8-Point Checklist for Determining Why Your Blogs Are Not Ranking!
In today’s digital landscape, blogs have become an essential tool for businesses, marketers, and individuals alike. They play a crucial role in establishing authority, driving website traffic, and boosting online visibility.
While you’ve spent countless hours writing well-written, informative blog posts, they’re just not ranking as well as you’d like. There is nothing more frustrating than seeing your hard work go unnoticed and it is even more frustrating when you do not know what the problem is with your blog.
If you are also one of them who is struggling to understand why your blogs are not ranking, this comprehensive checklist will help you identify the key areas that may be holding you back. By addressing these points, you can optimize your content and increase your chances of ranking higher in search engine rankings.
Why blogs are important for the growth of websites?
In the digital age, blogs have become an essential tool for individuals and businesses alike. They serve as a platform for expressing thoughts, sharing knowledge, and building an online presence and boost your business growth.
(i) Boosts Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Having a blog on your website can significantly improve its search engine optimization (SEO). Search engines love fresh and relevant content, and blogs provide the perfect platform for consistently publishing new material. You can increase organic traffic to your site by including relevant keywords and phrases in your blog posts.
(ii) Establishes Authority and Credibility
Blogging allows you to showcase your expertise and knowledge in your industry or niche. Sharing valuable insights, tips, and informative content can help you establish yourself or your brand as an authority figure. As visitor perceive you as knowledgeable and credible, they are more likely to trust your products or services, leading to higher conversion rates and customer loyalty.
(iii) Offers Marketing and Getting paid Opportunities
A well-established blog can open doors to various marketing and getting paid opportunities. Brands often collaborate with popular bloggers for sponsored content, promotions, and partnerships, helping to expand your website’s reach and revenue streams. In addition, blogs can serve as an income-generating platform for promoting your products, services, or affiliate offers.
(iv) Keeps Your Website Fresh and Updated
Frequent blog updates contribute to the freshness of your website, which is an essential factor in search engine rankings. Regularly adding new content also encourages repeat visits from users who are interested in the latest updates in your niche. A website that remains stagnant without fresh content might lose relevance and visitors over time.
(v) Drives Traffic and Social Media Shares
Engaging and shareable blog content can act as a catalyst for viral sharing on social media platforms. Readers will share your blog posts if they find them valuable, informative, or entertaining, so you’ll have a broader audience. By organically sharing your content, you’re exposing your brand to a whole new audience you may not have found otherwise.
What is blog ranking?
Blog ranking refers to the evaluation of a blog’s quality and content in comparison to other blogs in the same niche. Several factors are considered, including the relevance of the content, its engagement, and its visibility in search results. Having a high ranking on Google makes your blog more likely to attract organic traffic and become a trusted source.
This is beneficial for businesses as it can increase their website visits, leads, and ultimately, conversions.
It also helps to establish the brand as an authority in the industry.
To achieve this, businesses must focus on SEO tactics and create high quality content that is relevant to their target audience. Additionally, they should pay attention to speed, security, and mobile-friendliness of their website.
Top reasons why it’s not ranking on the top of the Google search
It’s frustrating to see your blogs failing to reach top positions on Google’s search engine results. Let’s explore the most common reasons behind this issue and how to address them:
1. Keyword Research and Optimization
(i) Choosing the Right Keywords
One of the primary reasons your blogs may not be ranking is the improper selection or targeting of keywords. Conduct thorough keyword research to identify relevant and high-volume keywords related to your blog topic. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs to find keywords that have decent search volume and manageable competition.
(ii) On-Page Optimization
Once you’ve chosen the right keywords, it’s crucial to optimize your blog content for those keywords. Ensure that your target keyword appears in the title tag, Meta description, URL, headings, and throughout the body of your blog. However, be careful not to overstuff keywords, as it can negatively impact your rankings.
2. Content Quality and Relevance
(i) Providing Value to Readers
Search engines prioritize content that provides value to readers. Ensure that your blog content is informative, engaging, and well-structured. Write in a way that solves your readers’ problems, answers their questions, or offers unique insights. High-quality content will not only improve your chances of ranking but also increase reader engagement and encourage social sharing.
(ii) Originality and Uniqueness
Duplicate content can harm your blog’s ranking potential. Make sure your blog posts are original and unique. Plagiarism can lead to penalties from search engines, so always create original content. Use plagiarism-checking tools like Copyscape and Duplichecker to ensure your content is free from duplication.
