Understanding Search – The Ultimate Guide To Improving Your Google Ranking

Introduction

So you’ve just built & launched a website but the phone’s not ringing off the hook, or it’s not on the first page of Google Search yet? As disappointing as it may sound, this is normal and it affects all new websites.

In this article, we’ll explain why this is the case, and how you can reduce the time it takes to rank on Google’s SERP (Search Engine Results Page).

 

What To Expect From Google

Firstly, understand that it takes Google Search 6-8 weeks to recognise & completely index new websites. However, there are some things you can do in the meantime to assist in increasing the ‘score’ by which Google ranks your website in organic (non-paid) search results.

Let’s start by setting correct expectations based on how Google Search works, before delving into some tips and tricks to help people find your new website.

• Google Search is constantly indexing the web.
• Google Search will not find your website immediately; it generally takes 6 – 8 weeks for Google Search to index new sites & add them to its database.
• Even after indexing your site, Google Search will not immediately rank your site #1… or #2… or #3 on the SERP.
• Google Search works on a ranking & weighting system to determine where your result sits on the SERP.
• Google’s formula for this is a secret – otherwise anyone & everyone could game the system.
• Many factors play into the ranking & weighting system – our tips below (and many others you’ll read online) all have some impact on Google Search’s ranking system, so they’re worth implementing.
• There are ways to get onto the first SERP more quickly.
• You can pay Google for an ad at the top of the SERP – but if you have competitors (especially big-name ones with deep pockets), it’s not cheap.
• This affects every new website, everywhere on the internet.

Now that we’ve got a better understanding of how search engines and search rankings work, let’s take a look at some things we can do to help the weighting used to rank a new website on the SERP.

First things first. As mentioned above, Google’s formula for ranking search results is a closely guarded secret. So… how can you get to the top if no one knows the formula?

Over the years a number of patterns & solutions have been found – simply by trying an idea, monitoring the results then making adjustments and seeing what happens. As there are literally thousands of different factors that play into the ranking algorithm, every little bit counts.

 

Website Relevancy

Let’s begin with ‘Relevancy’. The sole & primary job of Google Search is to provide relevant content. If someone enters in a phrase, Google Search must provide the best results in response to that query. If it fails at this job, users will go elsewhere.

So if your site is badly structured and / or doesn’t contain relevant data based on the users search phrase, then it won’t show as high as a site that does do these things well.

Solutions & recommended action points:

• Ensure your website answers the questions your potential customers (prospects) might have. If they want to know when you’re open, make sure you have opening hours on your ‘Contact’ page. If they want to know what sizes of products / items you offer, explain this with diagrams or a size chart that is not hidden away.
• Store & structure content in a hierarchical manner that makes sense to users, and to search engines – in other words, both in terms of page layout / navigational (menu) structure, as well as from a technical level (the folders on the server that pages are stored in). We’ve got more info on site structure later in this article.
• TIP: If we’ve built your website, we will ensure it contains relevant content in relation to your audience and your offering. Additionally, we will always use a well laid out navigational (menu) and technical (folder) structure.

 

Age of Website

The age of a website is one of thousands of factors that play into a site’s SERP ranking. If your website has been around for 5 years, providing useful / relevant content to readers on the topics they want to learn about, then of course Google will rank the site higher than one that’s brand new. That’s just the way Google Search works.

Now unless you have a time machine, there’s not much you can do to immediately beat a competing website that’s been around for years. However, we do recommend starting your website as soon as possible to get this SERP ranking factor kicked off ASAP.

This is why, when we build websites for our clients, we always suggest having a simple landing page (with your business name, logo & contact details) as soon as possible – even if you’re not ready to launch yet or want to keep your new business a secret. Google Search will at least start to find your landing (‘coming soon’) in due course and will return for further indexing at a later date.

Solution & recommended action:

• Launch your site’s landing (‘coming soon’) page ASAP.
• TIP: If you’re a customer of ours, you may have noticed that we’ll always suggest building & launching that landing page as soon as we can.

 

Age of Content

Similarly, the age of your content is another ranking factor. Say your website has some great content about tech news and AI, but the articles are from three years ago. Well, the site won’t rank as high on the SERP as a similar site that has newer content.

