10 Actionable SEO Tips To Boost Your Business

Most SEO tips are eye-popping. They contain ubiquitous advice, such as ‘improving user experience’ and ‘writing unique content.’ And then they shower oodles of tips. Staying updated with the latest SEO techniques is paramount, as the world of search engine optimization is complex and ever-changing. 

However, with hundreds of SEO tactics, determining which should be employed and which ones to be safely brushed off is like being in a tight spot.

• Is link building a thing of the past?
• Should you devote your time to do on-page SEO activities?
• Should you devote your energy to off-page  SEO?
• Where do SEO and social media intersect?
• How can you write a title tag to drive your rankings? 

If you stick to the right SEO techniques alone, you’ll definitely drive more organic traffic to your web page and enhance your search rankings without risking a Google penalty. Take a tour of this post to get introduced to 10 actionable SEO tips that’ll lead to results. After all, certain basic SEO principles remain unchanged. Let’s begin.

1. Accelerate Page Loading Speed

Page speed is a critical factor in SEO.  It is crucial, both to users and to search engines. Hardly any user tends to wait even for 5 seconds to get a page fully loaded. I’m sure you relate to that. Slow page loading speed gives bad experience. It frustrates visitors and ultimately discourages them to buy your product.  “A mere 1-second delay in page load time causes a whopping 7% loss in conversions… according to Strange Loop data.” More importantly, potential buyers deem a slow site unreliable. 

Hard fact: “40% of users leave websites that don’t load in 3 seconds or less.” 

To enhance your page speed,

• Remove worthless elements that reduce your site speed.
• Deactivate plugins you may have installed on your WordPress website.
• Declutter your sidebar and put only essential widgets there.
• Minimize the size of your CSS, HTML, and JavaScript files. Check they are not larger than 150 bytes.
• Use images no larger than they need to be and must be in the right file format. PNGs are generally better for graphics.

2. Humans First, Search Engines Second

Create content that addresses the needs of your large audience “Write content for humans first, search engines second.” Many content creators and bloggers still get back to the old SEO method, wherein keywords would mean to drive search results surpassed the real qualities of valuable, engaging content. If that’s you, it’s the time to change your mindset.

When it comes to top activities for in-house SEO, keyword research comes 4th:

1. Analytics
2. Content Creation
3. Social Media Marketing
4. Keyword Research

Experts say, put humans first who read work, then search engines. So, write content to help someone, not something (search spiders).  “When writing, forget that Google and other search engines exist,” Neil Patel. Search engines follow users.  So, when you write, prioritize users first. Search engines will reward you and you will enhance the user experience, build trust.

3. Use Header Tags

Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines put more emphasis on keyword-laden header tags.  Whether it’s National SEO, Local SEO, Toronto SEO, or eCommerce SEO, it is advisable to include relevant terms in the header tags for improved SEO ranking of your page.  For this, divide content into different sections (H1, H2s, H3s, H4s). 

Be sure to format them correctly, using:

• H1 to include the targeted keywords
• H2s to keep your page concise
• H3s for relevant link groups to other relevant sources
• H4s for targeted, niche subsections related to your topic

Header tags help visitors easily skim to locate the information they need.

4. Add Internal Links to New Pages

Internal links are hyperlinks that go from one page on your website to a different page on the same website. It is an important part of SEO tactics. “Internal links help visitors navigate from page to page. They distribute ‘link trustworthy’ to your site,” ahrefs Linking to service pages, pricing pages, and other important pages helps the audience consider converting. When you link to pages on your own site:

• You keep leads on your page longer.
• Help Google discover new pages on your site. 
• Encourage search engines to find more of your relevant pages.
• Boosts your SEO ranking.

Search engines, including Google, also use their anchor text to understand the context.  So, add some links to your pages if you want it to stand the best chance of ranking.

5. Add Links to Other Websites  and Earn Backlinks

Linking out to other websites or blogs is potential for growth,” says Brian Clark, Copyblogger Media. Whenever you write a new blog post for your website, reference other trustworthy sites, where appropriate. But yes, only link out pages that have tremendous value for a good SEO result. Remember, one of the easiest ways to get inbound links from high authority websites or authoritative blogs is to link out to those blogs from your own content. Ask them to check out your content and if the post is valuable and they like it, they can link back to you, use the post on their own page, share it and even email it to their grand subscriber list. “Having a few authoritative links (rather than a dozen quality links) builds more trust in your niche.

