How to Maintain a High Web Site Position in a Competitive Market

Your website’s survival hinges on mastering the elusive art of continuing dominance in your web site position. Brace yourself for a journey through the high-stakes world of web site positioning in today’s cutthroat market.

Maintaining a high web site position in a competitive market offers plenty of benefits, including:

• Increased visibility
• More traffic, leads, conversions and sales
• Greater competitive advantage
• Improved ROI (Return on Investment)
• Cost-Effectiveness (spend less, or nothing, on online ads)
• Long-term sustainability of your business – leading to peace of mind
• Global reach – reach out to all potential customers around the world

From understanding the essentials of SEO techniques, content quality, user experience and mobile responsiveness – we will cover the practices and techniques to help you gain – and then keep – a top web site position.

So, let’s get started!

Table of Contents for a High Web Site Position

Understanding the Competitive Landscape

The world of online digital content creation has become incredibly competitive. Nowadays, it’s not just tech companies – even non-tech companies are diving into the online content game.

Businesses have recognized that, especially among the younger generation, people are not just comfortable with online shopping; they actually prefer it.

During the pandemic, shopping habits shifted online, with more and more purchases being made from the comfort of people’s homes. Personally, I’ve even moved my grocery shopping online. It doesn’t get more convenient than having your groceries delivered straight to your doorstep!

It pays to research your competitors to see what they are up to. What keywords are they gunning for? Who’s in their crosshairs demographically? And what ads are they putting their money on?

Many of the top SEO and Keyword Research tools that content creators swear by come equipped with a nifty competition research feature. If you intend your website or blog to be more than a hobby than investing in one of these tools is essential for success.

One such tool that hits the sweet spot is SE Ranking. It offers a robust competition research feature that lets you keep an eye on your rivals and unveil the keywords they’re chasing.

Give it a spin! Simply enter a competitor’s domain, like “acme.com,” in the widget below:

The Foundation: Solid SEO Practices

Build your online content creation strategy on a strong foundation by learning essential SEO practices. You don’t need to be an expert in SEO but a few of the basic skills can get you a long way.

I’ve split the techniques into two broad categories. On-page techniques are used when writing a blog post and off-page techniques are site-wide techniques.

On-Page Techniques

Here is a quick list of techniques to improve your SEO:

• Place your primary keywords you are targeting in the blog header (a H1 element)
• Place additional, related keywords in subheaders (H2 and H3 elements)
• The primary and related keywords should also be present in the text of your article
• Include a meta description for your blog article
• Structure your blog post with a header and multiple subsections
• Use internal links to connect with other related content on your website
• Use images to break up the text – include an alt text description of each image

This is just a small list of SEO techniques. More information on SEO techniques can be find in this article: 29 SEO Tips and Tricks to help you rank better in Google

Off-Page Techniques

These techniques are related to performance and other technical matters. Here is a concise list on off-page SEO techniques:

• Use a fast, lightweight theme to ensure your web pages load quickly
• Choose a quality hosting provider (Recommended: SiteGround)
• Compress, crop and scale images for faster loading
• Use a mobile-friendly theme and fix any mobile usability issues you find
• Use a CDN (Content Delivery Network) if you serve a global audience
• Use an Optimizer plugin to make technical improvements that speed up your website
• Keep your website secure (using SSL is a ranking factor)

Off-page SEO sometimes called technical SEO is a big topic that you can research more. Again, you don’t need to be an expert but do take some time to make sure your website is working well.

Web server security threats and how to fix them

The Benefits of using a CDN on your website

Content Excellence

When it comes to landing on the coveted top page of Google, there’s one paramount factor: the quality of your content. Google gives precedence to content crafted for people, not search engines. Of course, you’ll still want to ensure that it’s search engine-friendly once it’s drafted (that’s where SEO comes in), but that’s a secondary concern.

For many content creators, the challenge lies in determining what content to create. Here’s a simplified process to guide your content creation efforts:

• Brainstorm blogging ideas
• Use a keyword research tool to find appropriate keywords to target
• Write a blog outline (header, introduction, subsections and blog conclusion)
• Write a first draft
• Polish and proofread your content ensuring it’s readable and error-free
• Add images and other visual elements (charts, infographics, video)
• Add internal links to related content on your website
• Add external links to authoritative content on the internet
• Add a table of contents
• Find and fix any SEO issues (using an SEO plugin will greatly help with this task)
• Publish and promote

Remember, this is just one suggested process. Every blogger and content creator may have their own unique approach that works best for them.

Unlock Your Creativity with These 20 Blogging Ideas for Beginners

How to Start Articles

Seal the Deal: How to end a Blog Post

User Experience (UX) Optimization

It’s tempting when working on the design of a website to add “flashy” elements or dynamic, moving content. The issue, though, is that these elements usually provide a poor user experience. They slow down loading times and can be quite annoying for users.

For instance, carousels (those image sliders that shuffle through new images every few seconds) are bad for SEO and bad for user engagement.

Visitors typically aren’t here to admire your website’s design or its visual bells and whistles. They’re seeking information, and the faster they can find and digest it, the better. Anything that stands in their way ultimately leads to a poor user experience.

Choose a simple theme with a small number of plugins

Mobile Responsiveness

Your website theme should be mobile-friendly, not only looking good but working perfectly on mobile phones.

One issue to bear in mind is that mobile users will often have slower connection speeds than their desktop counterparts, especially when they’re on the move.

So, the secret sauce for mobile users lies in simplicity – opt for lightweight themes with a minimal number of well-optimized plugins.

For those visitors navigating your site on smartphones, it’s essential to remember they’ll be using their fingers to tap on links and buttons. Make sure to provide ample space around these elements for a seamless experience.

And here’s a nifty tip: Google offers a free online testing tool to confirm that your page is mobile-friendly.

Use Google Search Console to check your site for mobile usability issues. Fix any issues quickly to maintain a high web site position.

Regular Monitoring and Analytics

It’s crucial to keep a close eye on the keywords you’re targeting to maintain a high web site position. You can use free tools such as Google Search Console to see which keywords you’re currently ranking for and how many impressions and clicks they’re generating.

If your website or blog is more of a hobby, then Google Search Console should suffice. However, if your website is for business purposes, I’d recommend investing in a keyword tracking tool. These tools can effortlessly monitor thousands of keywords and report your ranking position for each one.

What’s more, these tools offer an array of features, including SEO audits, competition reports, content analysis, and much more.

If you have a substantial budget to spare, take a look at high-end tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush. But for those of us who are a bit more budget-conscious, I’d highly recommend SE Ranking. It’s a fantastic mid-tier tool that’s got you covered on all fronts. You can even tailor your plan according to the number of keywords you wish to monitor and how frequently you want to update their positions.

Final Thoughts on a High Web Site Position

Thanks for reading! I hope you found it informative and useful. Here is a quick recap:

• Understand the basics of SEO, both on-page and off-page techniques
• Content excellence is needed to consistently maintain a high web site position
• Use a simple layout on your website to provide a good user experience
• Mobile traffic is important so check your website works perfectly on smartphones
• Track and monitor your ranking positions to see what content resonates with your audience
• Take advantage of SEO audits and competition research that are available with keyword research tools

Maintaining a high web site position in the Google search results can be a difficult task, but remember, every challenge presents an opportunity for growth. With persistence and the right strategies, you can not only survive but thrive, beating the competition and securing your spot on the first page of Google.

If you found this article helpful, we’d love to hear from you. Please consider leaving a comment or sharing it on social media using the buttons below. Your support means the world to us!