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Today, we’re going to give you our top ten SEO suggestions of all time.
For phrases like on-page SEO, keyword research, and link building, we’ve used these precise tactics to help our clients rank on the first page of Google. The best part is that all of the advice we’ll provide you is immediately applicable.
We’ll discuss our best keyword research tactic, which we discovered after analyzing one million Google search results, as well as a new SEO technique that’s currently killing it.
Before I reveal tip number one, let me give you a heads up: the advice I’m going to give you isn’t one of those “here now, gone tomorrow” techniques that don’t work after a few months.
In fact, I’ve used some of these techniques since way back in 2012, and they still work great.
Why?
Because these tactics provide Google with what it wants. So, whether you’re watching this now or in three years, you can apply the tactics in this article to improve your rankings and traffic.
So, without further ado, let’s get started with recommendation number one:
#1: Use Short URLs
I used to use the first URL that came to mind when I first started with SEO, which resulted in long, unsightly URLs. Why do I make it a point to just use short URLs these days?
Because, when all other factors are equal, short URLs rank higher than long URLs. In fact, after analyzing one million Google search results, we discovered that short URLs are the most effective.
Let’s go on to suggestion #2.
#2: Look for Keyword Ideas on Amazon
Did you realize that you can conduct keyword research on Amazon? You certainly can, and here’s how: First, go to Amazon and look for a popular book in your niche. Next, look at the table of contents for the book. Each chapter is a potential keyword or topic idea. Finally, use your favorite keyword research tool to determine if the chapter names are searched for on Google.
Now it’s time for our third piece of advice:
#3: Improve Your CTR by Optimizing Your Title Tag
You probably don’t need me to remind you that your title tag should include your target keyword, but you may not realize that you should also optimize your title tag for click-through rate.
Why? For two reasons: first, increasing your CTR results in more visitors without the necessity for high rankings.
Let’s imagine you’re on the fourth page of Google for your desired term. You may double your traffic by doubling your CTR. Second, Google recently acknowledged that CTR is a ranking factor, which makes sense when you consider it. If a lot of people click on your result, it tells Google that this page is a good match for this keyword, and they’ll give you a bump in the rankings.
Bottom line: Optimize your title tag for CTR as well as keywords.
We’ll go through how to increase your click-through rate in more detail later, but for now, let’s focus on tip number four.
#4: Produce Content that is at Least 1,800 Words Long
Do you recall the ranking factor study I mentioned earlier?
Longer content tended to rank higher than short content, which was one of our most intriguing discoveries.
In fact, we discovered that the average first-page Google result had 1,890 words. Yes, this contradicts the notion that online users have short attention spans, but the evidence shows that this isn’t the case, since the fact is that when you offer a valuable resource, people will want to read it, even if it’s lengthy.
Bottom line: If you really want to rank a page, make sure it has at least 1,890 words of good content on it.
Let’s move on to tip number five:
#5: Use Title Tag Modifiers
The majority of your search engine traffic, believe it or not, comes from very long, very precise searches.
Extremely long keywords, as you could expect, will not appear in any keyword research tool. So how do you optimize around them if they don’t appear in a tool? It’s simple: simply include modifiers in your title tag.
The current year, best, review, free shipping, and checklist are some of my favorite title tag modifiers.
With that out of the way, let’s move on to tip number six, which is a simple one.
#6: Use Keyword-Rich URLs
That means make sure your target term appears in every URL you establish for one of your pages. URL terms are known to be a major factor in Google’s search algorithm, so use them effectively when trying to rank for specific terms.
Platforms like WordPress make it simple to modify your final URL, so take the time to include the keyword you’re wanting to rank for in every URL you publish.
Let’s move on to tip number seven:
#7: Increase CTR by Using Numbers in your Title Tag
Remember how I indicated a few minutes ago that Google considers your site’s click-through rate when determining its ranking?
If a lot of people click on your result, it tells Google that this page is a good match for this keyword, and they’ll give you a bump in the rankings.
So how do you increase your CTR?
Adding a number to your title tag is one of the simplest strategies to increase the amount of clicks on your result. According to a recent industry survey, titles with numbers receive 36% more hits than titles without. That’s why I make it a point to include a number in almost all of my titles.
Now we’re moving on to tip number eight:
#8: Broken Link Building
One of my favorite white hat link building tactics is broken link construction. The following is how it works:
To begin, locate a website from which you would like to obtain a connection. Then, on that same site, look for a broken link. The wonderful Check My Links Chrome addon is the quickest way to find broken links.
When you come across a broken link, look for a piece of content on your site that would be a decent replacement; if you don’t have anything, feel free to write one.
Finally, send an email to the site owner informing them about the broken link, and when they respond, provide your link as a replacement. It’s as simple as that.
Next, we’ll look at SEO tip number nine:
#9: Choose Terms that Have a High Level of Commercial Intent
Here’s a common blunder I see a lot of people make, and it’s one I used to do all the time.
What is the blunder?
Selecting keywords with no commercial intent. So, what exactly does “commercial intent” imply?
The likelihood that someone searching for a specific keyword will buy from you is known as commercial intent. Someone looking for premium yoga courses, for example, has a considerably stronger commercial aim than someone looking for free yoga videos.
Fortunately, the Google keyword planner can quickly assess a search’s commercial intent. The higher the expected bid, the more commercial intent there is. In the end, certainly, the search volume and competition of a phrase are significant, but before you choose a keyword, make sure it has some commercial intent.
Let’s move on to our final piece of advice, which is a touchy subject:
#10: Delete Underperforming Pages
A Google webmaster trends analyst remarked something interesting a while back: “Don’t make low-quality, no-value-added pages; we believe it is a waste of resources.”
The other issue is that low-quality content will not get any high-quality traffic. Why are you wasting resources if you aren’t getting good traffic?
To put it another way, having a lot of extra pages on your site is bad for SEO, which is why I advocate eliminating sites that don’t get much traffic. In fact, proven.com just eliminated 10,000 pages from their site, which is one of the key causes for an 88 percent increase in organic traffic in just six weeks.
Bottom line, remove low-quality pages from your website. You have nothing to lose by eliminating them because you aren’t getting any traffic anyway. In fact, eliminating these pages, in my experience, can help your remaining pages rank higher in Google.
Final Thoughts on Ranking Higher in Google Fast
The advice in this article is based on our years of experience helping our clients rank higher in Google. They are tried-and-true techniques that will last, because they focus on what Google cares about: providing quality content and answers to their search terms.
If you need professional help in ranking higher in Google and getting more business and revenue, contact us today to discuss how we can help you. We’d love to talk about expanding your reach and making more money by ranking higher in Google’s search results.