This guide presents my 10 most practical tips for learning how to rank higher on Google.

First, let's talk about an exciting day that we all experienced: you just create your blog ! You go straight to Google and type in the name of your blog
 only to find that it doesn't show up in Google results at all.

Even after waiting a few hours – or a few days – your blog still doesn't show up on Google. What happens then?

Don't worry, chances are you haven't done anything wrong. In fact, Google's search algorithm needs a bit of time to recognize a new blog and decide how its content will rank.

The good news is that you can do something right now to dramatically speed up this process and get higher Google rankings sooner rather than later.

In this guide, I'll teach you exactly what to do to learn how to rank better on Google (fast).

Why it's important to rank higher on Google (and what it means)

Google is the largest search engine in the world, with 85,55% of the global search market.

This means your blog really needs to show up on Google.

Even if you expect your traffic to come from sources other than search engines — like an email list, social media pages, or word of mouth — Google still matters.

Let's say someone comes across your blog name in an email or on social media. They might not have time to check it and then.

If they Google your blog name later and you don't show up, they're likely to forget all about you. So, what you want is for your blog to appear at the top of search results, even for your own name.

Why it's important to rank higher on Google (and what it means)

Of course, most blogs find that they get a lot of their traffic from search engines. Therefore, you want your blog to show up when someone searches for the type of information or content you offer.

For example, if someone types "blog keyword research" into Google, my article How to Do Keyword Research for Your Blog in 2023 should appear in the first results. You would even find an excerpt where Google shows a small preview of the article, which makes my article more likely to be clicked and read.

Here, “blog keyword research” is a keyword. (Yes, it's more than one word, but that's normal for keywords.)

We'll cover keywords and how to use them a bit more later in this guide. For now, what you need to know is that:

  • Blog posts have different ranks in Google for different keywords: My Blog Keyword Research Post Appears on the Front Page
  • Other bloggers will try to rank for the same keywords as you: This means that you might not hit the #1 spot for a keyword – but even if you can be in the top 5 or top 10 (on the first page of Google results), that's a big achievement.

Getting your website to rank highly in Google and other search engines is called search engine optimization (SEO), and we'll cover the basics you need to know below.

Ready to start?

10 tips to rank higher on Google with your blog in 2023

How do you get your blog (and articles) to not only show up in Google's search results, but rank higher than your competitors'? Here's what you need to know.

1. Make sure your blog is live (not “coming soon”)

First, check that your blog or website is really hosted on the Internet. If you use a WordPress Plugin maintenance enabled on it, you may be able to see your blog, but no one else can.

To check this in WordPress, log into your dashboard and find your settings. Coming Soon plugin, usually under the Settings menu. Check that your Coming Soon plugin is set to “off” or “Disabled”:

Screenshot of WordPress maintenance mode (Make sure your blog is live to show up on Google)

You can also double-check by using a new private window to visit your site: it should show up without a Coming Soon message.

2. Check search engine visibility settings

When you were setting up your blog, you didn't want search engines to find it – because it wasn't ready for visitors yet. (So ​​if a web developer created your blog for you, they may have enabled this setting as well.)

In your WordPress admin area, navigate to Settings→ Playback. Make sure the area Visibility by search engines is not checked.

If it is checked, uncheck it and click the " Save Changes " at the end of the page.

Trick: Have pages under construction or private pages that you don't want to show up in Google's search results just yet? Highly recommend the free plugin Yoast SEO , which allows you to do not index certain specific pages.

3. Create Google Search Console and Google Analytics accounts

Google offers many free tools that can help you improve your website's ranking on Google and increase traffic to your blog posts.

I strongly recommend that you create accounts with:

  • Google Search Console: to verify that your site is indexed (listed) by Google and that there are no technical problems with your articles and pages
  • Google Analytics: to see a lot of useful data about your website traffic, like where your readers come from, what pages they visited and how long they stayed on your site

You'll need to verify your website to set up these accounts, so Google knows that you really own the website. It's easier to set up Google Analytics first, then Google Search Console.

