Are you investing plenty of time and resources into SEO but still not getting the desired results? It could be because you must still build your website’s reputation with Google.
We understand that Google strives to deliver the best possible answers to its users. In fact, Google’s success depends on the quality of its search results.
A couple of decades ago, it was possible to trick Google to secure great rankings quickly. However, Google has evolved and become much more sophisticated following several updates like the September 2023 Helpful Content Update and Site Reputation Abuse.
Today, you need to build trust with Google and this is something you can’t get overnight. However, with the right SEO strategies and tools, you can gradually improve your site’s reputation and eventually beat your competitors in search results.
In this post, we will discuss 5 proven strategies for improving your site’s reputation with Google.
10 Ways To Establish Your Website’s Reputation With Google
To unlock search engine success, you must consistently work on several factors. Warrant Buffet says “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.”
While it doesn’t take 20 years to build your website’s reputation with Google, it certainly requires time, work, and consistent efforts.
Just as reputation in business is built through reliability and quality, your site’s reputation with Google is established through sustained excellence in content, user experience, and adherence to SEO best practices.
Here is what you need to focus on:
1. Understand How Google’s Algorithm Really Work
So Google has a massive library of web pages. When someone initiates a search query, Google doesn’t just return a list of some random pages.
Instead, the search engine uses complex algorithms to rank web pages based on certain factors such as the quality of content and relevance.
But here is the real question: how does Google determine the ranking of a website in SERPs?
It all starts when Google bots crawl your website pages and reads the content. Google’s natural language processing (NLP) capabilities further help it decode the purpose or meaning of content on a page and how it aligns with other on-page SEO elements.
Once Google understands what your content is all about, your page gets indexed. Now this is where Google deploys a mechanism with around 200 ranking signals that determine where your page should rank in search results.
If we have to name some of the most important ranking factors, that would be content, core web vitals, site speed, links, user intent, geolocation, keyword integration, and user experience.
The better you understand how Google works, the greater your chances of building a strong online reputation.
Related: Google Ranking Systems & Signals 2024
2. Use The Power of E-E-A-T
E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) is another critical concept you need to wrap your head around if you want to build a reputation with Google.
Google uses this framework to evaluate the quality and credibility of your content.
While E-E-A-T isn’t a direct ranking factor, it helps you understand what Google treats as a good search result.
After all, your objective is to establish your website as a reputable, credible source of information for your audience.
Explaining the Elements E-E-A-T
1. Experience
With experience, Google means first-hand experience on a subject.
For example, health-related content written by a doctor is more likely to be considered credible and valuable because it reflects the author’s direct involvement and experience in the field.
Likewise, a travel blog written by someone who has personally visited the destinations they describe will carry more weight than content created by someone who hasn’t.
Therefore, focus on the following when creating content for your website:
- Authentic insights
- Tried-and-proven guidance/tips
- Unique opinion
2. Expertise
Are you well-versed in the subject matter? Do you have formal or informal qualifications in the field?
Expertise refers to how knowledgeable and skillful you are in your area of focus.
It’s important to show expertise in certain topics such as health and finance. Let’s say your website is about medical topics, you must have academic achievements within your field.
One simple way to showcase your expertise is to add information about you or your authors.
3. Authoritativeness
How reliable are you as an online source of information? How much authority does your website hold? This is what authoritativeness refers to – a go-to source of info on a particular subject.
To give you an example, ESPN is one of the authoritative sources on sports. Likewise, National Geographic is widely recognized for its authority on topics related to the natural world and history.
We can say experience and expertise are two key elements of authoritativeness. If you don’t have experience and expertise, you won’t be able to establish yourself as an authority on a subject.
What makes a website authoritative? Backlinks from high authority sites. So, focus on earning quality backlinks from highly credible sites. We’ll talk more about backlinks later in this blog post.
If you’re not sure how to measure your authoritativeness, consider using tools like Semrush’s Authority Score (AS) or Ahrefs’ Authority Checker.
4. Trustworthiness
This one is probably the most important element of E-E-A-T. Your website is trustworthy if it provides safe, reliable, and honest information. Most importantly, your site must be secure.
