Free template
The page 1 checklist
Work through this for the searches that bring you customers, one at a time. Nobody can promise a ranking, but these are the steps that move one.
Almost on page 1
Search Console · 28 days
Clicks
1,284
Shown
31,200
Avg. spot
9.6
| Search | Spot | Shown |
|---|---|---|
| furnace repair des moines | 11.4 | 1,920 |
| ac tune up near me | 13.8 | 880 |
| heat pump installer | 12.1 | 640 |
Sample data
1. Pick the searches
- List 10 to 20 searches customers make right before they call someone like you: each main service, in each town that matters.
- Check rough monthly searches in Google Keyword Planner (free with a Google Ads account) and cross off the ones nobody makes.
- Give each search one page on your site, and only one. Write down the search, the page, and where you rank today.
2. Page 2 first
- In Search Console: Performance, then Search results. Tick Average position and pick the last three months.
- Sort the Queries table by position and pick the searches between 8 and 20 with the most impressions.
- Click each one, then Pages, to see which page shows. Improve that page rather than writing a new one.
3. The page
- The search in the title and the main heading.
- An answer in the first two sentences.
- The sections people want: what's included, prices or what affects them, how long it takes, questions and answers.
- Links to it from your homepage and related pages, with the search's words in the link.
4. The title and description
- Title: the search first, a reason to click, under about 60 characters, your business name at the end if there's room.
- Description: one or two sentences on what's on the page and why it's worth the click.
- If Google rewrites your title, make it shorter and closer to the page's main heading.
For example
Furnace Repair in Des Moines | Same-Day, Upfront Prices Same-day furnace repair across Des Moines and Ankeny. Price agreed before we start, and a 1-year warranty on every repair.
5. Read page 1 before you write
- Make the kind of page that ranks: service pages, guides, or (if page 1 is all lists and directories) get onto those lists instead.
- Openings: forum threads, directory listings, homepages, or titles that don't mention the search, in the top five.
- Links from real local connections: organisations, suppliers, partners, sponsorships and local news. Natural wording, mostly your business name, built steadily.
6. Track it
- Check your searches on the same day each month, and write down where you rank.
- Give each change four to eight weeks before you judge it.
- When rankings jump, check Google's Search Status Dashboard for an update, and wait for it to finish before changing anything.
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