Let’s be honest. The SEO field has no silver bullet. The complexity of SEO is in the overwhelming things you must do to rank high and beat your competitors. Most people do not have the time to check all boxes on the SEO best practices checklist. However, your business must pop everywhere for it to be successful. You must dominate every search to gain more traffic. Gaining an edge on the competition means that you must identify opportunities that your competitors are not using. Read on to discover some secret SEO opportunities your competitors are not taking advantage of.
Understanding Google Algorithms
If you have an already established website, making a few changes can boost your website’s ranking and increase organic traffic. If you are a beginner, the best thing to do is to research the best SEO practices and invest your time in some additional research to understand Google’s ranking algorithm. While Google is a complex search engine, it is easy to understand once you know the basics.
Google considers several factors to determine what should go where. However, you do not have to know everything to rank highly. A basic understanding of how Google works will make other SEO secrets you have read fall into place. You also do not necessarily have to master all SEO tactics for your page to rank well. Focusing on a few key elements and doing them well will give you the results you desire. However, do not stuff your content with too many keywords or overload your page with links. This will only hurt your website and Google may penalise you.
Voice Search
It is 2021 and voice search is on a whole different level. Users want a quick way to search for products or services on the web and voice search seems to solve their problem.
Today, it is almost impossible to go a day without hearing someone ask Google Assistant, Siri, or Amazon Alexa a question. What began as a simple alternative to typed Google search is now a go-to information gathering tool and it will only go up from here. If you wish to become voice search friendly, you must have a clean format that is typo-free. Professionalism is always essential for voice search. Remember that customers ask questions in summary form. So, use no more than 35 words to summarise your content and satisfy specific search questions. Also, localise your content to include phrases like ‘near me’, ‘best’, ‘where’ and ‘nearest’. These phrases will help you appear on a voice search’s radar.
Go Beyond Google
Google holds over 75% of the market share. Therefore, you must figure out how your website will appear on Google’s first search results page. Customers are also flocking to other platforms for information and purchases. Places like Amazon, the App Store and WordPress are now getting lots of search traffic. As a result of this, you must fully optimise your SEO and focus on all search engines and apps.
One strategy you can use to go beyond Google is to use exact keywords in your title and content. This will place you in a better place on both Google and other search engines. While Google does not consider social media feedback when ranking pages, other search engines do. So, engage your customers in different conversations about your business through likes, shares and comments.
Find Low Competition Keywords
Keyword search is one element that you cannot skip when it comes to SEO. The key to winning in the SERPS is to begin by finding low competition keywords. Once you succeed in that arena, you can gradually move to higher competition keywords and you will see how easy it will be to beat your competition. The first step is to search for relevant keywords through understanding your audience and business. The second step is to know your website’s competitive power. Websites do not have an equal chance to rank on the first page of Google since there are only around ten spots. Focusing on low competing keywords is an ingredient to SEO success. Finding low competition keywords means choosing keywords with a score at or below your competitive power. Look for keyword ideas that align with your user intent and check their difficulty compared to your website’s ability to compete. Add these keywords to your favourites and put together a shortlist of the best keyword opportunities.
Add Similar Keywords to Pages Your Already Ranking For
If you have a page or pages that already rank high on search engines, you can use them to pull up other low ranking pages. Conduct a keyword search and identify opportunities to add synonyms and associated words on the page. For instance, if you are ranking for the keyword ‘custom builder Adelaide’, users will most likely search using words like ‘best custom builder in Adelaide’ or ‘top custom builder Adelaide’. Adding such phrases will help you gain greater visibility and help you capitalise on the strength of your already ranking pages. While most companies use different pages for each keyword, you can use this strategy to leverage your existing ranking. You may even rank faster than if you targeted these keywords on a separate page.
Organise Your Website Pages by Theme
It’s common knowledge that search engines reward sites that establish professionalism on a topic or keyword. The best way to achieve this is to group related pages on the same topic, demonstrating expertise on that topic or keyword. For instance, maybe you are an event planner who deals with wedding planning, corporate events and non-profit events. Instead of grouping all these under ‘services’, you can break them down and link only to the content specific to the type of event you offer. This strategy will allow you to create a theme and show search engines that you are experts in each of these areas. Ensure that each theme has at least three supporting links to establish expertise on that keyword or topic.
Use Structured Data
Structured data in SEO is the markup that helps search engines understand how to interpret, display and rank your content. An excellent example of structured data is a relational database (like a table). In such an instance, a structured query language (SQL) interacts with linked data in the table. There are several types of structured data. However, in SEO practice, structured data refers to one thing: Schema.org markup.
Structured data helps users understand what your content means. For example, if you are an event planner, you can use Schema Markup to show the event date, time and location. Google has a free Structured Data Markup Helper to assist you in taking advantage of this strategy. Structured data is helpful and easy to read, allowing users to set you apart in the search results. Remember that in SEO, what is suitable for the user is also good for search engines.
Use Different Heading Tags
An excellent way to break your page content into sections is by using heading tags. These tags range from H1 to H6, with H1 being the most crucial. Copywriters use heading tags for the headlines and sub-headlines of a page. Heading tags are essential because they allow search engines to understand the content of your web page.
SEO experts recommend using one H1 tag per page followed by other tags like H2 and H3. Ensure that your heading is a preview of what that paragraph is about and entices the reader to continue. Research proves that 79% of users scan a web page, while only 16% actually read your content word-by-word. You must accordingly create eye-catchy headings that will give the user a reason to continue reading.
Ensure Your Website is Mobile-Friendly
About a decade ago, search used to be desktop-based. In 2021, search is now an on-the-go activity. Thanks to technological advancement, you can now use your phone and other portable devices to track down information and make purchases everywhere and at any time. So, you will miss out on a lot of traffic if your website is not mobile-friendly.
Load time is especially essential to mobile devices. Users want a quick search and will move to the following website if yours takes a long time to load pages. Your images and content should also fit different mobile screens. Computer screens are shorter and broader, while mobile screens are longer and narrower. Ensure that your website can adapt to match the shape of different phone sizes instead of a compacted computer screen. Always do a test run by clicking through each page using different mobile devices to ensure that your website is smooth and visually appealing. Your home page may be checking all of your boxes, but other pages may have some problems.
Gain an Advantage
Although SEO takes time, these tips will get you on the first page of Google and rank you higher than your competitors. However, ensure you view your website from an outsider’s perspective. You can even access it from different browsers, mobiles, and desktops to see if something is missing. Find ways to improve your user experience to boost your rankings a notch higher and ensure that you incorporate all of these practices. An SEO expert can assist you with this process and make sure you’re hitting all of your targets.
