21 SEO Hacks to Boost Your Search Ranking

If you want more people to visit your website from search engines, then you need to rank among the top results. You can do this by optimizing your SEO. 

But first, what is SEO?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of improving a website’s visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs). We know that information is abundant and people’s attention span is short. So, it becomes important to provide content that our audience wants to see. Try to focus on their needs, requirements, preferences, and pain points. Here, SEO has become a great tool for businesses of all sizes. Whether you have an e-commerce website or a products and services website, SEO optimization is important. Only then will your business be discoverable to people who are looking for similar products or services.

For SEO optimization, understanding how search engines work is important. Plan effective strategies that will help you increase your website’s organic traffic and reach a wider audience.

At its core, your website's SEO goals should align with the goals of search engines. These platforms are designed to provide users with the relevant information. If you optimize your website’s technical aspects, then you can increase your chances of ranking higher in search results.

The fundamentals of SEO remain relatively consistent. Search engines make algorithm updates and new features regularly. This will help you stay informed, and accordingly, you can plan your strategies. 

The relationship between SEO and user experience is symbiotic. A website that is optimized for search engines is also user-friendly. You can focus on creating valuable content and making your website easy to access. This will help you improve both your SEO and user satisfaction.

In today's competitive online marketplace, SEO is a necessity. You need to invest time and resources to gain a significant advantage over your competitors. This will help you build a strong brand presence.

1. Target Long-Tail Keywords

While short, popular keywords like "shoes" or "dog toys" might seem attractive due to their high search volume, they are also fiercely competitive. Ranking for these terms is impossible, especially for smaller websites or businesses. This is where long-tail keywords come into play.

Source: SEMrush

Long-tail keywords are more specific phrases, typically three or more words, that users employ when they are closer to making a purchase or seeking a particular solution. Examples include "best running shoes for flat feet," “best chew toys for puppies,” "organic vegan protein powder," or "affordable graphic design services in Chicago."

The value of long-tail keywords lies in their specificity. While they may have lower search volume compared to their short counterparts, they often have lower competition as well. This means there is a higher chance of ranking for these keywords, and the search traffic you attract is more qualified. Users searching for long-tail keywords are typically further along in the buying cycle, making them more likely to convert into customers. In this way, you can improve your website's visibility, attract targeted traffic, and boost your conversion rates.

2. Write Evergreen Content

In the fast-paced digital world, trends come and go quickly. What's hot today might be obsolete tomorrow. However, if you focus on creating evergreen and unique content, then your content remains relevant and valuable over time.

Evergreen content addresses timeless topics or provides valuable information. Unlike time-sensitive content like news articles or product reviews, evergreen content maintains its relevance and usefulness for months or even years. It is appreciated by industry leaders and recognized for scholarly articles. It includes how-to guides, tutorials, and in-depth analyses of various fundamental concepts.

By investing time and effort in creating high-quality, evergreen content, you build a valuable asset for your website. This content continues to attract organic website traffic, generate leads, and establish your website authority in your industry.

Additionally, evergreen content can serve as a foundation for future content creation. It can act as hero content, and you can repurpose it into different formats, such as infographics, videos, or podcasts, to reach a wider audience and stay relevant.

3. Optimize Content for Google Voice Search

Voice search is rapidly gaining popularity with the proliferation of smart speakers and virtual assistants. Optimization is crucial to ensuring your content is discoverable through voice search.

People use conversational language when speaking to voice assistants. Therefore, your content should mimic natural speech patterns. Incorporate question-answer formats, use simple and clear language, and focus on providing direct and concise information.

Additionally, optimize for long-tail keywords and phrases people might use in voice searches. For example, instead of targeting the "best smartphone," optimize it by asking, "What is the best smartphone for taking pictures?"

By tailoring your content to voice search, you can tap into a growing audience and increase your website's visibility. Your goal is to provide clear and helpful answers to potential users' questions in a conversational and meaningful tone.

