If you want to build as much organic traffic as possible for your website, you need to invest in high-quality search engine optimization (SEO) tactics. However, there are so many tips and tricks out there that it can be hard to know what to do specifically.
Fortunately, we’ve compiled the ultimate list of 104 tips to help you kickstart your SEO marketing strategy. Whether you’re a beginner or just want a comprehensive reference guide, this list should serve as an ideal foundation.
A Basic Introduction to SEO and 104 Tips to Keep Your Site Humming Smoothly
Search engine optimization is the process of optimizing your site so you can rank higher on results pages. Because competition is fierce for generic keywords, it’s often best to focus on targeted keywords and phrases that allow your brand to stand out.
As we’ll discuss, the key to high-quality SEO marketing is developing valuable content for your audience. From there, success happens if you follow the details.
Step One: Start by Doing Your Homework
Your SEO strategy will only work if you can produce high-value content for your site visitors. So, how can you know what your target audience will like if you don’t know anything about them? Here are 20 tips on how to conduct SEO research.
1. Identify Your Target Audience – The more precise you are, the easier it is to appeal to your demographic. For example, instead of appealing to “single women,” you may want to appeal to “single women under 40 with a customer service job.”
2. Identify Your Competition – Look at other sites that sell similar products or offer similar services. This way, you can figure out what you can offer that’s better.
3. Use Google to Find Keywords – Google can give you tons of data on keywords related to your industry. Pay attention to the words that rank the highest and get the most traffic.
4. Develop Longtail Keywords – Realistically, you won’t be able to rank in the top spot for something generic like “baby toys.” Instead, you should pick longtail keyword strings that don’t have as much competition. For example, “electronic baby toys that talk in English and Spanish.”
5. Create User Profiles – Once you identify your audience, you should create customer avatars. These avatars act as individual representatives for the demographic as a whole, so you can sell to one “person” instead of many.
6. Search for Your Target Keywords – Once you have a list of longtail keywords, you should search for them on Google and other search engines. Pay attention to which sites rank highest and visit them.
7. Look at Competitor Content – After clicking on the top links for different keywords, try to understand why they rank the highest. Is the content most relevant to the search, or do they use the right keywords?
8. Conduct a Moz Domain Authority Check – Moz offers a free DA checking tool to rank different websites and landing pages. See how the top results rank, so you know what you have to achieve to compete.
9. Do Some A/B Testing – If possible, test some sample pages with members of your target audience. These could be people you know or you could solicit feedback from existing customers. A/B testing allows you to tell what layout and content will resonate the most with your demographic.
10. Use Google’s People Also Ask Feature – Whenever you conduct a search on Google, there are related questions listed about midway through the search results page. These questions can help you understand user intent, meaning you can generate more valuable content.
11. Build a Rough Link Network of Your Competitors – Google pays attention to how many sites you link to and, more importantly, how many sites link back to yours. If possible, look at the links going to and from your competitors so you can see what it takes to dethrone them from the top spot.
12. Look at Organic vs. Google Ads – These days, Google prioritizes ads in search results over organic links. Pay attention to how many ads you see for a specific keyword before reaching an organic result. The more ads present, the more likely you’ll have to pay to get noticed for that keyword.
13. Check Your Current Ranking – If you already have a website, you’ll rank on search results. However, you may be relegated to the second or third page. Knowing your current position will help you understand how quickly you’re rising through the ranks and whether your efforts are working.
14. Pay Attention to Media Content – As a rule, images, and videos are more appealing than walls of text. Look at your competitors and see if they’re using visual mediums to get attention or if they’re able to build an audience with mostly text.
15. Check Rankings on Different Google Search Pages – Google has one page for all results, another for images, another for videos, and so on. Each page will yield slightly different results, so look at the competition (and your current ranking) on each of these pages. For example, it may be easier to rank on the Images page than the main one.
