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Search engine optimization techniques are changing rapidly with the changing environment.
Today where every website is competing to gain first spot.
SEO has become the foremost need for every website to gain maximum insights.
But only a few can make their place on the first SERP.
And the techniques which helped you to get the first position 2019 might not be helpful in 2020.
That’s why you need to fill your kitty with all the latest trends and updates to make your website thrive.
In this blog, you will learn SEO techniques that will help you to gain traffic on your website in 2020
What is SEO and How it works?
One of the biggest questions that we are asked by our clients here at Ads Triangle is what is SEO and how it works?
For the new entrepreneurs and businesses who have just started their website, SEO can be a bit tricky.
But no worries because in this blog you will learn all that you need to know about SEO.
Search Engine Optimization ( SEO) is a process of optimizing your website to get organic, or unpaid traffic.
It involves modifying your website design and content to make it more attractive to the search engines.
Though various factors affect the search engine’s ranking but the basic is however not difficult to understand.
Search engines want the best service for their users.
This means your first concentration should be delivering high-quality and relevant content.
To better understand different websites and their contents, search engines crawl various websites and rank them accordingly.
A search engine will check how easy it is for users to navigate and read.
Now for this, the organizations use SEO to modify their website in such a way that they secure a higher rank.
Below are all the search engine optimization techniques that will help you to make your website and content SEO friendly and secure a higher rank.
How many types of SEO Techniques?
You can check the types of SEO and how to use them in 2020 from our blog on the SEO audit checklist.
Now let’s move on to the latest SEO techniques 2020.
1. SEO audit at regular intervals
Do you think that any masterpiece can be created just in one go?
To err is human and even the SEO experts are humans- they can also commit mistakes.
To bring out the best outcome from an effort, it needs to be reviewed.
So that weak elements can be eliminated and the performance can be refined.
Many trivial factors can affect the efficacy of SEO.
And to comprehend every factor, SEO auditing is a requisite.
Not necessary that every factor is covered in just one go.
There are many factors checked while SEO auditing.
Quite possibly, that some factors are missed.
To have a grip on such factors, frequent SEO auditing must be a part of your techniques for search engine optimization.
To give a kick start to your SEO process nothing can better than this if you have the improvement areas by your side to work upon.
Half of your job will be already done to squeeze the best results out of SEO.
2. Content optimization
If you are wondering how to get organic traffic? then, Content Optimization is your answer.
Content optimization holds a very crucial role in making the SEO effective.
Thus, it is one of the most important search engine optimization techniques.
Therefore ignoring this part is simply leaving many opportunities on the table.
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Produce valuable and shareable content
There are thousands of people who switch on their systems to collect some useful information through the internet.
Sometimes searches are made on any specific topic or sometimes it is just to grasp some knowledge on any topic.
You ask a question to yourself- Why a user will return to your website again and again if the user is having enormous options to visit.
You need to give him one good reason to do so and not elaborating much simply adds value to your content.
Once your content succeeds to deliver valuable information, a user is more likely to visit your website again.
Apart from this, the content will earn more likes and shares and this will help to improve the website SEO.
Lastly, any kind of flaw in content is not at all tolerable by the users- make sure any kind of error is not ruining the quality of the content.
…spellings and grammatically correct content always hold a different charm and that is enough to impress the users.
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Make your content competitive by adding length to it
(There is one very common concern of users- whether long-form content performs well on mobile phones or not? According to a study- Yes, they do)
Nowadays every marketer is focused on the production of quality content.
There are around 4 million posts that are pumped out daily.
Visitors have unlimited options to explore and read.
But here the million-dollar question is how to drive them to your blog right?
Every user didn’t get the desired information just in one go.
To collect adequate information they keep on switching the content on other websites.
This is where you can hook them.
Try to make it comprehensive as much as you can.
This will automatically make your content lengthy.
Make your content hold at least 1870 words.
Because if your blog post itself is providing adequate information on one topic-your reader will never switch to any other website.
It has been observed that the content between 1000-2000 is capable of attracting more shares.
Furthermore, more share means more CTR and traffic.
Consequently, the SEO results will be more effective.
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Optimize content for semantic search
There was a time when the optimization of content was done for a particular keyword.
But now Google has become smarter and have begun to understand the topic of the page as well.
And this ability to understand the topic is called semantic search.
There is no rocket science to optimize content for semantic search.
Simply, optimize your content for a particular content as you would do normally.
After that, dig out the subtopics and cover them in your post.
Covering every aspect of a topic will send a strong signal to Google and make it understand the topic.
And by covering the subtopics in your content it will be optimized for the semantic searches also.
Here, the icing on the cake is your content will gain more insights.
