10 Google Hacks to Improve Your Search Rank for Free

Money alone can’t buy Google rank, but with a little time and strategy you can improve your position on the search engine results page (SERP) without spending a dime. Here are 10 free ways to improve your Google search rank.

Improve your website’s user experience. According to a study on ranking factors by SEMrush, the top four ranking factors are website visits, time on site, pages per session, and bounce rate. All four of those are directly related to the experience your website is providing your users. It’s pretty simple: If your website is easy and enjoyable to use and offers valuable information, you’ll get more visitors, who will stay longer on your site and visit more pages, and that will improve your search rank.

• Write great content optimized for SEO. Having high-quality content on your website is one of the best ways to increase traffic and improve your search rank. In fact, in a recent poll of marketing professionals, 57% said on-page content development was the most effective SEO tactic. Make sure your content is mistake-free, keyword-rich, mobile-optimized, written to address the specific needs of your target audience, and includes valuable links to additional internal and external content.

• Get more backlinks. Backlinks—links from other sites to yours—are one of the most heavily weighted Google ranking factors. Incoming links to your website content from high-authority domains show your site’s authority, bring in traffic, and improve your search ranking.
• Improve your page speed. Google began using mobile page speed as a ranking factor in July, and while it said the “speed update” will only affect a small percentage of sites, it’s still a good idea to make sure your site is as fast as possible—both to improve your search rank and provide a good user experience.
• Fix broken links. Having quality links on your website is one of the best ways to boost traffic and establish the authority of your site, but links that bring up a 404 error hurt both your user experience and your search rank. Use a tool like BrokenLinkCheck or Dead Link Checker to find any broken links.
• Optimize your images. Optimizing your images is crucial to boosting the speed of your site and making it easier for Google to identify the images on your web pages. Make sure all your website images are compressed, have descriptive filenames, and include alt text.
• Use H1 and H2 header tags. Not only do headers make your content more readable and easier to understand for humans and search engines alike, there is a strong correlation between Google search rank and the use of header tags in the body of your content. Header tags are also a great way to show the structure of your content and emphasize your key points.
• Optimize for local search. More and more people are using their smartphones to search for businesses “near me.” To improve your chances of having your business show up in relevant local searches, make sure you claim your Google My Business listing, provide relevant content in Google Posts, get your business listed in local directories, and improve your online reputation with great online reviews.
• Optimize for voice search. According to a study by comScore, by 2020 half of all searches will be done by voice. Make sure those voice searches find your business by incorporating likely voice search phrases into your website content—be sure to use full sentences phrased in a natural conversational style rather than single keywords.
• Aim for “position zero.” When a user asks a question in Google Search, Google sometimes pulls content from a relevant website and displays it in a special featured snippet or answer box above the #1 search result. Getting content into a featured snippet is a great way to increase traffic (snippets include a link to the page where the content came from), as well as boost the credibility and visibility of your brand. To increase your chances of having your content selected as a featured snippet by Google, think of likely searches related to your business and pepper your site with clear, authoritative answers.

The Cost of Website Design in Nigeria can be as low as N30,000 and as high as millions. Web design in Nigeria has evolved and so does its cost. Wanting to know how much it will cost to execute a website design project is normal. Every business or brand in need of a website design sure want to work within budget.
The truth sometimes is that a very reduced cost is what some look out for when considering which web designer to work with. However, the most important factor is the quality of service to be gotten.

This is so because, the more the quality of the services you get, the more your return on investment will. Website designers in Nigeria as well as all over the world cost differently.

Some of the factors that influence how a website designer charge are:
1. Website Designer’s Experience
2. Website Designer’s Portfolio
3. Website Design Company Vs Freelancer
4.Type of Website
5. Location of the Website Designer
6. Web Design Cost Negotiation

Website Designer’s Experience

With the number of years a website developer or website designer has, comes variation in the cost of his services. This doesn’t necessarily connote how expensive a designer would be but it does influence how he charges.
Some website designers started the web design business collecting minimal charges. Some even worked for free at some points. But as time went by and they realized how tedious it is to work with clients most times, they up their charges to make work profitable.
Some website developers who knew in time, how tedious work is started with high charges. But with less clients who are able to afford their services, they sometimes bring down their costs.
Therefore, the cost of web design in Nigeria is inseparable from the experience of the web designers.

