How to Optimize Content for Google
Google — especially with the withdrawal of paid advertising — presents a valuable opportunity to promote websites through organic traffic. Consequently, for SEO specialists, one of the most important questions is choosing effective methods to improve positions specifically in Google’s search results.
Google’s search algorithms are constantly evolving. This is not only due to technological advancements and the emergence of machine learning with neural networks but also because user queries have also changed. The search engine takes this into account when updating its algorithms, adapting to the behavior of website audiences.
First and foremost, the SEO-specialist’s task is to get more valuable search results for their site. Such results include:
Experts believe that these results are more enriched compared to standard ones. They are more indicative, dynamic, and engage users more strongly due to additional information and visual elements.
Plan in advance what additional organic traffic you can get. For instance, a company offering services in a specific region can undoubtedly gain additional traffic from business cards and Google Maps. The information on the company’s card should be as complete as possible, preferably enhanced with photographs. In addition, actively work with customer reviews — including negative ones, so that Google sees activity.
Maximize the possibilities offered by Google Business Profile. Also, try to formulate the text on the site in such a way that the search engine can display it in quick answer panels if the user enters an informational query.
However, it’s essential to understand that success in promotion depends on many different factors, such as:
Checklist: Ways to Get Additional Traffic to Pages
Work on factors that help increase the influx of visitors to the site.
Add a Logo
A good technique in promotion is to add a brand logo in business cards and Google’s search results. For this, the logo should be in JPG, PNG, SVG, or WebP format, and at least 112 x 112 pixels in size. Ensure that the image URL is crawlable and indexed by search engines.
Recognizable logos on company cards immediately increase user trust.
Increase Text Relevance
Reaching the top of Google with text alone is objectively very difficult, primarily due to high competition and the complexity of most queries. Pure text may not be able to provide an optimal answer. Moreover, in the mobile version of the site, the top-10 results are not as relevant, as the screen is small and uses infinite scrolling.
However, maintaining high relevance and relevancy of textual materials can help the site reach the top. Study the needs of your audience and satisfy their queries by providing necessary information.
If your texts answer specific, current questions, users will more often see your site in the search results.
Fill Local Business Cards
Business cards can be very functional and interactive, provided they are given sufficient optimization attention. Naturally, they must contain the necessary minimum information — business hours, address, phone number. Additionally, it is highly advisable to have an option for placing orders, booking tables, or providing other services online.
The more relevant information on the card, the more screen space the panel will occupy, which is advantageous. Always respond to user questions and comments, and encourage them to rate your service and leave comments. The easier it is for customers to do this, the more feedback you will receive.
Strive to include all necessary information on the card to make it more noticeable.
Add Site Information to Search Engine Carousels
Official Google guidelines state that the carousel is used to display a limited list of categories: restaurants, movies, recipes. However, carousels can be found for podcast or book queries, so the list is clearly not limited to these themes. This can be utilized for promoting your site.
Google provides recommendations on how to make your content appear in carousel search results. Familiarize yourself with them and assess whether this is applicable to your informational and commercial materials.
Structure Information to Appear in News Results
There is a news results display that shows combined data containing a title, an image, and the source name. It displays information from information portals and blogs according to a query.
If you optimize this direction, you can achieve the display of your materials in such a format in the search results, for example, when querying through a voice assistant. Structure the information and choose the most suitable image size — at least 1200 pixels wide for AMP pages. For other pages, the recommended minimum width is 696 pixels, but official guides also recommend adhering to the 1200 standard.
Work on Snippets, Including Review and Table Snippets
This organic search result format contains a short excerpt of text — about 50 words, the page title, its URL, and an image. It offers a great opportunity to attract more users. To create a quality snippet, simply provide relevant information about your company, its services, and products.
It’s recommended to use a “question-answer” approach: think about what information interests your audience first and foremost. In this case, you can count on improved ranking, making it easier to create quality snippets.
In addition to tables being generally convenient for obtaining necessary information, Google can read them in HTML format and display them in search results. They are mainly used in news materials but can also be useful for companies offering goods and services. Table data display is visually clearer compared to plain text.
Review snippets are used for books, movies, music, various products, and services. They are based on user reviews and ratings. Google offers various recommendations for adding simple reviews, ratings, and their aggregation. This option should be considered when promoting regional business websites.
Add Event Information
If you mark events using Event Structured Data, information about them will be displayed in Google’s search results and on the search engine’s maps. The search engine toolkit even allows searching directly for events and filtering them by date. Therefore, for companies that hold any events, this optimization method makes sense for improving positions in the search results.
Overall, following Google’s basic guidelines will allow you to correctly use additional tools for attracting organic traffic and increase your site’s audience for free. Use Google Rich Results Test to ensure that your page supports the aforementioned tools and start working on improving their indicators. However, it’s advisable to avoid manipulation, such as using invisible content, as there is a risk of sanctions and falling out of the search results.
