You would think that with so many programs and Rank Tracking solutions available, ranking high on Google is not so difficult. Nothing could be further than the truth. Having access to these tools is just the beginning. After all, there is a reason why they say that “content is king”. 

And if you’re wondering why your content is not ranking high, it might be because you…

Are Targeting Too Competitive Keywords 

This is the most common reason why the site’s content is not ranking. People tend to forget that if you are targeting competitive keywords, your website needs to be strong enough to match the competition – especially if you want to rank on the first page. Usually, the ones dominating on the first page are high authority sites such as Wikipedia or Amazon. Before creating any content or building links, you need to be aware of and understand the competition. 

Are Not Updating Regularly

Publishing once a week is not enough to see a growth in search ranking. To have a chance to rank, you would have to publish 2 or 3 pieces of new content each week – it will show people that you’re still relevant. Websites that look like they haven’t been updated in years will never rank high. Another thing is that publishing more content means that Google has more chances of indexing it for different keywords. 

Have Too ‘Thin’ Content

Another reason that your content is not ranking might be that it’s too ‘thin’. A research done by SerpIQ shows that the pages which ranked the highest for competitive keywords have, on average, more than 2.000 words of content. Light content without much value is often outperformed by a more relevant one. So what you need to do in this case is to make your content longer, more detailed and of high quality. Instead of focusing on the search engine, focus on real people – in the end, they will be the ones to read your content and share it if they like it.  

Have a Slow Website

Have you ever thought that your content might not be ranking well because your website is too slow? For example, if your site takes 5 or 6 seconds to load, 40% of the people will abandon it before it even loads. That’s because, as research shows, almost half of the people will leave the page if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. To fix it, you can, for example, move to a faster web host – instead of using shared hosting, consider changing to VPS or dedicated hosting. It is more expensive, but it might upgrade your position in Google. Another option is to start shrinking image sizes – big images put pressure on your databases, which might be the reason for your website being slow. 

Are Using Low-Quality Backlinks

If you don’t know what a backlink is, then you might have your answer to why you are not ranking in Google. As the name suggests, backlinks are the links that point back to your website. They are an indicator of how trustworthy or reliable your website is. Remember – it’s quality that matters, not quantity. Hundreds of links from low-quality websites are a lot less valuable than just one from a relevant website in your niche. The best way in which you can fix it is by providing high-quality content. You can also share your content with other websites, or write a piece for them and add a backlink to your own site. 

Are Not Active on Social Media 

Nowadays, promoting yourself on social media is one of the most important factors if you want to achieve success in anything – it doesn’t matter if it’s your business or your websites. All of the biggest companies in the world know it and have their own social media accounts. If you don’t use social media, it might affect your position in search engine rankings, mainly because it creates doubt if you are as credible as your competition. If you want to fix it, start by creating your website’s social media profiles – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or even Pinterest. Provide entertaining, high-quality content that will make people want to share it with others. You can also add social media buttons to your website through which your readers will be redirected to your social media. 

Conclusion 

Improving your website’s position in Google ranking is actually not that hard. However, you need to know what is wrong so that you can fix it. In most cases, you won’t even need an SEO company to help you. The more you understand your website, the bigger the chance you have of ranking high.