Search Engine Positioning: What It Is + How to Improve It

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You benignant your hunt query into Google. Then, you spot aggregate concern websites look connected the hunt motor results leafage (SERP). And you wonder, “how bash I snag 1 of those apical spots for my ain site?”

This is wherever hunt motor positioning comes in.

What Is Search Engine Positioning?

Search motor positioning, sometimes known arsenic search motor optimization (SEO) positioning, is 1 of the astir important subsets of SEO.

It involves optimizing circumstantial pages connected your website to execute higher search motor rankings. Which improves your brand visibility and helps you pull much integrated traffic.

Users are much apt to click connected listings successful the apical spots of the archetypal leafage of hunt results. Search motor positioning experts astatine Backlinko recovered that, connected average, the apical 3 Google results get 54.4% of each clicks.

And less radical click connected results further down connected SERPs. While the apical effect gets astir 27.6% of each clicks, the 10th effect gets conscionable 2.4%.

A illustration  showing Google integrated  CTR breakdown by position

When a idiosyncratic searches connected Google, Google’s hunt algorithms comb done its indexed content to find which pages are the astir credible and applicable to that peculiar search. And those pages are the ones shown successful the SERP.

With hunt motor positioning, the extremity is to get your contented to the apical of that database by boosting factors like:

  • Content quality: How good your contented offers worth and relevance for the topic
  • Relevant backlinks: The quantity and prime of links from different applicable websites that constituent to your site
  • Mobile-friendliness: How accelerated your leafage loads connected compartment phones and however casual it is navigate
  • Page performance: How accelerated (or slow) your leafage loads and functions for users

Further readingThe Art of Content Optimization: The Complete Guide

Why Is Search Engine Positioning Important for Your Business?

Search motor positioning is an important SEO strategy due to the fact that it helps radical find your concern erstwhile searching for presumption and products applicable to your brand.

The higher your pages rank, the much disposable your concern becomes to imaginable customers. This accrued visibility tin thrust much postulation and revenue. 

By not devoting clip to web hunt motor positioning, you whitethorn suffer rankings (and business) to your competitors who are actively moving to get their contented successful those high-visibility spots.

Besides ranking for modular integrated results, hunt motor positioning tin adjacent assistance you people a featured snippet. This is an excerpt of substance that appears astatine the apical of the SERP. 

For example, this is the featured snippet for the Google query “how to commencement a business”:

A featured snippet for the Google query “how to commencement  a business”

These snippets drawback attraction and presumption your marque arsenic a trusted authority. Because featured snippets are the archetypal happening a idiosyncratic sees successful the SERP, they’re apt to click connected them. 

So, you privation to effort to fertile for them implicit your competition.

Benefits of Search Engine Positioning

Strategic hunt motor positioning is cardinal for gathering a palmy online presence.

Here’s what it gives you:

1. Better Brand Visibility

Search motor positioning tin assistance your web contented look higher successful the SERPs by optimizing a circumstantial leafage for a acceptable of applicable keywords, improving contented quality, and improving idiosyncratic acquisition (UX). 

And arsenic we mentioned before, higher positions successful hunt results get much clicks.

2. More Organic Traffic

Higher rankings assistance thrust much organic traffic to your webpages.

Search motor positioning is simply a cost-effective, sustainable mode to bring imaginable customers to you. Unlike pay-per-click (PPC) models, the postulation from integrated listings doesn’t outgo you wealth (i.e., you’re not paying the hunt motor for listings).

Not each website visitant volition bargain thing from you close away. But hunt motor positioning helps you conscionable antithetic prospective customers wherever they’re at, getting contented successful beforehand of them that reflects antithetic search intents:

  • Navigational: The searcher is looking for a circumstantial leafage oregon site
  • Informational: The searcher is looking for accusation connected a topic
  • Commercial: The searcher is researching products and services 
  • Transactional: The searcher is looking for circumstantial products and services, and is acceptable to buy
A graphic showing the 4  types of hunt  intent, navigational, informational, commercial, and transactional

This helps found an authentic transportation and spot betwixt users and your brand, helping to people displacement them on successful their lawsuit journey.

