Google enjoys slicing and changing things around. Google has made over 30 algorithm modifications in the last two years, making things a little more challenging for webmasters trying to boost organic traffic. As things stand, search queries are still the most common source of traffic, and if you want to take advantage of SERPs, you may use a few methods. The steps below will provide you with an understanding of the many metrics and criteria that Google uses when ranking a website. Concentrate on them and you’ll see a significant increase in organic traffic. So, without further ado, let’s get started.
Table of Contents
Voice Search Is a Thing Now.
Did you know that in the United States, a third of internet users use voice search regularly?
Furthermore, when compared to typing in search queries, more than 70% of consumers perceive voice search to be more convenient and effective.
The truth is that voice search functions differently than text search. As a result, when it comes to optimizing your online presence for voice, there are a few key considerations to keep in mind:
Snippets of Interest
Voice-based search queries are typically longer than text-based searches. This means you’ll have to concentrate more on long-tail keywords as well as local SEO. When a user conducts a voice search, the most common result is a featured snippet from the internet.
There’s a chance, though, that the gadget gets the answer from a different area of the website. As a result, you must create featured snippets that are optimized for relevant keywords. You’ll have a good chance of capturing your target audience with voice search if you do it this way.
Keywords with a Long Tail
Voice search queries are likely to be longer than those typed into a search engine, as previously stated. As a result, you must place a greater emphasis on long-tail keywords. Longer chunks of material are favored by Google for this reason.
A simple search will reveal that a page of material should be 1,800 words or longer. You must produce high-quality, well-organized material. You’ll be able to better engage your audience and direct them to your website in this manner.
Produce longer content pieces
You should generate longer pieces of material, as suggested briefly above. The current rule of thumb is to compose at least 1,800 words, while other studies suggest that posts with more than 2,000 words gain the most momentum. To address the obvious problem, you won’t be able to consistently produce content pieces of more than 2,000 words daily.
This process will not only use up a lot of your time, but you may also run out of engaging things to say about your niche. Your viewers may eventually become dissatisfied with your content.
However, this suggestion goes against the grain. Consumers are looking for answers that are a few sentences off, so a 2,000-word essay that appears in response to their search query is unlikely to pique their interest.
As a result, you must rely on your instincts for the most part. Some folks, for example, maybe looking for bullet points rather than a lengthy block of text. Before you can nail down the ideal length for the material you develop, you may have to go through some trial and error as well as testing.
Here are a few ‘hacks’ you can use to create more content:
Update the material on your website that is already there. For example, if you have a 1,000-word post on your site, you can expand it to 2,000 words by adding extra material. Not to mention the fact that current material usually has some authority, which searches engines value.
You’ll need to find bits of content that are not only relevant but also have the ability to drive traffic to your site. You shouldn’t just go out and update and republish any old work.
The Importance of Technical SEO
The simple truth is that your website’s SERP performance may not be up to par, regardless of how well it performs or how fantastic the user experience is. Technical SEO is an important component that you may be overlooking. Website security is a good example of this.
Protect Your Website
Google, understandably, does not favor websites that are not secure. This is why they began to consider HTTPS to be a crucial component in determining a website’s ranking. The S in HTTPS stands for secure, as you may know. To improve your chances of ranking well, your website should be loaded over HTTPS. You can’t increase organic traffic without a good ranking.
Google will issue a warning if you visit a website that is not secure. This is a warning sign that will turn visitors away rather than welcome them to your website. When it comes to technical SEO, HTTPS is perhaps the most basic aspect you can change to improve your rankings. Not to mention the fact that your website must be safe!
404 Errors and How to Fix Them
When you click on a link, the last thing you want to see is a 404 page with an error message. You must locate any broken links or missing pages on your website, as they will drive visitors away. Fixing 404 issues is an important part of increasing website engagement. A basic website audit can assist you to figure out whether there are any such mistakes on your site.
You can look into other aspects of technical SEO to improve your rankings, which is the key to growing organic traffic.
Ensure that internal links are up to date.
Internal links are essential for smooth website navigation. You may guide your visitors from one page to the next, directing them to the information they need to make an informed decision. Your website’s authority extends throughout the entire site.
As a result, you must update your internal links every time you add a new page to your website. If you mention a specific service on your home page, for example, you must include an internal link to that service’s landing page.
Internal linking is also significant, according to Google. The context is determined by the anchor text you use for adding links, and search engines utilize the context to determine ranking and page authority. As a result, internal linking should not be taken lightly.
When you add a new page to your website, the main difficulty occurs. A new page will, by definition, contain few links, if any at all. As a result, you should begin adding links as soon as possible. Internal links are, in reality, an important aspect of SEO best practices.
One significant benefit of excellent linking between your website’s pages is that you may improve the amount of time visitors spend on each page. You can drive users to other sites by providing a consistent set of links throughout your website, thereby assisting them in finding what you’re looking for.
The opposite of what you need to attract organic traffic is a high bounce rate. Internal linking allows you to kill two birds with one stone, i.e., improve your SEO score while maintaining visitor interest.
Use keywords in your page titles.
Last but not least, pay attention to your page names. After all, when someone searches for a keyword relating to your expertise, the page title is the first thing they see. As a result, it’s critical to define the SEO page title and include keywords in it. To clarify, you must include keywords in each title for each page on your website.
At the same time, you must refrain from spamming. As you may be aware, Google does not consider spamming to be a good SEO strategy. Cramming keywords into titles may harm rather than benefit your rankings.
Adding more than one keyword to each title, on the other hand, is an excellent technique to add keywords to page titles. If the keywords are relevant to the page’s topic, Google will consider your title and content legitimate.
You can experiment with the structure and formatting of your document. For example, if you’re writing about ‘green t-shirts,’ these are some awful titles to consider:
Green T-Shirts: 5 Reasons to Purchase a Green T-Shirt
T-Shirt Colors: Why Are Green T-Shirts So Popular?
As you can see, the first title appears spammy because the phrase “Green T-Shirts” at the beginning lacks context. Try “T-Shirt Color Trends: Should You Go for Green T-Shirts,” on the other hand.
You can use as many keywords as you want, but the title should still be natural and easy to read.
Conclusion
So there you have it: five strategies for increasing organic traffic in 2021. Auditing your website for SEO is a fantastic place to start because it will solve several issues at once.
