Everybody who has a website wants it to be on the first page of Google. The only way to actually achieve this is through excellent search engine optimization. If you have ever looked into search engine optimization, or SEO, you will know that it is highly complex, but that it mainly revolves around keywords. Essentially, what you will learn is that a website that has the right amount of keywords place in the right spots will rank higher. Right? Not quite…

Try typing “click here” in Google to see which pages come up. One of the top results is Adobe. If you then actually go to the Adobe website, you will quickly find that the words “click there” are nowhere to be found. So how is that?

The Types of Results

There are two types of results that you can find when you type something in on Google:

1. Organic results, which is what Google believes is really important.
2. Sponsored results, which are the results that are paid for.

So you may think that, if you just pay for things, you will do great. Again, not quite. Consider these statistics:

1. The second result on Google gets 20% less traffic than the first result on Google.
2. Between results 10 (the last on page 1 and the first on page 2) is a 150% drop in traffic.
3. 77% of internet users like organic results and not sponsored ones when looking for information, and 67% prefer it when they want to shop.
4. 50% of those who engage in excellent SEO see a 500% return on investment, compared to just 22% of those who go for sponsored ads.

Boom, suddenly SEO is very important, because you can’t just buy your success.

The Things that Affect Your Search Engine Page Rankings

It would be impossible to list all the things that affect your search engine page ranking (SERP), because there are around 200 of them, and they change on average once per day. However, there are a few things that are very important at all times. Those are:

1. Content creation. You must have excellent content that is completely unique.
2. You should optimize for keywords, which is truly the bread and butter of SEO.

The most important thing is that you get the density of your keywords right. For every 200 to 300 words, your keyword should show up around once or twice. Any more and Google will think that you’re keyword stuffing and that is highly illegal. You cannot even do that sneakily, for instance by having a page that nobody can actually visit simply filled with your keyword over and over again. This could actually get your website barred completely, and it doesn’t matter whether you are a brand new mom and pop store, or a global giant like Adobe. The best thing to do is get a professional on board to help you get your SEO right. That way, you won’t make any mistakes either.