Effective Strategies on How to Get Your Website on Google’s First Page

Getting your website to the first page of Google search results can feel like the ultimate prize in the world of online visibility. But how do you achieve it? Let’s break it down step by step and explore the factors that can help you climb the rankings.

Where Your Visitors Come From

If you have been in the online business industry for some time now, you must know that traffic to your website can come from different places. It can be the following:

• Organic – Directly from search engines
• Referral – From people clicking on a link leading to your website on another website, paid
• Newsletter Subscribers – From paid advertisements, social media, and email

If you have a marketing strategy, you probably have seen results from all of the above; however, you might not be aware of how things work out if you are new to the online industry world. Let’s take a step back and see what the title of the text actually has to do with how you acquire your website visitors.

Most Important Website Traffic

Organic traffic is the most important type of website traffic because it’s highly targeted. When people search for something, they want answers, and if your site provides that, you’ll attract followers, subscribers, and customers.

Organic traffic also helps build trust and establishes your brand as reputable. Here are some stats about organic traffic:

• 53% of website traffic comes from organic search.
• Over 99% of searchers click on links from the first page of Google.
• Organic search brings 10X more traffic than social media.
• The first Google result has a 28.5% click-through rate (CTR), while the 10th result has just 2.5%.
• Google handles 96% of mobile and 92% of desktop searches.
• A 3-second increase in “time on site” can boost rankings.
• Top-ranking websites have 3.8 times more backlinks than those ranked 2-8.
• Rich results have a 58% CTR, compared to 41% for standard results.

This shows how important it is to rank high on Google’s first page. So, how to get the website on Google’s first page?

How Much Does it Cost to Be on Google’s First Page?

The cost of getting your website on Google’s first page depends on whether you’re using organic SEO or paid advertising. For organic SEO, you’ll need to invest in hiring an SEO professional or agency, along with any necessary tools. Costs can range from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars per month. While it takes time to see results, once your website ranks, it can drive free, consistent traffic.

If you opt for paid ads, like Google Ads, you’ll pay for each click (PPC). The cost per click depends on your industry and keywords, with competitive keywords costing more. Paid ads can bring quicker results, but you’ll need a budget for ongoing costs. Whether using organic SEO or paid ads, learning how to get your website on Google’s first page requires careful planning and investment.

Google First Page Facts

How to get website on Google first page? It used to be much easier. Early on, basic SEO tactics like keyword stuffing, internal links, and accurate tags could secure a top spot due to low competition.

Now, it’s a whole different game. Your site must be fast, user-friendly, and deliver exceptional content. Outperforming competitors require not just good SEO but also stronger content and brand awareness. The simple days are long gone.

An SEO audit is important for optimizing your website and improving rankings. After analyzing your site, content, and competitors, you’ll create a strategy for site improvements and content optimization, followed by an off-page plan for long-term results.

How to Get Website on Google First Page?

Okay, so we understood that it was much easier in the past, and today, there is a ton to do to get on the first page in SERP.

Achieving a first-page ranking on Google requires a combination of strategy, consistency, and optimization. It starts with understanding how Google ranks websites and continues with implementing proven SEO practices.

Step 1: Get Your Website Technically Ready

Get your website ready to compete for rankings with these steps:

• Fast Loading: Your site should load quickly. Google values speeds under 0.5 seconds for a smooth user experience.
• Search Engine Visibility: Make your site crawlable. Search engines use links to understand your content, so a well-organized interlinking structure is important.
• Proper Use of Robots.txt: The robots.txt file guides search engine crawlers. Avoid blocking important files like CSS and JS, as this can hinder proper indexing.
• Avoid Duplicate Content: Duplicate content confuses search engines, leading to lower rankings for all similar pages. Keep your content unique.
• Ensure Security: A secure site is vital, especially for online transactions. Use HTTPS with an SSL certificate to protect user data. Google has confirmed that HTTPS helps improve rankings.

By following these steps, you’ll set a strong foundation for your website to perform better in search rankings and provide a great experience for your visitors.

Step 2: Plan an SEO Strategy Based on Long-tail Keywords 

Targeting high-traffic keywords isn’t the best approach, especially for new websites. Competing with established industry giants is almost impossible and unlikely to succeed.

Instead, focus on long-tail keywords—specific phrases with a 36% average conversion rate. While each may bring less traffic, combining them strategically can attract the right audience. Plus, 70% of online searches are long-tail keywords.