It’s possible to have experience, expertise, and authority but still be regarded as untrustworthy by Google.
So make sure your website doesn’t contain harmful or misleading information if you want to build a solid reputation with Google.
Why E-E-A-T Matters?
Creating content at scale has never been easier, thanks to AI tools. However, AI doesn’t have first-hand experience or expertise like a human.
Google is likely to introduce systems that reward original, human content. In other words, Google will prevent low-value AI content from ranking in SERPs.
So, you must focus on producing content that meets E-E-A-T standards. Be an expert in your field and share your first-hand experiences with your audience.
3. Get Quality Backlinks
When your website gets a backlink from a credible site, it’s like getting an endorsement. It shows that other online platforms trust your content and like to mention it on their site.
Not to mention, links from high-authority websites carry more weight than those from lower-quality or less established sources.
You not only want to improve your website’s reputation with Google but also want to be ranked on the first page of Google. For this, you need to develop a sound backlink strategy.
It might sound hard but getting white hate backlinks from credible news sites and blogs is easy with platforms like Featured.
Here are some steps to start building those quality backlinks:
Audit Your Backlink Profile
First, take a look at your current backlink profile. What sites are linking back to your content? Are those backlinks beneficial?
Identify backlinks that positively influence your SEO rankings and get rid of toxic, low-quality links.
It will help you determine where your site stands in terms of trustworthiness and authority. Make sure to use a reliable tool to evaluate and optimize your backlink profile.
Related: How To Do A Backlink Audit: A Complete 2024 Guide
Reclaim Unlinked Mentions
If you’re looking for a quick way to get quality backlinks, track your brand mentions.
Tools like Google Alerts or BuzzSumo can make it super simple and fast to keep an eye on who is mentioning your brand or product name.
In most cases, you’ll find your brand mentions don’t contain a backlink – Someone is mentioning your brand but not linking to your website.
So what you can do is to reach out to those authors and ask for link attribution.
Write Guest Posts
Guest blogging is an effective way to get quality backlinks, especially if you run a small business.
The objective here is to write a post for a platform that you want to get a backlink from. You incorporate a link to your site organically within the post.
Quality is of great significance when it comes to guest blogging on credible platforms. Your content will be published only when you create unique, helpful content.
What about an example?
Let’s say you’re in the digital marketing niche. Writing a guest post for platforms like HubSpot or Moz will be highly beneficial.
If you don’t have time for this, consider hiring a good blog writer.
Publish Long-Form Content to Your Website
The next thing you can do is publish skyscraper posts on your site. However, your content must surpass existing top-performing content in your industry.
For instance, if you see a popular blog post in your niche that lists the top 10 marketing tools, you can write a blog post covering 20 or more marketing tools with detailed reviews and user testimonials.
People love to share long-form guides that cover a topic in great detail. Other websites would also like to link to long-form posts where you explain an idea from start to finish in a super easy way.
In other words, create easily linkable content. It could be an infographic, a blog post, or a video. Experiment with different formats and types of content to see what works best for your website.
‘Why posts”, ‘what posts’ and infographics perform better when it comes to attracting backlinks.
4. Build a Strong Brand
Do you have a strong brand identity? A well-established brand is something users and Google can trust.
Steve Forbes, editor-in-chief of Forbes Magazine, wisely put it, “Your brand is the single most important investment you can make in your business.”
So, work towards building a unique and memorable brand. When your audience trusts your brand, it naturally attracts positive attention from Google.
Let’s take a look at the fundamentals of building a great brand:
- A branded domain name
- Clearly defined business goals and values
- A thorough audience and competitors analysis
- Consistent visual identity across all platforms
- Strong and distinctive brand voice
- Quality content strategy aligned with brand
- Active customer engagement and interaction
- Reputation management through reviews and feedback
Related: Brand Identity: How to Develop a Unique & Memorable Brand in 2024
5. Offer Seamless User Experience
If we examine some of the top-performing websites in terms of Google rankings, we’ll find one thing common in all of them: a seamless user experience.
If your website is slow and cluttered, it reflects that you don’t respect your visitors’ time. As a result, Google is likely to penalize your site by ranking it lower in search results.