3. Pay attention to Inbound and Outbound links
Inbound and Outbound links are an important SEO technique in 2020.
Because link building is always essential in the SEO which makes it an important part of search engine optimization techniques.
Thus, you need to be very cautious while dealing with the links.
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Outbound links should be qualitative:
What kind of content you are linking to, whether the content is relevant or not- this is very important in concern of outbound links.
Everything has a definite purpose and this applies to outbound links too.
Ultimately, the game is all about adding to the users’ knowledge.
It hardly matters whether they are gaining this knowledge from your website or others.
But yes, you can assist them to get the relevant information through the means of outbound links.
The pages you are linking tend to reflect your topic more precisely.
This makes outbound links more important.
It would be a great help for the users to find helpful resources just in one blog without investing much time.
Additionally, it will an add-on in improving the users’ experience.
Hey! This is not the end still you need to know something more…
Most importantly, if you are linking to high authority websites it increases your website trustworthiness in Google’s eyes.
Once your website trust and quality are refined it will become more noticeable by the search engine.
This is how the performance of SEO is enhanced.
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Encourage more inbound links too
Inbounds links are also addressed as backlink because they are linking back to your website.
By working on the outbound links sometimes you can successfully earn backlinks too.
And this is not less than a- “cherry on the cake”
This is quite obvious, if you are favoring any website by linking it, then your website is more likely to get backlinks from their website.
But, Yes this is not necessary that every website will do the same.
Still, you can give it a try and ask for backlinks through an email.
Inbound links are as important as outbound links
Both kinds of links impact SEO results.
To obtain someone’s trust is a back-breaking task
And earning backlinks is just like the same.
A page is linked only when it holds some value and is proving to be a great resource of information.
Furthermore, the page is extending the information as well.
The more backlinks a page will have, the more will be added to the credibility of the page.
And a good number of votes work as an SEO fuel and improves your ranking.
Backlinks work as a vote of trust, authority, and credibility
Point to remember–
Google not only focuses on the number of links, instead, the quality of links is also evaluated.
Check out some ways to earn inbound links:
- Guest posting
- Blog commenting
- Social bookmarking
- Social media marketing
- Press Release
- Article Directories
4. Include Infographics
If you ask us what is the most beneficial and latest SEO technique 2020?
We would say Infographics.
Don’t you think nothing can be better than this if you can intrigue the interest of the audience in your content?
I know it’s obviously-Yes!
To do so, infuse infographics in your search engine optimization techniques.
Infographics have emerged as one of the robust techniques to present the content in a visually appealing form.
And infographics are proving beneficial too in getting the attention.
Many times even a well-written content loses its charm due to lack of its visual appeal.
And nothing can be worst than this if the content is unable to comprehend the visitors’ interest.
While creating an infographic for a blog, take out the crux of your content and blend them with eloquent graphics to construct an impressive one.
Yes, this is how you can present the message in a captivating manner.
[click_to_tweet tweet=”Infographics are one of the effective means to get backlinks.” quote=”Infographics are one of the effective means to get backlinks.” theme=”style5″]
It is because infographics tend to earn more shares and likes due to their visual appeal.
Apart from this, it helps in improving the credibility of the website too.
More share means more followers and it also makes users familiar with your website.
Again ending up with more traffic on the website.
Consequently, it helps to increase the website ranking and escalate your SEO results.
5. Ensure the website’s mobile compatibility
Another search engine optimization technique that you should consider is your website’s mobile compatibility.
This is an undeniable fact that the number of mobile users has surpassed the number of desktop users.
In such scenarios just targeting the desktop users will limit your reach and restrict many visitors to access your website.
As customers are the main priority for every business, even search engines keep an eye on how well you take care of them.
Hence, the website that is unable to serve the mobile users are not apt to be ranked with the best ranking.
And this is where the SEO effectiveness seems feeble.
Mobile compatible websites open many ways to enter the website rather than just limiting it to one.
The mobile compatible website successfully serves desktop and mobile users which is a plus point.
Probably, your competitors might be missing somewhere in this sphere.
And you can secure a place above their website through your search engine optimization techniques.
6. Infuse long-tail keywords in your Title
OnOne keyword targeting brings one segment of visitors to your website.
If you are covering more than one keywords then naturally more segments of people are targeted.
And I guess there is no need to explain how beneficial it would be in terms of leads and conversions.
Oops! You might be thinking this is related to “keyword stuffing”
Then it is a big-time No…
Here the thing is all about infusing long-tail keywords in your title.
I know keywords stuffing is one of the practices included in Black hat SEO techniques.
…but this is something not at all recommended for the sake of website reputation.
For website well-being, it is advisable to always opt for White hat SEO techniques.
