15+ Tips to Improve SEO Rankings – The internet has become a very important part of our lives. It has become a source of information, a communication tool, and a place to do business.
SEMRush
SEMrush is a fantastic SEO tool that can be used to carry out keyword research, including tracking the keyword strategy of your competitors.
It’s no wonder that businesses have turned to the internet to reach a larger audience.
The problem is that there are billions of websites out there vying for attention. So, how do you make sure that your website is seen by your target audience?
The answer is search engine optimization (SEO).
SEO is the process of optimizing a website for Google’s search engine.
The goal is to rank higher in the search engine results pages (SERPs) for certain keywords or phrases. This can be a daunting task, but we’ve put together a list of 11 steps you can take to improve your SEO rankings.
If you’re looking to improve your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts and see improvements in ranking, follow these 11 steps.
15+ Tips to Improve SEO Rankings: Long-term SEO Strategies
1. Understand Your SEO Goals
Before starting any SEO initiative, you first need to understand what SEO goals you’re trying to achieve.
Are you looking to improve your visibility in search engines? Drive more traffic to your website? Boost your conversion rate? Once you know your SEO goals, you can create a plan of action to achieve them.
Also read: 30+ SEO Traffic Hacks
2. Research SEO Keywords
The next step is to identify the keywords or phrases that you want to rank for. This can be done by using Google’s Keyword Planner.
Once you’ve identified your keywords, you need to use them throughout your website. This includes your website’s title, meta tags, header tags, and content.
3. Update and Optimize Your Existing Contents
Find pages that haven’t been updated in the recent 12 months or so.
Then, go over the page again to determine if any of the content is out of date. Or it simply has to be improved.
For example, a previous post on your site was published more than two years ago. You may need to update and optimize that post with the most recent information and changes, modify numerous sections, optimize the title, description, and internal links, and so on.
The content might still be good. However, much of the information and graphics should be improved.
Finally, after editing the post, you may publish the changes online so that Google can index the modified material.
If your updates are substantial, your pages may benefit from a “freshness boost” (almost like the page was just published.)
Furthermore, because your material is objectively superior, it should perform better in search results.
Use Google Search Console to expedite the crawling of your recently modified page. Simply insert your URL in the top field and click “Request Indexing.” This will direct Google crawlers to your website as soon as possible.
Prioritize Existing Contents with High-Potential Rankings
To better improve SEO rankings through existing content, the first step is to find which content to prioritize. There might be traffic-generating pages on your website. However, they might require a lift to move into the top three to get better click results.
The better your SEO rankings, the more likely your material will be clicked. As a result, ranking on the first page of Google is rarely sufficient.
To truly optimize organic traffic to a page, it must be among the first three results.
The first stage is to identify pages that have the best chance of making the top three.
First, navigate to the “Performance on Search Results” section in your Search Console.
Then, sort by position such that the pages ranked first appear first. Finally, go down the list until you find questions where you rank 5-15.
Those are the pages you want to work on enhancing.
How you improve such pages is heavily influenced by the existing material.
However, here are some basic suggestions for improving your content:
- Optimize your content to better fit the needs of search engines.
- Format your material such that it is easy to read.
- Increase the number of images, pictures, and illustrations.
- Create internal connections from and to each page.
- Remove the fluff and concentrate on concrete strategies.
- Use SEO Content Analysis tool to have better ideas on how to improve the existing contents with your newly targeted keywords.
- Use Prorank Tracker tool to track your keywords’ rankings, SEO reporting, and more.
- Use SEMRush to research best keywords to target, improve your SEO writing, spy on your competitor’s SEO progress, etc
Meta tags are snippets of code that provide information about your website to search engines. There are four meta tags that are important for SEO:
The meta description is a brief description of your website. It should be no more than 160 characters, and it should include your target keywords.
The meta keywords tag is a list of keywords that you want to rank for. However, this tag is no longer used by Google, so it’s not as important as it once was.
SEO Expert’s Note
You can use our free tool; Meta Tags Generator to generate HTML meta tags for your landing page. To have better visibility on Google SERP, you can also use the free Google SERP Previewer tool.
The meta robots tag tells search engines whether they should index your website or not. You should use the “index” value if you want your website to be indexed.
The meta refresh tag is used to redirect visitors to another page. It’s not very effective for SEO, so it’s not something that you should use.
5. Target Google’s Featured Snippets
The huge boxes at the top of Google’s search results are referred to as featured snippets. (Above the typical number one spot.)
The content of highlighted snippets is taken from one of the top ten results.
And, if your content is properly formatted, you may find yourself in the coveted highlighted snippet place.
Here’s how it’s done:
First, create subheadings for each area of your material.
Google will occasionally include these subheaders in a list-based Featured Snippet.
Simply ensure that each of those subheadings utilizes the same H tag (H2, H3, H4 etc.).
Why?
Consistent H tags inform Google that each subheading on the page is “equal.”
