To aim for top rankings, you need high-quality content, adherence to Google’s evaluation criteria, and effective SEO strategies . While achieving top rankings may not be easy, understanding the reasons why your website isn’t ranking well and the methods to address them can significantly improve your search engine rankings.

Without understanding the reasons why your website isn’t ranking well, achieving top rankings can be challenging. To achieve top rankings, it’s essential to understand both the reasons why your website isn’t ranking well and the methods to address them.

In this article, we will explain the reasons why your website isn’t ranking well in SEO and provide solutions.

Importance of Aiming for Top Rankings on Your Website

By aiming for top rankings on your website, you can expect the following results.

• Increase page views
• Improvement in conversion rates
• Increase company visibility

When your website ranks higher, more users will visit your site. In fact, according to the 2021 Click-Through Rate (CTR) data, the first position has a CTR of 13.49%, the second position has a CTR of 7.52%, and the third position has a CTR of 4.68%. Additionally, the CTR drops below 3% for positions beyond the fifth. (Source: 2021 CTR Research Study: The Largest Ever for SEO by SEO Clarity)

This data highlights the importance of higher rankings, as higher rankings lead to higher CTR. Whether the goal of content creation is to increase conversions or increase page views, achieving top rankings is crucial.

Reasons Why Your Targeted Keywords Aren’t Ranking Well on Your Website

There isn’t just one reason why your targeted keywords aren’t ranking well on your website. Multiple factors are often involved, and the following nine reasons are the most common.

• Not being discovered by crawlers
• Insufficient SEO strategies
• Similarity to other websites
• Violation of Google’s guidelines
• Newly launched website
• Insufficient information
• Lack of unique content
• Extremely slow page loading speed
• Mismatch between title and content

While fixing one issue won’t immediately result in top rankings, addressing each issue one by one can lead to improved rankings. For website managers struggling with low rankings, understanding the underlying reasons is crucial.

Not Found by Crawlers 

For search engines like Google and Yahoo! JAPAN to evaluate your page, it needs to be discovered by crawlers. If your page doesn’t show up in search results, it might not have been found by crawlers at all. Since crawlers navigate through websites worldwide on a daily basis, changes are not immediate. Especially within the first one to two days after publishing a site, there’s a good chance it hasn’t been discovered by crawlers yet.

Insufficient SEO Strategies 

To get your content to rank higher, effective SEO strategies are essential. Even with SEO efforts, if they’re insufficient, your chances of ranking high are low. SEO strategies include internal linking, acquiring backlinks, and ensuring consistency between title and content. To rank higher, it is crucial to ensure your SEO strategies are robust.

Similarity to Other Sites 

If your site’s content is similar to others, it might be considered duplicate content and not evaluated correctly. Particularly, content with just changed conjunctions or swapped words tends to be seen as duplicate. While it is challenging to make your content unique among many, incorporating original information into your content creation is worthwhile for better evaluation by search engines.

Violation of Google’s Guidelines 

Adhering to Google’s guidelines is paramount for ranking higher. Google’s guidelines include avoiding duplicate content and unnatural backlink placements. Violating these guidelines can significantly lower your site’s ranking or even lead to page removal. To avoid violating Google’s guidelines, it is crucial to familiarize yourself with them.

Just Launched the Site 

When you have just launched your site, it may have weak domain authority and may not even be indexed. In such cases, besides aiming for search traffic, utilizing social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram for redirection can be effective.

Inadequate Information 

When there is insufficient information, content with more extensive coverage from other media tends to be perceived as higher quality, making it difficult to rank higher. Articles that rank higher are those that solve users’ problems. It is challenging to aim for higher rankings with outdated, similar, or unoriginal content. Simply ensuring that the information regarding targeted keywords is adequately provided can lead to an improvement in rankings.

Lack of Original Information 

Articles that are easily evaluated by search engines not only contain sufficient information but also include original content. While articles that incorporate comprehensive information from other media are highly valued, it is difficult to achieve higher rankings solely based on that. To have your content evaluated, it is essential to not only provide comprehensive information but also incorporate original content. In fact, Google also emphasizes the presence of originality as one of the criteria for higher rankings.

(Source: Guidance on Creating High-Quality Sites (Google Search Central Blog))

Extremely Slow Page Loading Speed 

When the page loading speed is extremely slow, it takes longer for it to be reflected in search rankings. As a result, it may take time for it to be reflected in search rankings. Additionally, there is a possibility that users may navigate to other sites while the page is loading. Slow page loading not only makes it difficult for crawlers to find but also increases the bounce rate of users. Therefore, efforts should be made to improve the loading speed.

Mismatch between Title and Content Articles 

Where the title and content do not match are not considered high quality. To create high-quality content, it is essential to first consider the user’s search intent. If the user’s search intent is considered, the title and content should naturally align. It is important to understand what kind of articles users are looking for and ensure alignment between the title and content.