4. Refresh Old or Outdated Content

You wouldn’t plant beautiful flowers and then neglect them, letting them wilt and die. Similarly, you won’t let your website go outdated and boring. You try to keep editing the refreshing old or outdated content to make it more relevant and valuable. 

While you might have once produced valuable content, it does not mean that it will last long. The digital landscape is constantly evolving. Search algorithms change, user preferences shift, and industries innovate. This means your once-stellar content might now be underperforming. This creates the need to refresh old content. This will benefit you in the long run.

Firstly, it helps you maintain relevance. By updating outdated information with new statistics, examples, strategies, and insights, you ensure your content aligns with current trends and search engine expectations. Also, it saves your time, effort, and resources. Instead of creating entirely new content, you can reuse existing pieces in the form of videos, infographics, and more to reach a wider audience. Furthermore, updated content improves the user experience. Outdated information can break visitors’ trust and make your website look less authentic. When you provide up-to-date information, you enhance user satisfaction and build trust.

To effectively refresh old content, conduct a regular audit of your website's performance. Identify pages with low engagement or outdated information. Analyze the content's core topic and determine if it's still relevant. If so, update it with fresh data, expand on existing points, or add new sections to enhance value.

5. Repurpose Your Existing Content Into a Podcast

People consume information in various formats. While written content remains essential, audio content has gained significant popularity. Today’s generation listens to more audio and video content rather than readings on the internet. So, repurposing your existing content into a podcast will get you more visitors and expand your reach. This helps you engage a new audience across the globe. 

Podcasts offer several advantages. They allow listeners to consume information while multitasking, making them ideal for busy individuals. Audio content is also more accessible to people with visual impairments. By transforming your blog, articles, or video scripts into podcasts, you can enter into a new listener base. This will potentially attract a different demographic.

Source: Castos

When repurposing content, focus on creating a compelling audio experience. Use engaging storytelling techniques and interview industry experts to enhance the podcast’s value. Optimize your podcast for search engines and popular podcast platforms to improve discoverability. Promote your podcast through social media and email marketing to build a loyal listener base. 

6. Focus on User Search Intent

Understanding why people search for specific keywords is crucial to successful SEO. Search engines rank content that directly addresses user intent.

User search intent can be categorized into three main types: informational, navigational, and transactional. Informational queries seek knowledge or information, such as "What is SEO?" Navigational queries aim to find a specific website or page, like "Google homepage." Transactional queries indicate a desire to purchase or take action, such as "buy running shoes."

Source: First Page Sage

To determine user search intent, analyze keywords and search queries related to your topic. Consider using SEO tools like SEMrush and Google Search Console to gain insights into search volume and intent. Once you understand user intent, tailor your content based on the target audience. 

For informational queries, provide comprehensive and informative content. For navigational queries, optimize your website’s structure and add relevant internal links. For transactional queries, focus on compelling call-to-action buttons and detailed product information. By ranking your content with user search intent, you improve your chances of ranking higher in search results. This will get you qualified traffic to your website.

7. Optimize Images

Images are a crucial component of a successful website. They enhance the user experience and convey information more effectively than words alone. Moreover, image optimization can significantly improve your search rankings. 

Search engines can’t see images as humans do. You need to provide descriptive information. This will help them understand the visual content of your website. That is why alt text and file names are crucial, and many organizations follow this practice. Alt text should accurately describe the image, while file names should be keyword-rich and relevant. For instance, instead of using “image123.jpg”, you can use “black-running-shoes.jpg.”

Source: SEMRush

Apart from the descriptive information, image size also matters. Large images can slow down your website’s loading speed, which negatively impacts user experience and SEO. You also need to compress images without compromising the quality. There are various tools and plugins available to help you optimize image size without sacrificing visual appeal.

8. Earn High-Quality Backlinks

In the realm of SEO, backlinks are like endorsements from other web pages. They signal to search engines that your content is valuable and trustworthy. Building high-quality backlinks is a cornerstone of any successful SEO strategy.

Good quality backlinks build confidence. When other reputable websites link to your content, it is like they are recommending your work to their audience. Search engines interpret this as a positive signal, boosting your website's authority and credibility.

