Are you looking for tips to help boost your rankings in Google? If so, you’re in the right place! In this blog post, we’ll share 50 tips and tricks that you can use to give your rankings a boost.
Here’s a of 50 tips I shared over the last month
🎯SEO Pro Tip #1:
Take SEO advice with a grain of salt. There’s no SEO bible by Google to guide your SEO efforts. Most of the content on how to do SEO is written by experts based on their personal experience. What worked for them might, sometimes, not work for you.
🎯SEO Pro Tip #2:
Unless you manage a website that’s already an authority in your niche, SEO is going to take a long time. Factors that impact time to rankings are:
- Your backlink profile
- Amount of content published
- Backlink quality
- Niche competition
🎯SEO Pro Tip #3:
SEO is not for everyone, Avoid SEO as a marketing channel if:
❌You HAVE TO drive revenue ASAP
❌You have a runway of <1 year
❌Your target audience is very small/niche
❌Your product is too innovative.
🎯SEO Pro Tip #4:
Traffic is a vanity metric. 500,000 monthly organic traffic doesn’t mean anything if it doesn’t convert.
🎯SEO Pro Tip #5:
Working on a brand-new website? Focus on content velocity. After all, your content can’t rank if it doesn’t exist.
🎯SEO Pro Tip #6:
Prioritize your keywords by cluster first, and difficulty second. Focus on covering one topic cluster entirely before you move on to another (even if that second cluster has low difficulty keywords).
🎯SEO Pro Tip #7:
Start your keyword research with competitive research. Why spent days building up your keyword sheet from scratch, when you can just bank on your competitor’s work instead?🎯
🎯SEO Pro Tip #8:
To hire writers at scale, create a filtering process.
✔️Make them fill in a Google form (no DMs)
✔️Ask for 3 relevant writing samples
✔️Disqualify anyone w/ low-effort content
✔️Dis quality anyone w/ English mistakes
✔️Short-list candidates
✔️Offer a paid trial
🎯SEO Pro Tip #9:
Use these websites to hire the very best content writers:
✔️ProBlogger
✔️LinkedIn
✔️Upwork
✔️WeWorkRemotely
✔️Cult of Copy Job Board (FB group)
✔️/r/hireawriter (subreddit)
✔️Expat Facebook groups (e.g. expats in Tbilisi)
🎯SEO Pro Tip #10:
Always use content outlines. Your content writers aren’t SEO experts. You can’t just ask them to “create content that ranks.” If you provide content outlines, though, your writers are a lot more likely to deliver SEO content that ranks.
🎯SEO Pro Tip #11:
Focus on one topic category at a time. Google is more likely to rank a website that has 100 articles on accounting, than a site that has 10 articles on accounting, 10 on sales, etc.
🎯SEO Pro Tip #12:
If you don’t have an SEO VA, you’re missing out. The right VA can save you 10-20+ hours of work every month, handling tasks like:
✔️Backlink prospecting
✔️Internal linking
✔️Uploading content on WP
✔️Link prospect communication
🎯SEO Pro Tip #13:
Don’t overcomplicate your life – use WordPress. WP comes with a ton of helpful plugins to make your SEO work much easier, such as:
✔️WPRocket (Caching)
✔️Smush (Image compression)
✔️YoastSEO (SEO tool)
✔️Mammoth Docx (Easy content upload)
🎯SEO Pro Tip #14:
Voice search is NOT going to be a game-changer. Voice search is for simple questions like “how’s the weather today?” and is definitely not going to replace conventional search.
🎯SEO Pro Tip #15:
Doing local SEO? Focus on service pages instead of blogs. E.g. if you’re an accounting firm based in Boston, you can make a landing page about /accounting-firm-boston/, /tax-accounting-boston/, and so on. You won’t get much from ranking for global terms.
🎯SEO Pro Tip #16:
The online SEO community is composed of extremely helpful and friendly people. Need SEO advice on something specific? Try asking these communities: ✔️/r/seogrowth (Reddit) ✔️/r/bigseo ✔️SEO Signals Lab (FB Group) ✔️Fat Graph Content
🎯SEO Pro Tip #17:
With your content, keep your audience’s knowledge in mind. Is your target audience a senior SEO professional? Then you can skip on explaining basics like “what is a backlink” in your blog content.
🎯SEO Pro Tip #18:
Create compelling headlines. This one’s TOO basic:
❌Productivity Tips Guide
🎯SEO Pro Tip #19:
Make your content as visual as possible.
✔️Aim for 2-4 sentences per paragraph
✔️Apply 60% content width to your blog
✔️Add images when possible. Avoid generic stock photos
✔️Want to go the extra mile? Create custom graphics using stock vectors from Freepik
🎯SEO Pro Tip #20:
Ditch the skyscraper technique already. I get 20 of these emails a day: “Hey [name], I saw you wrote an article. I, too, wrote an article. Please link to you?” Want to stand out? Make your pitch more about me. What do I get from linking to your article?
