Image credit: Diggity marketing
If beginner’s tips weren’t enough, here are some advanced suggestions.
1. Increase your social and digital footprint
I’m not just talking about Facebook and Twitter, though of course those are paramount. I’m talking Crunchbase, Instagram, Google+, LinkedIn, etc. (But not Snapchat—it’s dead). Sharing your content on social channels will help generate user attention that will increase the chance of getting back links. Plus, backlinks from verifiable and reputable sourches (like Crunchbase) will cause whatever algorithm god reigns supreme at the Google Plex to bump your site up above others.
2. Secure your site with https
This is a quick fix. Http tells Google that your site is unguarded, and https safeguards the connections and information on your site. It’s not a surprise that search engines prefer secure websites.
3. Fix any broken links
If you have access to Google Analytics (you should get it if you don’t, it’s free), it’s easy to identify broken links on your site. Log in to the search console and use the Intelligence search tool to bring up Crawl Errors. You will see a list of dead URLs on your site.
4. Make your site Mobile Friendly (AMP) *insert hand clap emoji*
It’s 2018, so your site should already be built on a mobile flex template anyway, but regardless, you can make sure your site in mobile friendly by increasing font size, by compressing images, or by installing an AMP plugin if you’re running on an open source platform like WordPress or Wix. Roughly 60 percent of users are coming in from a mobile device and that number is only going to continue to increase.
5. Update Older Content
Updating your existing posts and pages is one of the more advanced SEO tactics. Google loves up-to-date content. It’s one of their ranking criteria and the reason why they started showing publishing dates in their search results. I rarely click on any article older than 2016. Do you?
5. Use Long Tail Keywords
You’re probably aware that SEO is largely dependent on the use of keywords. However, if you’re using short and generic search terms, you’re not going to see results. The best practice is to use long tail keywords both throughout your blog or site and in the title and subheadings. Long tail keywords are more specific and have less competition—therefore, you’re more likely to rank for them. For example, instead of using the keyword “black coffee,” try “the best black coffee in New York City.”
6. Make sure your site loads quickly
There is nothing worse than a sluggish website. If a site doesn’t load in a few second or less, I’m not going to stay – and I’m willing to bet that you wouldn’t either. Check your load times with any of the free speed test sites. I like gtmetrix.com. Make sure you remove unwanted clutter, unused plugins and anything else that’s bogging down your speed.
7. Use Latent Semantic Indexing
SEO is constantly involving, almost to the point where I feel like Google changes the rules every d*** day. One factor Google is using now to determine ranking is Latent Semantic Indexing or LSI, which isn’t as complicated as the title implies. It’s basically an indexing and retriever technique that identifies patterns in text and finds the synonyms of keywords. It aids Google in understanding whatever topic your content is covering and the relevancy it has to the search query of every user.