6. Use Readable and Meaningful URLs Only

Is your URL easy to read and understand? URLs should be easy to read or understand. If users can’t understand your URL, then search engines will be confused too. Check the URL of this article. It’s long but easy to understand. It contains no numbers, no character, but words and dashes. Avoid creating page URLs like this: https://www.example.com/blog/531262 Always keep in mind that search engines follow search users. Search spiders are programs, not humans. You need to guide them accordingly.  Build URLs that are memorable to users, easy to type, and search engine-friendly. Your competitors are doing this, when will you?

7. Build Momentum With Social Signals

Before going ahead, please look:

• Nearly 4 in 10 Facebook users in a survey of 6,000 people, purchase a product after sharing or liking it. 
• More than 40% of social media users have purchased a product after seeing others share it on social media.

So, social media should be an integral part of your SEO strategy.  Despite the fact that the search engine like Google has not added ‘social signals’ to its ranking algorithm factors, they (social signals) do impact search engine rankings. Surprised? Let me explain. 

Many case studies published on SEMrush official blog have revealed ‘social signals’ such as shares, tweets, likes, and pins strongly impact search engine rankings. To get social signals, here is the rule summary:

• Create meaningful and share-worthy content.
• Add share buttons to your post.
• Keep the share buttons visible.
• Encourage people to share. You can ask them to do it.
• To get more shares, host a social media contest.
• Mention and link to social media influencers in your post. Don’t fail to notify them.

The number of times your content is shared on social media platforms affects your search engine ranking.

8. Optimize for Mobile

Google rolled out mobile-first indexing, according to Webmaster Central Blog. It means the search engine penalizes websites that are not optimized for mobile. This really makes sense because 52% of web traffic (more than half of the web traffic) generated from mobile devices in 2018, according to Statista. So, if your website is not optimized for mobile, users can’t clearly view your site on these devices. This will hurt your SEO ranking.  

Follow these easy methods to go mobile:

• Develop a responsive website
• Ensure important information is easier to find.
• Keep your web design simple.
• Use large font sizes.
• Give website speed a priority.
• Create button sizes large enough to work on mobile.
• Avoid using flash.

Do you want to miss out on the opportunity to rank highly? Don’t you want to provide a good experience to mobile users? Why then not optimizing your website for mobile?

9. Fix Broken Link

As you grow your business, you are likely to create new pages and move things around. One of the most essential factors you generally miss is that other pages on your website link to that page. If visitors visit this page and click on the link, they get an error message because this page is gone. This can eliminate sessions of the visitor.  If people struggle upon a broken link, they may leave your site. Thus, you can drive leads away and shorten their visit time. This is not good for SEO practice.  

To get rid of this,

• Update and fix broken links
• Review old content
• Check that the links are active

Do this every so often to provide users with a great experience on your site. By fixing broken links, you’ll keep leads on your site longer and improve SEO ranking.

10. Pick the Right Keywords and Integrate Them onto Your Pages

SEO operates on keywords. The right keywords and their right usage determine when your site will appear on search engines like Google.

Choose the right keywords, use them rightly to appear in the right search results.

To figure out keywords, do keyword research, using keyword research tools. While doing research, focus on long tail keywords. Long tail keywords include three or more words, unlike short tail keywords that contain one or two words.  Say an example, 

In the case of a keyword like “painters,” users could be looking at careers as a painter, a definition of the work. Short tail keyword is too vague to really draw in qualified traffic. In contrast, long tail keywords are specific keywords. Users use them to find a business like yours. So using long tail phrases can drive in traffic, generate a list of websites query best. 

Once you choose the right keywords, integrate them into your site. The keywords can be integrated into various places, such as:

• Headings
• Titles
• Meta descriptions
• Body text of your pages

While integrating keywords, pay attention to keyword stuffing. 

• Avoid overdoing it as it negatively impacts SEO ranking. 
• Don't force yourself to use the keyword on the page. But, use it where it requires and sounds natural. 

By integrating the right keywords in the right way on the page, you’ll experience higher page ranks for those keywords. 

Final Thoughts 

If you pay close attention to these crucial SEO tips, you’ll be able to develop better content, drive more web traffic, convert more leads, and grow your revenue. However even if you get everything right today, the Search Engine Update may change and today’s SEO techniques may not do the job tomorrow. So, keep testing the search engine updates, keep tweaking where required, and continue to search about the latest SEO tips as a priority. Do you want to share other SEO techniques that you think are vital for improving search rankings? Or, are you aware of any SEO tactics that have not worked for you in the past? Let’s collaborate to discuss the most effective SEO strategies for your business and run a free audit of your website.