12 Ways to Stay on the First Page of Search Results

First-page placement on a search means more hits and visibility for your site along with all the rewards that presence brings. However, your success now raises a new question: Now that you’re there, how do you keep your spot?

To find the answer, we asked 12 successful entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following question:

Q. My company has finally gotten to the first page of SERPs for my desired keywords. What can I do now to maintain my position?

1. Refresh and Update Older Content

Once I get my keywords on the first page, I don’t stop there. I always go back every few months and reread the post. Oftentimes, I can update it with fresher links, new screenshots, or even a case study that applies. There’s a lot you can do with content you’ve already written that, with a little bit of updating, can really increase those search engine results. Always go back in and add more value. —Sean Ogle, Location Rebel

2. Lock Down Your Bounce Rate

Getting to the front page means Google considers your business a very relevant result to their searchers. Whether you stay there or not may depend on the behavior of those searchers. Your bounce rate (measurable with several well-known apps) tracks the people who show up on your page only to leave seconds afterward. Keep this rate as low as possible with good design and well-placed information. —Adam Steele, Loganix

3. Provide Value

It is very important to stay true to your web visitors. Make sure content remains fresh, relevant, and concept-driven. Provide value to your visitors and be cognizant of the signals that Google (and other search engines) listen to. Engagement, trust (high-value links), user experience (page load speed, intuitive navigation) are all top considerations. —Nick Friedman, College Hunks Hauling Junk

4. Update Regularly

Once you get the coveted spot on the first page of search, then you need to make sure that you regularly update that content to make sure it stays relevant, and improve it as you see fit based on user comments. —Syed Balkhi, OptinMonster

5. Look Into Google Accelerated Mobile Page

Google launched the Accelerated Mobile Pages project last year and is using that as major criteria for search engine optimization. AMP-optimized pages render faster on mobile; Google prioritizes speed and hence prioritizes AMP pages in the search results. —Adelyn Zhou, TOPBOTS

6. Partner With Other Websites in Your Niche

It’s important to keep posting great content. In addition, partner with other websites in your niche or related ones to get additional traffic and links. If you guest blog for a popular site, you get incoming links. Partner with bloggers and influencers in your niche with large social media followings. This helps you stay relevant and valuable to Google and other search engines. —Shawn Porat, Scorely

7. Use Knowledge Graph to Improve Your Standing

Once you rank for an important search, you should determine what other searches are related to it in the search engine’s Knowledge Graph (MarketMuse does this). By building content around those other searches, the search engines will know you are a more complete source of information on the topic and will improve your rankings across many related searches. —Brennan White, Cortex

8. Make Sure to Correctly Theme Keywords

Google does not rank web pages based on keywords in content, but what the keywords (and overall page content) say about the rest of the website. That’s why it’s important to continue to build content with a similar theme to the content you rank for. For instance, if you are an automotive site and you rank for tire service-related keywords, you should continue to build content around tire service. —Kristopher Jones, LSEO.com

9. Optimize Your Click-Through Rate

To move up, you have to show Google that SERP visitors will actually click on your content. Do this by optimizing your headline (carefully) and the meta description. You may want to use tools to A/B test several meta descriptions to see which works best—let the data drive your decision-making here. —John Rood, Next Step Test Preparation

10. Check Internal Links

Do a quick search of your target keyword on your blog and pages of your website. Does your target keyword internally link to your landing page? Does it make sense to link internally from your target keyword to the landing page? If it makes sense, creating internal links of your target keywords to target landing pages are one way to ensure your search positions remain strong. —Brett Farmiloe, Markitors

11. Keep Building Your Authority

Think about what’s going to build your authority. First is publishing of any kind: log posts, PDFs, whitepapers, books, and so on. Then there are appearances: speaking engagements, and TV and radio interviews. Also, build relationships within your industry, and get good testimonials from your clients. The No. 1 thing is to be seen as trustworthy and legitimate. —Thomas Smale, MageMail

12. Continue Investing in SEO

The best thing you can do once when you’re at the top is to continue investing. In the case of SEO, it’s almost a requirement to continue, as things are ever-changing, whether you do it yourself or you hire a marketing team to do it for you. In my experience, I’ve left SEO to the professionals and have invested over a long period of time for best results. It’s the best way to keep growing. —Volkan Okay Yazici, Stonexchange

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