16. Create Keyword Batches – Ideally, you’ll have a main keyword for a specific page and then many related keywords that can help search engines understand the content’s relevance to a specific query. So, if you have a batch of related keywords, you can make sure to utilize them all on each page.
17. Use SEO Keyword Tools – These SEO tools can generate keywords for you based on your main longtail search phrase. These tools can also rank the secondary keywords in order of importance and relevance so you can ignore those at the bottom.
18. Develop a Content Strategy – If you want to rank highly for organic searches, you’ll need more than just blog posts and page text. You should also determine other types of content you should be producing, such as videos, infographics, e-books, and more. This way, you can follow a road map instead of figuring it out as you go.
19. Do a Site Audit – Just as you should see where your site currently ranks on results pages, you should conduct a site audit using Google’s free tool. This way, you can see what technical issues you need to address to ensure you’re not dinged for small infractions.
20. Look at Keyword Trends – Some keywords always have lots of traffic, while others can ebb and flow based on user activity. Google can show you how keyword traffic has changed over the years and whether it’s trending up or down. Ideally, you can pick keywords on an upward spike before they become too saturated.
Step Two: Build Content on Your Landing Pages
As we mentioned, the key to success with any digital marketing strategy is to produce high-quality content that your audience will enjoy. If your pages are just stuffed with keywords but don’t address specific issues or questions, visitors will leave immediately, pushing you to rank further and further down.
Here are 20 ways to ensure you create high-value, SEO-friendly content from the beginning.
21. Think Like Your Target Audience – When someone visits your site, what information are they looking for? Do they want to purchase a product or are they looking for more information before making a final decision? Understanding user intent can help you focus on the best content to address these needs.
22. Compartmentalize Your Content – Each page should focus on a specific goal or objective. For example, perhaps you’re trying to sell a specific product. So, the page should only focus on that product and why someone should buy it. Similarly, if you’re writing a blog post about an industry-related topic, the page should focus on that topic and nothing else.
23. Create a Sitemap – A sitemap is helpful for two reasons. First, it can tell you which pages you need to create. Second, you can submit a sitemap to Google so it will crawl and index your pages correctly.
24. Focus on Value First, Keywords Second – If you’re writing a blog post, the post should be informative and entertaining. Once you’re finished, then you can go back through and add relevant keywords to rank higher.
25. Avoid Keyword Stuffing – Google penalizes sites that put too many keywords in their content. Keep them evenly spaced and try to incorporate primary keywords every 300 words or so.
26. Use Natural Keyword Strings – What sounds more realistic to you, “the best baby toys for newborns” or “best baby toys newborns?” While the second keyword string may be what Google tells you pops up in searches, it sounds like a machine wrote it. Add filler and transition words to make keywords sound more natural.
27. Utilize Headers and Bullets – These days, content needs to be scannable and easy to read. So, breaking up walls of text with headers and bullet points allows your audience to get information without reading every paragraph. You can also get better SEO rankings by using keywords in headers.
28. Don’t Forget About Image Captions – Images are crucial for breaking up content and making it more visually appealing. However, if you don’t add a caption, Google won’t know if the image is related to the content or not. Captions won’t make or break your SEO strategy, but they will enhance it and could make your content more valuable.
29. Answer User Questions Immediately – If someone is looking for information about a specific topic, you want to provide that info as quickly as possible. So, when writing content, it helps to put a synopsis at the top, including the answer to the user’s question. From there, the individual can decide whether to keep reading.
30. Use a Multi-Media Approach – As we mentioned, developing a content strategy can help you focus your time and energy. While blog posts are the easiest pieces to generate, you should also try to make videos, infographics, and other content types (i.e, podcasts or e-books). Overall, the more content you can produce, the more likely you can build a stronger audience.
31. Make Your Content Mobile Friendly – More users are visiting sites on their mobile devices, so you have to make sure your content is easy to scan on a smaller screen. As a rule, videos should play on silent automatically, and you need to customize your text to be endlessly scrollable. Plus, you don’t want users to have to adjust their text size to read it.