As a website owner, ask yourself the following questions:
- Are the pop-ups on your site minimal and non-intrusive?
- Is your site secure with HTTPS?
- Does the content look good on mobile devices?
- Is it easy for visitors to find the main content?
- Do the pages load quickly and work well?
- Are there a few ads that don’t interfere with the main content?
- Is the main content clearly separated from other elements on the page?
Google Search Central asks these questions to help you understand your page experience.
Now let’s talk about some of the key components of user experience and how they influence your website reputation with Google.
Speed and Core Web Vitals
Three key Core Web Vitals are:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): It measures how much time the largest visible content element on your page takes to fully load. It must be less than 2.5 seconds.
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): It refers to the unexpected layout shifts when a page loads. Your CLS should remain below 0.1. In other words, CLS measures the stability of elements on a page.
- Interaction to Next Paint (INP): This measures the time the browser takes to respond to your user’s next interaction on a page. It is about the responsiveness of a page after it loads.
Be sure your website pages perform well when a user lands them and starts exploring more content.
Your website speed plays a crucial role in establishing your site’s reputation with Google. If the page load time is more than 2.5 seconds, that’s a red flag and you must fix it immediately.
User experience and SEO are a winning combination when it comes to ranking higher.
Related: 10 Easy Ways to Improve Your Website Speed
Mobile-friendliness
The next critical element of user experience is how well your website responds when loaded across mobile devices.
92.3% of internet users prefer accessing the web through their smartphones over other devices. Also, 74% of users return to a site if it’s mobile-friendly.
That said, it’s not hard to determine that a mobile-friendly website directly influences your site’s search performance
We just discussed Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) which measures the stability of page layout during load. A stable and highly responsive site delivers a consistent experience to users no matter the device. This is exactly why Google emphasizes Core Web Vitals.
Here is another major step you can take to Build your reputation with Google: build a mobile version of our site.
This is because an increasing number of people access the internet through their smartphones. So, deliver a memorable mobile experience to users ready to browse through your site and do business with you.
Related: Optimize UX With Backend Development: Don’t Make Users Think
Content Readability
While mobile-friendliness and the overall structure of your website are crucial UX elements, your content also needs to be highly relevant and easy to read.
Hard-to-read content negatively impacts UX. That’s why content readability is one of the ranking factors.
Most importantly, high content readability helps you boost engagement and conversion rates. When people spend more time on your site, it’s a signal that people like to consume content on your site.
Here are some tips for improving your content readability:
- Use clear, simple language. Avoid jargons.
- Write in short sentences and paragraphs.
- Break your content into sections with subheadings, bullet points, and lists.
- Add enough space between paragraphs and sections for easier reading.
- Use visuals and graphics to explain complex ideas.
- Make sure your content is both grammatically correct and accurate.
- Write for skimmers: use bold text, subheadings, and bullet points.
- Stick to a simple color scheme for better readability.
Do a quick content readability test to find out how easily your visitors can read it.
More Tips To Improve Your Website’s Reputation With Google
We’ve covered major factors that heavily influence how Google views your website. Here are a few more tips to further strengthen your online reputation:
- Optimize your content for voice search.
- Secure your site with HTTPS to build trust and rank better.
- Update your content regularly to keep it relevant.
- Encourage user engagement by inviting comments and shares to signal value to Google.
- Run SEO audits frequently to fix technical issues that may hurt your site.
- Use schema markup to help Google understand your content better.
- Respond to reviews and actively manage your online reputation to maintain a positive Google profile.
- Be active on social media and share valuable content to build a community.
Related: Raising the Bar: Advanced Tactics for Building and Maintaining Your Brand’s Reputation
Closing Thoughts
Your website can make or break your business online. So focus on building a solid online reputation. Give your website visitors the best possible experience. Make them happy and Google will start liking your site.
Your website reputation will improve over time. Be patient. Keep working on every element of your site and your hard work will pay off. Don’t forget to use tools to test everything from SEO optimization efforts to technical performance.
As Marie Forleo wisely says, “Success doesn’t come from what you do occasionally, it comes from what you do consistently.”
Be consistent!
Ready to Elevate Your Brand?
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Let’s create a brand that gets noticed and drives results.
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