3. A Competitive Advantage

No substance however niche your manufacture is, you’ll inactive vie with akin brands for the attraction of the aforesaid people audience. But lone 1 website tin onshore the apical spot for a keyword. 

Devoting clip and resources to hunt motor positioning tin springiness you the borderline implicit competitors who aren’t giving it arsenic overmuch attention. When your pages fertile higher than your competitors’, postulation that might’ve gone to them is much apt to travel your way.

For example, a adust crystal concern that delivers to a circumstantial portion mightiness find the contention comparatively low. To solidify its beingness arsenic the apical country brand, it mightiness optimize its work leafage with keyword-oriented details like:

  • Service details
  • Ordering process steps
  • Pricing and outgo information
  • Quality assurance information
  • Delivery logistics
  • Safety information
  • Customer testimonials
  • Contact details
  • Frequently asked questions
  • Calls to action

Targeting applicable keywords portion providing adjuvant accusation and worth volition assistance the adust crystal concern fertile higher than competitors whose services pages person thin content.

As different example, unreal you’re an online reseller of Nike “Panda Dunks,” 1 of the most fashionable sneakers successful the world. Here, the hunt scenery is incredibly competitive.

For your Panda Dunks postulation page, you’ll request it to radiance successful ways the contention doesn’t. Maybe they don’t see testimonials oregon often asked questions, and their leafage velocity lags. 

So, you’d ore connected optimizing your leafage to screen these aspects successful an effort to determination up of those competitors.

Further Reading: What Is a Competitive Analysis & How to Do It (With Template)

4. Greater Brand Recognition

Creating contented that demonstrates Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) helps support your credibility successful the eyes of Google’s Quality Raters arsenic good arsenic users. This, successful turn, tin indirectly boost your rankings.

And consistently retaining those apical positions helps you fortify your reputation. Seeing your marque sanction pop up archetypal successful applicable searches tells searchers that your marque is trustworthy. Which tin person a affirmative interaction erstwhile it comes clip to buy.

A diagram showing Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust

Search Engine Positioning vs. SEO: Understanding the Differences

While hunt motor positioning and SEO are related concepts, they’re not the aforesaid thing.

Main Focus

SEO is simply a broad strategy for improving hunt visibility and show for your entire website. It tackles a clump of antithetic areas, like:

  • Keyword research
  • Content creation
  • Site architecture
  • User experience
  • Page speed
  • Conversion complaint optimization

Say you’re an athleisure retailer. Your SEO would apt impact processing a assortment of content—like antithetic landing pages, idiosyncratic testimonials, and informative blog posts connected manner and athletics trends—to pull a wider assemblage and found your tract arsenic a go-to assets for athleisure.

On the different hand, hunt motor positioningis a subdivision of SEO that zeroes successful connected specific pages, aiming to boost their visibility successful hunt results. 

Using the aforesaid example, hunt motor positioning means you would absorption connected a postulation oregon merchandise leafage you privation to amended rankings for, specified arsenic workout shorts. By tailoring that leafage with workout shorts-related keywords, applicable information, interior links to related pages, and improving leafage performance, you’re trying to get that leafage to fertile highly for the circumstantial people terms.

Timeline

SEO is simply a semipermanent strategy designed to amended your website's wide quality, relevance, and rankings. Even Google says SEO tin instrumentality four months to a year to spot results.

But with hunt motor positioning, it is possible to spot presumption results for your website pages within a fewer days based connected Google indexing—though it could beryllium a period oregon longer. 

However, this doesn't needfully mean that your pages volition fertile well immediately. But immoderate effect from changes made to your leafage tin beryllium seen wrong days. 

You tin perchance expedite this process by prompting Google to scale oregon reindex your leafage instantly aft making changes in Google Search Console.

To petition Google to re-index your leafage aft you’ve optimized it, participate your leafage URL successful the hunt barroom astatine the apical of Search Console. 

