The dream of every online entrepreneur is to see their website appear on the first page of Google. An old proverb says that if you want to hide a body somewhere to avoid being arrested, the best place to do so is the second page of Google . In fact, if your website ends up there, you’re pretty much screwed.
Overall, about 75% of Google users stop at the first page of search results and don’t visit the second or subsequent pages . Only less than 1% of users click through to results beyond the first page, making it crucial to rank among the top 10 results on the first page for visibility and traffic.
It’s important to note that the importance of position on Google’s search results page depends on the type of search query . For example, for local searches, position is even more critical, as most users tend to click on the first search results.
Getting your website on the first page of Google results is crucial because most users don’t look beyond the first page of search results. If more than 75% of users don’t scroll past the first page of Google, it means that if your website doesn’t appear in the top search results, your chances of receiving organic traffic are significantly reduced .
Being among the first Google search results also increases your website’s visibility and therefore the ability to engage with your target audience. Furthermore, a high Google ranking also increases your website’s credibility and trustworthiness, as users tend to consider the first search results as the most relevant and authoritative.
Keep these other data in mind: in terms of click-through rate, the top three organic results on Google capture approximately 61.8% of total clicks (34.78% in first position, 16.76% in second, and 10.22% in third). The fourth result generally gets between 6% and 7% of clicks, while the fifth results hover between 4% and 5% . Fewer than 1% of users click on results above fifth position. These data confirm the importance of being among the first Google search results to drive significant traffic to your website.
Important note: With the advent of AI Overview , these figures can be tragically even lower. For this reason, investing not only in SEO, but also in GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is a necessary condition for being found by your potential customers.
Organic or paid? that is the question.
Have you ever searched for something on Google and noticed that the first results are always advertisements? Yes, those are the ones that appear at the top, labeled ” ad .” But did you know there’s another way to appear at the top of Google search results without spending a cent on advertising? This is called organic positioning, and it’s what you’ll see below the ads on Google’s search results page.
Organic positioning is very important because it provides great visibility for your business online, without having to spend money on advertising. However, achieving a high position in organic search results takes time and effort. In this article, I’ll show you how to achieve organic positioning without investing in advertising.
If i have a lot of budget available, why should i spend so much energy on organic positioning?
Many people online believe that simply paying Google is enough to rank high in search results. Posting paid ads with Google Ads can help gain immediate visibility for your website, but it doesn’t necessarily guarantee high rankings in the long run .
Organic ranking depends on a number of factors, including the quality and relevance of content, the authority of the website, and the quality of backlinks. Furthermore, search engines like Google use complex algorithms to determine a website’s organic ranking , and these algorithms take into account many different factors. Simply paying Google isn’t enough to rank highly (also because many competitors use this strategy, thus decreasing your chances of ranking higher than them).
There are then a series of risks and disadvantages associated with paid advertising on Google :
- Advertising on Google Ads can be expensive, especially for the most competitive keywords. Furthermore, if not managed correctly, it can lead to a poor cost-benefit ratio.
- In many industries, advertising on Google Ads is very competitive, which means that businesses may have to compete with other businesses for the same keywords and ad placement.
- If you rely too heavily on Google Ads advertising, your business can become dependent on the channel and risk losing qualified traffic and leads if your ad budget is reduced or eliminated.
- Advertising on Google Ads can be subject to click fraud, which is when a user or competitor repeatedly clicks on your ads in order to increase the costs of your advertising campaign.
- Finally, advertising on Google Ads can also appear on websites affiliated with Google, which means that the company does not have complete control over the websites on which the ads appear.
As you can see from this graph, a well-established and consistent SEO strategy leads to ever-increasing growth for your website without investing in ads. The website, at this point, becomes a real customer-capturing asset.
Let’s see how to give more weight to organic positioning without spending too much money and exposing yourself to difficult-to-manage risks.
The foundation of SEO: keywords
Keywords are the search terms that users type into Google to find what they’re looking for. All SEO strategies, in some way, relate to keywords, as they’re the ones users use to find what they’re interested in. Therefore, choosing the right keywords is essential for achieving good organic rankings in Google search results. To identify the most relevant keywords for your website, there are a few things to keep in mind.
First, you need to choose keywords that are relevant to your business or product . For example, if you’re a clothing store, keywords might be “fashion clothing,” “dresses online,” “prom dresses,” etc. Keep in mind that the keywords must be highly relevant to your website and content.
To find the most relevant, high-quality keywords, you can use free online tools like Google Keyword Planner and Answer the Public. LLMs (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, etc.) are also excellent tools for the creative process. There are also paid tools with much more complex features for professional SEOs. These tools will help you discover the most popular keywords, related searches, and other keywords you may not have considered.
