How to rank on Google, step by step

Ranking means the position of your page in Google's results for one specific search. Position 1 is the top organic result. The first page usually holds about ten organic results, plus ads, a map and AI answers.

Every page that ranks well went through the same sequence. The order matters, because each step depends on the one before it. A fast, well-written page that Google has yet to index ranks for zero searches.

1. 1. Get indexedConfirm that Google has crawled and stored the page.
2. 2. Choose one search per pagePick the phrase and the intent the page should win.
3. 3. Be the most helpful answerCover what the searcher needs, more clearly than the current top results.
4. 4. Send clear on-page signalsTitle, heading, address and internal links that name the topic.
5. 5. Deliver a good page experienceFast, stable and easy to use on a phone.
6. 6. Earn links and mentionsRecommendations from other relevant websites.
7. 7. Measure and improveUse Search Console data to lift pages that are close to page one.

The rest of this chapter takes the steps one at a time. Keep one page of your own site in mind while you read, ideally the service that earns you the most.

Google uses many automated ranking systems. Each looks at signals, which are clues about a page and about the search. Google's documentation groups them: the meaning of the search, relevance, quality, usability and context.

The key idea for a business owner: Google ranks pages, one search at a time. Your homepage may rank for your company name while your roofing page ranks for 'roof repair' in your town.

Results also differ per person. Location, language and device shape the list. So the position you see on your own phone is one sample. Search Console shows your average position across all searchers.

Finally, ranking is relative. You need to beat the specific pages that compete for that search. For 'roof repair Tulsa' that is a handful of local roofers. For 'best running shoes' it is global publishers and brands.

Lists of '200 Google ranking factors' circulate widely. Google has published zero such lists. What it does publish is its ranking systems guide and the SEO Starter Guide. The table below sticks to those sources.

Google also lists things with little or zero effect: the meta keywords tag, keywords in the domain name, a target word count and the number or order of headings. You can leave those alone.

How many ranking factors are there? Nobody outside Google knows, and the number is irrelevant for your work. The seven rows above cover what moves a business website.

Start with the simplest test. Type site:yourdomain.com into Google. You see the pages Google has stored. If an important page is missing, ranking work on that page has to wait.

For a precise answer, open Google Search Console and paste the page address into the URL Inspection tool at the top. It tells you whether the page is indexed and, if it is absent, why.

1. Blocked by robots.txtA rule in this file stops the crawler. Remove the rule for pages that should rank.
2. Noindex tagThe page asks Google to stay out of results. Common after a redesign, when a test setting stays on.
3. Discovered, currently waitingGoogle knows the address and has yet to crawl it. Add internal links to the page and request indexing.
4. DuplicateGoogle chose another address as the main version. Check your canonical tag and your redirects.
5. Orphan pageZero pages link to it. Link to it from your menu or from a related page.

Then submit your sitemap in Search Console under Sitemaps. For a new or changed page, click Request indexing in the inspection tool. Google usually visits within days.

Each page should have one job: win one search and its close variations. When two of your pages chase the same search, Google has to guess which one you mean, and both tend to rank lower.

Look at the search before you build the page. Type the phrase into Google and study the first page. Are the results service pages, guides, product lists or videos? That pattern shows the intent Google has learned.

If the top results for 'bathroom remodel cost' are all price guides, a sales page will struggle there. Write the price guide, and link from it to your sales page.

Be realistic about competition too. A new site rarely wins 'insurance'. It can win 'landlord insurance for student housing in Leeds'. Specific searches have fewer competitors and visitors who know what they want.

Chapter 2 of this guide covers how to find and choose these searches in detail. For now, write down the one phrase your chosen page should win.

Open the top three results for your phrase and read them as a customer would. Note what they answer well and what they leave out. Your page needs to cover the essentials and add something they lack.

Good additions are things only a practitioner has: real prices from recent jobs, photos of your own work, a step list, a comparison table, common mistakes, answers to the questions customers ask you every week.

Put the answer first. A reader who searches 'how often should gutters be cleaned' wants 'twice a year, in spring and fall' in line one. Detail and exceptions follow.

