Posted by jocameron
Welcome to the sixth installment of our educational Next Level series! In our last episode, Jo took you on an adventure diving for treasure in the long tail of search. This time around we're answering the call for help when you feel like you've done all you can, but you're still not ranking. Read on and level up!
You’ve optimized your pages, written delightful title tags, concocted a gorgeous description to entice clicks, used your target keyword in your copy with similar words, and your content is good, like really good. As far as you’re concerned you’re doing everything you can on that page to say to Google “This is relevant content!” But, lo and behold, you’re not ranking.
Frustrating, right? Well, no more. I’m going to show you how you can discover what’s holding you back, and how to make sure your site is a lovely big target for visitors, just like this happy fellow:
You’ll learn some tricks you can do in your browser and then we’ll speed things up with some cat magic and pixie dust to sprinkle all over your site.
To start, pop open these tools in another tab so you’re ready to go:
- Campaign deliciousness in Moz Pro (if you don't have it set up, take the free trial for a spin to follow along)
- Your pot of keyword gold
Dreamy!
Step 1: Put in a quick call to Google
Well, you could try to call Big G (that’s what I like to call Google sometimes, just for kicks), but you may have better luck phoning yourself from 1995 with the idea for Google — then you could fix the rankings in your favor. Totally worth it.
Hello, operator?
Instead of messy and possibly future-altering time travel, you can put a call in by running a search operator like this:
site:yourfabsite.com
site:yourfabsite.com/blog
site:yourfabsite.com/blog/my-site-rocks
It’s like saying, "Hey, Big G, show me all the result you have in your index for yourfabsite.com." This is what you don’t want to see:
If you’re seeing the above, you won’t be able to rank because your site isn’t indexed. It’s got to be indexed before it can rank, and it’s got to be crawled before it can be indexed. Trying to rank without being indexed is like applying for a job and forgetting to attach your CV.
Search Console is here to console you
In the results page above, Google is directing you straight to the Google Search Console.
Not quite as fun as Xbox or as comforting as a hug from a loved one, Google’s Search Console is still pretty sweet all the same.
Go — right now, right, right now, don’t read any more, you should have already gone — go and set up your Search Console. Once you’re all set up and your site is verified, you can go to the page that I like to think of as the Fires of Mount Doom and throw in your precious.
https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/submit-url
Don’t worry, that analogy doesn’t hold up. It won’t destroy your site. :-)
Head to "Google Index" and then "Index Status" to see the data similar to what we looked at above, but in graph form! Definitely handy for tracking how your pages have been indexed over time.
If your site is not being indexed, you’re going to want to take a closer look at your robots.txt file. Check your Search Console Messages to see if there's a reason Google couldn’t index your site. If Google can’t access your robots.txt file they'll stop indexing to avoid crawling pages listed there.
Toolkit:
Google Search Console – Find out why you’re not being crawled and indexed
Further reading:
A Beginner's Guide to Google Search Console
How to check which URLs have been indexed by Google using Python
Step 2: Find out where you’re ranking
Now that you know your pages are being crawled and indexed, you want to get them to the top of the results where they gosh-darn-well should be, right?
Find your rankings with your bear hands
Yes, I DO mean bear hands. This is a manual job and your soft, tender, indoor keyboard hands just won’t do. So attach your bear hands and start digging. Search Google for your brand name, primary keywords, secondary keywords, words, and phrases you used on your page (one at a time, of course). Feel the ache in your chest as you scan the page: "Where is my jazzy title? My tantalizing description? My adorable URL?"
Turn up the volume
Not finding your site on the first page? Instead of clicking through to the many ooooos of Google, we’re going to change the settings in your browser to show 50 or 100 results per search so we can view more results with every search. I’m going to want to see A LOT more pet costume results, so I’ll click on the gear icon in Chrome and hit "Search Settings," then toggle up the "Results per page":
Now we’ve got a whole page of 50 or 100 results to search through. Use CMD + F for Mac (or CRTL + F for Windows) to search for your domain.
This process is great for doing a quick check to see if you’re in the top 50 or top 100. Remember that your browser can return personalized results when you’re logged into Google, so log out and enter incognito mode.
Like any good detective, make sure you record the keyword, position, and URL in a spreadsheet for Future You to discover and applaud Present-Day You on your fabulousness.
