Niche websites are great because they cover a small topic. A niche website is also more credible than big websites. With a niche website, your content is focused, and your target audience is well-defined.
Now that you have narrowed down your focus, your next problem is how you will make search engines love you—most especially, Google.
No matter how small, niche websites have a fighting edge as far as SEO is concerned. Today, I will share 10 effective search engine optimization (SEO) tips for niche websites.
Here you go:
- Build backlinks
- Use long-tail keywords
- Write long blog posts
- Work on your page speed
- Use videos and images
- Publish new posts regularly
- Build social media following
- Optimize your site for mobile
- Publish guest posts
- The internal structure of posts and links
1. Build backlinks
The number and quality of your backlinks are both indicators to Google about the overall quality of your website. They are part of the search engine optimization process.
A backlink is like a vote of confidence. The more websites link back to you; the more Google would think that you are popular.
But make no mistake. Backlinks to your site must come from websites that are also reputable. Never buy backlinks. If you do, the only kind of links you get are from link farms—they will hurt your business more than they would help it.
2. Use long-tail keywords
Generic keywords are dead. There was a time when the internet was not so much saturated with content that you could pretty much use common keywords and get ranked very easily.
This does not happen now. What you have to target are long-tail keywords that your target readers are searching for.
For example, do not just use a keyword like “how to blog effectively” Instead, you have to use a keyword like “xx ways on how to drive traffic to your blog site” to get results.
The benefit of using a long-tail keyword is that it is focused. It also covers two or more keywords. In our example earlier, search engines will index this single phrase for several keywords: how to drive traffic, ways to drive traffic, drive traffic to your blog site, and traffic to your blog site.
3. Write long blog posts
Third on my search engine optimization tips are to write long and helpful posts. Times have changed, and so do search engines. There was a time when 600-word articles would do just fine. These articles no longer rank.
Why?
As time passed by, Google included page quality as a metric to decide which pages to rank. Naturally, page quality has something to do with how extensive your article is. The more detailed it is, the more that people would like it.
Today, you have to write blog posts in consideration of what is called the skyscraper technique. It is an approach where you write longer posts than what is on top of the search engine results pages.
But beware: long content means valuable content. Do not write fluff just to meet the word count.
4. Work on your page speed
Page speed is an important factor in how to do SEO, most especially if you are operating a niche website. If you have a niche website, you have customers who are eager to read your content.
The thing is that people are impatient. If your website loads too slowly, remember that people have the option to go check the information on another site. As such, they will leave your page without waiting for it to load completely.
Now, Google also measures website speed. If your website is slow, Google is not likely to rank your page, so you better make sure to test your site time and time again to meet Google’s requirements.
5. Use videos and images
People are so used to YouTube nowadays that blogs rarely get the traffic they once did anymore. What you have to do is to fight this by putting videos on your site.
What does this do?
For one, it makes people stay longer. And if they do, this sends a signal to Google that your content must be good.
Second, videos provide better content, especially if your subject matter is about technical know-how. Images also do wonders because you can tell your readers what exactly you mean.
If you have a niche site, take images of your own, or buy them from providers of stock photos.
6. Publish new posts regularly
Like any online system, you will not get traffic if you do not publish regularly. Google loves websites that have fresh content all the time.
If you publish content regularly, Google will know. Because of this, Google will likely allocate more crawl budget to your site.
As your website gets crawled regularly, Google will also index more keywords from your site, and also consider showing your pages to users.
The regular publication tells Google that you are a reliable and dedicated content creator. Google has programmed its algorithm to give preference to fresh content.
There is no strict rule as to how many articles you should publish. You can do it weekly, monthly, daily—as long as it is regular, you should improve your SEO.
7. Build social media following
Social media is one of the most underrated ways to improve SEO. Many bloggers do not even advocate it. This couldn’t be farther from the truth.
I have seen blogs that get roughly 50% of their traffic from social media.
So, how does this affect SEO?
If your content is on social media, people can share it. As your content gets shared more times, it sends a social signal to Google, telling Google that your content is viral.
Google also takes into account where your traffic is coming from. If it could see that your content is being shared, it will rank you higher in the SERPs because your content must be good.
8. Optimize your site for mobile
Google checks the mobile usability of each of your web pages. If you just take the time to check the URL on Google Search Console, you will see how Google perceives your site from the perspective of mobile usability.
If your web pages are not mobile-compatible, Google may not even index your site.
Why?
Google only wants to show content that provides the best user experience. A mobile-friendly site provides a great viewing experience. If your website fails at this, Google will not even bother showing it to its users.
9. Publish guest posts
A guest post is a blog post that you publish on someone else’s blog or website. The benefit of this is that you can get yourself exposed.
As a niche website operator, you want to build your credibility, and one of the best things you can do to build your authority is to be recognized by other sites.
If you publish guest posts, you will also have the opportunity to place backlinks to your site. On top of that, you may even get a chance to publish an author page.
10. The internal structure of posts and links
The last on my list of search engine optimization tips is to organize your blog. You must have categories and pages that make sense.
For your blog, create categories that can tell people where to find specific information. For example, if your niche blog is about aquariums, I recommend to have the following categories:
- Fish care
- Aquarium maintenance
- Water problems
You can add more if you like. What this does for SEO is that Google will find it easier to understand your site, and so will readers. If your site is organized, it’ll have a better likelihood of delivering a great customer experience.
Summary
SEO is your utmost priority if you are operating website, but more so if you are operating in a targeted niche.
Why is this so?
Because big websites mean that they are publishing content that covers a lot of topics. As such, they have better chances at ranking, and they are also producing content for more people.
With a niche website, you do not have this competitive edge. Each post you publish is catering to a small audience, and this is why you have to do your SEO the right way.
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