Google rewards high-quality content and penalises low-quality, thin content. If your website contains irrelevant or unengaging content, it won't rank well on Google. To understand why your website isn't ranking, you can use tools like SERPs.com to check where a page ranks for certain keywords or terms. Here are five common reasons why your website isn't ranking well, along with five ways to improve your SEO and content to outperform the competition.

Tough Rivals

The more competitive your target keywords are, the more SEO work it will take for your website to reach the first page. If your website isn't ranking for its target keywords, it could be because of serious competition. Understanding your competitors is key. Use software like Moz or Majestic to gain insights into the competition for your keyword before you start creating content and building links. This will empower you to make informed decisions and improve your website's ranking.

Insufficient Optimisation

Is your website properly optimised for organic search? On-page optimisation plays a crucial role in helping Google understand your site. Factors like keyword-rich title tags, concise meta descriptions, and optimised URLs are essential. Other important steps include creating an XML sitemap, adding canonical tags to avoid duplicate content, and crawling your website to fix errors. Tools like Yoast SEO and Moz On-Page Grader can help with on-page optimisation. Once you've optimised your website, you can focus on creating great content and building links.

Skinny Content

Does your website's content need to be thicker/fatter? Google rewards substantial (helpful, valuable), high-quality content. Since Google's Panda update, user experience has been crucial for ranking well. To improve rankings, expand content and incorporate relevant subheadings with keywords. But remember, the focus should always be on creating high-quality, engaging content for human audiences rather than just for search engines. Good copywriting and the Skyscraper Technique can help boost rankings. So, be inspired to create the best resource in its category.

Lacking Good Links

Despite strong content and on-page optimisation, if your website isn't ranking well, it may be due to a lack of quality links. Google's algorithm considers relevance and approval to determine search result rankings. More and better links improve a page's perceived relevance. Links from related websites and with relevant anchor text are particularly valuable. Avoid overusing exact-match keywords and focus on link quality, quantity, and relevance for better rankings.

Algorithmic Penalties

Unfortunately, your website might not rank for its target keywords due to a manual or algorithmic penalty. Google actively combats unethical link-building through actions like the Penguin updates and mass de-indexing. Bad link-building practices that can lead to penalties include buying links, participating in link schemes, and using automated programs to create links. You can check for manual actions and penalties in Google Search Console under "Search Traffic" and "Manual Actions." Manual penalties are usually given for bad link-building practices or on-page optimisation issues; removing them is difficult. It's better to focus on avoiding penalties than trying to reverse them.

To conclude;

The world of digital marketing can be a minefield, so for more help and info feel free to reach out! 

Best,
Ngozi Onwuchekwa
Marketing Director
ADM LTD

E: [email protected]