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8 SEO Strategies to Improve your Website Ranking in 2018

SEO Strategies

SEO Strategies

Are you still working on the same SEO strategies as you were five years back? If yes, I’m afraid to inform you that you are making a big mistake. Even if you’ve found success, it won’t take long for Alexa to drop your rank or your competitors to take the lead.

To be precise, your rank strongly relies on the web traffic you generate. Websites closer to numero uno, are considered more popular and seemingly generate more traffic than others. Do you know the best way to increase your web traffic? It’s by getting ranked higher on top search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, and Baidu. Today, we are going to provide you with essential SEO strategies that you need to focus on to increase your rank on primary search engines and ultimately get closer to grabbing that number one spot.

1. Adopt AMP Technologies

Accelerated mobile pages (AMP) is without any doubt our number SEO strategy that all marketers should focus on. Wondering why? Because the world is becoming more mobile. When was the last time you used your PC to make a Google search? To be honest, I don’t even have a laptop or PC at my home.

Due to the rise in individuals using smartphones to access the internet, even Google has shown its love for mobile-optimized websites. To be precise, 51.2% of all web traffic is mobile web traffic.

AMP technology basically boosts your website’s speed on a mobile device. Google favors mobile-friendly pages in search results with its mobile-first index algorithm that recently hit the news. Slow sites don’t tend to rank better.

2. Page Speed is Crucial in 2018

 

When you are done with boosting your mobile-optimized pages, your next focus should be on making your site load faster on the desktop as well. Even though mobile internet users are increasing significantly, it doesn’t mean desktops have gone extinct. Many people still prefer using the computer, especially for office work.

If your website is focused on selling a product or service, you need to make sure your site’s speed is good or else your customers will merely bounce off of your website. In addition, you’ll also lose your rank as web traffic starts decreasing.

3. Now is the Time to Move to HTTPS

We’ve now reached a point where it has become mandatory that sites use HTTPS protocol which is secure. Insecure HTTP protocol is strongly unadvised by both Google and other cybersecurity experts. Remember, Google Chrome will mark all HTTP websites ‘Not Secure’ from July 2018. This means that you can expect your visitors not to enter your secure web pages.

To motivate you in going for the HTTPS protocol, I’d like to inform you that Google gives a slight push to all security domains. You better move now or else your journey to grab the top spot will just increase.

4. Increase Backlinks to enhance your Website’s Credibility

Wonder how to make that happen? You need high-quality, mind-boggling content for that! Backlinks increase your website’s score and authority on the World Wide Web.

Speaking of backlinks, we suggest that you try to increase the number of editorial links to your site. These aren’t those that you get from guest posts or by requesting from other webmasters. You’ll get this type of backlink from other domains by the quality of content you publish. If your content is informative, creative and shareable, these links will start flying in.

On the other hand, you need to make sure that you play by the rules. Many websites will sell you backlinks from private blog networks (PBNs). However, a move like that can put you under the radar for playing unfairly. Wondering why? Because it’s called a blackhat technique. Google is always on the hunt for such rule breakers. Once found, these links won’t go under any page rank making all your payments go to waste. On the other hand, blackhat techniques can also get your site penalized by Google. This will lead to all your organic SEO efforts to go to waste.

5. Click-Through Rate is Essential to Increase Rank

Many people consider the click-through rate (CTR) as an advertising factor. However, when we talk about CTR, we mean every link that appears to give access to your website. For example, even if you do get ranked on the first page for specific keywords, if people don’t click your link you’ll simply move down the line.

Marketers focus on getting their rank higher, but sometimes fail to maintain that rank. To fix this, always keep an eye on your CTRs in analytics. If you see the figure falling, optimize your title and Meta description to make it more eye-catchy and exciting.

6. Don’t Ignore Your Bounce Rate This Year

Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who enter your website and leave without opening another page. Google tracks your bounce rate, and you can also see it with Google Analytics. If you notice your bounce rate increasing, it’s not a good sign.

Add more links on your homepage or sidebar that attract people to click. Even if a potential lead doesn’t convert, it shouldn’t affect your bounce rate then they move off your domain.

7. Voice Search Optimization

Voice search trend is increasing significantly. With more and more people using this search option, it is becoming necessary for all marketers to optimize their site accordingly. Here are a few ideas to focus on.

 

7.1. Use Conversational Keywords

When typing in keywords, people tend to be more formal. However, voice searches can be expected to be more conversational. In order for that to work out, you need to make sure that your content is readable and understandable.

7.2. Answer Questions

Most of the voice searches are in the form of a question. If you succeed in producing content that answers specific questions, you can expect to get a good rank on this search engine.

7.3. Make Your Site Mobile-Friendly

I know I’ve mentioned that above, but one thing that I’d like to clear here is that almost all voice searches are made from mobile devices.

8. Maintain a Good Site Structure

Your site’s structure plays a significant role in boosting your rank. If your website’s homepage is all crumbled up with a weak structure, I’m afraid bots will face difficulties in scanning your site.

For example, you should only use internal linking where necessary. Too much of that will only trap the bots in a maze as they go through every link they see on your web pages. The structure should be organized in a tree-like manner based on your categories. You should also include breadcrumbs on your pages to make it easier for both bots and visitors to navigate.

Conclusion

New updates come every now and then which affect your previous or future SEO strategies to increase your website ranking. However, all good SEO experts remain up-to-date with strategies that’ll work and avoid techniques that can harm a website’s credibility.

With all the tips we’ve mentioned above, you should be able to kick-start your SEO campaign to get your website a good ranking. However, that’s not the end of it! You need to research as they are many more plays in the book that you need to master to rule the World Wide Web with your SEO skills.

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