Methods to Achieve Higher Rankings on Homepage with Targeted Keywords 

To achieve higher rankings on the homepage with targeted keywords, consider the following five methods.

• -Rewrite the content.
• -Implement SEO strategies.
• -Create original content.
• -Acquire backlinks.
• -Submit requests

Rewriting Content 

There’s a possibility of improving rankings by rewriting content that ranks low. It’s not uncommon to see variations in rankings, with some content appearing at the top while others are buried on the 3rd page or beyond. Using tools like Google Search Console to understand what kind of content is ranking well and commonalities among low-ranking content can be helpful. Knowing the current state of your pages through tools allows you to identify which content needs rewriting and provides direction for improvement.

Implementing SEO Strategies 

Essential SEO strategies for aiming for higher rankings can be broadly categorized into external and internal tactics. External strategies involve acquiring backlinks and citations. By obtaining backlinks from reputable sources, your content is more likely to be perceived as high quality.

Internal strategies include setting up internal links, optimizing title tags and heading tags, and creating a sitemap. However, it’s important to note that the effects of SEO strategies may not be immediate, and it typically takes at least 3 to 6 months to see results.

Creating Original Content 

Google places importance on originality when evaluating content. This includes providing unique information not found elsewhere and offering a unique perspective in content creation. In addition to creating comprehensive content, incorporate unique information to enhance originality.

Acquiring Backlinks 

Acquiring backlinks can contribute to your content being perceived as high quality. However, there are two types of backlinks: high-quality and low-quality. High-quality backlinks come from reputable sites or content-related sources, while low quality ones come from low-quality sites or involve link exchanges. To achieve higher rankings, focus on acquiring high-quality backlinks. Continuously obtaining spammy backlinks can actually lower your ranking significantly.

Submitting Requests 

For pages to appear in search results, they need to be crawled by search engine crawlers. A useful method for this is submitting crawl requests using the URL inspection tool in Google Search Console. If your pages aren’t immediately reflected in search results, submitting a request can prompt crawlers to crawl your pages. If you are still not seeing results after some time, try submitting a request again.

What to Keep in Mind to Avoid Lowering Rankings on Your Website 

Even if you have once achieved a high ranking, it does not mean it will last forever. To maintain a high ranking, regular updates are necessary. There are mainly four things to be aware of.

1.Deliver fresh information.

2.Do not violate Google’s guidelines.

3.Understand the mechanics of search engines.

4.Deliver content that users are seeking.

Delivering Fresh Information 

Fresh information not only benefits users but is also valued by Google as valuable content. If the information on a page is outdated despite new information being available, the content will not be considered useful, resulting in a drop in rankings. While there is no need to rewrite information that is up-to-date, if there is outdated information, prompt rewriting is necessary.

Compliance with Google Guidelines 

Google’s guidelines include prohibitions on duplicate content, buying backlinks, and unnatural internal linking. By consciously creating high-quality content, you are unlikely to violate Google’s guidelines. However, accidentally violating the guidelines can significantly lower your search ranking. Therefore, it’s necessary to reassure yourself and familiarize yourself with Google’s guidelines beforehand.

Understanding Search Engine Mechanics 

To maintain a high ranking, it is important to understand what kind of content search engines evaluate. By understanding the mechanics of search engines, you can quickly recover even if you temporarily lose the top spot to another media outlet. Deepening your understanding of search engine mechanics allows you to consistently maintain high-quality content.

Delivering Content Users Seek 

Google prioritizes content that is useful to users. Therefore, content that users are not seeking is less likely to be valued. However, if the content is what users are looking for, it is more likely to be evaluated positively by Google. It is important to reassess whether your content meets the needs of your audience and provides the content they seek.

Summary

There is not just one reason why a website may not achieve a high ranking; multiple factors are usually involved. While fixing one will not immediately result in a high ranking, addressing each one properly should gradually improve your search ranking. And even after achieving a high ranking, it’s important to continue maintaining it to avoid dropping in the rankings. Whether aiming for or maintaining a high ranking, it is crucial to understand user search intent and Google’s evaluation criteria and incorporate them into your content creation process.

Author Profile

Mr. Takeshi Amano, CEO of Admano Co., Ltd.

Mr. Takeshi Amano is a graduate of the Faculty of Law at Nihon University. With 12 years of experience working in the advertising agency industry, he discovered SEO and began his research during the early days of SEO. He self-taught and conducted experiments and verifications on over 100 websites. Using this expertise, he founded Admano Co., Ltd., which is currently in its 11th year of operation. Mr. Amano handles sales, SEO consulting, web analytics (holding the Google Analytics Individual Qualification certification), coding, and website development. The company has successfully managed SEO strategies for over 2000 websites to date.

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