SEO: boost website traffic in 11 steps
Imagine a tool that makes it easy to create, monitor and adapt your SEO plan!
Imagine that Google had created a tool for websites – SEO in Plain Sight.
It lets you easily create, track and adapt your SEO plan so you can:
- Know exactly why your rankings have fallen when they were good yesterday.
- Know exactly what you need to do in terms of SEO for any page on your website.
- Find out what you need to do when adding new content.
OK, SEO in Plain Sight will never see the light of day from Google.
Instead, we have to rely on third-party tools (and Google Search Console) to provide us with the information we need to take our next steps.
To support your SEO plan, I’ve created a quick list of 11 things you can do.
Some will seem familiar, so don’t overlook them.
Others will be new and easy to try (or use repeatedly).
Some will only be effective if you can overcome the difficulties of working with disparate teams.
All these tips should fit into any SEO framework.
1. Don’t spend too much time fixing what you can’t do.
If organic traffic is dropping dramatically, don’t worry about the web page that’s causing the problem.
Perhaps it once had 25 keyword phrases in Google’s top 10.
Now it’s down to 15.
Your page’s title, header and content are probably correct.
Something else has happened – probably an algorithm change or fierce competition getting ahead of you.
A change to the page may have minimal impact.
If you try anything, consider a slight modification to the header (adding or deleting a word).
Headers always influence rankings.
2. Expand your SEO plan
Examine your organic landing pages for your finished keyword list.
Look at the first 250 pages and correlate them with rankings.
For example, I often use Semrush to comb through keyword data to see if there are any I should pursue.
Google Search Console also contains useful keyword data.
Google Analytics contains good information on landing pages, but I explore keywords that might be driving traffic and optimize pages to get even more visitors.
You may find a neglected long-tail keyword phrase that is searched for less often.
You may have pages that you’ve never fully optimized.
Attack the scores of these pages to improve their rankings, and be sure to link to them from your best-performing pages.
(Internal links always help SEO).
For example, this website has over 30 top-five rankings on Google.
That’s great, but the company also has more than 25 lower rankings within reach.
Although the search volume is around 50, these are highly relevant keywords worth targeting.
How to succeed in SEO and keyword ranking on Google in 2022?
Think outside the box to find keyword opportunities for SEO.
3. Refresh pages
Older blog posts can rank well if the content is still seen as an important resource in your industry.
But what about those older articles for which more authoritative websites provide excellent information?
Update your article to compete with the top-ranked sites.
I’m not talking about rewording two sentences.
Add a new multi-paragraph section.
Highlight new tips while deleting outdated ideas.
Summarize current research or add several resources (tools, videos, helpful guides, books, quotes from top experts, etc.).
Refresh old content to improve its SEO.
Add a new section with multiple paragraphs.
Add new tips and delete outdated ideas, says @mikeonlinecoach via @CMIContent.
4. Republish content
Sometimes, your website’s content can fall into disuse simply because it’s old.
Perhaps your content used to stand out, but many other websites now offer relevant (and up-to-date) content and strong backlinks.
If you’ve lost considerable traffic, make several updates and republish the product page or article.
Now might be a good time to update the URL too (with appropriate keywords).
Be sure to use a 301 redirect.
If the page has ranked well, keep the page title and header for a few months to assess the impact on rankings.
Age, not your SEO basics, may have affected rankings.
Try this method on a few older blog posts or pages to decide if it works for your business).
5. Repair broken links
Yes, broken links are a fact of SEO life.
They do happen.
But you need to be vigilant and repair the internal links on your pages to keep users and search engines happy.
Not every repaired link will result in a spike in natural traffic, but clean websites send the right signals to search engines.
Some of these links may also point to popular pages, which is an added bonus.
Fixing broken links won’t lead to a spike in natural traffic, but clean websites send the right signals to search engines, according to @mikeonlinecoach via @CMIContent.
#SEOCLICK
6. Find new link opportunities
Speaking of links, you may find that backlinks from other websites no longer work because these sites have made updates to their content.
Backlinks being a key ranking factor, create a priority list and ask them to link to your content in another way.
It could be useful to identify the pages on their site where your content might be most relevant.
Your website analytics service will have data on referring sites to analyze.
To find out which backlinks have been gained and lost, check the referring site’s traffic in your website analyzer, or insert your domain in this Moz tool.
You also need to proactively create new links.
I’ve used tools like Ahrefs and Moz to find potential sites that may have linked to my competitors’ content.
I also use the Link Intersect feature of Moz’s Link Explorer to discover which links have attracted other websites that my SEO clients haven’t yet secured.
7. Correct technical SEO problems
When companies modify their websites, they don’t always measure the damage.
Sometimes they end up with https (secure) pages pointing to http (insecure) pages.
Semrush has a website audit tool that can quickly identify many such problems.
8. Highlight permanent content in your SEO plan
With your keyword strategy in mind, you need to deploy new content that will last.
Permanent content may include:
- Glossaries
- FAQs
- Blog posts
- Checklists
- Original research (studies and surveys)
9. Publish video transcripts
Of course, you can do little things like include your website link in the descriptions of YouTube videos to improve your SEO.
But why not let your video affect your website’s SEO?
Add a transcript below the video.
You could be ranked for more keywords and help improve your natural search engine traffic.
10. Unearth hidden gems
What content do you have that has never seen the light of day?
Review your business plans, marketing plans, slides, sales pitches, webinars, demos, and so on.
One of my clients, a healthcare benefits consultant, had a 60-page client document.
He published almost a quarter of his content on his website.
New site content has increased rankings, natural traffic and leads.
The payoff can be significant when you publish quality content with relevant keywords.
11. Open the doors
Why not share some of the confidential content you’re hiding?
It can be crawled by search engines and drive traffic to your site.
Your content will reach consumers who will call or fill in other contact forms, and who will be more motivated than those who didn’t see it first.
Perhaps you have restricted content, such as how-to guides or white papers, that hasn’t attracted many potential customers.
This content can be effective for SEO if you remove the barriers.
Put your SEO plan in order
It can be easy to execute your SEO plan without thinking twice about it.
But that doesn’t mean you have to, or that your SEO plan will continue to work.
Review your keywords, content, techniques and backlinks.
By applying these 11 tips, your site will get the natural search engine traffic it deserves.
