How to Rank on Google: Grow Your Garden

If you’ve ever wondered why you’re not showing up on Google, you’re not alone. If you’ve listed your business in all of the major directories, planned your website according to best practices, and let everyone know that your site is ready for customers based on social media updates. But no matter how much you do, you can’t seem to find yourself on the first page of Google. So what’s going on?

Well, the easy answer is this: Google doesn’t work overnight. SEO is a long process that can take months to gain momentum, especially for new websites. The algorithm Google uses to rank websites also changes on a regular basis. Sometimes, major updates can really mess up all the hard work you’ve done.

It’s rather cliché, but it’s really easy to illustrate the concept of growing your SEO skills using a “garden” metaphor. In this metaphor, the garden is your business. The plants that are in the garden are your products or services—the ones you want to grow so that they can reach a wider audience. The first thing we should remember about this metaphor is that a garden takes a lot of nurturing and time before it yields its fruits.

First: Plan your garden. Gather your seeds. When you’ve decided what you want your outcome to be—likely, ranking on page 1 of Google—you need to figure out how to get there. The easiest way to do this is by talking to one of our personal marketing consultants (PMCs). We will ensure you understand how the process works, and how you can be involved with your business’s online growth.

Step 2: Choose the right seeds. The way you get your products—the “plants,” if you recall—to grow is by choosing the proper seeds. You’ll need the basics: Business name, address, location, hours, and contact information. Then you’ll need to choose keywords to focus on. Keywords (or keyphrases) will shape the way Google views your website. You’ll be using the keywords throughout your website’s content, for page titles, for links, and more. The PMC will help you choose keywords that are most likely to work for your business and location.

Step 3: Plant the seeds. What does this entail? Registering a domain name. Building your website. Writing your custom content. Designing any images or videos you want to use on your website. Everything that will represent your business online is a seed that needs to be planted. Once all of this is done, we will complete the process by making sure all directories have up-to-date information and the link to your website.

Step 4: Water and nurture your garden. This means regular site audits—are all of your links working? Are your keywords beginning to gain momentum? Are people leaving your website too quickly? Is there a new directory to submit your website to? We keep up with all of these things to help you out. By making sure your website works as intended, you’ll be doing necessary maintenance to keep yourself on track. A great way to help nurture your website is to ask customers to leave you positive reviews. In today’s world, reviews play a huge role in how businesses are perceived online. This is one of the most important things you can do to get Google to rank your website higher.

Step 5: Watch your garden grow. Everything is in place and you’ve set yourself up for success. So where are the plants?

It takes a bit!

Let’s consider that Google goes through billions of links daily. Alone, these links don’t mean much. But over time, trends start to appear: for example, when someone searches for “donut delivery in Sprinkletown,” your website tends to appear. Well, Google sees this trend and decides your site should move up the list. Now people are more likely to visit your website when they search for those terms. It’s things like this that make SEO so rewarding—and so worth the wait.

So, to wrap it up: with time and regular maintenance, your idea can grow into a successful business. Online marketing savvy doesn’t have to be a complicated skill that you do all on your own, either. With help from one of Zoek’s personal marketing consultants, you’ll have a partner to work with during all phases of growing your garden: from planning to maintenance. If you have any questions, just give us a call or sign up for a FREE (yes, 100% free, no strings attached!) demo today.

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