32. Create Compelling Calls to Action – A call to action should be simple, focused, and engaging. If necessary, you may to include multiple calls to action on the same page to remind users of what they should do. Also, tailor your CTAs to fit with the content on the page. For example, if it’s a product page, the CTA will be “buy now.” If it’s a blog post, you could ask users to sign up for an email list or newsletter.
33. Use Heat Maps to Your Advantage – Heat maps show you the spots on your pages where people pay the most attention. As a rule, the top third gets the most action, with users looking at the top left and working their way down. However, you may also notice other spots that get lots of traffic, so you can focus your attention on those, too.
34. Make Your Content Shareable – Social media platforms make it easier than ever for content to get shared far and wide. You can help facilitate this promotion by including social links on each post. Ideally, you should use platforms that engage with your target audience. For example, if most of your customers come from Facebook, you don’t necessarily need a link to LinkedIn or Pinterest.
35. Consider Comment Sections for Individual Posts – Overall, user engagement is an excellent way to ensure you rank highly because Google will see more people spending time on your site. One way to spur engagement is to allow users to comment on posts or content. This way, you can start a conversation and keep it going, plus you can gather user information to help you refine future pieces.
36. Try to Avoid Stock Images and Graphics – These days, stock photos are much more evocative and professional than in decades past, but it’s hard to find images that fit your content exactly. Instead, it’s much better to take your own photos or design your own graphics whenever possible. Fortunately, sites like Canva allow you to do this without extensive graphic design experience or expertise.
37. Use YouTube as Another Marketing Channel – Google owns YouTube, so if you have a Google business account, you can set up a YouTube page as well. Doing this allows you to embed and link to your playlist videos, which can drive traffic back and forth between YouTube and your site. Also, it’s easy for users to share your video content when they can just share a link.
38. Consider Your Other Content Channels – Digital marketing encompasses a wide array of strategies, including newsletters, email marketing, and social media posts. So, if all of your best content is on your website, what incentive do people have to sign up for anything else? When drafting a content calendar, consider what pieces will work best for each channel and try to avoid cannibalizing your own material.
39. Be Consistent With New Content – The only way to build a bigger audience is to post new content regularly. For example, maybe you publish a new blog post once a week and release a new video once a month. By staying consistent, you can keep the momentum going and ensure that you can bring new users to your site month after month.
40. Consider a Rotating Content Schedule – One problem that many sites have is getting as much traffic from a single content piece as possible. Unfortunately, the biggest engagement will happen upon release, and then user interest will wane after a while. While you should have an archive of older pieces, it’s best to rotate them back to the front regularly. For example, maybe you have seasonal content that you can update and re-release each year. Doing this can also allow you to reformat or update the content to be better for newer SEO changes.
Step Three: Start Building a Link Network
Google values sites that have an extensive network of both internal and external links. Ideally, you can also cultivate numerous backlinks to elevate your website and position your brand as an authority within your niche. Here are 20 ways to build a link network from scratch.
41. Use Anchor Text – Anchor text are the words you use for your hyperlink, and they should be related to the target page. For example, if you’re linking to a page about tax law, you want to link it on the words “tax law.” Google’s web crawlers use the anchor text to determine the relevance of the linked page.
42. Don’t Overdo Internal Links – While each of your pages should link to other pages on your website, you don’t want to have too many internal links in your text. While it’s hard to say how many is “enough,” you should aim for two or three on a single page. However, if the page is less than 300 words, you may only need one.
43. Start Guest Posting – One of the best SEO techniques is backlinking, meaning you cultivate links to your pages from other websites. While you can’t solicit backlinks specifically, you can reach out to other sites and ask to post on their blog. This way, they’re incentivized to link to your pages since you’re providing content.