Without stretching it further, it’s time to gander why it is important to use long-tail keywords in the title.
For suppose- your targeting keyword is “ Top UI/UX Design”
In the next step, you would add this keyword in your title.
By doing so, only one keyword is targeted.
…and the visitors searching for this particular keyword is more likely to get included in your website traffic.
The next moment you realize there is one more keyword which is also having good search volume.
And the keyword is “UI UX Design Agency”
Many people are searching for these particular keywords only.
Don’t you think you can kill two birds with one stone by embedding in the title this keyword too?
It better to go for “Top UI UX Design Agency”
Using this you can target two segments of people at one time.
As a result, the keyword with more search volume will help you jump up in the rankings and accumulate good insights and traffic.
And eventually, you can rank for more than one keyword.
Hand-Picked Content:
keyword position checker tool to boost the ranking
7. Revive your old content to rank better
Image Source: Neil Patel Blog
If you want to rank high you should conder this Search engine optimization technique.
Old blog posts not only rescue you from the mundane research work but also saves a lot of your time.
But generally what people think is when things become old they lose their charm
…but to some extent thing is right.
It doesn’t mean the old posts are completely dead and should be thrown away.
Even these posts can aid to improve the ranking and drive traffic.
You simply need to invest your one-fourth of the time on the old blog that you would have spent on creating a new one.
Update your old posts to make it apt to fulfill the needs of today’s reader.
Possibilities are there that your old posts are one of the best in the olden times.
Now simply the content requires the blend of creativity with new images and tips
…and your post will become good to go.
Just add new images, new data, new stats, and some updates tips- and you can get yourself acquainted with a new and improved version of the blog.
There is nothing can be better than this use of old posts whose traffic flow has taken a pause.
Image source: Ahrefs Blog
By giving this kind of treatment to your old blogs you can again trigger the flow of organic traffic.
But make sure whatever you are doing it is reaching to the people.
Therefore, as you are done with the blog post try to appraise the audience through newsletters and emails etc.
This strategy will work to get enough traffic and improve the SEO outcome.
8. Rankbrain is a factor you need to work upon
Results are always extracted after evaluating the performance.
And when it comes to Google, Rankbrain is there to do the job.
Rankbrain is an AI-based algorithm used by Google to sort the search results.
It is the third most important ranking signal
And if this factor is holding so much importance it has to be taken care of.
Judgment is the toughest decision and everyone needs some opinions to make it easy.
Out of thousands of websites, it is tough to decide the most relevant website or web page for a given query.
For opinions, Google asks- Google engineers and Rankbrain- “What’s their opinion”?
And when it is about providing opinions- the Rankbrain has outperformed the Google Engineers- being more accurate!!
Rankbrain understands well the value of happy and contented customers.
How the Visitors are interacting with the given results- this is constantly monitored by the Rankbrain.
… and analyzing their behavior Rankbrain concludes which is the most relevant result for the given keyword.
Eventually, it sends a signal to Google- This page is relevant thus, it needs to be rewarded with a higher ranking.
So, simply keep the Rankbrain happy and improve your SEO results.
Now you might be struggling with a concern-
” How to keep the Rankbrain happy?”
No worries- just gander
Focus on improving the CTR first.
Only good and valuable websites are more liable to be clicked by the audience.
Work on various strategies to improve click-through-rate.
As any specific search result will receive a lot of clicks -this will be noticed by the Rankbrain.
Consequently, this information will be conveyed to Google-
“This website is getting more clicks which means it is liked by the customers thus, it needs to be up rank.”
In this way, its visibility is improved to serve more users further.
The second approach to make your website fit for Rankbrain is- “Emphasize on the dwell time”
Yes, when someone finds something interesting, he would like to invest more time on it.
And a responsive and engaging website always succeed to intrigue with its presence.
So, shift your focus to give relevant information on your website impressively.
This will keep the users intact for a longer period on the website and increase their dwell time.
Thirdly, if the user is happy and getting the information that is adding value, the bounce rate will also be in control.
And if the bounce rate is less, again it is good for the website’s reputation.
Moreover, a low bounce rate will be monitored by the Rankbrain and rewarded with a high ranking.
This is one of the fruitful search engine optimization techniques opted by the SEO experts too.
9. Make use of your competitors’ keyword
Yes, you read it right- we know it must be shocking how competitors can help?
But sometimes even the rivals help us inadvertently.
And even the smart players know how to make the best use of the available material like keywords.
Not only the time will be saved also, but half of your job will also be done to grab the productive keywords.
So, by just keeping an eye over the competitors you can do a lot to your website and head a lot of traffic towards it.
Keyword research is an obvious activity in the process of SEO to uplift the ranking of the website.
