets for how to improve your Google search ranking for free
- Place the keyword at the beginning of your heading. For example, if your Keyword phrase is “Instant Pot Recipes Chicken,” title your article “Instant Pot Recipes Chicken that melt in your mouth.”
- The keyword needs to be in the title, headings, sprinkled throughout the article, and shown in the same order every time. For the keyword phrase to count and be picked up by Google, it needs to be used many times in the same way. So for example, keep the phrase “Instant Pot Recipes Chicken,” instead of “Chicken Recipes made in the Instant Pot.”
- Use latent keywords, which are keywords or phrases which are related to the main keyword. A tip for finding latent keywords to add in to your article is to go to the bottom of the Google search page and look for the “Searches Related to…” In the case of Instant Pot Recipes Chicken, you may want to add in the original keyword phrase along with “and rice” and “thighs” and “healthy.” If you are looking for how to increase your Google ranking for free, this is a way to get great results. Here’s what the “Searches Related” box looks like at the bottom of Google. The words in bold would be considered latent keywords.
- Don’t be afraid to update your blog post often. Google likes to see updates to articles and will often rank fresh content over old content. Simply go into your articles and make a few updates, and it’s likely you will see your rankings improve.
- Make sure to name your images with your keyword or phrase. Before you upload your image, simply change the file name of the image. This small change will give you an advantage over others who might be using images with dates as file names.
Bonus Tip for how to improve your Google search ranking for free
I have fallen in love with a keyword search tool called KWFinder. You can use it to search “longtail” keywords which are keywords phrases that contain more than three words. These keyword phrases can help you target a specific topic or niche.
For example, on my food blog at www.SweetiePieAndCupcakes.com, before I decide on a title for a post, I look up keywords in KWFinder. If I know I’m putting together a recipe, then I simply start typing in the search bar at the top of KWFinder to see what ranking the phrase gets:
I’ve put in the phrase “easy almond puff pastry” to describe my recipe. Then the rankings pop up. On the left, KWFinder shows other suggestions along with a ranking score of 0-100. If the ranking is a green color, this means there is little competition and it might be a good choice for a keyword phrase. The phrase I chose got a 41 out of 100 which is shown on the bigger box on the right side. The box on the bottom right shows what other websites are using this same keyword along with a whole bunch of other really cool information. You get to see their website ranking, how many visits they get because of that keyword phrase, and more.
How to improve your Google search ranking for free using KWFinder
One way for how to improve your Google search ranking for free is to take the extra time to go to KWFinder to look up a keyword phrase that has low competition. If you are a new website, this gives you a better chance of Google picking you up for that keyword phrase! I get a ton of traffic from Google for keywords which are very unique.
KWFinder allows you to look up a few keywords for free and there is also a very inexpensive paid version which gives you 100+ keyword phrase searches. The paid version actually gives you access to Rank Tracking, Back Linking Analysis and a tool which allows you to see what your competition is doing. You can get access to this tool by clicking here.
Keep learning about SEO to improve your Google Search ranking
Learn as much as you can about SEO for the sake of improving your rankings on major search engines like Google. There are many experts sharing how they improved their SEO on their own blogs, and I highly recommend you follow their tips step-by-step. I applied many SEO tips in just the last few months and I’ve seen a dramatic improvement to my traffic number!
I highly recommend Debbie’s bundle of books on SEO, as it is one of the most affordable bundles out there that will give you real actions to apply to your blog right away. I applied just a few of her tips to my Sweetie Pie and Cupcakes site and my traffic numbers doubled from 2,300 views per week to over 3,900 views per week in just two months. I’m excited to keep applying her tips to my blogs, and I plan on learning more about SEO in the next couple of months! Of course I will share what I find most effective as an update to this blog post. To stay updated, you can sign up to the Be Passionate and Prosper email list by clicking here.
What are some possible keywords or phrases that will work for your blog posts? How will you improve your search engines rankings using these tips? What other tips do you know?