44. Use a Free Domain Authority Tool – Moz has an excellent domain authority tool that tells you the rank of a site. Try to stick with sites with a rating of at least 65. If the number is too low, it could actually hurt your ranking on search results.
45. Make Sure to Link to Each Page if Possible – Orphaned pages are those that don’t have any links pointing to them. In this case, it’s harder for web crawlers to find and identify these pages because there is no direct path to them. If possible, do a site audit to verify if you have any orphaned pages and correct the issue if possible.
46. Understand Link Value – Google values internal links differently depending on how many backlinks go to those pages. For example, the homepage has the highest value because it’ll have the most backlinks. So, any page linked from the homepage will have a higher value than those linked from a different page. You can use this to your advantage to help newer posts or landing pages rank higher by giving them a better link value.
47. Rank Your Content and Link Accordingly – Some of your pages are essential for your business, while others may not do much to move the needle. Create a page hierarchy and rank each one according to its value to your brand and its traffic numbers. Then, you can make sure to build a stronger internal link network by using high-traffic pages (with better link value) to boost the optimization of less-valuable pages.
48. Group Pages by Context – Context matters a lot when Google crawls your website and builds a sitemap. When you have multiple pages about a specific topic, you want to link them naturally so search engines know they’re related. For example, perhaps you have a product page, a blog post about that product, and a landing page for ads for that product. Each of these pages should link internally, ideally by using similar anchor text.
49. Add Links to Related Pages – When developing a blog, one of the struggles is getting readers to look at archived materials. You can alleviate this problem by adding links to related pages. This way, visitors can see what else you have to offer and click through to older content. This link network helps boost traffic and strengthens the relationship between pages.
50. Link to Cornerstone Content From the Homepage – Cornerstone content is essential for your business, and it should help drive traffic to your site. So, consider putting a permanent link on the homepage, either as a button or highlighted anchor text. Doing this increases the number of visitors and shows Google how important that content is for your brand.
51. Link to Sites That are Valuable for Backlinking – Again, you can’t solicit backlinks from other sites, but you can showcase your willingness to collaborate. Once you have a list of high-value sites you want backlinks from, you can start linking to them from your pages. You can also mention them on social media to start a conversation and hopefully establish a relationship.
52. Leverage Social Media Links – You should already have multiple social profiles, and they should all link to either your homepage or a specific landing page. You can also incorporate links to your pages on social posts to increase your link network quickly and efficiently. The more platforms you’re on, the more links you can point back to your website.
53. Restructure Your Hierarchy Regularly – As you add more content to your website, you’ll have to reformat your sitemap accordingly. For example, as you add more blog posts, you may need to develop new categories to rank each post and keep them organized. As you do this, you should have individual posts link to a category or tag page to help Google understand its relationship to other posts.
54. Use NoFollow and NoIndex When Necessary – Some of your pages may need to be kept “off the grid,” meaning random users won’t be able to find them in search results. The best way to ensure that they stay secret is to utilize nofollow and noindex tags. Nofollow means web crawlers won’t follow the link from another page. Noindex means that Google won’t even keep the page link in its index. Basically, you have to have the web address to find it. These tactics work for login pages or other semi-sensitive information.
55. Link Out to Social Media – The goal of new content is to make it shareable. So, you should incorporate social links on your posts and pages whenever necessary. You can also use plugins so users can isolate text and quote it on their own social profiles (i.e., Twitter). This kind of social sharing helps build more links to your content and strengthens the network.
56. Audit for Broken Links Regularly – Google may penalize your site if there are too many broken links. This happens when you update a page URL or if an external site updates its pages. You should conduct a link audit regularly to spot any broken links so you can remove and replace them immediately.
57. Double Check Your Business on Listing and Review Sites – Listing sites like Yelp are an excellent way to get backlinks, but they may not have the most up-to-date information about your business. Look at the top listing sites and search for your brand name. Then, click on the links to ensure they’re working and that they’re going to the page you want. If not, you can reach out to the site and let them know about any discrepancies.
