To rank higher on Google and get cited by AI search tools, publish pages that answer what searchers actually want, make your site fast and easy for search engines to crawl, structure each page so the answer is easy to find, and earn links and mentions from respected sites. Then measure what drives calls and sales, and improve those pages first.
Updated October 2026: this guide replaces our eight-part “Complete SEO Marketing Guide” series from 2020, bringing domain authority, visual search, video, voice search, featured snippets, search intent, click-through rates and backlinks into one current guide.
What Decides Where Your Website Ranks?
Google uses many signals, but they come down to a few questions: Does this page answer the search well? Can Google crawl, load and understand it? Do other trustworthy sites and people treat this business as credible? And do searchers find what they need once they arrive? Bing and the AI tools that summarize search results look for much the same things, so work that helps you on Google usually helps everywhere.
How Does Search Intent Shape What You Should Publish?
Search intent is the reason behind a search. Someone typing “what is local SEO” wants an explanation; someone typing “local SEO company Scottsdale” wants to hire someone. Google ranks the type of page that best fits the intent, so the first step is to look at what already ranks for your target search:
- Informational searches are best served by guides, explainers and how-to articles.
- Commercial searches (comparing options) are best served by comparisons, pricing pages and reviews.
- Transactional and local searches are best served by service pages, product pages and a strong Google Business Profile.
Match the format, then make your page more useful than what is ranking: clearer answers, real examples, better visuals and up-to-date facts.
How Do You Make Your Site Easy for Google to Crawl and Load?
Technical SEO makes sure search engines can find, read and trust your pages:
- Speed and Core Web Vitals. Google measures how quickly the main content loads, how quickly the page responds and how stable the layout is. Compress images, use good hosting and avoid heavy plugins.
- Mobile-friendly design. Google evaluates the mobile version of your site, so every page must work well on a phone.
- Secure HTTPS and clean URLs with one version of each page, and redirects from any old addresses.
- An XML sitemap submitted in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools, plus logical internal links so every important page is a few clicks from the home page.
- Structured data (schema markup) that describes your business, services, articles and FAQs in a format search engines and AI tools can read.
Our technical SEO work covers each of these.
How Should You Structure Content So It Gets Featured?
Featured snippets, voice assistants and AI answers all pull short, direct answers from pages that make them easy to find. Structure every important page the same way:
- Put a 40 to 60 word answer right under the main heading.
- Write headings as the questions people ask, and answer each one in the first sentence or two below it.
- Use numbered steps for processes and tables for comparisons.
- Add a short FAQ section for follow-up questions, marked up with FAQ schema.
Voice searches tend to be longer and more conversational, so answering natural-language questions directly helps there too. This is the core of answer engine optimization.
Do Images and Video Help Your Rankings?
Yes, when they are optimized. For images, use descriptive file names and alt text, compress files and serve modern formats like WebP, so they load fast and can appear in Google Images and visual search tools like Google Lens. For video, publish on YouTube, which is itself one of the most used search engines, embed the video on a relevant page, add a short summary or transcript, and use video schema so search engines understand what it covers.
How Do Backlinks and Domain Authority Work?
Links from other websites act like references: a link from a respected, relevant site tells search engines your page is worth trusting. Quality matters far more than quantity, and buying links or using link schemes violates Google’s spam policies.
“Domain Authority” is a score from the SEO company Moz (Ahrefs has a similar Domain Rating). Google does not use these scores, but they are a useful way to compare link profiles. The best ways to earn links are genuinely useful resources, original data, local partnerships, industry associations and digital PR. See our link building and citations service.
How Do You Get More People to Click Your Result?
Ranking is only half the job; your listing also has to earn the click. Write a unique title for every page that includes the main topic and a reason to choose you, and a meta description that summarizes what the page offers. Use structured data to qualify for rich results like review stars on eligible pages and product details. In Search Console, look for pages with many impressions but few clicks, and rewrite their titles first.
How Do You Show Up in AI Search Results?
Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity summarize information from sources they trust. The same fundamentals apply: clear answers near the top of the page, accurate facts, consistent business details across the web, author and business information that shows real expertise, and structured data that makes your content easy to understand. Track whether AI tools mention you by asking them the questions your customers ask. Our GEO and AI search optimization service focuses on exactly this.
What About Bing and Other Search Engines?
Bing powers Microsoft’s Copilot and is used by other search tools, so it reaches more people than its market share suggests. Verify your site in Bing Webmaster Tools, submit your sitemap and claim your Bing Places listing. Most of the work you do for Google carries over.
How Do You Measure SEO Progress?
Use Google Search Console to track impressions, clicks and average position for the searches that matter, and Google Analytics 4 to track calls, form submissions and sales from organic visitors. Judge progress over months, not days, and focus on whether search is producing qualified leads, not just traffic.
Want a team to handle this for you? Our SEO services cover search, AI search and local search, or start with a free SEO and AI visibility audit.