Solution & recommended action:

• Keep writing relevant content regularly – blog posts are a great example of this. We say relevant, because if the website for your bakery starts publishing content titled “5 ways to service your car on the cheap” simply so you can get a backlink from your mechanic’s website out of it, then that’s not going to help your ranking because it has nothing to do with your site or your target audience.
• Share the content on social media, or ask others in your industry to link to it / share it across their networks (more on this later).
• Use this content as part of your nurtures or onboarding workflow & link your prospective customers to it. For example, if you have a self storage facility and are sending out quote emails to prospects, why not write a detailed blog post on why they should choose you, and link to it from the quote emails?
• TIP: If we’ve built your website for you, don’t forget to ask us for a login so you can go in and create content (blog posts) yourself at any time to help keep the site fresh. We can also provide a step-by-step how-to guide on this for you.

 

Bounce Rate

If Google Search notices users visiting your site in response to a search term that Google has provided to them, but these users are leaving (‘bouncing’ back to their original Google Search) a few seconds later, then Google Search may begin to down-rank your website. In other words, if you have a high bounce rate (in relation to search traffic), Google Search won’t look favourably upon your website.

Solution & recommended action:

• As mentioned before, keep your content relevant and on-topic.
• Don’t keyword-stuff (the act of stuffing too many of your top search keywords into your content). In other words, if your company offers self storage at Bondi Beach, don’t write content that uses this search phrase in every. single. sentence. Google’s AI is smart – it will know you’re trying to game the system and it will penalise you. Also, it ends up reading poorly for humans, too.
• TIP: If we’ve built your website for you, we will always structure content that utilises appropriate keywords, including alternative variants of the keywords – for example: ‘Self storage Bondi Beach’, ‘Self storage in Bondi Beach’, ‘Bondi Beach self storage facility’ and so on. We also use headings to structure the keyword content appropriately.

 

Inbound Links

An inbound link is when another website links to yours. In Google’s eyes, this is saying “hey look – this other website that mentions self storage has a link to your self storage site, so it must be good!”.

The more websites you have doing this, the better. In other words, the more inbound links the better as it will increase the authority of your domain name & website. But here comes that “R” word again. These inbound links need to be relevant (remember our bakery vs. mechanic example from earlier?).

If you happen to run a self storage facility (nb. one of Big Budda Boom’s largest client categories is self storage), getting your local Self Storage Association to link to your website from theirs will help immensely. As overarching organisations for an industry, these types of organisations generally already have very high domain authorities – so if they link to your website, it can greatly assist your ranking. The same goes for any industry association your business is a member of.

Of course, getting them to do so is another story – but if you’ve written some genuinely interesting or unique [relevant] content, or if you’ve got some exciting new products or construction techniques etc to share, then there’s probably something in it for them & their members, too.

Solution & recommended action:

• Get other relevant parties to link to you (your local association, related suppliers or customers).
• Ask us to work with you on an in-depth write up, which will definitely help things along – it benefits both you and us. Check out our example from Jim’s Self Storage Williamstown here.
• Specific to the self storage industry: Ask Storman (creators of popular management software for the self storage industry) to link to you from their site, as they too have a good domain authority when it comes to Self Storage-related searches. They’ve also created some great in-depth write-ups on their customers, which have greatly assisted search rankings for both you and them.
• Specific to the self storage industry: In the case of the Self Storage Association of Australasia (SSAA), they have a Member Listing you can be on, with a website link.
• Specific to the self storage industry: SSAA member? Ask to be added to their Online Storage Finder website too.
• TIP: If we built your website, we will also link to it from our Portfolio – including on all of our social media channels. 

 

Advertising

Google Search has two types of results – organic search results and paid ads. The organic search results are the free ones, from Google Search finding your site, indexing it and ranking it. But paid ads are always displayed first – which makes sense, because in 2022, Google’s search ad revenue amounted to 224.47 billion U.S. dollars. You’ve more than likely noticed sponsored results yourself – they’re usually prefixed with the words “Ad” or “Sponsored” and appear at the top or side of the SERP.