58. Ask for Guest Posts From Other Sites – Offering to guest post is an excellent way to get backlinks, but asking for other blogs and websites to post on your site is another golden tactic. This strategy also allows you to establish professional relationships and build a business network simultaneously.
59. Consider Link Depth – If a visitor wants to reach a specific page, how many links do they have to click to get there? For example, let’s say someone wants to re-read an old blog post. If that person has to click three or four links, it’ll be hard for web crawlers to find it too. Try to simplify your sitemap so each page is only one or two clicks away.
60. Avoid Competing Links – If a user can click a link and go to a competitor’s page, what incentive do they have to come back to your website? Ideally, you can link to objective or impartial third-party websites that are more of an authority within your industry, not a direct competitor. Otherwise, you’re just sending traffic to your rivals.
Step Four: Start Doing Paid Promotion
While organic SEO techniques are valuable for long-term growth and stability, you should also incorporate pay-per-click (PPC) ads into your strategy. These days, Google ranks paid ads higher than organic results, so you can often take one of the top spots much faster than if you waited for your efforts to pay off.
Here are 20 SEO tips to get the most out of paid promotions
61. Use PPC to Test New Keywords – One of the main challenges of keyword research is that it takes a long time to see how well you rank for a specific phrase. You can speed up this process by utilizing PPC ads and seeing how much traffic they generate. Then, you can adjust accordingly or find new keywords.
62. Use Paid Ads on Social Media – Since the goal is to get site traffic, you can leverage social media platforms as well. These campaigns can be even more targeted because they’re based on a user’s interests and activities, thus ensuring your products will appeal to them directly.
63. Conduct A/B Testing – Since it’s hard to know which ads will generate the most traffic, you should use A/B testing to refine your marketing materials until they get the best traction. While this process can be relatively time-consuming and expensive, it’ll yield far better results in the long run.
64. Leverage User Tracking Data – Although third-party trackers are starting to get phased out, there are ways to use this technology to keep people coming back to your site. Trackers can follow a user from your landing page to other websites, and then your PPC ads can show up on those sites to encourage the person to go back.
65. Compare PPC and Organic Data – It’s easy to keep track of data from your PPC ads, particularly if you’re going through Google. Once you have this information, you can filter out the traffic data that stems from organic search results. Compare these two data sets to figure out what’s working and what isn’t, then make changes accordingly.
66. Be Strategic With Your Paid Ads Budget – You may think that the best option is to throw a bunch of money at paid ads and let them do the work. However, you don’t need a massive marketing budget to get ahead. Instead, focus your resources on keywords with substantial traffic and limited competition. This way, you can get better traction without having to outbid bigger brands.
67. Use PPC for High-Ranking Keywords – If you’re already ranking highly for some keywords, you may think it’s unnecessary to run PPC ads for those same words. However, using both methods simultaneously can increase your overall traffic because users will think your brand is more credible. In most cases, you’ll see a significant boost once you run ads, even if you’re in the top organic SEO position.
68. Create Targeted Ads Based on Individual Keywords – As with all other SEO tips, your content should be as relevant to the target keyword as possible. So, instead of creating a PPC ad for your brand as a whole, you should create individual ads for specific products or services. This way, you can capture more traffic and increase your conversion rate.
69. Streamline Your Landing Pages – Since paid ads will increase the traffic to your landing pages, you want to make them as captivating as possible. Eliminate any unnecessary or confusing text and images, and highlight your call to action immediately. If the user doesn’t know what to do when they click your ad, they’re more likely to go somewhere else.
70. Solicit Feedback From Customers – Once you start a PPC campaign, you should ask new customers why they clicked your ad and why it appealed to them. Although most individuals won’t answer survey questions, you can still gather valuable insight from those that do.