Hit the “Enter” cardinal connected your keyboard, and the instrumentality volition amusement you the indexing status.

Page indexing presumption    successful  Google Search Console

Even if the leafage is already indexed, you tin click “Request Indexing” to pass Google that your leafage has changed and needs to beryllium crawled again.

"Request Indexing” successful  Google Search Console

Further reading: How to Get Your Website Indexed by Google

Best Practices for Search Engine Positioning Improvement

Ready to go a hunt motor positioning into action?

Here are respective champion practices to optimize your pages to improve their presumption connected hunt engines. While these tactics are meant to amended circumstantial leafage rankings, retrieve that immoderate whitethorn overlap with your overarching SEO strategies.

Create High-Quality, Targeted Content

The contented of your page—whether it’s a landing page, blog post, oregon thing else—should beryllium applicable to the taxable it covers, offering existent worth that speaks straight to your people audience. 

If it’s not applicable oregon doesn’t conscionable hunt intent, Google astir apt won’t amusement it connected the SERP. 

Semrush’s Topic Research instrumentality is simply a large starting constituent to assistance you travel up with search-friendly contented ideas that resonate with your readers.

Enter a taxable and click the “Get contented ideas” button.

"lower assemblage  workouts" entered into the Topic Research tool

You’ll past spot a dashboard of related contented ideas:

"Content Ideas" dashboard for "lower assemblage  workouts" successful  Topic Research tool

Click the “Trending subtopics first” slider to signifier the results by volume.

Besides monthly hunt volume, each paper shows you the taxable trouble and efficiency. And headlines of related articles and questions.

A paper  showing headlines, questions and related searches to "lover assemblage  workout gym female"

Once you person your ideas nailed down, caput implicit to our content instauration guide for tips connected creating top-notch resources for users.

Refresh Existing Content

Traffic to your contented tin driblet when:

  • Competitors boost their ain hunt motor positioning efforts and outrank you
  • Google updates its hunt motor algorithms
  • Your accusation is dated oregon nary longer accurate

Revisit and update your contented that drops successful rankings to guarantee it’s inactive relevant, offers adjuvant information, and meets searcher expectations. 

The SEO Writing Assistant makes it casual to refresh content.

Log into your Semrush account. Then, navigate to “SEO Writing Assistant” successful the left-hand column. Click the “Analyze my text” button.

Navigating to "SEO Writing Assistant" successful  Semrush dashboard

Then, you'll spot scores connected your:

  • Readability
  • SEO
  • Originality
  • Tone of Voice

Along with recommendations connected however to amended each category.

Content people     and "Smart Writer" conception  highlighted successful  SEO Writing Assistant editor

If you privation to revamp circumstantial sections, click “Rephraser” nether “Smart Writer” connected the close side.

You’ll past spot antithetic buttons that archer the AI to:

  • Rephrase: Change the wording of your text
  • Simplify: Make your substance easier to read
  • Expand: Add much text
  • Summarize: Condense your substance to item its cardinal points
"Rephrase," "Simplify," "Expand," and "Summarize" buttons highlighted nether  Rephraser window

Focus connected On-Page SEO

As we antecedently mentioned, SEO is the umbrella strategy that includes hunt motor positioning. And improving your on-page SEO makes it easier to fertile higher.

We’re lone giving 2 simple, beginner-friendly examples of on-page SEO successful this section. But you tin dive deeper into different techniques successful our on-page SEO guide.

Internal links are hyperlinks connected a website that constituent to different pages wrong the aforesaid site.

For example, the “internal links” nexus successful the erstwhile condemnation is, successful fact, an interior link.

You usage interior links to amusement Google however your contented is related. And assistance it find caller pages to index.

Additionally, interior linking helps you walk connected nexus equity, oregon ranking power, from high-performing pages to ones with less clicks. This helps get much of your contented seen arsenic authoritative and relevant, which helps boost their rankings.

A ocular  showing however  Google discovers pages

Internal links besides marque it easier for website visitors to find further applicable content. Which boosts postulation and helps them spot your marque arsenic an expert.

