Search
engine optimization (SEO) techniques are one of those things that can change in
the blink of an eye. What worked yesterday might become obsolete tomorrow, or
even hurt your rankings if you’re not up-to-date with Google’s algorithm. This
is why you need constant research so that the SEO methods you end up using
bring you the best results.
For
this reason, we’ve compiled a list of 8 SEO methods that still work today.
Implement them in your digital marketing strategy and chances are, you’ll have
the rankings to show for it. Now let’s begin.
1. Invest in Quality Content
Content
(and the keywords in it) is what drives traffic to websites. It’s the bread and
butter of Google’s algorithm. But while SEO content is going to increase your
ranking, what actually drives visitors to come back is the quality they learn to expect from you.
Even Bill Gates deemed content king in the ancient year of 1996, in his essay titled “Content is King”—and that phrase is still used today!
After
all, content is what drives engagement, new leads, more sales, increases brand
awareness, and builds brand reputation, among other things. Focusing on
original, relevant, and easy-to-understand content that serves your target
audience’s interest is crucial for SEO.
2. Invest in Long-Form
Content
Of course, it’s not only about quality—it’s about length as well. Generally, Google’s algorithm ranks long-form content higher than short-form ones. When you take the average word count of the top 10 articles for a given keyword, it’ll be around 2,000 words.
Also, the more time people spend on your site, the better dwell time you’ll have, hence better ranking. A study by Neil Patel concluded that longer content receives more shares and conversions, so make sure that some of your blog posts or articles are at least 2,000 words.
3. Use Link-Building
Strategies
According
to Google, including links in your content is one of the three most important
ranking factors. You can’t have a successful SEO strategy without implementing
at least one if not more link-building tactics. Fortunately, there are plenty
to choose from:
- Email outreach
- Guest blogging
- Posting on Q&A sites
- Influencer marketing
- And the most efficient one of
all—building a Private Blog Network (PBN)
A
PBN is one of the fastest link-building strategies. With a PBN, instead of
doing email outreach in the hopes of landing a link on a website in your niche,
you rely on a network of websites that you build and own just so you can use
them to link back to your main money-making website.
The
one caveat is that PBNs are considered a grey-hat SEO technique. That being
said, webmasters can significantly lower the risk of getting penalized by
Google to almost nil if they get expert advice and choose a safe and reliable
hosting service instead of fiddling with PBNs on their own.
There are web-hosting providers, like Bulk Buy Hosting for example, that offer managed PBN hosting specifically. The fact they specialize in this particular area means they have plenty of experience in reducing the footprints of your PBN so that you can enjoy all its benefits completely worry-free.
And, last but not least, a special mention: Internal linking is as important as external linking—to Google at least—so don’t forget to link your articles and landing pages internally as well. This way, your visitors can navigate your website more easily, which will ultimately lead to them spending more time on it, improving your bounce rate and, with that, your ranking.
4. Optimize Your Website
Speed
Website
speed has been a Google ranking factor for a while now, and since 2018, that
includes website speed on mobile, too. What’s the general guideline? Your
website shouldn’t take more than 3 seconds to load if you want it to rank well,
both on desktop and mobile.
If you’re unsure of your website speed, you can always check it by using Google’s own tool called PageSpeed Insights.
5. Make Your Website
Mobile-Friendly
And
while we’re on the topic of mobile, optimizing your site’s mobile loading speed
isn’t the only thing that counts. As of late, Google’s algorithm started
favoring mobile-friendly websites, and that also has to do with the size of the
text and images (when viewed on a mobile device) so they’re not too big nor too
small. Then we have the site’s design and all the elements it includes, its
responsiveness, the use of Flash (both Android and iOS devices don’t support
it), and so on.
6. Use Long-Tail Keywords
If
you’re serious about SEO, using long-tail keywords is a must. These longer and
more specific keyword phrases generally have a lower volume than one or
two-word parent keywords, but that’s exactly what makes them great for SEO.
Long-tail
keywords are easy to rank for precisely because of how specific they are. They
allow you to attract more niche audiences possibly interested in your content.
Plus, you’ll have less competition (if you run these in a keyword analysis
tool, you’ll see that their keyword difficulty is generally lower), which will
make things a lot easier.
We recommend using Google’s own Keyword Planner for your keyword research purposes. You can check the list of your long-tail keywords and see their average monthly searches and competition, among other things, so don’t hesitate to use it.
7. Promote Your Content on
Social Media
Let’s
say you have a successful website and enough traffic (assuming there’s such a
thing as enough traffic). You might ask yourself: Why do I need social media
when my website is enough? The simple answer is: because of SEO.
Although
shares and views on social media platforms are not a direct ranking factor, the
general consensus is that they amplify other ranking factors, so there’s a
definite correlation there.
But even if that isn’t the case, social media remains one of the best ways to boost brand awareness and drive traffic to your site. But the key thing here is not to make it an afterthought—your social media content has to serve the interest of your target audience. In other words, it has to resonate.
If
you don’t have the resources for a full multi-channel approach, don’t spread
yourself thin. Do a bit of research to figure out which social media platforms
your target audience uses the most, and focus on those only. It’s best to use
one or two platforms in the beginning, post consistently, and engage with your
followers.
8. Focus on Visual Content
Visuals
add value to your content, convey more information, increase the time spent on
your website, and increase engagement. All these factors improve search rankings,
so make sure to include at least some of the following visual content ideas:
- Infographics
- Images (custom and stock)
- Videos
- Screenshots
- Graphs
- Memes
- GIFs
- Image quotes
And
with that being said, we think we’ve covered our basics. The 8 methods we just talked
about are all true and tested. If you think they’re not enough to amp up your
SEO strategy, check out some stats to see what other businesses will be doing
in 2020.
Learning
from the competition is always a good idea.