71. Use Unique and Proprietary Images – Your ads need to compete for users’ attention, so you should utilize images that don’t feel like you just downloaded them from a generic stock image site. As a rule, use dynamic action photos that pertain to your brand or product specifically. This way, it’ll be more engaging.
72. Don’t Forget to Set Campaign Goals – While you’re trying to capture more site traffic, you need to have an objective in mind for what to do with so many new visitors. Without specific goals, it’s hard to ensure that your ads are working for your bottom line.
73. Eliminate Friction Wherever Possible – If a user clicks on an ad for a specific product, you want them to be able to buy that item immediately. So, if the person has to click a few links to get to the “buy now” page, they’re less likely to follow through on the purchase. Similarly, if your ad highlights a free download, don’t make users work for it.
74. Understand the Limits of PPC – As a rule, paid ads are designed to make an immediate sale or to get a user to complete a specific action. Comparatively speaking, traditional SEO may not have such a direct impact. So, don’t use PPC ads to get people to read your company blog. Instead, use them for product sales or building a substantial subscriber list.
75. Leverage Discounts and Time-Sensitive Offers – PPC campaigns can run for a specific period, so you can use that to your advantage. For example, if you’re running a sale through the end of the month, you can incorporate that into the campaign. Typically, time-sensitive offers and deep discounts will get people to click.
76. Put the Hook in the Ad – Think of a paid ad as a hook and the landing page as the fishing line. The goal of the ad is to capture someone’s attention and get them to click. Then, the landing page can provide more information and encourage the individual to take a specific action (i.e., buy something). So, figure out a good hook and make that the entire ad. Don’t worry about details – that’s what the landing page is for.
77. Focus on Value, Not Cost – It’s easy to get discouraged with PPC ads because the profit margin may be relatively small compared to traditional SEO. However, these ads can help move the needle and build brand awareness much faster than organic optimization. Overall, you have to consider the value you’re getting from your investment, not focus on the amount of money you’re spending.
78. Don’t Run Ads for Too Long – While you should maintain your marketing momentum with long-term PPC campaigns, you don’t want to run the same ads for more than a couple of months. If you do, it’s easier for users to tune it out and focus on other, newer marketing materials. Even if you keep the core message the same, change the image, color scheme, and text to keep it interesting.
79. Consider Your Audience – Google Ads can show up in search results and on websites that have Google Ad space. So, you should think about what your target customer is doing when they see your ad. For example, if they’re on another site, what incentive do they have to click your ad and visit your landing page? Understanding your lead’s state of mind can help you craft better copy.
80. Pay Attention to Competitor Ads – If you’re trying to increase your site traffic, you have to know what you can offer that a competitor can’t. So, click through on other paid ads for identical or similar keywords and take notes about the experience. Then, figure out what you can do better and adjust your ads accordingly.
Step Five: Analyze and Adjust Your Marketing Strategy
Once you get your SEO marketing online and going strong, the next step is to analyze your methods to ensure they’re running smoothly. Fortunately, there are many analytical tools to get you started, along with various steps to get you back on track if your traffic starts to dip.
81. Use Google Analytics
Since Google will be your primary source for SEO insights, it makes sense to use Google tools like Analytics to ensure you’re doing everything correctly. This free tool can offer valuable insight into your site traffic – where it comes from, who’s visiting your site, and which keywords are generating the most visitors.
82. Audit Your Site Regularly
SEO site audits are necessary if you’re consistently adding new pages and content. Audits can tell you everything from broken links, missing metadata, and even your site speed.
You should audit your website at least once or twice per year, regardless, but it’s also a good idea to audit after making any substantial changes to the site. Fortunately, there are free SEO auditing tools to help you get started.
83. Evaluate Your Metrics for Success
Analyzing your SEO marketing only makes sense if you know what you’re trying to achieve. While you should set SMART goals for your business before launching a new campaign, it’s also good to double-check if those goals are delivering the results you want.
