HOW TO IMPROVE SEO

HOW TO IMPROVE SEO


SEO stands for “search engine optimization.” In simple terms, SEO means the process of improving your website to increase its visibility in Google, Microsoft Bing, and other search engines

If you’re looking to improve your SEO efforts and see improvements in ranking, follow these 11 steps:
  1. Optimize your existing content
  2. Structure content to aim for featured snippets
  3. Create new content based on low-competition keywords
  4. Get backlinks from authority sites
  5. Optimize images
  6. Track metrics with Google Analytics
  7. Make sure your site is mobile-friendly
  8. Optimize for on-page SEO factors
  9. Decrease load times
  10. Improve local SEO
  11. Use internal linking

  1. Optimize your existing content :

Here’s exactly how to do it: 

  • First, find pages that haven’t been updated in the last 12+ months.
  • Then, review the page to see if any of the content is outdated. Or just needs an improvement.
  • If your updates are significant, your pages can get a “freshness boost”

High-potential pages are just like they sound:

According to a study by Backlink, the top result in Google gets 31.7% of all clicks.

Which is why ranking on the first page of Google usually isn’t enough.

To really maximize organic traffic to a page, it needs to be in the top three results.

2. Structure content to aim for featured snippets :

Featured snippets are those large boxes that you see at the top of Google’s search results. 

The content inside of featured snippets is pulled from one of the results in the top 10.

And if you format your content correctly, you can end up in the coveted featured snippet spot.

Here’s how:

First, use subheadings that describe each section of your content.

Why?

Consistent H tags tell Google that each subheading is “equal” on the page.

Most CMSs (content management systems), like WordPress, make it easy to add the same H tag to each subheading.

3. Create new content based on low-competition keywords :

Many sites struggle with SEO because they target keywords that are too competitive.

Here’s how to find untapped keywords with little-to-no competition.

Target Question Keywords

Question keywords are great for SEO for two main reasons:

  1. They’re highly-specific questions that your target audience needs answers to
  2. They’re generally not super competitive
Optimize Around Long-tail Keywords 

Long-tail keywords are terms that don’t get that many searches individually. But make up a high percentage of the total number of terms that people search for.

In general, newer sites or sites struggling with SEO should focus heavily on long-tail keywords. 

4. Get backlinks from authority sites :

Even if you follow on-page SEO best practices to a “T,” your content is not guaranteed to make the front page of Google. 

Which is why getting backlinks from a variety of high-authority sites should be a big part of your SEO strategy.

Here are some of the most effective:

  1. Create highly shareable content
  2. Test out data-driven content
  3. Follow the trends
  4. Help a Reporter Out
  5. Legit guest posting

5. Optimize images :

Image optimization is usually considered an afterthought in terms of boosting SEO. However, optimized images can help drive traffic to your website when done correctly.

How to Write Effective Alt Tags

Image alt text is something all search engines  use to understand what an image is.

Here’s how to write effective alt text:
  • Be descriptive
  • Be unique
  • Be relevant

6. Track metrics with Google Analytics :

To see exactly how your SEO is improving, it’s important to know which metrics to pay attention to in Google Analytics.

Organic Traffic

Traffic of all kinds (including referral, direct, and organic traffic) can fluctuate quite a bit on a day-to-day basis.

So you want to make sure you’re tracking changes over the course of months.

User Experience Metrics

Although probably not a direct Google ranking factor, it is important to see how users interact with your content.

And Google Analytics can help with this.

  • Specifically, pay attention to bounce rate (the number of users that “bounce” from your site without browning any other page)
  • Avg. Session Duration (how long people generally spend on that page before leaving)
  • And Pages/Session (the number of other pages a user visits after landing on that page)

7. Make sure your site is mobile-friendly :

Recent industry studies indicate that 9 out of 10 people access the internet from a mobile phone. And Google now uses an index that basically only counts the mobile version of your site. 

whether or not your site is mobile-friendly is more nuanced than that. In other words, it’s possible to pass Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test… and have issues with your mobile UX.

For example: loading speed.

If your site loads slowly on mobile devices, it’s probably not actually mobile-friendly.

Search Console will also alert you about any mobile usability issues that it finds. That way, you don’t need to regularly check the Google Mobile-Friendly Testing tool.

8. Optimize for on-page SEO factors :

Quality content is, in many ways, the foundation of SEO.

But unless you optimize that quality content, it likely won’t rank. 

Fortunately, on-page SEO isn’t rocket science. It’s essentially adding keywords strategically to your page.

  1. Use Your Keyword In Your Title and In Your Article : It’s important that your target keyword appears in your title tag. And a few times in your article.
  2. Use Closely-Related Words and Phrases :  Google is getting better at figuring out a page’s topic without a ton of help. So there isn’t really a need anymore to stuff keywords into your page. Or worry too much about things like including your target keyword in an H2 tag. That said, including related words and phrases can help Google better understand what your page is about.

9. Decrease load times :

According to Google, “speed equals revenue.”

That’s because a slow-loading website can increase your bounce rate and decrease chances that users convert.

As it turns out, website loading speed is also a Google ranking factor.

To test your site’s speed for both desktop and mobile, enter your site into Google’s Page-Speed Insights page. 

10. Improve local SEO : 

46% of Google search queries are on the hunt for local info. 
So if you serve a specific geographic area, local SEO is super important

But what is local SEO? And what steps can you take to improve it?

Local SEO is an SEO strategy that helps your business appear in local search results.

Here are some of our top recommendations for optimizing for local search:

  • Claim your Google Business Profile
  • Make sure your contact information is consistent , edit your Google business listing​​​​​​​ if not
  • Add weekly posts or offers to your Google Business Profile
  • Respond to reviews
  • Create location pages for your website
  • Optimize your website for local keywords
  • Ensure your online directory citations (your name, address, and phone number) are consistent across the web

11. Use internal linking : 

When done right, internal linking can make a significant dent in your search engine rankings.

Internal links are just like they sound: links that point to other pages on the same website.

Each internal link sends some authority from one page to another.

Which is why you want to strategically use them to send authority to pages that need it most.

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