You’ve got a beautiful website.
Hired an SEO copywriter to write you-had-me-at-hello copy.
Launched your site and shared it with the world.
You’re thinking, “I’ve done my SEO.”
BUT… you don’t appear in the search results for any of your keywords.
The questions burn in your brain.
How long does SEO take to work? Why isn’t my site ranking?
Some SEO punks will tell you it takes at least four months to rank.
The truth? No one can give you a definite answer.
That’s because Google does what Google wants.
It’s also because there are SO MANY elements that determine how a website ranks including:
+ Google’s chameleon algorithm – a mystery that no human seems to fully understand (and that Google will never reveal).
+ Age and authority of your site
+ Quantity and strength of backlinks i.e how many other reputable, relevant sites link to yours
+ Technical backend factors like errors, hosting issues and gobbledegook that give non-tech people like me a glazed expression and the stirrings of a migraine
+ SEO-friendly design
+ Keywords and competitors
+ Content strategy
+ Off-page SEO strategies
+ Quality of copy
SEO copy is one part of SEO. It’s a vital piece of the SEO puzzle but it alone doesn’t guarantee a top ranking.
So how do you get your site to rank?
Domain authority, backlinks and time.
If your site has just gone live, expect some time (months +) for search engine visibility.
To rank in any of those coveted 10 first page Google spots, your site needs domain authority (DA). Your DA tells search engines how much authority your site has for your keywords, using a score between 1 and 100.
DA is determined by the number and quality of backlinks to your site. A site with a high DA will rank better than a site with a low DA.
DA is a massive factor in your ranking because it lets Google know how valuable, relevant and credible your site is for the keywords you’re targeting.
How do you raise your DA? High authority backlinks.
A backlink is a link from one site to another. It tells Google how trustworthy and credible your content is. Quality backlinks from reputable websites are powerful for your DA.
Here are some ideas to lift your DA, get your SEO pumping and Google looking at your site:
+ Ask reputable brands with complementary products/services to link to you
+ List on industry directories (paid or unpaid) or marketplaces
+ Government sites (gold for DA) e.g if you’re in the health industry
+ Push traffic to your site from social media, email marketing, guest blogging/podcasting, Google ads, Facebook ads etc
+ Consider some solid blogs with secondary keywords for each of the phrases you’re targeting
+ Get a Google My Business listing. More on that here...
+ Add your listing to Apple maps for another strong backlink. If you don’t want to detail your exact address, you can have just your suburb or city displayed.
Other technical things to consider and chat with your web designer about:
+ Is your site built for search engine optimisation?
+ Are your images too big? Google doesn’t like slow sites. Neither do your buyers.
+ Site speed, crawlability (by search engines) and responsiveness. Check these for free at Pingdom (Look, I just gave them a backlink!)
+ Has your designer placed the keywords in the right places? My copy deck lays it all out for them but if your copy is DIY, it’s worth checking your meta title, meta description, headings, first 100 words of copy on each page, image titles and alt tags.
All of these things take time. For you to do, for Google to see and to factor in your ranking.
If you can do some of the above things consistently and strategically you will rank well.
SEO is a slow burn. A strategic marathon. It's not a sprint.
Need SEO copy help? I'm always here for you. 🤗