Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the most effective ways to get free traffic to your website. Particularly, you have to optimize your site for Google.
The problem is that Google updates its algorithms regularly. The SEO techniques that used to work last year may not work now. Those who got impacted by the E-A-T update know about this.
So, what SEO strategies work in 2020? Today, I will share 8 practical SEO tips that are working in 2020. I am sure that they will still work next year—just make it a point to be updated on Google’s new algorithm releases and take action as necessary.
1. Focus on page speed
Page speed is one of the most important aspects of SEO. Google wants to make sure that when somebody goes to your page, it is going to load quickly.
Why?
Because page speed is directly linked to user experience. If your website is slow, the user gets frustrated. And who recommended your page to the user?
Google did.
This is why Google pays attention to your page speed. Use Google’s Page Speed Insights to check how fast your website is—remove bloat and anything that drags your page speed down.
2. Link to other websites
Linking to other websites tells Google that you are a part of a community. Google likes websites that are sharing the content of others.
If you are hogging all the content, you are not helping Google achieve its goals, making its users have access to as much information as possible.
Outbound links do not only improve your reputation, but they also tell Google what kind of website you are operating. If you link out to spammy websites, Google will know this, and your website can be penalized.
When you link out to other sites, make sure that you link out to authority websites only, such as Wikipedia, Shopify, or known press and media like Medium or the New York Times.
3. Work on your backlinks
Backlinks are important because they are a vote of confidence from other websites. A backlink from a reputable website tells Google that your content has authority, and therefore, you can be trusted.
The problem with backlinking is that it is abused. Google has updated its algorithm, and now, it can tell if the backlinks to your site are natural or not. Google does not like it if your backlinks are paid.
Google wants a system that people can trust. If Google suspects that your backlinks are bought, you might get penalized.
Get backlinks by guest posting. You can also get backlinks if you write high-quality content—so good that others cannot help but reference your site.
4. Design for mobile
Mobile market share is 52% globally. Statistics also indicate that 51% of the time spent online is via mobile, not desktop.
What does this mean?
Google will also check if your site is mobile-friendly. By design, your website must change if the user is on mobile. It must not load your site on a typical browser window.
If your website is not mobile-friendly, the user gets frustrated. Your site will be difficult to use, and Google knows about this.
What I suggest that you do is that you integrate Google Search Console with your website. Not only will you see statistics about your traffic, but Google will tell you if one of your pages is not mobile-friendly.
5. Write longer and valuable content
Content is king and it will be king forever.
Your content must add value to your user.
What does this mean?
It means that whatever the user was looking for should be found on your site. If your blog title is about comparing WordPress and Wix, then the content must contain that information.
Google knows if your website is adding value or not.
How?
Google measures your website’s performance. If you integrate Google Analytics with your website, you will find out that Google knows your:
- Bounce rate – the number of times people leave your website from the same page they got in
- Session duration – the minutes and seconds that a person stayed on your site
- Pages per session – the number of web pages a person visited while he is on your website
All of these are indicators of whether you are providing value to your reader or not.
You don’t have to write long content if the topic does not warrant so. What matters is that the user learned something new upon visiting your site. This is one of the most difficult things to do to improve your SEO.
You can do what is called the skyscraper technique, where you write something better than the articles that are already ranking on Google. It is time-consuming, and sometimes you are better off hiring an affordable freelance writer to do it for you.
6. Use the right keywords and use them correctly
You have to do your research before using keywords. You must use keywords that have medium to high volume. It does not make sense to target keywords that people are not interested in.
You can use Google Trends to look for keywords that have a high volume, or you can use expensive tools like Semrush and AHREFS.
As far as placement is concerned, you have to use an acceptable density, and I can teach you how to do it.
7. Publish diversified posts
Another important and practical SEO tip is to publish diversified posts. What this means is you have to cover all possible topics about your niche.
One problem with many bloggers is that they only publish review sites. While a review site seems helpful, it is also spammy. Over time, it no longer adds value to the reader.
Balance your coverage. Write how-to articles, tutorials, listicles, and reviews. The more topics you cover, the better Google will look at your site. More topics also mean that you will be able to cover more keywords.
8. Publish on a regular basis
You have to write content regularly. If your website is not updated regularly, Google will naturally think that it has been abandoned.
There is no magic number as to how many blog posts per month is sufficient. But of course, the more blogs you publish, the more content people will consume.
Google allocated a specific budget to the number of pages it crawls on your site every month. This budget will increase if it has been observed that there is something new. If you publish regularly, Google will also visit your website regularly.
Summary: 8 Practical SEO Tips That Are Working In 2020
These eight tips should be part of your regular tasks when you upload a new blog post or consider adding a new plug-in. Make sure that you only produce high-quality content and that your website is fast.
SEO is not something that yields results right away. You have to prove to Google that you are consistent. Google robots will crawl your website from time to time—what you want is for the robot to see fresh content every time it visits your site, and you should be on the right side of Google.
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