How To Get To The Top Of Google Without Paying

Frustrated with your lack of website visitors?

Don’t have the money for Google ads?

Wondering how to get to the top of Google without paying?

It’s your lucky day.

We know how disappointing it can be to execute flawless website design or set up an online store, just to hear crickets and get zero traffic.

We are here to tell you it gets better. Follow the secrets to getting a top ranking without draining your bank account like there’s a leak at the bottom.

After executing these tips, you’ll start to see your rankings climb to the first page.

Utilize Search Engine Optimization (SEO)and Link Building

There are two ways to rank at the top of Google: paid advertising and SEO.

Since our goal is not to spend money, we’ll focus on SEO.

SEO is when you optimize your site’s content with the right target keywords to organically appear on Google’s search results for said keywords. SEO is not just about Google, it’s about optimizing your content for all search engines.

A Denver immigration law firm, for example, would want to rank on Google’s first page for “immigration lawyer Denver” to acquire new customers in need of their services. To accomplish this, they want a solid SEO plan to attract clients to their business website.

There are a variety of components that go into an effective SEO plan:

• Low competition keywords
• Quality content
• Relevant backlinks
• Expansive content promotion
• Extensive research
• Knowledge of algorithms

Having a comprehensive SEO plan can take a lot of time and effort. But without fail, this all pays off in the end when your website traffic (and revenue) soars.

Our goal is to help you get your website ranked on Google without spending money.

1. Go After Low Competition Keywords

It can be tempting to try and compete with broad keywords that you know will be searched a million times per day. Don’t fall for this trap. Targeting low competition keywords can help your website reach the top of Google searches.

Many of the industry leaders are going after these keywords for their SEO plans. You’ll find better success when you target less competitive keywords, especially in the beginning.

Say you own an ecommerce nail polish brand. You don’t want to try and compete for the keyword “nail polish”. Companies across the world are fighting for those same search results.

Instead, you will want to add a unique wrinkle to better stand out. This could be attempting to rank for the keyword “animal print nail polish”. Notice how this keyword is much more specific, has two extra keywords, and is still a popular search to drive traffic and sales. That’s how you do effective ecommerce marketing — work smarter, not harder.

When all said and done, finding the right keywords can be a trial and error process.

But the more you practice and start recognizing what works for your business, the sooner you’ll fall in love with the results.

2. Optimizing for Both Local and Non-Local Searches

Optimizing for Both Local and Non-Local Searches is essential for how to get your Google listing higher. Understanding your audience and their geographical location is crucial for effective SEO. If your business primarily serves a local community, it’s important to focus on local SEO strategies. This includes optimizing your Google My Business listings and incorporating local keywords into your content. For instance, if you run a bakery in Boston, you might want to include keywords like “Boston bakery” or “best pastries in Boston” in your content.

However, if you want to reach a wider audience or if your services aren’t tied to a specific location, you’ll need to optimize for “Google search without a location”. This involves focusing on broader keywords and creating content that appeals to users regardless of their location. Tools like Google Trends or Keyword Planner can be invaluable for finding both local and non-local keywords that are relevant to your business.

Creating location-specific landing pages can boost local SEO, while broader, topic-focused pages can help attract a non-local audience. Online reviews and ratings also play a significant role in local SEO, so encourage your customers to leave reviews on platforms like Google and Yelp. Lastly, don’t forget about the power of social media. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram can help you reach both local and global audiences, even when users are conducting a Google search without a location.

3. Write Quality Content

Having quality content is the bare minimum cost of admission for driving organic traffic. But winning doesn’t come from bare minimum.

Raise your standards. Write the best content on the internet for each piece of content you publish. Write quality content and ensure your title tag is optimized for better visibility.

In this content, Google has specific expectations for what you should do:

• Producing relevant information for what others are looking for.
• Having an accessible website that takes one click to navigate.

Understanding the search intent of your target audience is crucial for writing quality content.

Since you want to rank on the first page, you need to be complying with Google’s guidelines for what quality content looks like.

A tool called Google Search Console helps ensure your page is up to par. Google Search Console generates reports on search traffic performance so you can gauge how well your website is performing.

Once you get your report, Google will offer you suggestions to improve your website to boost your rankings.