So you can use the WordPress plugin Insert Headers and Footers to add the Google Analytics tracking code, then you can also choose to use this code to verify your site with Google Search Console.

4. Generate a Sitemap and submit it to Google Search Console

Google must “crawl” websites to add them to its search lists: imagine a spider that roams the web!

To help Google crawl your site, you can submit a sitemap. This tells Google the URL (web address) of all the pages on your website.

It is very easy to create a sitemap in WordPress. In fact, you already have one, unless you didn't update your WordPress installation until August 2020 (that's a scary idea).

You just need to enter the domain of your website in your web browser and add /wp-sitemap.xml at the end, like this:

blogpascher.com/wp-sitemap.xml

You should see a list of 2 or more links, depending on your sitemap structure and if you are using an SEO plugin like Yoast.

Don't worry about what your sitemap means. All you have to do is copy this URL and type it into Google Search Console. Go to Index → ​​Sitemap in Google Search Console, then enter and submit your sitemap URL:

Submit your sitemap in search console for higher ranking on Google and index your website

Even if you've been blogging for a while, it's smart to go into your Google Search Console and check that you've already submitted your sitemap.

If you hope to rank higher on Google, giving them useful information to make sense of your blog is a good idea.

5. Link to your blog from your social media profiles

Social media websites are huge sites that have a large number of inbound links from all over the web. This makes it a great place to put a link to your website: Google can follow that link from your social media profile to find your website.

Of course, it also makes a lot of sense to include your website in your bio – and post links to your blog content. This way, you hope that some people click through on social media to check out your website.

Make sure all of your social media profiles include a link to your website. There will usually be a special section for this, but you can usually add one (or more!) links in your bio.

While these links won't get too much action at the start of your blogging journey (unless you're super active on a particular social media channel), they still serve an important purpose. to help your blog rank higher high on Google.

By pointing links to your website from highly trusted websites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and others, you are giving Google's crawlers a link to follow on your site. And this is how trust and authority are transmitted online.

6. Write useful and long-form blog content that readers will appreciate

Most of your Google traffic will not come from your homepage. It will rather be towards your blog posts individual.

The more good content you create, the more opportunities you have to appear in Google search results.

How to Write a Blog Posting Plan - Rank Higher on Google

To maximize your chances, write blog posts long-format type. Definitions of “long format” content vary widely, but most people agree that it should be written at least 1 words, if not 000 or more. Blog posts under 1 words are much less likely to rank highly (see my guide to blog post length).

Your content should also be useful. That means :

  • You should pick a topic people want to know about: Instead of coming with blog post ideas, try to choose a topic that comes up a lot in conversations with other people in your niche, a topic that you needed help with as a beginner, or a topic that you see a lot of people asking on dating sites. questions like Quora.
  • You need to make your post as useful as possible: This could mean including additional resources and links, citing what other people have said on the subject, adding how-to tips, explaining any technical terms, including a Table of Contents (on a longer post) a summary, and more.

And your content should be enjoyable! That doesn't necessarily mean it has to be funny or entertaining — unless that's a key part of your brand — but it should be engaging and easy to read.

Use conversational language, include high-quality blog images, captions, and plenty of white space, and make sure your font size is large enough to make your post easy to read on all devices.

For more detailed advice, here are all the best practices on how to write a blog post that will attract readers.

7. List your website in reliable online directories to get higher rankings in Google.

There are a number of online directories where it is worth listing your blog or website. Even if it has no benefit for search engines, just having a link to your website can help Google find it and rank it faster.

Here are some of the best online directories you can submit your site to:

8. Optimize your blog posts for ranking in Google (On-Page SEO)

The first basic principle of SEO Smart on-page is that you need to thoughtfully use the keywords (search terms) that your readers would use when searching for your content. This lets new readers know they are in the right place and also helps search engines rank your content for those search terms.

This is not "keyword stuffing", a concept of SEO obsolete which involves placing many keywords repeatedly in your content. This makes your posts or pages difficult to read and will not help you rank well in search engines.

It's best to do keyword research and then write natural content that reads well for both readers and search engines.