For example, perhaps one goal is to get 1,000 people to subscribe to your mailing list. However, of those 1,000 users, how many are converting to customers after subscribing? If none of them are, you need to work on your email marketing strategy to boost your conversion rate.
84. Conduct A/B Testing
One of the challenges of analyzing your SEO marketing is that it’s hard to tell which elements are moving the needle the most. However, A/B testing allows you to pinpoint specific details that can boost your conversion rate while decreasing your bounce rate.
If you’re unfamiliar with the term, A/B testing means you run two versions of the same page to similar visitors and measure which one helps you reach your goal faster.
85. Compare Your Rankings to Competitors
Competitor research is an essential part of developing your SEO strategy, but it’s also imperative to see how well you rank against these sites after implementing different tactics.
Sometimes, this analysis is as simple as searching for your target keywords and seeing which pages rank above yours. In other cases, you may have specific competitors in mind, and you see how they rank against you with different keywords.
86. Pay Attention to Location and Demographic Data
Tools like Google Analytics can tell you geographic and demographic data about your site visitors. Learning more about the types of people who come to your pages and where they live can tell you whether your customer personas are accurate or not.
For example, perhaps you assumed one type of persona (i.e., working women over 30) would be most interested in your site, but it turns out a different demographic (i.e., single mothers under 30) visits your pages more often. From there, you can adjust your messaging to reflect your actual audience.
87. Identify Your Primary Traffic Sources
Site visitors can come from various places, and the origins of this traffic can tell you a lot about where to put your marketing efforts. For example, if most of your traffic comes from organic SEO (i.e., people searching for a keyword), you know to invest more in SEO strategies. However, if more people are coming from social media sites or paid ads, you can put more resources into these areas. Also, pay attention to the amount of “direct” traffic (people who type in your URL). If this number increases, you know you’re getting better brand recognition.
88. Trim Any Unnecessary Marketing Channels
At first, it makes sense to promote your business across as many channels as possible to generate more leads. However, as you collect data, you can figure out which channels are giving you the best leads and which ones are a waste of time and resources.
So, part of your analysis strategy should be cutting anything that isn’t moving the needle or helping you with your objectives. This way, you can focus all your attention on those channels that work the best.
89. Check Your Link Network Regularly
Because your link network is essential for ranking higher on search results, you need to audit it regularly to ensure it’s still stable. Broken links can occur for many reasons, even those within your site.
For example, if you update a page with a different URL slug, it will break the links to any other pages linked to it. Auditing tools can provide more insight into a fractured link network so you can fix it accordingly.
90. Verify Site Speeds for All Primary Landing Pages
As a rule, you could lose up to one percent of your site traffic for every 100 ms delay when a page loads. So, you need to check your site speed often to ensure your pages are loading as quickly as possible across different devices and regions. Then, if a page is loading too slowly, you can figure out what’s causing the delay and fix it. Overall, you don’t want to lose business because of an easily-fixable technical problem.
91. Check Keyword Traffic
Keywords can trend up and down based on various environmental factors beyond your control. These fluctuations could be seasonal, or a keyword could start trending downward, forcing you to adapt and find something better for your site. So, it’s important to continue doing keyword research to verify you’re utilizing the right keywords to boost your online profile.
92. Optimize and Re-Release Archived Content
One of the biggest problems with content marketing is that there’s always a demand for something fresh and new. However, some of your old content may still be valuable to your audience, so you can re-release it to generate more traffic.
Depending on the situation, you may need to overhaul and re-optimize an older piece, or you can just update the year and add any new information necessary. This way, you can still generate traffic without having to create something brand-new.
93. Check Your Rankings on Different Google Tools (Images, Shopping, etc.)
Although Google Search gets the majority share of web traffic, Google has other products it uses to enhance the user experience. So, don’t forget to try and rank for other spots like Images, Shopping, News, and more. Also, because most other businesses are solely focused on Google Search results, you may find less competition for other products.
