How to be first on Google?

Being first on Google on high traffic keywords is the wish of all website owners who are interested in SEO and natural referencing on Google . The reasons for this are clear: achieving the top rank or top 3 search engine results translates to a significant increase in visits to your site, visibility and sales potential.

With 93% of purchase journeys starting on the internet , not using this channel would be a mistake.

The first organic result in Google search has an average click-through rate of 28.5% .

Unfortunately, high rankings in the SERPs rarely happen by chance. This article therefore aims to give you the tips and tricks to achieve this.

Why is the first page of Google so important?

Google, the number 1 search engine

Google is the leading search engine in France with over 90% market share. To understand its dominance, it is interesting to look at the history of Google since its inception and understand what technologies and philosophies have allowed it to stand out from competitors.

The first page of search results (also called SERP) captures the bulk of Internet users. The first 10 positions are the most sought after since they get 94% of all clicks and 90% of Internet users never look beyond the first.

Ranking your site on the second page is like being invisible, so the competition for the first is fierce.

A SERP consists of several elements:

• The top part usually consists of 3 or 4 paid text ads associated with the keyword used to search on Google.
• If he thinks the user is looking for a local business nearby, he will add a section under paid ads called Local Pack.
• When a user formulates a question or specific searches, a site excerpt can also position itself at the top of the list. This extract is called position zero.
• The other results, called natural results, are a selection of content deemed relevant by the algorithms for the query formulated during the Internet user's search.

Paid ads (Google Ads) get about 25% of all clicks . Compared to organic search results, paid advertising is seen as less trusted by users, but it's a great opportunity for businesses that can't rank highly in organic results.

Using SEO and SEA together remains a winning strategy that complements each other to give better results.

Understand how Google works

To succeed in SEO it is essential to understand what he wants. For this, it is important to understand the operation of the search engine as a whole, from indexing to the display of results following the entry of keywords.

Understanding Google requires knowing:

The crawl process.
The indexing process.
The positioning criteria and the operation of the algorithms.

Why are the first places on Google essential?

The number 1 position attracts many new visitors, improving the overall conversion rate. The effectiveness of Google search relies on users who are interested in a given subject and captured at the right time during the search.

The clicks of Internet users are centralized on the first 3 results which alone capture more than 50%.

Position    Click through rate
1           32.3%
2           20.7%
3           15.5%
4           11.6%
5           8.5%
6           7.8%
7           7.4%
8           3.7%
9           3.5%
10          2.1% 

The click-through rates displayed above are given as an indication and may vary according to different criteria:

• The type of site, merchant or not.
• The area of ​​the activity.
• Length of the request formulated by the Internet user.
• The presence of Adwords advertising.
• The presence of the Local Pack tool.
• The device used (pc or mobile).
• The impact of the title and description displayed.

Be that as it may, positioning yourself well remains a determining factor of visibility, with each place gained multiplying your number of visitors by a determining factor.

What are the advantages for a site to be well positioned?

Improve your visibility

Obtaining a ranking in Google results on a maximum of requests and this at several stages of the purchase cycle of your potential customers makes it possible to make your company known and to capture targeted traffic corresponding to your sector of activity. The higher your rankings, the more a significant share will come back to you.

Google is the number one search engine in France. Being 1st dramatically increases visits to your website.

Generate leads

There are as many first pages as queries typed by Internet users . Your goal is to get to the best positions for the phrases that your most targeted potential customers formulate. By creating content dedicated to these potential customers, you generate targeted traffic from people who are more likely to convert into potential customers for your business.

Remember that it often takes multiple engagements with a business for someone to become a customer, so interactions with your website are important.

Increase authority in a line of business

It is necessary to regularly create content that meets the needs of its users. It takes time, but the increased traffic and resulting trust are well worth the investment.

Gain someone's trust

If you regularly appear on the first page , it means that he recognizes you as a reliable source of information. Consumers trust companies they trust.

Build an audience of readers

Getting to the first page requires content creation and always in tune with its readers. It may be reused and redistributed across various marketing channels including social media, email and paid advertisements.

Your efforts will provide you with more opportunities to connect with your target audience and stay top of mind.

What solutions to make a site appear first?

Placing your site 1st on Google can be done in several different ways depending on the objectives and possibilities of each. Each company will have to build its SEO action plan and choose the methods and tips that are best suited to its budget and its short, medium and long term objectives.

A website can obtain good visibility through these means:

• Natural referencing via publications positioned at the top of organic search results
• Local and the Google My Business listing displayed in the local pack.
• Paying and displaying targeted advertisements on specific and remunerative keywords.
• P0 and other rich snippets that provide potential additional visibility.

SEO

It is a method that unfolds over time and requires perseverance and discipline to obtain a positive result. The work deployed when one begins takes months to begin to give its first results. In the long term, it is one of the most profitable marketing methods over time.

Depending on the competition, your ability to create content and your investment in marketing leverage, you can, with time and effort, reach the top position of targeted Google results.

Paid referencing (SEA)

Adwords campaigns can be an excellent tool and a good opportunity to gain rapid visibility on specific keywords.

Getting your site to appear in the first results of organic searches on competitive expressions can take time or sometimes be impossible depending on the resources available.

Google Ads is an advertising program that allows you to position your website on selected keywords in exchange for the payment of a fixed sum at auction for each keyword. Bids are based on your competitors and the maximum amounts each is willing to exceed for each click.

Over time, in order to increase click-through rates, Google makes paid results less and less visually different from natural results.

Google My business

The creation and optimization of a Google My Business page allows you to set up a local SEO method . If the information from your GMB page is relevant, it has every chance of positioning itself well on local searches and generating you quality visibility on certain searches.

