SEO hacks that were effective for your website just a year ago may now not only be outdated, but could also get you a Google penalty. PageRank, the Google search algorithm is continually updated and may affect how your website is rewarded, or even penalized.
For your rankings to remain at the top, you need to avoid using “hacks” to improve your SEO. If you break the rules, your website could get hit with penalties and your SEO results will suffer.
So what are the latest SEO tactics leading marketers use right now?
Can it help you to stay above board with PageRank / Domain Authority and boost your rankings by using these effective SEO techniques? Let’s explore this in depth:
Mobile continues to lead in 2020
Since 2016 internet users have been viewing web pages from their mobiles at an ever-increasing rate to the point with many now only using their mobile devices. Google has adopted a mobile-first indexing system for almost four years now, and your SEO strategy needs to take this into consideration.
Content must be easily accessible on mobile searches and everything, including images, must load properly otherwise your webpage won’t land on the first SERP. It is therefore no wonder that UX designers are rather in demand – to ensure the ultimate cross-browser experience that will play to this ranking factor.
Clever keyword choices
Avoid using keywords that have a high search volume because you will face some tough competition. Choosing medium-range keywords (these should score in the 50-70 range out of 100-points) will bring better results.
The best way to find a list of suitable keywords is with a higher-end keyword research tool and to analyze the SEO data of your competitors. The tool will generate a draft keyword list and you need to choose the most suitable to build content with.
With this comes voice search: remember that being ready for voice means that you will scoop up to 50% more mobile traffic.
Building suitable links for SEO success
Link-building remains important and there have been no radical changes here. If you want your website to have authority, then you need to have websites that direct to your website through hyperlinks.
However, these back links need to be organically earned otherwise your website will be penalized. Purchased backlinks are a no-no as far as Google is concerned and this was reiterated in the recent PageRank update.
Always build your back-link network with high-quality references. These must be generated by your content, which needs to be strong. Google will pick up on any paid guest posts or link spams from third parties for commercial reasons, and your rankings will suffer.
Structured data needs Google Schema tool
Schema is Google’s rich snippet enhancement tool, and it increases organic CTR by as much as 30% because these are pulled from a page’s HTML more effectively. So next time you issue new specifications on content – be sure to think about the Question & Answer snippets that we see on Google – because by answering questions well, visibility shoots up.
Find the intent of your target demographic
Find relevant keywords that match the intent of your users. This can be done by finding similar long-tail keyword searches from Google Suggest when you punch in the keyword for your product and before hitting enter.
Adopt these strategies and succeed
Create powerful content and avoid making mistakes in your SEO strategy that will cost your rankings dearly. Remember that you need to concentrate your efforts on optimizing your website for mobile users and never fall into the trap of paying for back links or sponsored guest posts, and your page will always rank highly on SERP.
Old and proven seo tactics such as directory listings are still quite valid, so do not overlook them. Use it wisely alongside these latest tips and tools in order to get ahead.
