One of the most important things you can do for your website is improve your SEO techniques. On average, around 40% of website traffic begins with a search query, so that’s a huge market that you want to capture the attention of. Not sure how to do this? Here are some of the best advanced SEO techniques out there that the experts swear by.
- Do An SEO Audit
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Before you do anything to your website’s SEO, you need to first examine what you have, to see what’s working and what isn’t. After all, you can’t start improving things if you don’t know what’s currently going wrong.
What is an audit? In simple terms, you’ll be examining your overall site performance. This is where you’ll need tools to help you see what’s happening with your site’s visitor numbers, bounce rates, and everything else you need to know. It’s easy to find these tools online, so find one that works for you and start examining those numbers.
When you’re doing an audit, you should be looking for a few different things. Look out for the following:
- Do all your pages have SEO meta titles and descriptions?
- Has every page been SEO optimized with the right keywords?
- Is your URL short, simple and easy for search engines to find?
- Do all images have key words in their ALT tags?
- Does every page have good formatting, making it easy for readers to find what they need?
- Are you using links in your website content?
Now you’ll have answers to these questions, so you can start making goals for your site. If you found you don’t have keywords in image ALT tags for example, you can start making those improvements right away.
- Understand Your Audience
The whole point of SEO is that you’re giving your intended audience exactly what they need. If you’re not getting the search traffic needed to succeed, then your site isn’t fulfilling its role. In this case, you’ll want to go back and research just what your customers want.
Firstly, you can go to Google Analytics to get some data. This will show you what your most popular pages are. You may be surprised, as you thought you were giving visitors what they needed on other pages. Take your cue from this data, though. Look at how long viewers stay on these pages, and at the bounce rate and exit percentage. That shows you whether people are just skimming over the data, or actually reading it. This shows you if the info on these pages is actually useful.
You can also take a look at social media to get an idea of what your audience are talking about. Sites like Quora are good for this, as they show you what people are asking. Plug in your keyword, and see what comes up. If you see any questions that you can answer, you can create pages that answer them and bring in that traffic.
Also, you should pay attention to any comments on your blog pages. This will often give you good insight into what readers are actually looking for. With all this data, you can start making changes to the site.
- Create Optimized SEO Landing Pages
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Many businesses miss out on site traffic, as they don’t realise that they can use multiple landing pages to bring in more views. ‘This tactic helps you target specific sections of your audience’ says marketing writer Neil Henderson. ‘This makes more gateways for them to get to your page, and makes them more likely to stick around.’
For example, if you own a landscaping company, you can make different landing pages targeting different areas that you work in. Using the keyword ‘Landscaping [town name]’ on each page will target those people specifically, who are looking for services like yours.
If you don’t already have multiple landing pages set up, start working on them now so you can bring in that extra site traffic. Understandably, not everyone is an SEO expert. So if the entire thing feels out of your league, it is best to bring in some experts. Professional companies like astoundz.com can guide you with better SEO and CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) techniques for your website, which can increase your leads and sales.
- Ensure Your Site Is Mobile Friendly
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In this modern age, it’s vital that your site works well and is easy to use on a mobile device. Over 60% of searches are now done on a mobile device, so you really need to have your site optimized if you haven’t already. In fact, Google do boost the rankings for any site that’s mobile friendly, so you’ve got to make these changes.
What makes a website user friendly on mobile? Take a look at your site on your phone right now. Does it look just like the desktop version, but squeezed down to fit on a smaller screen? That’s going to hurt your rankings, as it makes it harder for visitors to use it.
Instead, look at using a site design that realigns itself to take advantage of a smaller screen. This will include things like changing up the arrangement of a blog post so it flows better and has bigger text, and adding in larger buttons that can be easily tapped when needed.
If you’re using a site provider such as Squarespace or WordPress, it’s likely you already have mobile friendly design. It is a good idea to check though, so you can be sure you aren’t losing out on traffic this way.
- Ensure Your Posts Have The Right Word Count
How important is the word count of any blog to the search rankings? It’s actually more important than you’d think. Many visitors will understand longer posts as having more value, so they’re more likely to stick around and see what they have to say.
In tests, it has been shown that posts of 1,500 words or more will do better than posts under that number. If you want to improve that search ranking though, you don’t need to ensure that you’re hitting that word count. You need those blogs to be highly informative and useful to your readers.
