Focus on Load Speed
It’s no secret, people’s attention spans are short these days. In fact, research shows that the average person has the attention span of 8 seconds. The longer people have to wait for your website to come up, the more likely they are to click the back button. And this can do serious damage to your bounce rates and ultimately, your rankings.
The good news is that with a few small adjustments, you can increase the speed of your site significantly. For instance, get rid of any unnecessary plugins, resize and compress your images, use a CDN, and choose a good host.
Studies show that almost half of your visitors will leave if your site takes longer than 3 seconds to load. And most will never return. Luckily, there are a few free online tools that you can use to check the speed of your site such as Pingdom.
Update Your Old Content
It’s easy to assume that the content you wrote years ago will always be up-to-date. This is particularly the case if it covers an evergreen topic. However, what many marketers don’t realize is that they occasionally need to update their old posts, whether it’s evergreen or not.
This is because the search engine is more likely to boost the rankings of a website that makes frequent changes to their blogs. Google understands that people are always on the lookout for unique content with a fresh perspective. The key is to make sure that the information you’re providing is relevant and recent.
The best thing about regularly updating your old content is that it helps to drive more traffic to the site. And this is ideal for lead generation.
Use Header Tags
Readability can have a huge impact on user experience. Instead of publishing huge blocks of text, use headers to break your posts up into small bite-sized paragraphs. This makes it easier for people to skim your content.
Not only do header tags make your content look more inviting, but it’s also great for your rankings. You can include your keywords in your tags to give search engines a better understanding of your topic. CMS’s like WordPress can help you to easily format your posts.
Use Outbound Links
There are several advantages to including outbound links in your content. First, it gives you more credibility. When your readers see that you’re able to back up what you’re saying with facts from authoritative sources, you become an influencer in your industry.
Second, the authoritative sources that you link to are likely to return the favor. If your website contains valuable information, you’ll sometimes notice that they link a few of their articles back to you.
Lastly, you’ll be rewarded by the search engines. Sites like Google will begin to associate you with high ranking sites. Just make sure that you only include quality links, as linking to websites that appear to be untrustworthy can potentially hurt your ranking.
Use Inbound Links
Not only should you link to websites that have a lot of authority, but you should also link to other pages on your website. There are several advantages to this. First, it increases dwell time. The longer people remain on your website, the more favorably Google will view it.
Second, it provides an excellent user experience. When your links are well-placed, it allows the user to seamlessly flow from one topic to the next. And this can further boost your credibility and help to build loyalty.
Lastly, it’s another way to help search engines understand your content. Specifically, the search engines will be able to easily crawl your website. It can index each page as it travels from one link to the next.
Add Video
Most marketers understand the importance of including images. They help to keep people engaged and are a great way to break up the text. However, many don’t realize how important videos are becoming. They’re a powerful tool.
Why is this? Well, a lot of people find it easier to watch content rather than read it. This is especially the case since mobile use has recently increased.
The benefits are endless. Videos can increase your conversions. They help you to reach new audiences. They can also help with branding so that you stand out from the competition.
Increase Social Media Engagement
The number of social shares you get may or may not affect your position in the search engine. However, what’s certain is that when someone searches for a specific brand name, that brand’s social media profile will often be found among the top results.
While social channels are typically considered to be the best way to show off your brand’s personality, they can also play a role in optimization. People are just as likely to click on your Facebook search result as they are on a result for your site.
Ultimately, your social profiles mean something to Google as well as those who are searching for you online. When you have active social channels it can add to the experience and make it fun for your audience to get to know you. So you should remain engaged.
