Effective SEO Tips to Get You Started
Chances are that you depend on the Internet, at least in some capacity, in order to find new customers and clients. If so, then you’re probably familiar with the term SEO (search engine optimization). If you’re not familiar with SEO, chances are you’ve at least heard it somewhere. Well, if you’re not actively using SEO in your websites and blogs, then you’re not going to get the results you need in order to see your business grow and develop.
SEO is pretty much exactly as it sounds. It’s a way for you to optimize your business’ rankings across all of the different search engines available. SEO works hand-in-hand with the algorithms set in place by companies like Google, Bing and Yahoo in order to fight for the highest ranking. It’s an important process to include in your business model because it’s extremely rare for someone to click “next page” when they’re presented with search results. When you utilize effective SEO, your business will get more traffic and in turn, become more profitable.
However, with all of the information on the Internet we can get confused. Most people just want to know what the most effective SEO tips are so that they can get started.
That’s why we’ve done the heavy lifting and put together a list with our recommended top 10 most effective SEO tips. We want to help you and your business get ahead, and stay ahead, of your competition.
1. Master the Basics (On-Page SEO)
The first rule of SEO is to make sure that you successfully master the basics of on-page SEO. When you start with a solid foundation, you’ll see more success as you move forward. It’s much less stressful than continually revisiting things because you skipped over them.
Some basic ways to increase your on-page optimization are clean and descriptive URLs, Meta titles with target keywords and optimized tags. These tags include title tags as well as header tags (H1, H2, etc.). Make sure that your site also has a clean layout, no broken links and a clear source of navigation. The biggest factor in on-page SEO is effective keyword use so don’t neglect your research and never stuff an article to a point that it doesn’t read smoothly.
2. Create A Low Competitive Keywords List
Every single business wants to rank highly on search engines. There’s no reason that they wouldn’t. Because of this, there’s a very competitive market for keywords.
When you search for a keyword like “amazon”, the entire first page of any search engine’s results will have links to different pages of the company Amazon’s sites, social media or service pages. If you were a company dealing with something that would include “amazon” as a keyword, you would never outrank the famous, multi-billion dollar company we know and love. The same mentality can be applied with other companies that aren’t as dominating, but are still too big to compete with (right now).
One of the most effective SEO tips you can start doing is researching for keywords that don’t have as much competition. You’ll want to make sure that your content is saturated with keywords, but in a reader-friendly manner. There are tons of tools online that can help you search for keywords and compare them to your competition so that your time and efforts aren’t wasted. Check out companies like Google Keyword Suggest, SEMrush and Seed Keywords for a good starting point.
3. Become the “Quick Answer” Star
Sometimes when you search on Google there is a nifty box that pops up with a short paragraph describing what you searched for. This is Google’s “Quick Answer Box.” It is essentially a shortcut for people who are on a time crunch. The reason you want to strive for this is because it always links back to the website that the content was pulled from.
If you’re able to optimize your site so that you occupy the “Quick Answer” box then you’ll increase the traffic to your site exponentially. Try focusing on keywords or topics that are a bit more in-depth and create an easy summary somewhere on your site. Utilize proper SEO techniques throughout the article and try to use a specific query and answer in your headlines. You can go an extra step by including a schema markup code so that Google is able to quickly and easily see which paragraph will be put in the box.
4. Use Quality Links
A top factor in the ranking system is link building, both internal and external. It connects you to the world of online content. When you cite external links make sure that they are relevant to your content and niche, as this helps search engines see that your content is authentic. It will also give them a better idea of what your business is about. 
When you begin to develop more content, utilize internal links whenever you can. This will help keep online users active on your website for longer, which will boost your rankings even more. Internal links help increase your visibility and credibility to search engines and means that there is more chance of conversion from your customers and readers.
5. Build Online Relationships
Building online relationships can help you advance in the search results quickly. When you write quality content and have strong relationships, your content is more likely to get shared or used in articles across the web. The more your articles are used, the more publicity you’ll get and the higher you’ll rank. When an influential player in your niche links to your content, your website will see a huge spike in traffic. Write well and build relationships so that your content becomes a linkable asset.
6. Pay Attention to User Experience
Recently, user experience has become a very high factor in the consideration of search result ranking. The better the user experience, the better you’ll rank.
Make sure that you don’t have any pop-ups on your site and that your load speed is as fast as you can get it. Use security measures like SSL certificates and don’t neglect mobile users. Having a mobile-friendly webpage is arguably one of the top SEO tips we recommend.
7. Use Google Search Console
One of the best tips revolving around SEO is to utilize free tools whenever you can. One of these free tools is Google Search Console (formally known as Google Webmaster Tools). This is a great resource that helps you understand when you do something wrong. It even shows you how to go about fixing your mistakes and audit techincal SEO items.
Google Search Console helps you keep track of which of your pages are indexed in Google and how they are read by algorithms. Additionally, you’ll benefit from the vast amount of forums available when you’re looking to make site improvements.
8. Invest
There are a ton of high quality SEO tools that are available on the Internet. Unfortunately, most of the best ones aren’t free. If you don’t have much time, or if you’d prefer for the heavy lifting to be done by someone else, it is beneficial to look at some of the available options. These programs are professional, so you get what you pay for. The return on investment is worth the initial upfront fees.
Some of the best ones are SEMrush, Ahrefs and Buzzsumo. If you want to find out more information on these, check out our comprehensive guide on best tools to generate website traffic.
9. Create Quality Content
Whenever you create content for your website you need to make sure that it is high quality. If you create low quality content, riddled with random keywords, search engines will notice and you’ll be penalized. Additionally, if your quality is sub-par the chances of other people linking to your site are low.
This is important because when other websites link back to you, you skyrocket your optimization. The algorithms that search engines use will notice this and your rank will climb. Quality content will eventually get linked back to and if you’ve built online relationships, than this will happen much faster. Remember to always write for your readers, never for search engines.
10. Don’t Neglect Social Media
Quite literally everybody uses social media, so you should too. It is a way to get your business known and to connect with your readers and customers. Make sure that you have a site setup across all of the major social media sites and that you are active on them everyday. Try posting daily and encourage people to share your content. Come up with articles that have click-worthy titles and comment on other people’s content who are in your niche.
All the things we’ve listed are in our opinion, the most effective SEO tips out there. If you want to see your business grow in ways you’ve never seen before just start implementing these into your daily marketing and development strategies. However, while SEO is crucial, it can take up a lot time. This is even truer for people who are just being introduced to the process. You’ll get better over time, but if you need some help getting started, you can review our SEO checklist or get in touch with our SEO experts who are always available to help.
About the Author: Brad Fogel