Step 3: Start Building an Internal Linking and Backlinking Network

Internal links in the content are of huge importance because search engine crawlers follow the links to understand your website’s content. Plus, the bigger the number of backlinks from quality and authoritative sites, the bigger the Domain and URL ratings of the site’s pages will be. Domain rating and URL rating are important ranking factors as they represent the reliability and trustworthiness of the website. 

How Can Old but NOT-optimized Websites Get on the First Page?

A guaranteed Google first page appearance is easier to achieve when the website is not brand new – when it has existed for some time now, even though it hasn’t been optimized at all in the past. If that is the case, here is what you need to do in order to get the website on Google’s first page.

Step 1: Check Your Search Console Data

If you have Google Search Console set up, use it to view your website’s organic traffic and keywords. If not, use SEO tools like Ahrefs or Semrush to gather data on traffic sources, backlinks, keywords, and top pages.

Step 2: Have Your Site Audited

Next, audit your website to find any issues that may be hindering rankings. This includes both technical and content-related problems. The audit will provide a clear understanding of what needs to be fixed.. 

Step 3: Understand Your Competition

Analyze your competitors to see what they’re doing to rank high. Look at their content, backlinks, and keywords, and create a strategy to outperform them with better content and higher-quality backlinks.

Step 4: Don’t Expect Instant Results

SEO takes time. Once you’ve made changes and improvements, it may take a while for Google to notice and rank your site higher. Be patient – consistent efforts will eventually lead to better rankings and more organic traffic.

How Can Penalized Websites / Websites with Bad SEO Get on the First Page?

And here is the most challenging moment for any SEO expert – having to work on a website that has been penalized, or even worse, banned by Google due to a past bad SEO strategy. If Google penalizes your website, it will no longer be visible to the searchers online, or your rankings for the targeted keywords will drop dramatically. This might happen if:

• You add spyware, adware, or any viruses on the site
• Hide links or text in the copy
• Display a different version of a website to Google’s crawling robots
• Do deceptive redirects
• Fill the pages with irrelevant keywords or do keyword stuffing
• Have lots of duplicate content

So, if Google had found such a problem with your website, it probably penalized the website. To reverse the situation, you must act to remove the penalty. It isn’t easy at all, as it is a process that takes time and energy. Here is how to approach the situation:

Types of Google Penalties

Understanding the two types of Google penalties is important for maintaining your website’s health and rankings.

• Manual Penalty: Issued by a Google employee when your website violates Google’s Terms of Service. If this happens, you’ll need to appeal to Google to have your site reindexed.
• Algorithmic Penalty: Automated penalties that impact rankings. Examples include:
  • Panda: Penalizes sites with thin or duplicate content.
  • Penguin: Targets keyword-stuffed content.
  • Hummingbird: Affects sites with poor incoming links or slow loading times.

By recognizing these penalties and taking the necessary steps, you can protect your site and avoid losing visibility in search results.

Steps to Recover and Improve Your Rankings

Recovering from a Google penalty requires a systematic approach to address the issues causing your rankings to drop. By following these steps, you can fix the underlying problems and ensure your website is once again in good standing. Whether it’s cleaning up backlinks or improving content quality, each action plays an important role in helping your site regain its visibility and performance in search results. If you’re wondering how to get your website on Google’s first page, it starts with addressing penalties and optimizing your site properly.

• Recover Your Backlinks: Identify and analyze all your website’s backlinks. If any are causing ranking issues, request their removal or disavow them.
• Remove Duplicate Content: Check your site for duplicate content. Eliminate it and create fresh, unique content with targeted keywords, avoiding keyword overuse.
• Complete Website Audit: Have an SEO team thoroughly audit your site. Fix any remaining issues to ensure it’s ready to compete in rankings.
• Develop Your SEO Strategy: Once the penalty is cleared, continue building your site’s reputation with strong, white-hat SEO techniques, including both on-page and off-page optimization.

Once your website has undergone recovery and you’ve implemented an updated SEO strategy, the journey doesn’t stop there. Ongoing efforts to optimize and maintain high-quality, user-friendly content will keep your site in the best shape to compete for top rankings. Stay committed to continuous improvement to ensure long-term success in search engine visibility.

Conclusion

Getting to the first page on Google is not easy. Reaching it and maintaining the high positions is even harder. However, it is not undoable, even if you have a brand new website, an old website without any past SEO efforts, or a penalized website. All it takes is the right Web and SEO team with expert skills, a tailor-made strategy, and time.