Show who is behind the page. Name the author or the business, state your experience and link to your sources. Google's helpful content guidance asks whether content shows first-hand expertise.

Then make it easy to act. A service page needs a phone number, a form or a booking option in view. A page that helps and converts serves both the reader and your business.

Google's Starter Guide calls the words on the page the most basic relevance signal. So tell Google and the reader plainly what the page covers, in the places both look first.

1. Title tagThe headline in the results. Lead with the main phrase and keep it under about 60 characters so it shows in full.
2. Main headingOne H1 that repeats the topic in natural words.
3. First paragraphUse the phrase once and answer the question directly.
4. SubheadingsCover related questions people ask. Google's People also ask box gives you the list.
5. Internal linksLink to this page from your homepage or menu and from related pages, with link text that describes it.
6. Meta descriptionA short pitch of up to about 155 characters that earns the click.

Write for the reader throughout. Repeating a phrase in every sentence is called keyword stuffing, and Google's spam policies name it. Use the phrase where it fits and vary your wording.

Google states that its core ranking systems look to reward a good page experience. It measures that with Core Web Vitals, three scores based on real visits by Chrome users.

The good values are: main content visible within 2.5 seconds (LCP), reaction to a tap within 200 milliseconds (INP) and a layout shift score of 0.1 or less (CLS).

Test your page for free at PageSpeed Insights. Look at the mobile tab first, since most searches happen on phones and Google indexes the mobile version of your site.

Keep the weight in proportion. Google says relevance stays the main thing: a great answer on an average page still beats a weak answer on a fast one. Speed decides between pages of similar value.

Speed does decide what happens after the click. A visitor who waits five seconds often leaves before reading. So speed protects the leads your ranking brings in.

A link from another website works as a vote of confidence. When two pages answer a search equally well, the one with more trusted links usually ranks higher.

Start with links you already deserve. Suppliers, trade associations, your local chamber of commerce, partners and clients with a 'who we work with' page. A short, friendly email is often enough.

Then create something worth linking to: a price guide with real numbers, a small study, a calculator or a clear how-to. Journalists and bloggers link to sources that save them work.

Stay away from link sellers. Google's spam policies treat buying or selling links for ranking as link spam, and its systems are built to ignore such links.

Local firms have a second trust source: reviews. Google's help pages confirm that review count and review score feed into local ranking. Ask every satisfied customer and reply to each review.

The quickest way to improve Google ranking is rarely a new page. It is a page that sits just outside the top results. Google already sees it as relevant. A push makes the difference.

Open Search Console, go to Performance and tick Average position. Filter for positions greater than 4 and sort by impressions, the number of times you were shown.

1. Pick five searches with many impressionsThese are phrases where people see you and few click, because you sit low on the page or on page two.
2. Check the page that ranksDoes it answer that exact search in the title and the first paragraph?
3. Add the missing partsCompare with the top three. Add the sections, examples, prices or questions they cover.
4. Rewrite the title for clicksA clearer benefit in the title lifts your click rate at the same position.
5. Add internal linksLink to the page from two or three related pages on your site.
6. Update and request indexingThen note the date and check the position after three to four weeks.

Work through five pages a month this way. It is how to rank higher on Google with the least effort, because you build on what Google already trusts.

For local searches the first page has two entrances. The map pack shows three businesses with a map. Below it come the regular organic results. You can appear in both.

The map pack runs on your Google Business Profile. Google names three factors: relevance, distance and prominence. Complete information, the right category and steady reviews raise relevance and prominence.

The organic results run on your website. Build one page per service, and name the area you serve in the title and text. 'Emergency plumber in Reading' beats a generic 'Our services' page.

Keep your name, address and phone number identical on your site, your profile and directories such as Yelp or Yell. Consistent details help Google trust that it has the right business.

This is the most realistic way to get on the first page of Google for a small company. You compete with nearby firms only. Chapter 9 of this guide covers local search in full.