Source: RepIndia

You need to focus on creating informative and engaging content. This will help you earn high-quality backlinks. Conduct thorough research, offer unique insights, and present your information in a clear and compelling manner. When you provide valuable content to your audience and address their pain points, there is a high chance of resonating with the audience. You will get trusted visitors who might share the information with others as well.

You need to build relations within your industry. You can connect with influencers, participate in online communities, and engage in personal and meaningful conversation. This will make you look more knowledgeable. In this way, you will attract natural backlinks from others who respect your work and consider you an industry expert.

When it comes to backlinks, quality over quantity always works. Focus on earning links from reputable websites that are relevant to your niche. Avoid low-quality or spammy backlinks, as they can harm your SEO performance. By consistently creating valuable content and building relationships, you can establish a strong backlink profile that drives organic traffic and improves your search rankings.

9. Target Featured Snippets to Grab the Top Spot

Have you ever noticed the little box at the top of Google search results that directly answers your query? That is a featured snippet. It is the prime spot in the search engine results pages (SERPs) and can significantly boost your website's visibility.

Source: SEMRush

Landing a featured snippet puts your content at the forefront. This will increase click-through rates and establish your website as an authentic source. But how do you snag this spot?

You can provide clear, concise, and comprehensive answers to user queries and achieve the spot. When crafting your content, identify potential questions your target audience might have. Focus on their pain points and structure your answers in a way that is easy for Google to understand. Use headings, bullet points, or numbered lists to format your information clearly.

Additionally, focus on optimizing your content for specific search intent. Understand what users are looking for when they type in a particular query and tailor your content to meet their needs. Also, featured snippets are dynamic. What works today might not work tomorrow. Continuously monitor your target relevant keywords, analyze search results, and refine your content accordingly. With consistent effort and a keen understanding of user intent, you can increase your chances of claiming that coveted top spot.

10. Build Backlinks With HARO

Backlinks are the signal to search engines that your content is valuable and trustworthy. One effective way to build high-quality backlinks is by utilizing HARO (Help a Reporter Out).

HARO is a platform that connects journalists with potential sources for their stories. You can receive daily email pitches from reporters who are seeking expert insights on various topics. Your area of expertise should align with the reporter's query. Accordingly, you can submit a detailed and informative response.

If your response is selected, you'll be quoted in the article, and your website will be linked back to it. This provides valuable exposure for you and your business. You will be seen as an established entity in your field.

Source: SEMRush

Tailor your responses to the specific needs of the reporter and offer unique insights, structured data, or anecdotes. This will maximize your chance of getting selected. Be responsive and meet deadlines to build a strong reputation as a reliable source.

HARO is a powerful tool. So, building backlinks is a long-term strategy and, if done appropriately, can be beneficial for you. You should focus on creating high-quality content that naturally attracts links. This will enhance your efforts with platforms like HARO to accelerate the process.

11. Improve Internal Linking to Boost Page Authority

Your website is a vast library for readers. To help visitors find blogs, articles, whitepapers, case studies, and more, you have to organize them into sections and create a detailed index. Internal linking is like creating that index for your website. It helps search engines understand your site's structure and guides visitors to relevant pages.

You can strategically link your content to other pages. This is a simple way of explaining a particular topic to a wider audience. The readers can click on it and gain knowledge instantly. This improves the user experience and boosts your website's authority. Search engines see a well-linked website as a valuable resource, which can lead to higher Google rankings.

There are a few key strategies for effective internal linking. Firstly, focus on relevant landing pages. Link to pages that genuinely complement the current page. Secondly, use descriptive anchor text. Instead of generic phrases like "click here," use relevant keywords that accurately reflect the linked page's content and encourage the user to click on a CTA. Furthermore, consider the page authority of the linked page. Linking to high-authority pages can help boost the authority of the current page.

Internal linking should feel natural and not forced. Don’t add internal links just for the sake of adding. The goal is to enhance user experience, not manipulate search engines. By implementing a thoughtful internal linking strategy, you can improve your website's navigation, boost SEO, and keep visitors engaged.

