Help! I’m Stuck On Page 2 Of Google Search Results!

I think every SEO professional has been there: you’re Googling your money keyword only to find it perpetually stuck on page 2!

According to Search Engine Watch, 92% of search traffic comes from page 1. So, it’s quite obvious to see how jumping from page 2 to page 1 can mean a lot more traffic!

How to Get From Page 2 to Page 1 of Google

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Here’s my method for how you can move the needle on your page 2 keywords!

1. Analyze your Competition for the Keyword

Use Google Keyword Planner. Note that “competition” in Google Keyword Planner refers to PPC competition. What you really want to look for is how high the search volume is.

Another tip is to look at variations on your keyword that will bring you similar traffic. Optimizing for related searches could end up moving the needle if user behaviour metrics like time on site are strong.

Also on TechWyse

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2. Analyze your Competitors on the First Page

First, you’ll want to analyze their backlinks using Ahrefs. At first, it will be harder for you to catch up. My advice is to be inspired and outdo the type of content that is getting them links. Put some Facebook promoted posts behind your content to get your content in front of the right people.

Another idea you can try is to include a link or mention a Tweet from a target site your want a link on. They may be so flattered you mentioned them that they will be open to things like guest posting and broken link building. For even more ideas check out this awesome list of strategies for how to get high-quality backlinks to your blog.

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3. Analyze the On-Page Factors of Competitors and Compare with your Site.

Now, you’ll want to analyze the content, layout, and usefulness of the page. Ask yourself these questions:

• Is the page easy to read?
  • Does it have strong headlines, short paragraphs, and bullet points?
• What is the readability score of your content compared to other top ranking content? Try to get it within the same range.
• Does your blog contain strong images or visual assets?
• Do you present any unique data?
• What are the common elements between the pages that rank. What topics overlap? What you add that no other blog contains?
• Is there any irrelevant information that could be reducing the relevance of your blog for the targeted keywords?
• Does your blog contain “supporting keywords.” Use keywordtool.io (this example shows related searches for “improve search engine rankings”). The idea is that you want to incorporate as many of relevant variations to help attract related searches. Keywordtool.io is a seriously powerful tool for writing content.

4. Make Changes to your Content

Add content that your competitors aren’t talking about. Provide unique value that sets your content apart from the rest and makes you the better search result.

Content addition, increasing keyword density (but don’t go over 3% for any keyword), revise your title tags, H1’s and meta descriptions in order to incorporate your main keywords at the beginning, but do so in a way that’s natural.

5. Give Value to the Visitors

Help them to get more information about the service or product they are searching for. Adding more informative and useful content with images, videos, infographics, and etc. are great ways to share value to your audience.

If you have the resources, create a tool that is useful to people in your industry. Two tools TechWyse created are:

• Lorem Ipsum Scanner Tool
• Facebook Image Text Detection Tool

Both these tools make our site more useful and have earned us backlinks.

6. Strengthen the Internal Links in your Website

Make sure important pages are one click away from the homepage (usually in the navigation). The links should be logical. A good place to start is with your blog. Read your blogs and look for content within your site to link to. Don’t have a blog, get one! It will definitely help you rank.

7. Use the Moz Keyword Difficulty and SERP Analysis Tool

Run a full report. It will give you all the ranking factor metrics of the top 10 results (plus an 11th site you can add).  The major things I always check first are;

• Page Authority
• Domain Authority
• # Root Domains Linking to the Root Domain
• Linking C Blocks (there should not be a giant difference between root domains and C blocks)
• Exact and Partial match anchor text
• Linking Root Domains to this domain
• On-Page Analysis Grade

Try and beat your competitors on these factors.

SEO takes time, if you’re looking for a quick fix, don’t. Moving from page 2 to page 1 of Google can takes 6 months depending on your competition and how hard you work.

If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments!

Hat tip to an old Moz discussion thread that served as the inspiration for this post.