Google's Starter Guide says some changes show within hours and others take several months. It advises waiting a few weeks before you assess whether a change helped.

Ahrefs studied this with large samples. Of 2 million English pages first seen in October 2023, about 6% reached the top 10 for at least one search within a year.

In an earlier Ahrefs study, the pages that made it mostly did so between roughly two and six months after publication. Low-competition searches move faster. High-volume searches are held by established pages.

For planning, use these rough ranges. An existing site improving a page on position 12: weeks. A new page on a trusted site: one to three months. A brand new website: three to six months for specific searches.

Promises of page one in 24 hours belong to ads. An ad can show today. An organic position is earned over time.

You can pay Google for ads. They appear with a Sponsored label above or below the organic results. Google states that advertising has zero influence on organic ranking, and it accepts zero payment for a better organic or local position.

Other shortcuts carry real risk. Google's spam policies list practices that lead to lower rankings or removal: bought links, hidden text, pages stuffed with keywords and large volumes of pages made only to rank.

That last one matters in the age of AI writing tools. Google calls it scaled content abuse: many pages with little value for readers, whatever tool produced them. Use AI as an assistant and add real knowledge.

If someone guarantees you the number one spot, be careful. Google's own advice on hiring an SEO warns that such a guarantee is impossible to give.

The honest route is also the durable one. A page that earned its position through usefulness tends to hold it through Google's updates.

Checking by hand gives a skewed picture, since results adapt to your location and device. Use Search Console for the real average. It is free and comes straight from Google.

In the Performance report you see four numbers per search and per page: clicks, impressions, click rate and average position. Compare the last 28 days with the 28 days before.

Rankings are a means. Track the calls, forms and bookings that organic visitors bring. A position 4 that brings ten leads a month beats a position 1 for a phrase that brings none.

For many searches Google now shows an AI Overview, a generated summary with links to sources, above the regular results. AI Mode answers longer questions in a conversation.

Google's page 'AI features and your website' says these features have zero additional requirements. A page needs to be indexed and eligible for a snippet. The fundamentals in this chapter apply fully.

Google also explains that these features may run several related searches behind one question, a technique called query fan-out. Pages that answer specific sub-questions clearly have more chances to be cited.

So structure helps: a direct answer under each subheading, facts with numbers, and clear details about who you are. Chapter 12 of this guide covers AI search in depth.

When a page refuses to move, walk through the steps in order. The cause is nearly always one of these.

1. The page is missing from the indexInspect the URL in Search Console and fix the reported reason.
2. The intent is offYour page type differs from what ranks. Change the format to match the first page.
3. Two of your pages competeMerge them into one stronger page and redirect the weaker address.
4. The content is thinAdd the questions, examples and proof the top results include.
5. The page is buriedIt takes four clicks to reach from the homepage. Link to it from the menu or a main page.
6. The competition is too strong for nowTarget a more specific version of the search first and build up.

Change one thing at a time and write down the date. After a few weeks you know what worked, and you can repeat it on the next page.

Most of the steps above are decided while a website is built: structure, speed, titles, internal links and structured data. That is why we treat SEO as part of the build.

Delta Six is a Dutch web design agency. We write each site by hand on our own platform, and monthly SEO plus optimization for AI search are included as standard.

We build your complete custom website free first and show it in a 15-minute online showcase. You pay nothing upfront. You only pay when you're happy.

• Search site:yourdomain.com and confirm your key pages are indexed.
• Inspect your most important page in Search Console and fix any indexing issue.
• Submit your sitemap in Search Console.
• Write down the one search each important page should win.
• Study the first page for that search and note the page type and the gaps.
• Put the direct answer in the first paragraph.
• Rewrite the title tag with the main phrase near the start, within about 60 characters.
• Add three internal links to the page from related pages.
• Test the page in PageSpeed Insights on mobile and note LCP, INP and CLS.
• Complete your Google Business Profile and ask ten customers for a review.
• Email five relevant websites that could link to you.
• List your pages on positions 5 to 20 in Search Console and improve five of them.
• Record each change with a date and review positions after four weeks.