To improve the ranking of your content on Google, you need to use keywords strategically:

  • The SEO title of your blog post : This is the title that appears in Google search results. It doesn't have to be the same as your article's page title. You can set a different SEO title using a plugin like Yoast SEO. (Obviously, you shouldn't make it too different, or it might confuse readers).
  • The meta description of your blog post : Again, you can add it using Yoast SEO.
  • The subtitles of your article : And where it reads naturally, in the text of your article. Remember, don't force keywords into your article. You need to make it clear and useful for readers, not just search engines.

9. Guest post on other blogs to build your authority (offsite SEO)

Above the SEO on-page (what you do with your content on your site), off-page SEO is very important for your site to rank well in Google search results.

Off-page SEO is all about getting high-quality links to your website. You have hopefully already gotten some links from good blog directories, but another way to get some is to write Guest articles on other sites in the niche of your blog.

Un guest blog post is a piece of free content that you offer to another blog. In return, you'll get at least a "bio" at the bottom of the guest post, where you can link to your homepage, a blog post, or (hopefully) whatever you want within the limit. reasonable.

This is a great way to improve your rankings in Google for your website and for specific posts/pages on your site. Links from other blogs tell Google that your site is worth ranking.

In addition, the more you make yourself known through Guest articles, the more likely it is that other people will start linking to your blog, especially if you offer a lot of useful information there.

10. Use clear, descriptive titles on your blog posts.

We touched on this point earlier when we were talking about on-page SEO, but I wanted to reiterate how important it is to give every blog post a title clear and descriptive.

Let's say you're looking for tips on how to write better blog posts and you come across two posts titled:

  • Writing tips
  • 10 Powerful Tips to Write Better Blog Posts (Fast)

Which of these articles are you most likely to click on in a Google search result?

With the second article you know exactly what to expect. It is relevant to what you want. He makes a clear promise: you will receive 10 tips, they are powerful and it won't take you too long. All other factors being equal, the second title will always rank higher on Google.

This title is much clearer and more descriptive. It's not only better for readers, but also for search engines, which can see from the title what your article is about. If someone searches “write better blog posts” on Google, your post might just rank for that term.

Find your new blog on Google

So you've followed some of the tips above: at a minimum, you've made sure your blog is active, you've verified that it's visible to search engines, and you've submitted a sitemap to Google Search Console.

How to find your blog on Google?

1. Find your blog name

The first step is to simply type your blog name into Google. If it's online on Google, in most cases it should appear at the top of the results.

However, if your blog name is used by other websites or is a common phrase, your blog may not appear on the first page even though it is indexed. .

2. Disable SafeSearch

Sometimes Google's SafeSearch service can prevent your blog from appearing in search results. This is the case if your blog contains adult content.

To disable SafeSearch, go to Google in your browser, then click Settings → Search Settings in the bottom right. At the top of the page, you should see the checkbox for SafeSearch. Uncheck it, then click the Save button at the bottom of the screen.

3. Search using the command site:

Google allows you to find results from a specific site using the command site : in your search query.

For example, by typing site:blogpascher.com, you will only get results from my website.

You can use this command to find your website on Google. (Your homepage should be at the top of the list).

To find posts or pages on your site, type a keyword before the site: command, like this:

tips for blogging site:blogpascher.com

If you see a message saying "Your search did not match any documents", this means that your site is not indexed by Google. Make sure you've spelled your site's domain name correctly (you can see I added an extra "y" in my domain name, below).

How to rank even better on Google (promote your blog content)

It's not enough to appear on Google, especially if you want make money blogging.

Your articles and pages should rank higher on Google for the most important keywords in your niche.

The good news is that while some SEO factors will always be out of your control, many others are easy to influence.

The next step is to learn more about SEO. Spending more time optimizing your blog will help your content rank higher on Google (faster).

Of course, search engines aren't your only source of traffic. Take a look at these other ways to Promote your blog and you'll soon get more readers, leads, and customers.

Remember, though, that it all starts with getting your blog or website listed on Google.

Make sure you've followed at least tips 1-6 in this guide, before going any further in the search for better rankings for your content on Google.