3 SEO Secrets You’ll Be Glad We Told You About
It’s not easy to get your site to rank well on Google, but it continues to be the ultimate goal for web owners. A website that ranks well in the search engines is trustworthy, relevant and credible – at least that’s what it indicates to users. Aren’t you more likely to choose from one of the top few sites that Google returns to you?
Getting your website to the top of the SERPs takes more than just a collection of relevant web content, however. You must also have some knowledge of the current ranking factors and the ability to optimize your content for these factors. That’s where a few SEO tricks can really pay off.
Though Google doesn’t like to let us in on too many SEO secrets, there are some ways that you can boost your rankings that Google itself has encouraged. Let’s take a look at what they are.
1. Create a lot of content so that people can link back to you.
While it’s important to create high quality, relevant content for your website, you also need to think about content that will attract links from bloggers, online marketers and journalists. You need to get this audience excited so that they link back to your content, so aim for things such as:
- Prediction posts
- Controversial posts
- Industry infographics
- Expert interviews
- Industry data or stats
- Original research or surveys
In the end, remember that link building techniques are NOT dead. They are very much alive, and one of Google’s most important ranking signals.
2. Feature snippets to generate more traffic.
Featured snippets are Google’s way of featuring direct answers to questions in the search results. This way, users can get what they need in a pinch. If Google feels that your page delivers the best answer to a specific question, it will be your summary featured, along with your URL and page title.
Now, it might seem like you would sacrifice traffic because why would anyone need to click on your site if the answer has already been given? However, research from Stone Temple Consulting shows that featured snippets can increase traffic by as much as 20 to 30 percent.
3. Optimize for Google’s top ranking factors.
A few of Google’s top ranking factors include links, content and RankBrain. The latter is an artificial intelligence system that Google uses to help process its search results. In other words, it’s one of the main ways that Google sorts through pages to determine which ones are the best fit for the query.
Optimizing for RankBrain is easy: write natural. Write to your audience. If you’re not sure, read the content aloud and think about how it sounds to you.
SEO is like a giant puzzle where all the pieces need to fit together in order to achieve the rankings you want. Knowing what Google wants and optimizing your website for these factors is how you can climb the SERPs and make your way to the top!