Website Designer’s Portfolio

Many website designers in Nigeria have worked with high earn clients who are in continual work relationship with them. So for such website designers in Nigeria, there might not really be the hunger for new clients.
Hence, they can choose to keep their charges high. This ensures that they have less clientele but quality time for each of them. Invariably, they give quality time to the few clients they have and get quality pay. So, the portfolio of web designers in Nigeria often affect their cost for web design projects.

Website Designer’s Portfolio

Many website designers in Nigeria have worked with high earn clients who are in continual work relationship with them. So for such website designers in Nigeria, there might not really be the hunger for new clients.
Hence, they can choose to keep their charges high. This ensures that they have less clientele but quality time for each of them. Invariably, they give quality time to the few clients they have and get quality pay. So, the portfolio of web designers in Nigeria often affect their cost for web design projects.
Many website designers in Nigeria have worked with well paying clients who are still in continual work relationship with them.CLICK TO TWEET

Web Design Company Vs Freelancer

Website designers in Nigeria can be grouped into two categories. First is the category of those working as freelancers. Second is the category of those working for web design companies.
The cost of web design in Nigeria depends largely on these categories. Web design companies usually have a lot to charge for compared to freelancers. A freelancer by the way is in this context, an individual who offer website design services.
While a Web design company is a registered corporate body that offers website design services. Web design companies employs web designers for the purpose of helping out on web design projects.
So, what it will cost a client to develop an eCommerce website with a freelancer might be low. But, with a web design company, the charges would most likely be high.

Type of website

Building a website like Facebook will definitely cost more than building a konga kind of website. Building eCommerce websites with great functionalities require good budget. In the same vein, developing corporate websites with awesome features require good budget.
You can also read this article from Yokebay for more information on different types of websites you can have and how their costs differ. Nonetheless, the more the features a website requires, the more its cost.
Building a website like Facebook will definitely cost more than building a konga kind of website. Building eCommerce websites with great functionalities require good budget. In the same vein, developing corporate websites with awesome features require good budget.

Location of the Website Designer

Location is another factor that affects the cost of website design in Nigeria. Just as all the other factors above are influential on the cost of website design projects, the location of the website designer, website developer or web design company is also important.

Web Design Cost Negotiation

In reality, negotiation and mutual compromise is a part of business in Nigeria. Prices of services and even products are not always rigid or fixed. This applies to website design services as well.
Most website designers and website design companies in Nigeria will expect you to bargain or negotiate. And of course that is the reason for their initial costs. But you will need to be reasonable in your negotiation though, because there are other factors that are also in play.
So how really can you know how much to prepare for your website design project? The first thing is to determine what your website is meant for. Determine the information that you want to put on your website.
And then make up your mind on the level of quality that you want on your website. Once all these are settled, you can then go online to search for a website designer or a website design company online.

In Conclusion

To ensure that you get good quality for your money however, make out time to check the portfolio of whoever to intend to work with. Checking a web designer’s portfolio ahead helps you prepare your mind as regards cost.
This is because, a designer’s level of experience is usually reflected on his works. And with experience, comes quality and then commensurate charge for services.
In reality, web design in Nigeria can cost N5,000, N20,000, N50,000, N100,000 and even over N5,000,000. It all depends on whom you are working with, what your website is meant for; the features and functionalities expected, the experience of the web designer and of course, your negotiation skills.
When working with an experienced website designer or website design company in Nigeria, you can be sure to have value for your money. So be willing to pay well for quality. Insisting on paying way low could push you to website designers who will make you spend less to get a crappy website. And in the long run spend much more to eventually get it right.