4 Ways to Increase Your Search Engine Ranking

To find Traktek Partners online among the dozens of other marketing services in the area, you may type “digital marketing agency” or “travel marketing agency” into the Google search bar. While Google may produce upwards of 20 million results for a “Boston website design agency”, you may notice that those on the 1st page provide lead to much more credible sites than those on the 7th. This hierarchy is no coincidence, but rather the outcome of two of the most effective marketing strategies; Search Engine Marketing and Search Engine Optimization. While the two involve separate techniques—one being paid, one being organic—they share the common goal of improving search result visibility.

To help you better understand the advantages of SEM and SEO, here is a list of helpful tips, tricks, and programs:

Google AdWords


The undisputed leader among search engine marketing platforms, AdWords provides users with the power to display and position their advertisements above competitors on Google search results pages. By purchasing the “rights” to certain keywords through an auction-style bidding process, Google calculates your Ad Ranking--a product of your maximum bid and your business’s overall quality score--thus determining the order in which your advertisement will appear. As the world-wide web’s most commonly used website--producing over 3 billion searches per day--Google’s SEM platform provides a degree of visibility which is virtually unmatchable by other search engine service, making it a must-have on your company’s strategic marketing plan.



Tag Line Limits


When choosing a title for your article, keep in mind where most of your clicks will come from; search engine results pages (SERPs). When browsing through Google SERPs, the website limits the number of characters displayed in the title tag to 70. Therefore, limiting your titles to around 65 characters will help perfectly display and emphasize your title. While this technique does not directly enhance your organic search ranking, it benefits your website by presenting a more aesthetic and professional impression to the viewer.


Backlinking


Backlinking is the utilization of inbound links, leading from one website to another. This process is incredibly useful because not only are you expanding your content to a new audience, but you’re also receiving a “vote of confidence” from these other sites. To optimize the use of this technique, it is important to regularly check-in on your incoming sources to ensure that they are legitimate. Backlink checkers—such as smallseotools.com—are nifty tools that provide lists of all sources containing connections to your website, along with domain information including source type and credibility ranking. Based on those measure of credibility, the tail-end website will receive “points” towards their organic search engine ranking for each additional backlink.

For the most part, the process of backlinking rests in the hands of the directing website. However, backlinking via owned media platforms such as social media sites gives you the power to enhance your company’s organic ranking. For example, by adding the target website’s link to the company’s LinkedIn page, you’ve positively impacted your search engine position.

Screaming Frog


Last but not least, this peculiarly-named auditing program provides an array of tools to analyze and maintain your website. An “SEO Spider”, the program crawls across URLs, gathering, analyzing, and organizing data to help you seamlessly identify backend issues. From broken backlinks to lengthy page titles, Screaming Frog points out the problem areas that negatively impact your organic ranking. To learn more about the program and its extensive list of features, visit www.screamingfrog.co.uk.

SEM and SEO offer a list of advantages. The lead generation is trackable and measurable, it allows you to identify and target specific groups, and it positions your brand for your largest audience—the internet—to see. Implementing these strategies is the first step towards improving your online presence; while mastering them will take your business to the top (of the page).