Website Condition and History
Website condition and history refer to the current layout, functionality, and history of a site's performance.
New domains will take longer to show success than established ones since they don't yet have a high domain authority or quality backlinks. Domain authority is a ranking metric used for websites to determine the credibility and success of a performing website and content.
Although you may see quicker results if you have a more established domain, this isn't guaranteed. It is unlikely that you will see instant results if the domain has previously been affected by a penalty, a core algorithm update, or has been subjected to SEO work that is not allowed by Google's guidelines.
Competition and Market
Competition and market play a significant role in the success rate of SEO rankings.
As expected, real-time SEO results often appear much faster in niche markets with low competition and search queries than in competitive ones.
SEO needs to be relevant. Therefore, it is vital to conduct essential research on content authority and competitor strategies.
If your market is highly saturated, this will be reflected in the SEO Keyword Difficulty scores. This is a percentage score from 0 – 100, ranking a keyword on the search volume vs how many businesses compete for the same word. In other words, the higher the Keyword difficulty on a word, the harder it will be to rank on search engines.
It is essential to understand the logic behind what makes a good keyword when deciding on which one to use. A keyword with a high reach volume and low difficulty score are what you should target within your content. It indicates low competitiveness and an increased number of readers interested in the topic, reflecting positively on authority scores.
Content Authority
A common phrase in the digital marketing world is that content is key. Content is one of the top-ranking factors. When you create great content, you should aim to match a searcher's intent, taking the time to review existing rankings and determine how to improve. There is a lot to be learned from competitors' content that is already doing well; this enables you to incorporate similar elements into your content.
Your site may take longer to rank when you produce low-quality content, but great content that adds something new and well-planned can rank faster in search engines. Combining on-page and off-page optimisation also contributes to content authority, for example, using backlinks from other sites or promotion methods, considering the level of exposure something gets on social media.
There is no exact formula for increasing content authority; however, taking initiative steps often places content in a better position to rank well.
Show experience – Content performance trends have highlighted that readers prefer factual information, so credible sources are often higher ranked. Importantly, if you have several years of experience in the industry, highlight this throughout your content!
Be specific – This should go without saying, but all content released should be precise, fact-checked and clear to readers. By emphasising the purpose behind the content, you can engage readers for longer, decrease bounce rate, and increase the content's authority.
Include evidence – When content is data-driven, it is usually more authoritative, as readers are presented with unarguable facts. Boosting the site's credibility will make readers more inclined to continue reading and stay on the site.
Content Optimisation
Optimising content often focuses on relevance, length, and location of work produced.
Understanding what your audience is looking for when they type search keywords is crucial when optimising content. The search engines recognise relevance through a series of low click-through rates against high bounce rates and will ultimately rank businesses lower if they are not hitting the right market.
The keywords that are used within a search vary depending on the user's search intent:
- Find a particular website (navigational)
- Get the answer to a question (informational)
- Research information before making a purchase (investigational)
- Make a purchase (transactional)
A well-optimised website will include content focused on all of these search types, reaching the largest target audience possible and, as a result, producing better and quicker SEO rankings.
While there are no exact timeframes to see SEO results, outsourcing a reliable team of SEO experts gives businesses the upper hand in optimising and recognising trends before competitors. Get in touch with our team today to discuss how we can rank your business better.
