Top 5 Tips to Improve Your SEO in 2020
Since search engine algorithms regularly change, it’s a good idea to regularly update your search engine optimization (SEO) tactics and keep your site current. What might have been successful for your site a few years ago could be irrelevant today.
Plus, SEO isn’t a one-time task, it’s an ongoing process and something you should be constantly thinking about as you add new content and update your site.
We put together 5 current tips that you can use to improve your SEO.
YOUR SITE MUST BE MOBILE OPTIMIZED
Mobile optimization came into play a few years ago and is more important than ever. These days, mobile users spend more time surfing the web than desktop users. Google has made mobile a priority and a substantial ranking factor. Bottom line; your site must be mobile friendly.
If your site is difficult to navigate on a smartphone, you’re only hurting your search results. Most site-builders, like Squarespace and WordPress, offer themes that are mobile responsive. Even so, you should be double checking that the mobile version of your website is user-friendly.
What should you do if your site isn’t mobile friendly? Move mobile optimization up the priority list and get a developer on board to help optimize the mobile version of your site or look into transferring to a platform that does it for you. Admittedly, neither is a small task, but you will see a substantial difference in your SEO (and visitor satisfaction.).
2. REVIEW AND OPTIMIZE TARGET KEYWORDS
Keywords still play a key part in your websites SEO. What keywords are you targeting? Are they still relevant?
Keywords represent an important pillar of SEO. They are a necessary tactic in link building, on-page SEO, and content marketing. This is one area where you shouldn’t skimp.
To do keyword research, use a tool, like MOZ’s keyword explorer, to see how popular your keywords are and which ones have the most and least amount of competition. With lower competition keywords, there might be a smaller quantity of people searching for those words, but it is easier to win their attention. You can also discover keyword opportunities in tools like MOZ and SEMrush. Identify keywords with a good balance; keywords that aren’t highly competitive but have a decent demand.
If you’re having trouble spotting keywords that really make sense for your business, try being more specific. Add descriptors or add action-oriented phrases like “for sale.”
Often times when people are searching, they are asking a question. What keywords could you use that would answer common questions from people who have an intention to buy your type of product?
Once you identify your keywords, make sure you incorporate them into your site, regularly updated content, social media, and any advertising.
3. SOCIAL SHARES AND LINK BUILDING
Link building is nothing new when it comes to SEO. Google has learned to weed out the misuse of link building and can spot natural links. Links to authority sites have much more weight than other, less trusted sites. By building strong links, search engines can better understand your niche.
Reputable and quality backlinks can get you more traffic and a significant boost in trust. The focus, however, should be on brand building and not on ranking high with search engines..
Ask partners and reputable sources if they will link to your content in return, but only when it makes sense.
Google uses social sharing as an important ranking factor. If you have content on your website that is popular across social media then it is possible that Google will index that page much faster than other pages.
Focus on creating content that others will want to share and link to authority sites when it makes sense.
4. STRUCTURED DATA FOR RICH SNIPPETS
Rich snippets should still be a focus in 2020. These are the data-rich boxes that appear during normal Google search results but offer additional data which is pulled from structured data found in the page’s HTML. Rich snippets are more eye-catching than normal search results and often sit above ads, occupying highly sought after SERP real estate.
Altering the structure of your content can make things easier for web crawlers to understand and could give your page a higher ranking and more traffic.
You can’t go out and “get” rich snippets, it’s more about making them possible. Most pages featured in snippets already ranking for top 10 Google keywords Review your highly ranking search queries to see where your best chances for a snippet are. Next, you’ll want to make sure your content is aiming to answer questions concisely and in a well-organized manner. Use attention-grabbing images and be very factual.
For more detailed information on how to structure your content so it can be featured as a rich snippet, check out this article from MOZ.
5. REPURPOSE CONTENT IN DIFFERENT MEDIA FORMATS
It takes a lot of time, energy and money to constantly be making new, original content. Here’s a little secret; adapting or repurposing your content to multiple types of media is a great way to improve your SEO.
You can transcribe or summarize videos, webinars, and podcasts into text to create blog articles, ebooks or even social posts. With textual articles, you can insert keywords. You’ll also attract different leads all looking for different forms of content. Some people gravitate towards video or audio content while others prefer the written word.
Plus, search engines notice when you are consistently adding new content to your site. If that webinar post is also a blog post, and part of an ebook, you’re tripling the impact of one piece of content.
If you’d like to connect with the Think Better team and learn more about what you can do to optimize your results, contact us!