12. Set up Google Business Profile

Local search is more important than ever. People are increasingly using their smartphones to find businesses near them. That is where Google Business Profile comes in.

Your Google Business Profile is your online storefront for the local community. It shows your business information and helps you connect with customers. This builds a strong online presence.

To get started, claim your Google Business Profile. This ensures that your business appears accurately in search results and on Google Maps. Once you have claimed your profile, provide detailed and accurate information about your business. This includes your address, phone number, website, and hours of operation.

Source: SEMRush

High-quality photos are essential for attracting customers. Use images to show your products or services. Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews, as positive reviews can significantly impact your local search rankings.

People will easily find you and learn about your business. It is a valuable tool for increasing local visibility and driving foot traffic.

13. Add Schema Markup to Your Website for Rich Results

This form of optimization is often neglected. That is unfortunate because it can do a lot to boost rankings. Schema markup helps search engines understand the content of your website. In other words, it translates your content into code. It is like providing a detailed roadmap for search engines to follow. By adding schema markup to your pages, you can improve your chances of appearing in rich results.

Rich results are those enhanced search results that include additional information, such as star ratings, product prices, or event details. They stand out from regular search results and can increase click-through rates. Implementing schema markup might sound technical, but there are SEO tools and plugins available to simplify the process. There are specific schema types, such as articles, products, reviews, and events.

For example, take the phrase “D’ Fried Potatoes” and pretend it’s a local business with a website that sells fried potatoes. It may make sense to us as a brand name, but the search engine doesn’t know that. So, in order for us to communicate its true nature to the search engine, we can categorize it using Schema:

<script type=’application/ld+json’>

{

“@context”: “http://www.schema.org,”

“@type”: “product,”

“brand”: “D’ Fried Potatoes,”

“logo”: “http://dfriedpotatoes/logo.png,”

“name”: “Sour Cream and Onion Flavored Fried Potatoes,”

“category”: “Food,”

“image”: “http://dfriedpotatoes/image.jpg,”

“description”: “Delicious tasting fried potatoes,”

}

</script>

By adding schema markup to your website, you are giving search engines a clearer understanding of your content. This can increase visibility, higher CTRs, and the overall user experience.

14. Check for and Fix Broken Links

Broken links are like potholes on a smooth road. They disrupt the journey and leave a bad impression on the reader. These links point to pages that no longer exist. This causes frustration for visitors and negatively impact your site's SEO and domain authority. 

Imagine if you are visiting a landing page and clicking on a link in the hope of getting valuable information, but suddenly it shows an error message. This is a poor user experience for the person visiting your website and also signals to search engines that your website isn't well-maintained. Over time, if there are too many broken links, it can damage your site's reputation and hinder your search engine rankings.

To avoid this, it is essential to regularly scan your website for broken links. There are so many tools available to help you find broken links. Once you have identified the broken links, you can rectify them. If the page is permanently gone, you can redirect the broken link to a relevant page on your website. If the content is still valuable, you can fix the broken link so that it points to the correct page. Also, website optimization can give search engines a positive signal about your site's quality.

15. Consider Creating Content Clusters Around Your Topics

Organizing your website's content can be a quite challenging and time consuming. One effective strategy is to group related content into clusters based on themes or topics. Think of it as creating interconnected hubs of information.

Source: HubSpot

By clustering your content, you help search engines understand the relationships between your pages. This can lead to improved search rankings for your entire website. Additionally, content clusters enhance the user experience by guiding visitors to related topics and making it easier to explore your site.

To create content clusters, start by identifying your main topics or themes. Then, create pillar content for each topic. There should be a content piece that covers the subject in depth. From there, create supporting content that dives deeper into specific aspects of the main topic. Link your pillar content to the supporting content and vice versa to strengthen the cluster.

Content clusters also help you establish your website as an authority on specific subjects. By providing in-depth and interconnected information, you demonstrate your expertise and attract a targeted audience.