Here are immoderate tips for utilizing interior links to support visitors engaged connected your site:

  • Use circumstantial anchor text: Use descriptive anchor text alternatively of substance similar “click here” truthful readers cognize what the contented volition beryllium about. As an example, this slug has a nexus that reads “anchor text,” intelligibly reflecting the taxable of the linked leafage to readers.
  • Be little with anchor text: Limit to astir 5 words, truthful it’s wide what the taxable of the linked leafage is about
  • Focus connected prime implicit quantity: Links should ever beryllium applicable and adjuvant to readers—too galore links connected a leafage tin look spammy oregon confusing. 
  • Fix breached links: No links should pb to a 404 mistake (page not found). Fix breached links by changing the destination URL oregon redirecting it to a unrecorded leafage with a 200 status. Or delete the link.

Further reading: Internal Links: Ultimate Guide + Strategies

Optimize Your Title Tags and Meta Descriptions

Make definite your title tags and meta descriptions talk to your assemblage portion remaining keyword oriented. This tin assistance boost your organic click-through rate.

Title tag and meta statement  highlighted nether  Semrush's blog connected  Google SERP

To debar getting substance chopped disconnected successful hunt results, support your rubric tag nether 60 characters. And support your meta statement astir 105 characters.

How to Measure Search Engine Positioning

Here are 2 hunt motor positioning tools to assistance you support way of your leafage rankings:

1. Use Semrush’s Position Tracking

Position Tracking is simply a keyword tracking tool that allows you to comparison your Google rankings successful the archetypal 100 spots with your competitors.

To start, participate your domain and click “Set up tracking.”

Position Tracking instrumentality   hunt  bar

Select the hunt motor and instrumentality you privation Semrush to usage for tracking. We urge starting with “Google” and “Desktop.”

You besides indispensable participate a “Location” earlier you tin continue. 

Click “Continue To Keywords.” 

"Targeting" model   successful  Position Tracking instrumentality   configuration settings

Manually participate oregon import your people keywords and click “Add keywords to campaign. > “Start Tracking.”

"Keywords" model   successful  Position Tracking instrumentality   configuration settings

The instrumentality volition past make a summary with your domain’s visibility, estimated traffic, and mean presumption for your tracked keywords successful the “Landscape” report.

"Visibility," "Estimated Traffic," and "Average Position" metrics highlighted successful  Position Tracking tool's "Landscape" report

The “Overview” tab shows however your rankings and visibility person changed implicit time.

"Visibility" graph shown nether  "Overview" tab successful  Position Tracking tool

2. Use Google Search Console

You tin besides measurement the interaction of your hunt motor positioning efforts successful Google Search Console.

Log successful to Search Console and prime your website successful the spot dropdown.

On the overview page, you’ll spot the “Performance” chart that shows your website clicks. This is simply a speedy mode to spot trends successful your integrated traffic.

"Performance" graph highlighted successful  Google Search Console dashboard

Clicking “Search Results” nether the left-hand “Performance” class volition instrumentality you to a much elaborate illustration showing:

  • Total clicks
  • Total impressions
  • Average CTR
  • Average position
A illustration  showing "Total clicks," "Total impressions," "Average CTR," and "Average position" successful  Google Search Console

You tin filter by circumstantial dates oregon pages. And usage the mean presumption metric arsenic your benchmark for measuring your hunt motor positioning implicit time.

Search Engine Positioning is Foundational to SEO

Whether you’re a hunt motor positioning adept oregon conscionable starting out, remember: this is an ever-changing process.

So, it’s important to enactment connected apical of your rankings with hunt motor positioning software. This way, you tin place what’s working. Or cognize erstwhile you request to springiness definite pages much TLC.

Use Semrush’s Position Tracking instrumentality to way keywords and measurement the effectiveness of your hunt motor positioning efforts. Easily enactment connected apical of changes with automatic notifications that archer you erstwhile your pages spell up oregon down connected the SERPs.