Any action you take to improve your SERP rankings or increase website traffic can be considered a form of search engine optimization (SEO). The question isn’t necessarily whether you’re doing enough to boost your visibility. Oftentimes, the question is whether you’re utilizing the right SEO strategies for your business and industry as a whole. Organic traffic is a key player in determining the success of your SEO and digital marketing campaigns. It measures the efficacy of these strategies and whether or not they’re yielding positive results for your business.
So, how do you know if you’re taking the right steps to drive greater organic traffic to your website? Here are some of the top SEO tactics for 2021 that can help your brand establish a strong online presence and grow organic website traffic.
Focus on Keywords That Are Already Ranking
Certain keywords in your industry are undoubtedly more popular than others, meaning that more people are searching for them on search engines. This results in higher rankings for those specific keywords. There’s a plethora of keyword research tools you can and should use to measure and track keyword rankings. Some of the top keyword research and analytics tools include:
- Google Analytics
- Google Keyword Planner
- Google Rank Checker
Keywords that are already ranking on their own are a sure thing because they don’t require a lot of additional work on your part. All you have to do is include them in your content (without overtly resorting to keyword stuffing) to remain competitive. Focus on moving keywords from the number 2 position to the number 1 position rather than those that are in the number 3 or 4 position. The former are already more competitive and will have a greater impact on your rankings.
Utilizing more of a variety of higher ranking keywords throughout your content can ultimately help improve organic traffic on your website.
Target More Long-Tail Keywords
Long-tail keywords have been proven to give you more ranking opportunities. Typically, they come in the form of popular phrases or common questions in your industry. The reason long-tail keywords rank so well is because they can easily be integrated into content. You can use them in content titles, as subheadings, or even in the body of the content itself. Long-tail keywords essentially support primary and secondary keywords.
Users typically use long-tail keywords in their search queries when they’re closer to making a purchase during the product or service research process. The reason they do this is because they’re looking for quick and concise answers to their questions. The answers they receive will ultimately aid in the decision-making process, which leads to the next point of interest.
Optimize for “People Also Ask”
Google’s “People Also Ask” (PAA) feature is an excellent tool to help businesses get a better idea of the current mindsets of their target audience members. PAA consists of a series of predictive additional questions that users may have regarding a certain subject.
For instance, if a user searches for the birthdate of a certain celebrity, Google’s intuitive algorithm will present the user with answer they’re looking for along with a number of other common inquiries about that celebrity. This can include movies or TV shows they’ve been in, whether they’re in a relationship, their net worth, etc.
By examining these common PAA questions that appear on search engine results pages (SERPs) for certain inquiries, you can then determine what additional information most people are searching for in relation to the original query and use that data to fill in content gaps on your website.
Prepare Content Strategies by Analyzing Content Gaps
In the midst of performing keyword research, you might discover that there are some glaring content gaps on your website. As always, the more high-quality, informative, and relevant content you have on your website, the higher your chances are of ranking better on SERPs.
Include more timely blog posts, create service and static pages that highlight your brand’s best qualities, and use images and infographics to get your messaging across more effectively. Filling your website with content creates opportunities for search engine optimization and the organic integration of keywords.
But it’s not just important to fill your website with large quantities of content. To truly improve organic traffic, your website has to feature quality content that people are actually searching for and that’s where top-notch keyword and topic research really shine. Find out what information or content your website is missing and how you can integrate into your web building and SEO strategy.
Increase Your CTR
CTR stands for click-through rate. In SEO, CTR measures the success of a digital advertising campaign for your website by tracking the number of users who click on a specific link.
For instance, if a link to a page on your website shows up in a top-ranking position on a SERP and people click on it, those clicks are tracked and analyzed to showcase the efficacy of your digital marketing campaign. If someone accidentally clicks on your link and then quickly leaves the page, this increases your bounce rates, which indicates the user didn’t intentionally click on your link or it didn’t contain the information they were looking for.
CTRs essentially tell you which page links are generating the most interest and which ones are dwindling in rankability.
Optimize for Image Search
Failing to optimize for image search means you’re missing out on some golden ranking opportunities. Optimize your website’s images by incorporating alt tags, file names, reducing image file sizes, reformatting images as needed, creating an image sitemap, and using a content delivery network to host your images.
Start by optimizing existing images on your website and then establish a system for optimizing new images as you add them to your website going forward.
Rank in SERP Features and Earn Authority Backlinks
Google is constantly changing its SERP formatting to make content availability more convenient and efficient for users. Businesses need to take full advantage of these formatting upgrades which include featured snippets, image carousels, PPA boxes, local packs, FAQ snippets, and top stories by creating content that fits these formats.
Additionally, partnering with other trusted authorities in your industry or field can also improve your organic traffic in two key ways:
- It allows you to collaborate and form an alliance with other companies, thus eliminating direct competition
- It ensures that your content will be featured on more online directories and websites through backlinks, which will boost your website traffic
If you’re looking for quality and reliable web marketing services in North America, then Numero Uno Web Solutions can help you build a strong online brand through tried-and-true SEO strategies. Contact us today to find out why we’re ranked as one of the top SEO agencies in Toronto.
