16 SEO Tips That Are More Effective Than Paying for Traffic

John Davier
John Davier

Last updated on

August 9, 2023

Does your website generate more leads than you can deal with? If the answer is, “Yes,” then there’s not much reason to read the rest of this article. If you’re like most businesspeople though, there’s no such thing as too many leads.

There are a few ways for businesses to find leads. You can network, you can buy leads, or you can run a marketing campaign. But ultimately, the most cost-effective method of lead generation is sitting back and letting your website do the selling for you.

That way, you have a “salesperson” that doesn’t ever sleep, doesn’t require bonuses, and that delivers a consistent performance. As long as you get a steady stream of people through to your site, you’re bound to end up with plenty of business.

And therein lies the rub – getting people to visit your site. PPC marketing can help, but it’s not perfect because 70% to 80% of people ignore paid search results. Most people don’t trust sponsored results, so building organic traffic becomes essential.

If you want to maximize your organic traffic, you need to rank well in search engine results. And considering that Google handles 94% of all searches, it pays to make Google fall in love with you.

In this article, we’ll look at the top things to do to ensure that Google loves your site.

image showing components of SEO

1. Do a Full Site Audit

Start by checking:

  • That each page has meta titles
  • That you have rich snippets on each page.
  • That you are targeting different key phrases on each page.
  • That you use meaningful keywords that match the content of the page.

Here's an in-depth take on a site audit and how to automate the process for your content.

2. Design for Mobile First

It’s no secret that Google prioritizes mobile-ready sites. You need to have a responsive site that loads fast and displays well across a range of different devices. Aim for a site load time of three seconds or less.

3. Use Key Phrases

These are also called long-tailed keywords. Key phrases are more likely to match voice queries that your prospects might run. They’re also bound to have less competition than a single keyword and give Google the context of the site.

Say, for example, that you’re running a site selling art. Obviously, “art” would be a keyword that you could use. The problem is that art can relate to many different things. It could be people looking for art to buy or artists looking for tutorials.

You could, instead, expand things to “Original artwork for sale.” That would mean that you get more targeted responses and prospects that want to buy.

4. Get the Best Mileage for Your Content

You’ve spent a lot of time creating that perfect blog post. You’ve learned a lot in the process. Now, why not focus on how to apply that research to get more mileage out of it. You could create a podcast, video, or even infographic.

5. Enlist the Help of Social Media

There’s been a lot of debate over the past few years about whether or not search engines count social media links. But even if they aren’t, social media should be part of your strategy. It’s an easy way to boost traffic and get new eyes on your content.

6. Update Content That has Done Well

Let’s say that six months down the line that blog post is performing well. Keep up the momentum by updating it periodically. We’re not talking about a complete rewrite here. All we want to do is to prove to the search engines that our content is fresh and that it provides useful content for clients.

Statistics quoted are a perfect example of this. Websites created in 2016, for example, are going to seem outdated by 2019. Unless they are updated, of course.

7. Use the Power of Wikipedia

With this technique, you look for a Wikipedia page related to your industry. Check the citations section and identify any broken links. You can then go in and edit one such link so that your site becomes the new reference.

8. Learn from Your Competitors

Finding the right keywords and phrases can be tough. If you want to hack this, then head over to your top competitor’s site and see what they’ve used. There are plenty of tools out there that will assist you in determining what keywords are working for your competitors. You’ll also want to see what backlinks they have for themselves. You can use any of SERP tools available online to see how your competitords are performing.

9. Stick to Longer Form Content

The days where you could just rattle off a quick 300-word post and hope for the best are long gone. Longer-form content might require more effort, but the results are worthwhile. Why?

  • Longer-form content takes more time for the prospect to read. That counts in your favor.
  • Search engines view longer content as more valuable. How much can you really explain with a 300-word post? You might be able to fit in some great information, but not go in-depth. Since Google can’t judge the value of content, it assumes that longer content is worth more.

Be guided by your target market. Do they want to read 2,000 words? Or would a short introduction and infographic be a better idea? Figure this out, and you’ll find a way to keep search engines and readers intrigued.

10. Refer to Influencers

Who are the main influencers in your industry? Do follow them and link back to them when appropriate. Perhaps consider doing a small interview or just sending them an email asking for a quote. The idea is to refer to them in the content and then let them know that you have.

11. Do Include References

Not many of us believe everything that we read online. That means that it’s vital to provide references to where you found your information. Choose well-trusted authority sites. This helps give your content a more polished look, and it also demonstrates that you have done some research already.

12. Link Through to Other Pages on Your Site

Do some of the other pages on your site need a ranking boost? A simple way to do this is to link to other pages that are doing well. This could drive traffic and also help the search engines understand that there is related information in other places on the site.

13. Transcribe Video or Audio Content

Video content is easy to use. Most people prefer to watch a video over reading written text. Unfortunately, not everyone falls into this category. If your users have a slow web connection, they might prefer reading a transcript instead.

Also, at the moment, Google is only able to understand written content. If you don’t put in video transcription, the search engine won’t understand what your page is about.

14. Take Guest Posting Seriously

Guest posts can be a great way to build your site. Look for blogs that cater to the same target audience that you do. Obviously, they shouldn’t be direct competitors. Then approach them with a topic suggestion.

You’ll create the post from scratch for them, in exchange for allowing you to link back to your site. It’s a great way to build up backlinks.

15. Use a Pillar Page Format

Pillar pages are long content posts that contain a general overview of the subject. The idea is to create a base from which people can further explore your site. Create a short overview of any blog posts related to the topic and then link to the full posts.

For these pages to be a success, they have to be flawlessly written and well laid out. Do create a clickable table of contents so that people can see exactly what’s in the post. By making the TOC clickable, people can jump to the sections they’re interested in.

16. Don’t Forget Your Landing Pages

How much effort do you put into optimizing your landing pages? If you’re like most businesses, probably not as much. But what would you rather have at the top of the search engine results – a landing page that converts or your Homepage?

Put some time and effort into optimizing the landing pages, and you’ll be assured of getting more leads.

Have Realistic Expectations

digital marketing trends

SEO is a long-term strategy. You have to be consistent with it and persevere. You’re not likely to see a significant rush of traffic in a month. In fact, a good strategy can take as long as six months to really pay off.

The techniques described above won’t produce results immediately. But that’s fine because the results that you get are more long-lasting. A PPC ad campaign might bring you a lot more traffic initially, but these are short-term gains. Once the campaign is over, your traffic will drop again.

If you’re scoring well in organic results, however, you can dispense with the PPC campaign. Over time, SEO’s return on investment is a lot higher.

To conclude this article here's an in-depth infographic on SEO that covers all the dynamics involved in boosting rankings and inviting traffic.

SEO trends infographic

Final Notes

Are you ready to transform your site into a sales machine? Which of the tips and tricks we’ve shared do you already use? Which ones are you going to implement first?

 

Author Bio

John Davier

Content marketing guru at Mailmunch. I’m passionate about writing content that resonates with people. Live simply, give generously, stay happy.

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