Finally, keep in mind that the ranking requirements for each product are slightly different, so update your pages accordingly.
94. Evaluate Your Ad Spending
Typically, paid ads generate a 2:1 ROI, but your actual return may be much smaller. In a worst-case scenario, you might be spending more than you’re earning from these ads, putting you in a precarious position.
If your Google Ads ROI is not where it should be, you need to re-evaluate your ads and make sure they’re sending the right message. You must also pay attention to your landing pages to ensure their CTAs are working properly.
95. Check Your Conversion Rate
Your site’s conversion rate measures how many leads (new visitors) convert into customers. While measuring this rate can be a bit complicated, it’s worth the effort as that will tell you how to boost your numbers more efficiently.
For example, if your conversion rate is better than the industry standard, your goal should be to get more traffic. If your rate is low, you need to figure out how to improve it.
96. Use Heat Maps for Your Site
A site heat map shows you where most people spend their time when visiting your pages. These heat maps are valuable because they tell you which visual elements are the most effective, and they can tell you how long someone is staying on your site.
As a rule, the longer someone is on a page, the better, but you also need to make sure they’re seeing the right information and clicking on the right buttons.
97. Check Your Bounce Rate
Your site’s bounce rate is the number of visitors who leave (bounce) your site before engaging with it. A high bounce rate can indicate various problems, such as slow load times, confusing pages, or a disconnect between what visitors expect and what they actually see. So, reducing your bounce rate is as simple as identifying the specific problem and fixing it.
98. Check Your Click-Through Rate
Your click-through rate (CTR) tells you how many people clicked on an ad or link based on the number of people who saw it. So, if 100 people see your ad and 30 of them click on it, your CTR is 30 percent.
If your CTR is low for your industry, you should conduct A/B testing to see how to make your ads more appealing and engaging. Otherwise, if you have a high CTR, you may want to invest more in your ad budget.
99. Compare New Site Visitors to Returning Visitors
When breaking down your overall site traffic, you want to measure how many of these visitors are brand-new and how many have visited your site before. As a rule, returning users are easier to market to because they obviously like what your site has to offer. Overall, it’s much more cost-effective to market to existing customers than new ones, but you have to know how much of your traffic falls into this category.
100. Solicit Feedback From Customers
One of the best ways to ensure your site is doing what it’s supposed to be to ask visitors what they think and which elements they like best. From there, you can adjust your site accordingly to make it more attractive to new visitors.
Usually, the best way to get more feedback is to incentivize users with rewards or freebies. However, be careful not to incentivize “positive” reviews or recommendations, as that’s illegal.
101. Make Incremental Adjustments to Top Landing Pages
Over time, you’ll be able to determine which pages get the most traffic. However, are these pages as optimized as possible? While you don’t want to overhaul them (if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it), you can make small, incremental changes to see if they perform better. Optimizing this way allows you to undo any changes that move the needle in the wrong direction.
102. Remove Erroneous Pages From Your Website
As the saying goes, “less is more.” If your site is loaded with unnecessary pages, it may be harder to rank higher. Overall, you want your website to be as streamlined and efficient as possible, so cut any pages that don’t generate traffic or add value to your audience.
103. Redo Your Keyword Research Regularly
When first developing your SEO strategy, you may have come up with specific keywords for your business. However, over the long term, you may discover that your audience is using different keywords to find you.
So, you want to make sure you’re optimizing for the right traffic at all times. Realistically, you should conduct keyword research annually to ensure you’re optimizing for the best keywords possible.
104. Compare Current Performance With Historical Data
As a new business, it’s hard to tell where your SEO strategies will take you. However, once your site has been live for a few years, you can look at traffic data to see how it coincides with your marketing methods.
You can also pay attention to peaks and valleys and see if they coincide with your actions or other factors outside of your control.
Over time, this historical data can tell you which strategies generate the most revenue and which ones don’t move the needle at all.
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