16. Run an SEO Audit to Fix Technical Issues

An SEO audit is a comprehensive evaluation and analysis of your website’s technical problems. If not identified, these technical issues could hinder your search rankings. From slow loading speeds to duplicate content, technical problems can negatively impact your website's performance. A well-optimized website is essential for search engines and users.

Source: SEMRush

During an SEO audit, you will examine various aspects of your website. These include site speed, mobile friendliness, indexing, and internal linking. If SEO issues are addressed on time, then the website's overall performance and user experience will not be affected.

Regular SEO audits should be a part of your ongoing digital marketing strategy. It helps you stay ahead of potential problems and maintain a healthy website. It is a proactive approach that can yield significant benefits.

17. Be Natural

This is one of the most basic yet most forgotten ways to boost rankings. Sometimes, it’s simply best to run your site as you would without having to worry about technicalities such as on-site optimizations, relevant keywords, landing pages, backlinks, and the like.

Write blog articles as you would. Reach out to other influencers because you want to contribute to their site and not because you want their link juice. Design your site the way you think is best. As long as you do all the basics responsibly (titles, meta descriptions, headers, etc.), you are still bound to attract others to your site. After all, SEO isn’t all about impressing the search engine.

Focus on creating high-quality content that resonates with the audience. When you write blog articles with passion and authenticity, your content will reach out to wider audiences. Your readers can sense when you genuinely care about the topic, and they are more likely to engage with your content. 

You should prioritize user experience. Put yourself in your reader’s shoes. Are you providing the information they need in a clear and concise way? Is your content easy to read and understand? If you focus on creating relevant and engaging content, then you will create a positive user experience. This will naturally improve your SEO performance. While it is important to optimize your content for search engines, don’t let it overshadow your creativity. Experiment with different writing styles, formats, and storytelling techniques.

18. TF-IDF

TF-IDF stands for term frequency-inverse document frequency. Basically, it is a statistical way to check which keywords hold weight in a document or corpus. The more times a certain word appears in a document, the more important it is deemed to be. On the other hand, the word is also balanced out by how many times it appears in the corpus.

This is a great, albeit work-intensive, way to check on your content.

TF: Term Frequency

Sometimes, it is also called keyword research. Calculating it isn’t too hard. For example, if our keyword is “potatoes,” and it shows up five times in a 500-word document, then the term frequency for it can be calculated as such:

5/500 = 1%

Inverse Document Frequency

This measures how important the TF term is. The formula for it is:

IDF = log(all documents/number of documents with keywords)

Assuming that “potatoes” shows up 300 times in 1000 documents, then the IDF is:

Log(1000/300) = 0.5

One thing to remember about TF-IDF is that the more frequently a term shows up, the more it is deemed to be irrelevant. So, if you’re thinking about keyword stuffing, don’t do that. It will not make your content valuable.

19. Use Https://

Google has shown a preference for HTTPS sites over HTTP ones, just like any other person would.

“But why?” you may ask.

In order to see why https sites gets to have a minor boost, an understanding of their main difference is required.

HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is a system of moving information around the internet in a “free” form; that is, as long as the information gets from point A to point B, it does not matter how it is done. By default, it uses the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) port 80.

HTTPS, on the other hand, is the secure version of HTTP that uses SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) in order to communicate. It follows the same protocols as HTTP, but it encrypts the data, locking others out from cracking it open. It is also worth noting that HTTPS uses TCP Port 443 by default, making it a wholly separate operation from HTTP.

20. Increase Your Click-Through Rate

It doesn’t matter how many times you show up on the first page if no one clicks on your site. That is why maximizing your CTR is important! It indicates how relevant you are to the search query that brought you up. It also tells the search engine if your CTR is properly on par with your rank.

It doesn’t end with the clicks, though. If your visitors end up backing out of your site too quickly and too often, then that also signals that there is something wrong.

There are many ways to check why you could have a high bounce rate, but nothing trumps the simplicity and efficiency of just asking. For this, you can use customizable online survey tools.

21. Leverage YouTube

YouTube is more than just a video-sharing platform. You can strategically utilize your YouTube channel and post high-quality videos that aligns with your target audience’s interest. 