Most content management systems (CMSs), such as WordPress, make it simple to apply the same H tag to each subsection.
However, you may examine the source code to ensure that all of your subheadings utilize the same H tag. If so, you’re all set.
Header tags are used to structure your website’s content. There are six header tags:
- H1: The H1 tag is used for your website’s title.
- H2: The H2 tag is used for your website’s subheadings.
- H3: The H3 tag is used for your website’s sub-subheadings.
- H4: The H4 tag is used for your website’s sub-sub-subheadings.
- H5: The H5 tag is used for your website’s sub-sub-sub-subheadings.
- H6: The H6 tag is used for your website’s sub-sub-sub-sub-subheadings.
You should use header tags to structure your website’s content. This makes it easier for visitors to read, and it also helps Google to understand your content.
7. Use Internal Links
Internal links are links that go from one page on your website to another page on your website.
Internal links are important for two reasons:
- They help Google to understand your website’s structure.
- They help to keep visitors on your website.
You should use internal links to link to other pages on your website. For example, if you have a blog post about cats, you could link to it from your website’s homepage.
Internal linking, when done correctly, can have a big impact on your search engine rankings.
Internal links are exactly what they sound like: links to other pages on the same website.
Each internal link transfers authority from one page to the next.
That is why you should utilize them selectively to transmit authority to pages that require it the most.
For instance, our post is currently ranked fifth for the keyword “technical SEO.”
We’d like to discover a high-authority page on the Semrush domain to promote that page.
And an inside link to our “technical SEO” page. Ideally, we want anchor text that includes our target term.
Rep for all pages on your site that require a rating increase.
8. Build High-Quality Backlinks
In addition to on-page optimization, another important factor in SEO is off-page optimization. This refers to the factors that are outside of your control, like the quality of the websites that link to yours.
Backlinks are one of the most important off-page SEO factors. A backlink is simply a link from one website to yours. Google views backlinks as a vote of confidence in your website. The more high-quality backlinks you have, the better.
There are a few ways to get high-quality backlinks. One is to create great content that other websites will want to link to. Another is to reach out to other website owners and ask them to link to your website.
9. Publish Fresh Content on a Regular Basis
One of the best ways to improve your SEO rankings is to regularly publish fresh and informative content.
Not only will this help you attract new visitors, but it will also keep the search engines coming back to your website.
10. Improve SEO Rankings by Targeting Low-Competition Keywords
Many websites suffer with SEO because they target overly competitive keywords.
Here’s how to locate keywords that have little to no competition.
Keywords for the Question
Question keywords are excellent for SEO for two reasons:
- Question keywords are very targeted inquiries to which your target audience need responses.
- Question keywords are not really competitive.
Check out the “People also ask” parts of Google search results to get inquiry phrases quickly.
Simply enter a term into the search bar. And then scroll down to view a list of “People also ask” questions.
Tip from SEO Expert
Click on one of the “People also ask” queries. This will broaden the section and expose even more questions.
Long-tail keyword optimization
Long-tail keywords are terms that receive a small number of searches. However, they account for a sizable portion of the overall number of phrases searched for.
In general, younger sites or those suffering with SEO should prioritize long-tail keywords.
For example, “hiking boots” seems like a perfect term for a new shoe business.
After all, it receives 90,500 monthly searches. And it seems like a keyword that a potential consumer may look up.
However, based on the keyword difficulty grade for that term, it is out of reach for the majority of small firms.
To be sure, this long-tail form receives 98% less searches. But that is the trade-off you make when using long-tail phrases.
11. Optimize Images for SEO
Images are an important part of your website, and they can also help you to rank higher in Google.
When you add an image to your website, you should include the target keyword in the file name. For example, if you were targeting the keyword “cat”, you would name the file “cat.jpg”.
You should also include the target keyword in the alt text. The alt text is the text that is displayed when the image can’t be displayed.
The Advantages of Using Visual Content
Visual material, in addition to driving users straight to your site via Google Images, may significantly enrich your text-based content.
This is due to the fact that high-quality visual content:
- It aids in breaking up long walls of text.
- Allows readers to better grasp textual information (and makes it easy to follow specific steps).
- Mini content assets are provided that individuals may link to or post on social media.
- Aids in differentiating your material from the competition (particularly when utilizing 100% original visuals).
Image Optimization Tips
Here are a few things to keep in mind while optimizing photos for your website:
- Image file size and format: Use image formats optimized for rapid loading (such as WebP).
- Alt tags, picture file names, and image titles should all be optimized.
- Copyright: Ensure that the photographs in your work may be utilized lawfully.
- Ensure that the photographs are related to the content.
- Mobile compatibility: Check the photos to verify they display appropriately on mobile devices.
- Try to avoid using stock photographs that have previously been used on several other websites.
All search engines (including Google) utilize image alt text to determine what a picture is.
Here’s how to create compelling alt text:
- Be descriptive: Describe the image as thoroughly as possible. Assume you’re explaining it to someone who can’t see it. This not only helps search engines but also folks who use screen readers comprehend images better.
