How to Improve Your Search Engine Rankings

Improving search engine rankings

Why SEO Is Not a Simple Question

Lots of people and businesses have websites. In fact, one estimate puts the number of websites online at over 1 billion.

So, if you work in IT, web hosting, web design, or digital marketing, you will probably hear this question a lot: “How do I increase my Google rankings?”

The tricky part is that there is no single answer.

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is a process. It takes time, testing, and patience. It is a bit like learning to ride a bike or mastering a new language. You improve step by step.

It is also worth remembering that not everyone stays current with SEO best practices. These days, it is not enough to add a few meta keywords and descriptions and call it done.

So, where should you start?

Start with PageSpeed Insights

A great first step is PageSpeed Insights.

At first glance, the name makes it sound like it is only about speed. The page even says, “make your web pages fast on all devices”. However, that is only part of the picture.

Yes, page load time does matter. If a website takes far too long to load, visitors may leave before they even see your content. That creates a poor user experience. Search engines want to show relevant, high-quality results, so site speed can affect your rankings.

It Looks at More Than Performance

PageSpeed Insights does not only look at speed.

It also reviews Accessibility, Best Practices, and SEO. That makes it a useful tool for finding issues that affect both search engines and real visitors.

In November 2023, several issues were fixed on the Ethernet Servers website after being identified by PageSpeed Insights.

These included:

Background and foreground colours having a sufficient contrast ratio
Links being distinguishable without relying on colour
Links having descriptive text
Tap targets being sized appropriately
Heading elements appearing in sequential order
Links being crawlable
ARIA input fields having accessible names

And those were only some of the improvements.

Why These Fixes Matter

These checks are not there for search engines alone. They also help real people use your website more easily.

For example, the contrast ratio check helps users with sight issues read your content more clearly. If visitors struggle to read your text, that is a serious problem. It can also cost you sales if you run an e-commerce website.

Whether your site is a community project, an online shop, or a personal blog, following the guidance from PageSpeed Insights is a smart move.

Some Fixes Are Technical, Others Are Content-Based

Some issues are performance-related and may be best handled by your hosting provider, such as Ethernet Servers.

Others are content or design issues and may be better suited to a web developer.

Either way, PageSpeed Insights gives you a strong starting point.

Before paying for an SEO specialist, it often makes sense to fix the issues this tool identifies first. Many SEO providers overpromise and underdeliver. By comparison, PageSpeed Insights gives you practical issues you can actually work on.

You may also want to use Google Analytics to track your results before and after making changes.

Back Up Before You Make Changes

Before making any changes to your site, create a full backup.

That way, if something is changed incorrectly, you can restore the website quickly. Using version control, such as GitHub, is also a good idea. It lets you keep track of changes and roll back when needed. You can even create public or private repositories for free.