Ensure that you’re writing blog posts that are in depth on one topic. These give readers value, as they’ll get all the information they’ll need from them. If you haven’t already brought in a copywriter to handle these posts for you, now’s the time to do so.
- Try Using Infographics
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If you’re not already using infographics, then you should start looking into them. You’ll have seen them everywhere in recent years, because they’re an excellent tool for both the site owner and the reader.
For the reader, it makes it so much easier to understand a lot of information at once. ‘A good infographic will break down info into smaller chunks, using images to illustrate the point’ says writer Trey Buchanan. ‘It’s quicker for them to understand what you’re putting across, and they’re more likely to retain it.’
As for you, they benefit you as a visual aid. The image can be very easily shared, so you can put it on social media feeds where readers can simply click to share it. It’s such an easy way of getting the word out about your business. When having an infographic made, ensure that you’re attaching the site name to it somewhere it can be seen easily. That way, if it’s shared away from your usual feeds viewers will still know where its from.
- Keep Updating Your Site
Did you have a lot of traffic when you first set your site up, and now have seen those numbers drop off? If so, that may be because you’re not updating the site regularly.
Even if you feel you don’t need to be updating your site all the time, you do need to keep things fresh to improve your search rankings. Google prioritizes sites that are constantly being updated. Searchers are looking for info that’s new and up to date, as visiting the same site all the time will get old fast, after all.
This is why it’s so important to have a blog on your site. This keeps people coming back, as they’ll want to read the new posts that you put up. Plus, you can stay up to date with any advancements in your industry, new products that you’re bringing out, and so on.
- Use Deep Links
Deep links are anchor texts that link to other pages in your blog. When you use this, it’s actually showing Google the depth of the content you have on offer. The deeper your content, the more likely you are are to appear on the front page of the results.
This is a technique to use if you’re getting people visiting your homepage, but your internal pages aren’t getting ranked. It should be fairly easy to do, too. If you’re linking older blog posts that are relevant to the post you’re writing today, that helps readers find those posts too.
This also means it’s important to write evergreen posts, that are always relevant to the reader in question.
- Link Back To High Authority Pages
As well as linking back to your older posts, you’ll also want to link to other sites, too. This works well for your readers, as it shows that you have evidence for the points that you’re bringing up in your pages.
To get the rest results, you need to link back to high authority pages. This helps Google see you as a more high authority site in your own right, and rank you higher. To find the best pages to link back to, you can use sites like Alltop. This will how you featured sites and recent posts by them, so you can find a site that works for your needs.
You can also approach these sites directly, and ask them to link back to you. This will help push your site even further up rankings.
- Take Advantage Of Broken Wikipedia Links
Did you know that you can take advantage of broken Wikipedia links, and increase your search rankings? It’s easier than you’d think.
You can scan Wikipedia, looking for articles that either have broken links, or links that need citation needed. If you find one that you can put together a comprehensive page on, then you can put together that post and then use the link as citation for that point.
You do need to be a credible source of information, but it’s easier than you’d think. You can use tools like WikiGrabber to find those links and make them your own.
- Research What Your Competitors Are Doing
You’re not trying to grab your audience’s attention in a vacuum. There will be competitors are out there too, and many of them will be seeing some real success. You can nab some of that success for yourself, if you know what kind of keywords they’re using.
There are tools like Ubersuggest, that help you see everything that your competitor is doing. Simply plug in their URL, and click ‘keyword ideas’ in the menu. You’ll then find a list of the keywords they’re likely using. You can start using them yourself, and see that site traffic increase.
- Market Yourself On Social Media
If you’re not doing this yet, you really should be. It’s a great way of getting your audience’s attention, as they’ll spend a good chunk of their online time on social media sites. You need to be where they are, so your content will be shown to them.
You’ll need to be active on social media, once you set up accounts. Connect with users and talk to them when they comment on your posts. Use your posts to promote updates to the site, as this will help drive more traffic towards them. It’s vital that you’re using social media to find your audience.
With these tips, you’re going to be able to seriously update your SEO and bring more people to your site than ever before. Look for the weak points in your strategy, and start updating it as soon as possible.
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Michael Dehoyos writes for Academic Brits, focusing on business practices. He helps readers develop marketing strategies, so they can reach their full potential.