3. User Experience and Website Performance
(i) Mobile-Friendliness
In the mobile-dominated era, having a mobile-friendly website is crucial. Ensure that your blog and website are responsive and provide an optimal user experience on mobile devices. Boost your search engine rankings by using responsive web design, testing on different screen sizes, and optimizing loading speed.
(ii) Site Speed and Performance
Slow-loading websites can negatively impact user experience and search rankings. Optimize your website’s speed by minimizing code, compressing images, and utilizing caching techniques. Regularly monitor and optimize your website’s performance to provide a fast and seamless browsing experience.
4. Backlinks and Off-Page SEO
(i) Quality and Relevance of Backlinks
Backlinks from trusted and relevant websites play a significant role in search engine rankings. Evaluate the quality of your backlinks and ensure they come from reputable sources. Replace spammy link-building practices with content promotion, guest blogging, influencer outreach, and social media engagement.
(ii) Social Signals
Social media engagement and shares can indirectly influence your blog’s ranking. Create shareable content and actively promote your blog posts on social media platforms. Your blog will be more visible and reachable if readers share and engage with your posts.
5. Technical SEO and On-Site Optimization
(i) Meta Tags and Descriptions
Optimize your Meta tags and descriptions to provide concise and accurate information about your blog post. Include relevant keywords to improve the visibility of your blog and write compelling Meta descriptions.
(ii) URL Structure
Ensure your blog’s URL structure is SEO-friendly. Use descriptive and keyword-rich URLs that accurately reflect the content of your blog post. Avoid lengthy URLs with unnecessary parameters and symbols.
Additionally, use hyphens to separate words in URLs. Make sure URLs are easy to read both for users and search engine bots.
6. Structured Data and Schema Markup
(i) Implementing Schema Markup
Implementing structured data and schema markup can enhance your blog’s visibility in search results. Schema markup helps search engines understand the context and relevance of your content. Adding schema markup to your blog posts will enable search engines to display rich snippets and improve your click-through rates.
7. Website Authority and Domain Strength
(i) Domain Age and Trust
Establishing domain authority takes time and effort. Newer websites may face challenges in ranking due to the lack of domain age and trust. To build your website’s authority, build backlinks from trusted sources, create high-quality content, and join online communities.
(ii) Website Credibility
Ensure your website is credible and trustworthy. Below are 6 main things which make a website credible. Improve your blog’s credibility by displaying trust signals such as customer reviews, secure payment options, privacy policies, and contact information. Building trust with your audience and search engines will positively impact your rankings. It is recommended that the percentage of each of these factors be calculated as shown in the following figure.
Utilize social proof to boost your credibility. Incorporate customer reviews, industry awards, and popular mentions into your website. Showcase your expertise by providing educational resources such as webinars, podcasts, and whitepapers.
8. Promote your blog by obtaining links
Most businesses focus on getting links to their home page and other high-value pages, but they forget to get links to specific blog posts.
Without extremely useful, practical and/or unique blog posts, it may be difficult to obtain these much targeted links. As mentioned above, you have the best chance of naturally getting more links if you create “link worthy” content.
Some other ways you can get these links include:
- Providing internal links to your blog posts on your own site,
- Linking to your blog posts when you guest post on other sites, and
- letting bloggers and journalists know about posts that are relevant to them.
This is best accomplished with research-based posts, especially if you include your own original research. Such posts will help to establish your credibility and authority within the field. It will also help to attract a more engaged audience, as they will be interested in the new insights you provide.
Bonus Tip to Rank High on the Search Engine
In addition to the checklist, here’s a bonus tip to help boost your blog’s search engine rankings:
9. Optimize Your Images
Images play a vital role in enhancing user experience and engagement. Optimize your blog’s images by compressing them for faster load times, using descriptive filenames, and adding alt tags with relevant keywords. Additionally, make sure the images are the right size for the website.
Large images can slow down page loading speed and decrease user satisfaction. Finally, use images that are relevant and visually appealing to the user.
Conclusion
Achieving higher search engine rankings for your blog requires a holistic approach that encompasses various aspects of SEO. One viable approach to achieving a high ranking on Google is to hire a marketing agency that is experienced in providing SEO Services that specializes in delivering effective solutions.
If you don’t want to hire an agency, this 8-point checklist will help you figure out what’s wrong, so you can fix it. Remember to focus on keyword research, content quality, user experience, backlinks, technical SEO, website authority, and continuous monitoring to improve your blog’s visibility, increase organic traffic, and rank higher in search engine results.