One thing you absolutely need to avoid is using deceptive technology to “trick” Google into ranking you higher. Google will figure out what you’re doing and will prevent your site from ever reaching a top rank. Even worse, you may get suspended or banned from appearing.

Besides producing relevant content, you also need to be constantly updating your content. You can repurpose your outdated content to add new, unique twists that keep it valuable to users.

At the end of the day, you should always be valuing quality content over quantity. Spending extra time to ensure your content fits Google’s expectations will pay off in the long run. Writing quality content is key to getting your website noticed on Google.

4. The Importance of an Optimized Meta Description for SEO

A meta description is a short snippet that describes the content of a web page. It appears under the page title in search engine results and plays a significant role in SEO. A well-written meta description can entice users to click on your page, thereby increasing your click-through rate and potentially improving your search engine ranking.

When writing meta descriptions, it’s important to use action-oriented language, include your target keyword, and ensure the description accurately reflects the content on the page. This can significantly improve your website’s visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs).

Meta descriptions also play a role when your content is shared on social media. The meta description is often used as the description of the page, so it’s important to make it compelling. However, be wary of common mistakes such as duplicating meta descriptions across multiple pages or exceeding the recommended length. These can negatively impact your SEO efforts.

5. Acquire Backlinks

What’s the most important Google ranking factor? Backlinks. Acquiring backlinks from reputable sources can significantly improve your Google rankings.

A backlink is when another site that is not your own links to your site.

This acts as a vote of confidence from another site to yours, letting Google know that you are more credible than sites with less backlinks. (Speaking of confidence, check out these 13 confidence building activities.)

Be patient. Receiving backlinks takes time between the reaching out, writing guest posts, and doing roundups.

This is one of the reasons that producing quality and unique content is so important. Publishing posts with information that no one has seen before will increase your chances of someone linking to your page.

Now the authority of the page linking to you does matter:

• Pages with more domain authority can increase your chances with ranking. It is not easy to get a well-established site to backlink your page.
• Relation matters; sites that are in your industry or are related to your business will increase your rankings.
• Google checks how many times a site has linked to you before. If you get links from a variety of different sites that have never linked to you before, you will be in good shape.

There is another way to increase your backlinks. Guest blogging can be a great way to get your name out and build your industry authority.

Find a business that is similar to you and ask if you can write a blog for their site.

You can also link from one page of your site to another to provide readers with more information about the topics you’re writing about. This helps too.

Need help driving credible links to your website? Check out our link building service.

*6. Partner With An SEO Company (paid option)

No, this is not a bait and switch. You can accomplish insane results to the tune of millions of organic views without paying any SEO company.

We’re adding this option because it’s another way to get to the top of Google.

(Or you can do a profit-sharing agreement with an SEO company where you only pay them off the profits generated. Boom. Still in the guidelines now.)

Partnering with an SEO company, like us, can help you get the results you want in a timely manner.

Getting Google to send you tons of traffic can be extremely time consuming. You have to stay up to date with all the new trends and the latest algorithm updates.

The best part about partnering with an expert is that you can decide how much you want them to do and how much you want to do on your own.

You can use an SEO company to:

• Start you in the right direction and help you come up with an SEO plan
• Conduct keyword research and manage your SEO efforts to ensure you will get your desired results
• Deliver a list of blog post topics for you to write
• Allow them to completely run a campaign to deliver ROI for your business
• Ensure your core pages are receiving backlinks from websites with domain authority

Regardless of what you decide, you will learn a lot and have momentum to skyrocket your rankings.

Conclusion

Ranking first on Google takes time—just like anything worthwhile.

If you’re wondering ‘how do I rank on Google?’, following these steps will help you achieve your goal.

Though my guarantee is your rankings and traffic will improve if you stay committed. Work smart, and we’ve shown today how you can get a top spot on Google without spending a dollar. If you’re wondering ‘how do I rank on Google?’, following these steps will help you achieve your goal.

However, if your time is better spent elsewhere, partner with our SEO team to climb atop the rankings as you sit back and relax. We’ll do the hard work for you.

Do it yourself or work with us. Whatever you decide, it’s time you find out what all the hype is about. What would ranking on the first page of Google do for your business?