Everybody talks about SEO. If you’re online, then you need SEO. There are so many companies that specialise in Search Engine Optimization, and they all do pretty much the same thing. But in today’s competitive market, it needn’t be said, however, you need to go over and above the ordinary if you want to rank higher on search engines. The strange part though is that many digital media companies in their attempt to be different, often ignore the basics of SEO. Remember that a strong foundation is necessary to build a solid online presence, and for that, you need to keep in mind these 7 basic tried and tested SEO hacks.

Create ‘Evergreen’ content

It’s great to talk about what’s trending, and a lot of SEO guides will tell you to do so. But while you’re writing about what’s current, remember that what’s relevant today may not be relevant tomorrow. That’s where ‘Evergreen’ content comes in. Evergreen content is content that is created once but remains relevant for months and years to come. It’s content that users can keep coming back and referring long after it’s written – much like this blog.

Use relevant internal links across your site – especially your homepage

Your most important page is your homepage. It’s the front door to all your content, which is why you need to link to and from it. Sure a selection of your content will be linked-to in the navigation bar, but consider also linking to relevant blogs or subpages in the homepage text. This will add much-needed link authority to these subpages.

Use AMP – Accelerated Mobile Pages

If you’re not aware of AMP, then you better get on board – fast! Accelerated Mobile Pages or AMP goes a long way in improving your site’s user experience by providing fast-loading versions of your current pages. This is not to be confused with your site’s mobile version. AMP pages are alternative stripped-down versions of your content pages that display just the relevant text and media. Hence it loads super fast. Sure you miss out on displaying rich content, but you do encourage users to stick around and read more since pages load quickly and that has more value, especially when it comes to reducing your bounce rate.

Improve your organic Click Through Rate (CTR)

With all the hacks and SEO tricks, you’ve managed to get your website on the first page of Google. That’s awesome! Now what? Well, you need to make sure people are actually clicking on your search result. You can achieve this by keeping in mind the following:

• Use meta descriptions: Having a clear and concise meta descriptions tells users what your site/page is about
• Interesting headlines: It doesn’t need to be click-bait, but if your headline is interesting, people will click on it
• Descriptive URLs: Make sure your keywords are in the URL, and that it relates to your article/blog clearly
• Use long-tail keywords: These are more specific, especially when it comes to rankings. They also help boost the overall volume of related keywords

Use secure HTTPS pages instead of HTTP

This one’s a bit of a no-brainer, but needs to be said out loud. We’ve all seen how Google favours HTTPS over HTTP, which means if your site or any of its subpages are HTTP, one of the quickest SEO hacks to implement would be changing it over to HTTPS. In case your wondering, since HTTPS sites are more secure, Google is likely to favour those in its search results.

Consider publishing long-form content

A lot of SEO gurus will tell you that since readers have a short attention span, keep online content to 500 words or less. Well, the truth is, properly formatted and well-executed long-form content can help you get more SEO traffic. Long-form content has a number of advantages. One of the main ones is that if it is interesting enough, users will spend more time on your website. Other benefits include more room for backlinks, and you look like an expert in the field. Additionally, you improve your overall ranking for our keyword, and you grow your brand awareness. Win-win!

If you use images in your blogs (if you don’t, you really should), then make sure they are optimised for search. There are a few things to keep in mind when inserting a picture in your blog. Firstly, you want to make sure it’s captioned and proper credits are given. In addition, each picture requires a simple and descriptive title. Make sure you add a proper alt description as well, and finally, opt for one of the newer image standards like JPEG2000 or Google’s very own WEBP.

With these SEO staples, you’re on your way to forming a solid foundation for your website’s search rankings. Do you have any other tips that might help? Let us know in the comments below.

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