So, no one can just skip this part and move further…
But don’t you think how good it would be if someone else will do this thing for you?
Of course, yes…
A little research to ease your work will cost you nothing but will do a lot to improve your ranking.
Find out how?
Commence by finding the competitor’s website which is already ranking well in the search engine.
Now it’s time to find out the keywords for which the competitor’s website is ranking.
For the same, the user can use various tools that will help you to know organic as well as paid keywords.
Here the time comes where you have to showcase your skills and come with better content to rank above your competitors.
If you wanna infuse long tail keywords then you have certain tools to comprehend the keywords.
To utilize these keywords completely create robust content…
And in this way, you can push your content and website towards a better ranking.
This is also an effective technique to improve the website.
Hence, listed in various types of search engine optimization techniques.
10. Make your website free from 404 error page
Yes, eliminating the 404 error page is one of the search engine optimization techniques with which many of the people aren’t acquainted.
Is this something that is completely going over your head?
No worries…
404 is a very common error which is encountered by every visitor at least once in their life.
But not every person is familiar- “Why 404 error occurs?”
When a visitor tries to visit a page that does not exist anymore, the 404 error occurs.
Also, it can be due to when a page is moved or removed and the URL is not changed accordingly.
404 error can prove to be a nightmare for your SEO if not fixed timely.
Firstly, it has a very adverse effect on the users’ experience and if the error occurs in the excessive amount it annoys the users.
Ultimately, leading to an increased bounce rate.
On the other hand, a website with too many 404 errors is likely to appear less in the search results.
Therefore, your website must be completely free from such errors.
How to fix 404 errors:
- Redirect the page- This is an effective way to fix the 404 error.
Simply redirect the page using the 301 redirects.
- Link correction- Make sure that the link is correct if it is not so, just fix the URL.
- Revive deleted pages- Adding and deleting content on the website is a consistent process in updating.
So when the page is deleted from the website, not necessary that people will also stop searching.
Hence, while deleting the pages, keep in mind to redirect the pages to similar kinds of content.
11. Customize 404 error page
This is also one of the search engine optimization techniques to keep the audience connect with your website.
Generally, what happens when someone encounters a 404 page, the page simply contains text like:
- “404 Error”
- “404 Not Found”
- “The requested URL [URL] was not found on this server.”
- “HTTP 404 Not Found”
- “404 Page Not Found”
And except these texts, nothing else is visible on the page.
Example:
After this, the very next step of the user is quite predictable.
He will simply leave the website as he has nothing to do further.
But if the 404 pages are customized, a user can do a lot more without leaving the website.
Example:
After customizing the 404 pages, it will appear like-
Despite the “404 error” text, there will be other sections of the website visible on the page.
This will prevent the user from abandoning the website.
Furthermore, the user will stay longer on the website as he can explore other sections of the website rather than just leaving it.
Therefore, even with the 404, you can give a reason for the user to stay on the website.
12. Ensure SSL Certificate installation
Not everyone is familiar with the importance of an SSL certificate.
But Yes, this is also a factor that deserves to present in the list of search engine optimization techniques.
Security of private information is the utmost priority of every user.
And the websites lacking in security tends to get less preference in comparison to SSL secured websites.
As a result, SEO results become weak.
In 2014, Google rolled out an updated algorithm favoring the HTTPS secured website.
This means the HTTP website will have an additional advantage over the other.
This strengthens the chances of these websites to rank better.
Many times people share their sensitive data and the HTTP websites keep such data secured and intact.
This is the reason why HTTP websites are preferred more by people.
HTTP not only protects the users’ information but also keeps the hacker at bay.
Therefore, it is really important to install an SSL certificate.
When a website is secured it is represented with text- Https and a lock icon and when it is not it is represented by a “Not secure” label written in red color.
Example:
Secured website and Unsecured website
So, users can easily make out which website is secure and which is not?
Such websites not only succeed to win the confidence of the users but also rewarded with a high ranking in the SERP.
Conclusion
Search engine optimization has become the most important element for the websites.
As it not only helps to improve your website position in the SERP but also opens up ways to drive traffic and conversions.
So, to resist the tough competition in the market, every website owner wants to avail the advantage of SEO.
Every SEO expert has its techniques to drive the maximum results out of SEO.
But whether it is right or wrong the results say all.
And in the end, if the results are not as envisaged, the wait is not at all worth.
So, it is better to adopt a serious approach from the very beginning of the SEO process.
To avoid any kind of loophole and the practice of wrong techniques on SEO, it is better to opt tried and tested search engine optimization techniques.
By infusing the above- mentioned techniques you can easily save your hard-earned money and time as well.
Most importantly, you can reap the benefits of SEO without leaving any scope of failure.