Google’s search engine uses a variety of methods to determine which pages are displayed first in the results. Their exact formula is a secret, but there are always a few things you can do to improve your rank in Google search results. The term for this is Search Engine Optimization or SEO
Following below suggestions would improve your website’s rank.
1. Metadata
When designing your website, each page contains a space between the <head> tags to insert metadata, or information about the contents of your page. If you have a CMS site, the UMC web team will have pre-populated this data for you:
- Title Metadata
Title metadata is responsible for the page titles displayed at the top of a browser window. It is the most important metadata on your page. For those with a CMS website, the web team has developed an automated system for creating the meta title for each web page. - Description Metadata
Description metadata is the textual description that a browser will use in your page search return. Think of it as your site’s window display—a concise and appealing description of what is contained within, with the goal of encouraging people to enter. - Keyword Metadata
Keyword metadata are the search phrases that people type when they want to find your page. You’ll want to include a variety of phrases. However, don’t get greedy: if your list becomes excessive, the browser may completely ignore the data. As a general rule, try to keep it to about 6-8 phrases with each phrase consisting of 1-4 words. A great example would be “computer science degree.”
2. Links
One of the biggest factors Google looks at is the hyperlink.
Google looks at both links to and from your website.
Google looks at the words you use in links to help determine the content of your page. Use links within web pages as a way to emphasize keywords. Rather than saying, “click here to learn more about SEO” you should say: Read more about SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
Links from other websites to your website are used to determine Page Rank.
You can improve your Page Rank by exchanging text links with other relevant websites. Linking to your own website is fine. Be a good citizen and link to places other than your own website – but only when relevant. Banner exchanges are not effective, and pages that want to charge you for this service are often known spammers that can hurt your rank.
There’s some debate about just how many links you should have per page. This is one of those rules that’s likely to bite you if you abuse it, so the key, again, should be to be helpful and natural with the rate and quantity of links you offer. Scripts that link your content to other pages or ads within your site may end up damaging your site in the long run.
3. Back Links
Backlinks are incoming links to a webpage.
When a webpage links to any other page, it’s called a backlink. In the past, backlinks were the major metric for the ranking of a webpage. A page with a lot of backlinks tended to rank higher on all major search engines, including Google. This is still true to a large extent.
4. Update Your Content Regularly
You’ve probably noticed that we feel pretty strongly about content. Search engines do, too. Regularly updated content is viewed as one of the best indicators of a site’s relevancy, so be sure to keep it fresh.