6 Best Hacks For SEO Managers

Search engine optimization is always changing. SEO managers have a lot on their plates, and keeping up with the updates is just one.

If your client website is not ranking for relevant keywords, you risk losing them. To make things easy for you, I have come up with a list of hacks that would help you to get your client sites to the top of the SERPs.

Here are the top six best SEO hacks that every SEO manager should apply.

Hack 1- Create Cornerstone Content

Cornerstone content refers to the posts that are the most important to your website. The ones that you want to rank highest in the search engines.

Cornerstone content has four attributes, namely:

  • Evergreen: It is always important to your target audience.
  • Relevant: It addresses the pain points or fulfills your audience’s needs.
  • Comprehensive: It provides in-depth information on topics your target audience cares about.
  • Up to date: It is regularly updated with new information.

To find appropriate topics for your cornerstone content, determine what problems your target audience has. Analyze which ones aren’t solved by existing content on the web. Or if they aren’t answered in-depth.

Check the types of content your competitors are publishing on similar topics and create something better than that.

For example, this beginner’s guide to programming by Educative is excellent cornerstone content. It contains everything that a novice would ever need to enter into the coding world, from basic syntax to common words in programming and resources to get started. This is the type of cornerstone content you require to get any website rank higher in the organic search results.

Hack 2- Spy on Local Organic Competitors

Google shows different search results for the same query depending on the searcher’s location. As an SEO manager, you must know who your top competitors are in each geography. SEO proxy is an excellent way to spy on your competitors because it helps you to avoid geo-restrictions. You can also use them to scrape the web to get large volumes of data.

Besides, use tools like SEMrush to conduct competitor analysis based on locations. Just enter your website URL and choose a location. SEMrush will show you the top organic competitors, keywords they are ranking for, and their most important pages.

Similarly, you can also use Ahrefs to find your competitors’ top keywords and pages. Ahrefs also shows which websites are linking to your competitors’ sites and the quality of their backlink profiles. You can then leverage these insights to improve your SEO.

Hack 3- Optimize For The Page Experience Update

Page Experience update is one of the biggest changes coming in SEO in 2021. It measures the user experience on your webpages.

Page Experience update comprises of the following signals:

  • Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
  • First Input Delay (FID)
  • Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
  • Mobile-friendliness
  • Safe browsing
  • HTTPS
  • No intrusive interstitials

When it comes to rankings, content quality matters the most. However, in cases when various contents are similar in relevance, the page experience will determine which one to rank higher.

To prepare your target site for the Page Experience update, make sure it:

  • Loads quickly
  • Is secure
  • Doesn’t contain any malware
  • Is mobile-friendly
  • Has limited ads or popups

Hack 4- Add Amazon Polly to Blog Posts

Amazon Polly is a text to speech tool that can read the entire page loud to visitors. It uses advanced deep learning technologies to produce natural-sounding human speech.

You can also create a custom voice for your organization by partnering with the Amazon Poly team.

Amazon Polly can significantly increase the time spent on your site. It also improves the overall user experience.

Brands like Single Grain have already started implementing speech recognition tools to make users stick to their website for longer. When visitors click on the “read page” button, the text to speech tool starts reading every word written in the article.

Hack 5- Optimize For Voice Search

With the increase in accuracy of voice-activated technology and affordability of smartphones, voice search is on the rise.

By optimizing for voice search, you can increase your brand visibility and attract more potential customers.

Here are some great ways to optimize for voice search:

  • Write short, concise answers when answering a question in your content.
  • Create a FAQ page that explains commonly asked questions related to your target keyword.
  • Use proper subheadings and lists (numbered or bullet).
  • Aim to acquire featured snippets.
  • Target long-tail conversational keywords.

Hack 6- Leverage the Power of Videos

By 2021, 80% of internet traffic will come from videos. If you haven’t integrated video marketing in your SEO strategy yet, now is the time.

Videos engage users on your website for longer, thereby increasing the dwell time. They also provide a great user experience on your site.

Here’s how you can get started with video marketing:

  • Create videos for people searching for it: Just like any other content, your videos should address the needs of your target audience. The language of your video should mimic the style of your viewers.
  • Write SEO optimized video titles and descriptions: Google relies on the title and descriptions to determine the relevance of the video to the search query. Make sure to conduct keyword research before you write video titles and descriptions. Also, include video transcripts to help Google better understand the context of your video.
  • Repurpose videos into smaller content: If you are creating long-form videos (>10 minutes), repurpose them into shorter content and promote them on social media to increase your reach.

What’s Next?

SEO is not that difficult, especially when you know the right hacks to optimize your website. The six tips mentioned in this article can help you boost your website’s rankings and prepare for the upcoming Google algorithm updates. Which of the tactics have you already implemented? Which of them are you going to use now? Let me know in the comments!

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Author: Joydeep Bhattacharya

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