Running Google Ads is a great way to get on to the first page while waiting for your organic search listing to move up in the SERP rankings. However – it is not cheap.

Google Ads work on a bidding system. If your competitor is also running ads and is willing to spend $10 a day, but you’re only willing to spend $9.99 a day, their ad will show higher than yours. Similarly, if Google Search only allocates 5 ad-spots at the top of the SERP, and your 5 nearest competitors are all willing to spend more than you on an ad, then you won’t appear in the top 5 because you’re not willing to pay as much as they are. Here’s a must-watch video on how Google Ads work.

Facebook and Instagram advertising is another way to reach prospects, but it’s a different style of targeting. Here’s a quick comparison:

• Google Ads will display based on what people are searching for. In other words, it’s keyword based – for example, “Tool storage for tradies in {your suburb}”, “Self storage in {your suburb}”, and so on. As a result, it’s more exact and more targeted, but more expensive as a result of competition amongst businesses similar to yours – especially large brands that are willing to, and can afford to, pay more per click. Quality, not quantity – but you’ll pay for it.
• Facebook & Instagram ads on the other hand, are great for brand awareness (something new businesses often need) and targeting those based on their interests and location. For example, we (or your chosen ad agency) could develop some creative to target interests such as fishing & boat owners (for boat storage), or caravans & campervans (for caravan storage) in your local catchment area. It’s not as effective as Google Ads in terms of getting ‘people that need it, or that need it now’ – but it’s good at getting the word out in your catchment area to tell them you exist. Quantity, not quality – but it can be pretty cheap.

Solution & recommended action:

• If you can afford to do so, running Google Ads is a great way to get to the top of the SERP while waiting for your organic listing to rank. However, realise that it’s not cheap – especially if you’ve got a big brand business or store in your area, or buying ads in your area (or for the same keywords).
• Running Facebook / Instagram ads will get you more traffic and it’s cheaper, but it’s more ‘general’ (brand awareness) traffic and is designed to make people aware your business exists. The people you reach may not immediately need or want your product.
• TIP: We can assist with self storage ad campaigns on both Google Ads and Facebook / Instagram.

 

Spread the Word

Ask customers to leave Google Reviews for your business (once you have a Google Maps / Google My Business page setup). If you have any big-name clients, getting reviews and traffic referrals from these will help your ranking. These should also be added to your website.

Solution & recommended action:

• Ask customers to leave reviews once they have purchased from you. If you’re a self storage business, why not create a “Leave a review” email or SMS automation that sends automatically from Storman as part of the storer move out process?
• Read our article on the importance of exit surveys.
• TIP: If we’ve built a website for you, ask about creating an exist survey (or refer to your original quotation for details).

 

Site Structure

We touched on this a little earlier in the article, but the structure of your website can play an important part in not only allowing humans to navigate your website, but also for Google Search to understand what pages sit where in the structure. Name pages based on their content, but also keep your core keywords front of mind when designing the folder structure of your website. Use menus and submenus to appropriately sort and categorise content to assist in this process.

Solution & recommended action:

• Structure pages and content (including folders) in a layout that makes sense to both humans and a machine (Google) that indexes content. If your business offers self storage at Bondi Beach, your folder structure should look something like www.your-domain-name(.com.au)/self-storage-bondi-beach/pagename – in other words, the core content folder for your most relevant content outside of your standard home & contact us pages, should be: “What you do (self storage) and where you do it (Bondi Beach)”.
• TIP: If we’ve built a website for you, we will have already structured your pages and folders using industry best practices.

 

Closing Remarks

Phew… ok, that was a lot to take in! Remember, there is no silver bullet to shooting up to #1 on the SERP immediately …otherwise this post would have been a lot shorter. However, one common thread exists through all of the tips we’ve mentioned in this article: Google rewards those that put in the effort.

Google intentionally does not make this process easy – otherwise everyone would win at this game… but we’re here to help! If you need a hand implementing some of the things we’ve discussed today, please get in touch.

 

Further Reading

• The benefits of business blogging / creating fresh content (Hubspot)
• Inbound Marketing: Attract, Engage & Delight (Hubspot)
• Ultimate guide to improving search rankings (Hubspot)
• A must-watch video on how Google Ads work