Whether it’s a corporate site or a personal blog, it can be agreed that ranking websites on search engines have become more and more difficult in the last couple of years. And to make matters worse, Google and other search engines are on a never ending journey of updating their algorithms, making it laborious to narrow down the metrics used to rank effectively.
To make sure you’re keeping on top of this, we’ve put together some useful tips to improve your SEO in 2022 to help you get an edge over your competitors.
- Use the Right Keywords
Keywords act as a bridge between what you are offering and what users are looking for. It’s therefore crucial to use the right keywords in the proper places if you want to be found within the mix of similar sites. Usually, the URL, meta description and the first 100 words of your content need to include any of your target keywords for the best results from an SEO perspective.
Take this post as an example. You might have already noticed that we’ve strategically placed our long-tail keyword “Useful tips to improve your SEO in 2022” within the first 100 words to help this article reach you.
- Improve Loading Speeds
Everyone can relate to how frustrating it is when a page takes ages to load and they often leave the page instantly when it happens. This leads to higher bounce rates, which can hurt your SEO efforts. So, it’s important to get rid of anything that can slow your loading speeds.
Generally, third party scripts, low-quality hosting services, memory-heavy images and uncompressed video files slow down page speeds. Thus, resolving these issues should considerably boost your loading speed.
- Create “User-Intent” Friendly Content
Apart from using the right keywords appropriately and making use of video content, you should focus on the user’s intent. Try to understand what the user is looking for when they type in a keyword, then create content that caters to this need. Make sure the content helps them as this will allow you to reduce bounce rates and develop returning visitors. Consistent returning users is crucial for the success of any website as these users are more likely to convert into a customer.
- Maximise The Power of Video
Although written content such as blogs and articles work great for driving traffic, the world has turned to consuming video content. Videos are entertaining and bring about the personalisation that words can often lack. Furthermore, if executed correctly, videos can keep visitors engaged on the site. So, if you haven’t maximised on the power of video yet, we suggest getting in touch with our creative team to generate some engaging visuals!
- Optimise for User Experience
Despite the many changes to their algorithms, most search engines, including Google, favour sites that are user friendly. Therefore, having a clean, well-defined website will definitely help your SEO.
Furthermore, Google’s crucial “Rankbrain” update was specially designed to monitor user interactions within websites. This considers various factors such as Bounce rates and Click-Through Rates to determine if a website is worthy of being top listed in their search results.
- Focus on Site Authority
A website’s authority plays a large role in visibility on search engines. The more authority your site has, the more likely you will be shown on top for keywords relevant to your brand/product.
Website authority is a site’s relevance for a specific subject, industry, or niche. And most search engines determine your authority by considering the trust your users, industry experts and other websites have in you.
Links, both outbound and inbound, are effective ways to increase site authority.
- Post Content Related to Niches
It’s always best to pump out niche-related content. It helps improve search engine optimisation and also builds site authority. However, continuously generating relevant content can be almost impossible in the long run.
One quick fix to this problem is creating content related to shoulder niches. Shoulder niches are niches closely related to your main niche. So, creating content for shoulder niches can help you rank for similar keywords and stay relevant.
- Build Backlinks
Backlinks direct users from another site to yours. They act as a factor most search engines use to determine a website’s authority. The more backlinks you have from websites similar to yours, the higher your site authority. But gaining backlinks isn’t easy. It takes time as you need content that other websites deem worthy of linking to.
However, one relatively easy way to get backlinks is to find guest post opportunities. Many websites welcome guest posts as they help increase their content bulk. And in return, you might be able to score some backlinks.
- Rank For Featured Snippets
Featured snippets are small extracts from web pages that quickly answer a user’s question. They are seen after ads on the result page and are usually accompanied by an image or a video to help them stand out on the page.
Although this feature is pretty old, many websites still struggle to rank for them. So, getting your very own web pages indexed as featured snippets for a few queries can get you ahead of your competition.
One of the best ways to get your webpage extracted as a featured snippet is to add a Frequently Asked section or a Glossary section to your site. And when doing so, make sure that the answer paragraphs are clear and concise.
- Focus On Mobile User Experience
Mobile phones have become the most preferred device for online activity. Therefore, it’s not a surprise that search engines favour mobile-friendly websites.
Improving site loading speeds, redesigning site pop-ups and enabling Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) are just some of the ways in which you can optimise your website for mobile phones.
However, you can also opt for a separate website dedicated to mobile use or invest in a mobile app. Both these methods can improve rankings in the long run.
- Promote Social Media Sharing
Although social media does not directly contribute to your SEO ranking, it can help boost online traffic. And a boost in online traffic will help build site authority, which in turn will improve your SEO score. Further, it will also enhance online visibility, leading to more backlinks.
Proper social media management can also help you boost local search engine optimisation. This can prove extremely useful for local businesses and services.
- Update Old Pages
More often than not, old webpages lose rank as time goes by. However, a few tweaks in favour of recent algorithm updates might be all they need to get back on top.
One of the easiest ways to re-rank a page is to update its title and description along with a few updates to the structure. Re-structuring the content and including a few images, other media formats and outbound links can also help improve its visibility. But, if the content is beyond saving, it’s recommended you rewrite the entire piece based on more recent searches
Furthermore, it’s always a good idea to keep tabs on your web pages’ performance using tools like Google Seach Console. This allows you to upgrade posts that aren’t ranking and identify what works and what doesn’t in your niche.
For more on how we can help you change up your SEO strategy, get in touch with kim.mclellan@hunterlodge.co.uk
Or if you’d like us to do a FREE SEO audit for your website, then register here.