Start cooking with gas
Manual searches aren’t for everyone. I mean come on, we work in technology — we don’t want to be lugging keywords around the hot, dry Google search page, plugging them in one after another. I hear ya buddy, loud and clear. Let’s detach those bear hands, grab your list of keywords, and plug them straight into Keyword Explorer.
Check if you’re on the first page
Remember, you’ll need a Medium or higher Moz Pro subscription or a standalone Keyword Explorer subscription so you can create your keyword list.
Hit "Create or upload a new list" and choose "Enter Keywords" to pop those straight in there, bish-bash-bosh.
Open up a list you’ve created and pop in your URL to to see your rank from 1–10.
Want to see if you’re in the top 50?
Heck yeah! Take that same list and paste them into a new campaign in Moz Pro.
If you already have a campaign running you can also transfer these straight over from Keyword Explorer. Just check the box next to the keywords you want to track, then choose a campaign from the drop down.
You know before (about 30 seconds ago), when we talked about manual searches returning personalized results? Checking rankings in Moz Pro avoids all that nonsense by anonymizing the data and, in my experience, provides the most accurate results, showing what the "most" users see. Pretty snazzy, right?
A new campaign will build in about 30 minutes, which is just enough time to catch up on “Stranger Things” and reminisce about Winona Ryder circa 1990…
On the other hand, adding to an existing campaign will be a bit longer. You’ll see data as soon as your campaign updates next. So you can binge watch the whole series, because why not, right?
...and we’re back! Check out where you’re ranking for your target keywords, which URL is ranking, and over time, whether you’ve moved up or down.
We also pull in search volume from Moz’s Keyword Explorer to give you an idea of demand. When looking at search volume, don’t forget that the higher the demand, the more competition you’ll likely face. Don’t be disheartened by ranking well for keywords with lower search volume, especially if they convert better.
Tracking your rankings is crucial to understanding why you’re not performing as well as you expected. If you’re seeing a lot of down arrows, you need to investigate who is jumping ahead of you and why.
Dig into keywords with falling rankings
Let’s find some keywords that have that sad little down arrow, meaning we’ve dropped down in rankings since our last update.
Here's a little bundle of keywords that I can investigate. I’ll click on the keyword to open up the Analysis report and scroll down to "Your Performance." Now we can see a historical graph of your rankings and track those other sites who want to push us to one side. And what do we have here?
They’ve gone and nipped in front of us! This will not stand! It’s likely that for some reason your competitors result has been getting stronger engagement for this keyword. More clicks and more people who do click staying on the page. So let’s find out what you can do to set things right.
Toolkit:
Keyword Explorer Lists – Check your rankings on the fly
Moz Pro – Track your rankings (and your competitors’) over time
Step 3: Make sure you and your content are best friends
There are 2 parts to this step, just like those ‘Best Friend’ heart necklaces that were so popular in the '90s. Separately they look like BE FRIE and ST NDS, but together…. awww, the secret code is unlocked.
| Get your basic on-page optimization in order. |  |
Check your content is tip-top quality |
Don’t go changing (too often)
I don’t want to recommend you jumping in and making changes to content too often. Even Google needs time to register your updates. However, if your content is a bit dusty and you’re losing out to competitors, then it’s time to check that everything you think is in place is actually in place.
View your page like a bot
I like to think of this as a “bot’s-eye-view.” When a little bot comes along, it doesn’t go, “Oooh, look at that lovely header image! Oooh, I love that font, the white space is really working for me! Oh, how the Internet has changed since my days as a junior bot trawling through gifs of dancing babies!" It reads the code and moves on. We can do this too, with a little bit of knowhow.
Using Firefox or Chrome, you can right-click and view the page source.
If you’re unfamiliar with reading code, it’ll look pretty intimidating.
We’re going to use CMD + F (or CRTL + F for Windows) to hunt for the bits and pieces we’re after.
Pro tip: If you’re seeing og:title, this is a Facebook tag.
Likewise, if you’re using the meta property="og:description," this is also a Facebook tag. These help format posts when the URL is shared on Facebook. You’ll want to make sure you also have Title and Description tags link these:
<title>The best title for this page</title>
<meta name="description" content="The best description for this page" />
Basic page optimization
This is relatively straightforward because you control your pages. However, maybe for that very same reason, it’s still a bit of a stumbling block for beginners. I’ve been there. I once spent a whole morning trying to write a single title tag.