Having your own channel to supplement your site’s content adds to what you can offer your visitors. It also contributes to how people will perceive you overall. Your own channel strongly contributes to how people perceive your brand.

Your videos need to be optimized for search engines. Optimizing for YouTube is a cinch. Take the following factors into consideration, and you are good to go:

• Title: It’s similar to copywriting. Have a good, relevant one.
• Tags: Use this feature to your advantage. Tag, tag, tag, as long as it is appropriate.
• Keywords: Use relevant keywords in your video titles, descriptions, and tags
• Thumbnails: Create thumbnails that accurately represent your video's content. 
• Description: Describe your video quickly and add your keyword if possible.
• Transcription: It makes sense to add subtitles. It smoothens the user experience a lot.
• Social shares: Take advantage of YouTube’s inherent connection with other sites.
• Engagement: Encourage viewers to like, comment, and share your videos to improve search rankings.

In addition to these, embed your YouTube videos on your website and other platforms. This can help you build backlinks. When other websites embed your videos, it signals to search engines that your content is valuable and relevant. 

You can also measure YouTube analytics. It provides valuable insights into viewer behavior. Use this data to understand your audience and track the performance of your videos. With this, you can identify opportunities for improvement.

Keep Practicing SEO

SEO demands ongoing attention and adaptation. What works today might not work tomorrow. Search engines work on their algorithms to provide the best possible user experience. So, keep yourself updated with the latest changes and trends. Generate content based on industry trends so that people do not consider your content to be outdated. You can also attend webinars and conferences and connect with SEO experts to expand your knowledge.

Track key metrics such as organic website traffic, keyword rankings, and conversion rates. Use this data to identify areas for improvement and refine your strategies accordingly.

Building relationships within your industry is another important aspect of SEO. You can do this by collaborating with businesses and participating in online forums. This increases your website's visibility and authority.

SEO is not just about technical optimization. It is about creating content that your target audience can relate to. Try to make it as valuable and engaging as you can. People love reliable and quality information. This leads to exceptional user experiences. In return, you build a strong foundation for SEO success.

Key Takeaways

• Understanding your audience is the first and most important step when implementing an SEO strategy. Know who you are targeting and tailor content to their needs and interests.
• Find out what people are looking for. Use keywords naturally. Don’t stuff keywords inappropriately; otherwise, it will not make sense.
• Content is the key. Create valuable, engaging, and informative content.
• Use title tags, meta descriptions, meta titles, and alt texts effectively. They should resonate with the topic.
• Leverage high-quality images and videos. This will enhance your content and make it more engaging.
• Network with industry leaders to build strong relations.
• Make your website easy to navigate and fast to load. People often leave websites that take time to load.
• Track your website’s performance and make adjustments as needed.
• Stay updated with the ongoing trends and SEO changes. Keep adapting new changes to the website.
• SEO takes time. Be consistent and follow ethical practices to improve your search engine results page ranking.

Conclusion

SEO is evolving day by day. Search engines are constantly updating their algorithms. Keep yourself updated with industry news, the latest trends, and updates to ensure your SEO strategy remains effective. 

SEO requires technical expertise, strategic thinking, and an unwavering focus on the user experience. While algorithms and tactics play a significant role, the cornerstone of successful SEO remains high-quality, relevant, and engaging content.

By understanding your audience, conducting thorough keyword research, and optimizing your website's technical aspects, you can lay a strong foundation for improved search visibility.

Search engines are constantly evolving, and what works today might not work tomorrow. You need to balance technical SEO optimizations and create valuable content that resonates with your audience. Also, build relationships, earn high-quality backlinks, and monitor your website's performance closely. Most importantly, prioritize the user experience. A website that is easy to navigate, loads quickly, and provides relevant information is more likely to succeed in the long run.

SEO shows results slowly. Be patient and consistent in your SEO efforts. Continuous dedication to improvement is essential for achieving sustainable results. You can position your website for long-term success in the competitive online world if you keep on optimizing your website content.