The P0

The placement of your site in position zero depends on many criteria and only applies if you have already implemented an SEO strategy. However, by working on your content and making it eligible for featured snippet positioning, you can gain visibility without increasing your ranking.

Indeed, any correctly formatted content, from the moment it is on the first page of results, and more particularly in the first five results, can find itself propelled to first position via optimized extracts.

Thus the P0 can give increased exposure to your site while the first places of the results are occupied by sites much more powerful than yours.

How long does it take to reference a website?

It takes time . When you start a lot, the question arises of how long SEO takes to position yourself on Google on targeted queries.

The publications positioned on the most competitive searches are generally several months old and are present on sites with significant authority in the eyes of Google.

A site that starts in a competitive market will take a long time to achieve high rankings than a site evolving on a niche site or on a local target.

It takes time to earn Google's trust and improve your website's reputation in their eyes. In SEO, plans established 6 months to 1 year are the norm.

The time needed to reference your site will depend on different factors:

• The age of your site.
• The popularity of your site.
• Competition.
• The relevance of the publications created.
• The efforts made

What factors influence the ranking?

When you type a search into Google, pages are selected from its index based on their match and relevance to your query.

There is no exact formula for placing your website at the top of a search, but by meeting the main SEO criteria you will be able to improve your site.

However, the following factors play a key role:

• Optimizations: these are all the optimizations put in place to facilitate the indexing and understanding of your site.
• Domain age: A website less than six months old is considered “new” to Google. New sites may still rank, but rankings are more likely to increase after the six months to a year it takes to prove itself to the search engine.
• Keyword competition: The words or phrases searched for are often very competitive, and the most established sites in your industry have a head start on these popular and competitive queries. If your site is new, it will be easier to gain trust and establish positive rankings on less competitive or long-tail keywords before moving on to more difficult phrases.
• The quality of the content: semantically rich and of interest to readers is a prerequisite for hoping to position yourself on a maximum of long-tail and competitive keywords. The most substantial generate shares and activity that reinforces its credibility.
• Popularity: the more a site receives links from other sites, the more its popularity increases. The more authoritative your site will be in its sector, the easier it will be to rank at the top of the results.

The main criteria of Google's algorithms are known, there are no magic or secret formulas. This kind of argument coming from “SEO experts” are scams to sell services.

How to rank your website first?

Target realistic goals

You will find in this article the main tips and tricks for successful SEO .

Success in SEO requires understanding the competitive landscape and setting realistic goals based on your target timelines and operations budget.

If you are just starting out, it is not reasonable to immediately aim for competitive requests occupied by heavyweights or companies much wealthier than you, established for a long time. Even if you have equivalent or superior means, SEO takes time and Google will not rank your site first in a few days, regardless of the means deployed.

In order to get the first results and a return on investment faster , it may be relevant to aim for longer phrases, called long tail keywords, in order to rank your site easier and faster, in order to get your first results. sources of targeted traffic in a shorter time.

Choose relevant keywords

Seeking to rank for keywords and building a strategy for this is only suitable if the search terms on which you are aiming for the first place are relevant to your business. Being first on irrelevant or overly general keywords will not generate sales and your SEO efforts will not be profitable.

Selecting relevant keywords for your business should be the starting point. Many tools allow you to know what Internet users usually type and find the key expressions used by your competitors.

Keyword work can extend to long-tail queries so SEO can drive more targeted and sometimes less competitive traffic.

To optimise

Once you have defined your editorial line, the topics to be covered and the keywords to target , you will be able to create your content. It is important to use the targeted keywords and their synonyms in different ways.

Google and your readers like complete texts that perfectly cover a subject without forgetting to embellish the texts with media (photos, graphics, videos, etc.). Creating one takes time, but keep in mind that quality trumps quantity. So it is better to space out the publications than to want to publish poor quality ones at too high a frequency.

Your keywords can appear without abusing them in:

• The URL
• The Title tag
• Headings H1, H2, H3…
• Image Alt Tags and Captions.
• Without abusing "keyword stuffing" or keyword stuffing.

Content marketing

88% of B2B companies now use content marketing as part of their overall marketing strategy. It involves using a wide variety of types ranging from blog post, newsletters, webinars, infographics, videos, customer cases, studies to attract potential customers and provide them with feedback.

In order to attract visitors and rank on a multitude of targeted keywords in your theme, you must regularly add varied, useful and high-quality ones that bring value to your customers and prospects.

This content will help you improve your rankings in two main ways . More content means more keywords, and therefore more possibilities for Google to offer your website in its search results. Second, the more relevant you have to offer your readers, the more you stimulate sharing and the creation of backlinks to this content.

Popularity and netlinking

The number of incoming links received by your site remains a determining factor of relevance for SEO. Even if we can do without a solid netlinking strategy on certain niche or local sectors, for all competitive sectors, stimulating the acquisition of links remains necessary to hope to appear at the top of the results.

If one were to use an image to describe the three main factors (technical, content and popularity), it could be this:

• The technique is the hull of the boat: without a solid base your referencing takes on water and it is impossible to hope to sail very far.
• The content is symbolized by the veils: without quality, it is impossible to advance in the results.
• Netlinking is symbolized by the wind: by creating links, you bring the breath necessary to set your strategy in motion. Regular addition of links will increase the intensity of the breeze. Avoid aggressive linking techniques which could create uncontrollable gusts and lead to dismasting.

If you want to set up online visibility work and work on the SEO of your site, do not hesitate to contact us for advice. Our agency puts your strategy into action, step by step, and will increase your chances of getting to the top of the results.