If you’re confused and locked in a mind-melt of madness because you can’t figure out if you should use the primary keyword and/or the secondary keyword in the title tag, chill your boots.
Here is a brisk and fairly brief run-through on how to get into a productive page optimization mindset.
Title tag basics
This is the bit you click on in the SERPs. Should be about 55 characters of punchy goodness that is relevant to your content. Because it’s relevant to your content, it includes the words you want to rank for and accurately describes what you’re talking about. You better believe Google is paying attention to click signals, so draw that click with your awesome headline. Think about the titles you click on when you’re searching for lovely things. Do your own searches to see what title tags are out there; it’s not like they’re hard to find, they’re literally a click away.
Description tag basics
This is the bit of text under the title tag in the SERPs. They should be about 155 characters of tender lovin’ poetry that talks to the user like they’re a real human being, because they are, and so are you (unless you’re part of the cat colony I suspect controls large portions of the web). This is not a direct ranking factor, but it can heavily influence clicks. Clicks from humans. And what do clicks do? They signal to Google that you’re hot stuff!
On-page copy
Yep, you’re going to want to pop your keywords here, too. But really, let’s not get too hung up on this. If you’re writing something super-duper about your topic, this will flow naturally. Make it as long as it needs to be to make your point. Don’t rattle off the same words over and over; use language to the best of your ability to describe your topic. Remember all those clicks you worked so hard to get with your title and description tags? Well, if they all bounce back to search, you just know Google is paying attention to this. Your content has to be worth the click.
Go and look at what type of content is already ranking. This is not an exercise in scraping content, but a way to make sure that your content isn’t just as good, but much better.
This task can be done manually for a small site or for a few pages you’ve cherry-picked, no problem.
Check your whole site regularly
Maybe you've been creating content like a content-creating super machine and you might have skipped a few description tags. Or maybe you copy and pasted a title tag or two. In this case, you’ll want to check that it’s all hunky-dory on a larger scale and on a regular basis.
We’re going back to our Moz Pro campaign to take the heavy lifting out of this job.
Head to the Rankings tab and hit that little "Optimize" button.
Once you hit that little button, you’ve set off a chain of events where our bot looks at the keyword you’re targeting, then has a good old dig-around on your page and gives you a score out of 100.
We’re hoping for that wheel of destiny to roll around to 100.
If we make it part-way around, it’s time to look at the suggestions to see how you can improve your on-page optimization.
Focus on top-level pages, pages that convert, and high-authority pages first.
Toolkit:
Moz Pro Page Optimization – Check that your whole site is optimized correctly
Further reading:
8 Old School SEO Practices That Are No Longer Effective - Whiteboard Friday
Step 4: Become a keyword connoisseur
It’s easy to become fixated on a keyword beyond what is reasonable or healthy. Are you carrying a torch for a golden keyword? Stalking it in the SERPs even though it’s completely entranced with the likes of Wikipedia, eBay, AdWords, and Image Packs?
Ranking in the high-click zone for your keywords is all about beating other sites. This special, golden ticket to traffic wonderland might be a good long term goal, but you’re not going to get to the top of the results in the near future.
On the other hand, maybe you’re afraid of competition, so you only target keywords with very low difficulty.
This can be a winning strategy if the keywords have strong intent and you’re targeting the long tail of search, but you don’t want to put in all that work creating content and find that no one is searching for it. No searches means no traffic, and no traffic means no humans to click a thing that makes a person somewhere in the world look at their analytics data and smile.
A little bit of competition is a good thing — it indicates a healthy, profitable industry.
So we’re looking for a sweet spot: keywords with some demand and less competition. I’m going to break down what organic competition is, and how you know what level of keyword difficulty you can target.
What's the meaning of this so-called 'competition?'
If you want to rank organically, your competition is the other sites that are currently on the first page for the keywords. It’s not the total number of sites that are using your keywords in their content, and it’s not the AdWords competition.
If someone on your team, or an agency or a client sends you competition data that’s defined as low, medium, or high, this is very likely to be AdWords competition, and it relates to the cost-per-click.
Moz’s Keyword Difficulty score uses the top 10 organic results to calculate the Difficulty metric. It’s a score out of 100, where a higher number means that the competition is strong, and it may take you longer to see results from your efforts. Every search you bash into Keyword Explorer shows you the Difficulty score, and you can build these into lists so you can compare related keywords.
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