- Be distinct: Each image on each page should have its own alt text.
- Be pertinent: You want to write natural-sounding alt text, just like you would with keywords in your article. This eliminates the need to jam keywords into your alt text.
12. Monitor SEO Metrics on Google Analytics
The next tip to improve SEO rankings is by watching your SEO metrics closely. The best place to start is Google Analytics.
After a few months of using the tips to improve SEO rankings so far, you should see some changes to your site.
To assess how your SEO is progressing, you must understand which indicators to monitor in Google Analytics.
Organic Traffic
To check which sites users use to find your site, go to Behavior → Landing pages.
Then, add the “Organic Traffic” category to observe just traffic from search engines.
On a daily basis, traffic of all types (including referral, direct, and organic visitors) might vary greatly.
So you want to ensure that you’re tracking changes over a period of months.
You may, for example, compare the latest 90 days to the preceding 90 days.
If you notice an increase, your SEO efforts are most certainly working. If not, you may need to try something new or increase your scale.
Metrics for User Experience
Although it is unlikely to be a direct Google ranking component, it is critical to monitor how consumers engage with your content.
Google Analytics can assist with this.
Pay close attention to the bounce rate (the amount of people who “bounce” off your site without visiting another page).
There are no “excellent” or “poor” standards in this case. These are additional metrics to consider while you make changes to your page.
If those numbers increase, your adjustments are most certainly improving your site’s UX.
13. Mobile-First SEO
Most of people today access the internet from mobile devices.
And Google now uses an index that essentially only counts your site’s mobile version.
Take Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to see if your website is mobile-friendly.
This is essentially a “pass/fail” grade that you receive.
However, determining whether or not your site is mobile-friendly is more nuanced. In other words, Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test can be passed… and are having problems with your mobile UX.
Consider loading speed.
If your site takes too long to load on mobile devices, it is probably not mobile-friendly.
If your site is having problems with loading speed, you can check the Core Web Vitals report in Search Console.
Search Console will also notify you of any issues with mobile usability that it discovers.
You won’t have to check the Google Mobile-Friendly Testing tool as frequently.
How you handle these issues varies greatly depending on the situation. And the technology that powers your website.
Assume you receive the error “Clickable elements too close together” (a fairly common mobile usability issue).
Then you should consult with your developer to determine and correct the underlying cause. If you use a CMS such as Wix or Webflow, you can also contact their support to assist you with the problem.
14. Always Keep an Eye on Your On-Page SEO
In many respects, quality content is the backbone of SEO.
However, unless you optimize that high-quality material, it is unlikely to rank.
On-page SEO, thankfully, isn’t rocket science. It’s essentially adding keywords to your page wisely.
Use your keyword in both the title and the body of your article
It is critical that your target term exists in the title tag. And a couple more times in your article.
For example, our post seeking to rank for “long-tail keywords” includes that identical search term in the page’s title tag and a few times in the article’s body.
These two methods account for 75% of on-page SEO. Everything else is purely incidental.
Google is getting better at determining the topic of a page without a lot of assistance. As a result, stuffing keywords into your page is no longer necessary. Or be overly concerned with things like including your target term in an H2 tag.
Having said that, using similar words and phrases can benefit Google in understanding what your page is about.
These similar terms can be found in the “searches related to” section of Google’s desktop search.
The terms in bold are those that Google thinks to be highly related to your search term. As a result, using them in your article makes sense.
The Semrush On Page SEO analyzer also identifies semantically similar terms that you may wish to incorporate into your text.
These keywords are derived from the top ten ranking URLs for the main term you’ve decided to target with your page, according to SEMRush.
15. Speed Up Your Site’s Loading Time
“Speed equals revenue,” according to Google.
This is because a slow-loading website might increase your bounce rate and reduce the likelihood of consumers converting.
As it turns out, Google ranks websites based on their loading speed.
Enter your site’s URL into Google’s PageSpeed Insights page to evaluate its speed on both desktop and mobile.
This analysis will demonstrate how rapidly your website loads. As well as specific areas for improvement.
16. Format and Structure Your Landing Page Properly
When designing a layout for your website, take your time.
It must be nice, clear, orderly, and free of clutter.
Think about your font size and typography.
Colored text, bold typeface, and italics should be used sparingly.
Bullet points and checklists make it simple for visitors to browse over your content.
Your website may appear untrustworthy if it is cluttered with too many photographs, adverts, colors, and blocks of text.
This area also includes your website’s architecture and navigation.
Your SEO rating will improve if you use a clean structure and style.
Provide Correct Contact Information
Speaking of appearing untrustworthy, have you ever tried to discover a company’s contact information on a website?
I’m sure I have.
This should never occur.
All of your contact information should be visible and easy to discover.
The worst-case scenario is that people start reporting your website because you forgot to put your phone number, email address, and location.
This will destroy your SEO.