Some keywords are highly competitive and difficult to rank for, while others, less competitive, can help you achieve higher organic rankings. Furthermore, there are long-tail keywords that are more specific and less competitive. For example, “formal dresses for older women” could be a long-tail keyword, less competitive but highly relevant to your website.Once you’ve chosen the right keywords, it’s important to use them strategically throughout your website. Keywords should be included in the page title , meta description, content, and tags.
Finding the right keywords is just the first step to achieving optimal organic rankings on Google. This research is the foundation for many other strategies we’ll discuss shortly.
How to use keywords? write quality content.
The most immediate way to use keywords and rank without paying a cent in advertising is to generate quality content. This can include blog posts, YouTube videos with accompanying descriptions, social media content with captions, and much more.
Creating original, informative, and relevant content for your target audience can significantly improve your website’s search engine rankings. Creating content that addresses your audience’s questions and concerns can increase engagement and trust in your website, thereby improving traffic.
Read also: 10 advantages of content marketing if you are a company or a freelancer
The more clicks you get on your blog or content published on your site, the more opportunities you have to rank higher on Google , as the search engine will judge your site to be interesting and of high quality.
There are several techniques for creating quality content, such as writing informative blog posts, using high-quality images and videos, and creating infographics. The key is to create unique and original content that offers added value to your audience . We’ve discussed this in previous articles, some of which emphasized the importance of creating an editorial plan first. Review them all and start taking your content seriously.
Furthermore, it’s important to optimize the content you create for the chosen keywords. This means using on-page optimization techniques , such as using relevant meta descriptions, titles and subtitles, and using keywords in the text. Alternatively, there are other strategies you can implement to achieve excellent results organically as well.
Link building and social media sharing
In previous articles, we’ve covered the topic of link building, how to do it effectively, and the benefits it can bring. For those with a short memory, link building refers to the practice of obtaining links from other websites, building a solid, high-quality backlink profile. This process can be achieved through participation in industry forums, writing guest posts on websites relevant to your industry, and using link exchange techniques.
Of course, it’s a good idea to create quality internal and external links . Be careful not to link to internal pages on your site that are “dead”—that is, pages that are no longer linked to content because you’ve previously deleted it. This could really put your site in trouble.
On the other hand, for your external links, choose only authoritative sites with high traffic. Avoid unsafe or dubious sites, to avoid penalizing your site.
There’s another tip I’d like to give you to help you position your website optimally: leverage social media . What do social networks have to do with Google rankings? I’ll explain right away.
Social media can help a website rank better organically on Google in many different ways :
- Sharing website content on social media can increase your site’s visibility, leading to more traffic and increased shares and backlinks.
- When website content is shared on social media, users may choose to link to the site from their platform. This generates backlinks to the site.
- Building a community on social media can lead to increased sharing, engagement, and website visibility.
- Using relevant keywords in the content of your social media posts can help improve your website’s organic ranking. This way, your posts can appear in Google searches and lead to more visits to your site. It’s also worth noting that social networks are now becoming full-fledged search engines: when users search for specific content or people, they use keywords in the social media search bar and use the results to visit the company or professional’s website. So, don’t neglect this last aspect!
Tips for making the most of social media and improving your google rankings without investing in ads.
- Identify social media that are relevant to your industry and target audience and create an account on them.
- Create engaging, high-quality content to share on social media, using relevant keywords
- Use the social media sharing features on your website to make it easy for people to share your content on social media.
- Actively participate in social media discussions related to your industry and share your content appropriately.
- Use link building techniques to generate backlinks to your website from social media platforms
- Monitor engagement metrics and website traffic from social media to evaluate the impact of your social media marketing efforts on your website’s organic rankings on Google.
Regarding this last point, continuously monitoring and optimizing your website’s organic positioning is essential to ensuring a lasting and significant presence on Google’s first page. Using tools like Google Search Console and Google Analytics, you can monitor your website’s organic traffic and identify areas requiring improvement.
To optimize your website’s organic positioning, it’s important to use off-page optimization techniques such as analyzing Google Analytics data and continually updating your website content. Furthermore, it’s important to keep in mind that organic positioning requires time and patience to achieve significant and lasting results.
In short, to achieve organic positioning without investing in advertising, it’s important to choose relevant, high-quality keywords, create authoritative and pertinent content , use link building and social media sharing techniques, and continuously monitor and optimize your organic positioning. Always remember that organic positioning requires time and patience to achieve lasting, significant results.
Keep following this blog for more tips to improve your online positioning and business.
SEO & GEO specialist.