🎯SEO Pro Tip #21:
Blog post not ranking? Here are 5 possible reasons why:
❌Search intent mismatch
Content is too weak
❌Your domain has a low number or quality of backlinks
❌Your post isn’t internally linked
❌Your competitor content/links are just better
🎯SEO Pro Tip #22:
Avoid BS link-building tactics. Here’s what kind of backlinks DON’T work in 2022:
❌Blog comment links
❌Forum backlinks
❌Web 2 backlinks
❌Backlinks from Fiverr
❌”Backlink generators”
❌Backlink farm links
🎯SEO Pro Tip #23:
Permanently killing a page? Don’t just delete it! In order to preserve the backlinks the page has, you should 301 redirect it to another page instead. If you have a related post/page, redirect the deleted page to that. Otherwise, to your homepage.
🎯SEO Pro Tip #24:
Know the difference between 301 and 302 redirects.
✔️301 redirect is a permanent redirect and passes backlink juice.
✔️302 redirect is a temporary redirect and does NOT pass link juice.
🎯SEO Pro Tip #25:
Don’t let low search volume discourage you. The keyword data on Google Planner, SEM, or any other data does not include all the variations of the keyword you’re going to be ranking for. So, a 40-volume keyword might in fact turn out to be 400-volume.
🎯SEO Pro Tip #26:
Working on a fresh SEO project? Focus on these 8 things:
✔️Keyword research
✔️Content audit
✔️Technical audit
✔️Create content
✔️Upgrade old content
✔️Improve internal links
✔️Competitor backlink audit
✔️On-going link-building
🎯SEO Pro Tip #27:
Automated “free” SEO audits you see online are worthless. 100% of the time, this type of audit is extremely surface-level and not something you can rely on. Want to get an actually USEFUL audit? Hire an expert.
🎯SEO Pro Tip #28:
Avoid using a subdomain. Moving a site from subdomain => subfolder improves traffic & rankings Moving a site from subfolder => subdomain does the opposite. ✔️Good: site [dot] com/blog/ ❌Bad: blog [dot] site [dot] com
🎯SEO Pro Tip #29:
Backlinks still matter. When all things are equal: EAT, content quality, site technical optimization, etc. What’s going to determine who ranks #1 and who ranks #11 is going to be the quantity and quality of backlinks.
🎯SEO Pro Tip #30:
Avoid building links from backlink farms. Not sure if a site is a link farm? Here’s how to spot them:
❌They publish a ton of low-quality content
❌They blog about every topic under the sun
❌No brand identity
❌Empty social profiles
🎯SEO Pro Tip #31:
Want to build links without guest posting? Try these:
🔗Create statistics resources
🔗HARO
🔗Competitor backlink audit
🔗Roundup posts
🔗ABC link exchanges
🔗Blog content promotion
🔗Create useful web resources
🎯SEO Pro Tip #32:
Crowdsource expert insight on HARO. Want to add that extra drop of authoritativeness to your content? Source experts on HARO, and include their quotes in your article. Bonus points: some of them might even help promote the content!
🎯SEO Pro Tip #33:
Avoid these 5 common SEO mistakes:
❌Creating content without checking search intent
❌Not giving freelancer writers instructions or content outlines
❌Overdoing direct anchor link-building
❌Not building links at all
❌Building link farm links
🎯SEO Pro Tip #34:
Want to Rank Without Backlinks? Try these tactics:
✔️Target low KD keywords
✔️Target zero-volume keywords
✔️Create exponentially better content
✔️Interlink your blog posts
✔️Focus on content velocity. Push as much content as you can.
🎯SEO Pro Tip #35:
Most guest posts WILL cost money. Want to get a free pass? Do this:
✔️Frame yourself as an expert
✔️Explain how your content will add value to their blog
✔️Create an actually useful, high-value guest post
✔️Mention social proof (“I have X followers on Twi”)
🎯SEO Pro Tip #36:
Link-building in some niches is pay-to-play. If you’re in any of these niches, prepare to spend big $ for acquiring backlinks: 💸CBD 💸VPN 💸Insurance 💸Casino & Gambling 💸Forex
🎯SEO Pro Tip #37:
Don’t overdo it with direct-match backlink anchors. If all your backlinks contain your target keyword, chances are, Google WILL be able to tell that those backlinks aren’t natural.
🎯SEO Pro Tip #38:
Before building backlinks, check their quality to see if they’re worth it. Factors to Consider:
🔗Website traffic & rankings
🔗Whether the website got penalized or lost a lot of traffic
🔗If the link is do-follow & not sponsored
🎯SEO Pro Tip #39:
Build a backlink partner database & keep in touch for collaboration🤝 Make a list of everyone who links to your website. Include information like:
✔️Name
✔️Email
✔️Page link was placed on
✔️Price of the backlink
✔️Niches they blog about
✔️DA/DR
🎯SEO Pro Tip #40:
Want to build backlinks the easy way? Try link exchanges!
✔️They’re mutually beneficial for you and your prospects
✔️Unless you do it excessively, Google won’t penalize you for it
✔️A link exchange can happen in <5 minutes
🎯SEO Pro Tip #41:
Want to connect with other SEOs on Reddit? Check out these subreddits:
✔️/r/seogrowth
✔️/r/bigseo
✔️/r/techseo
✔️/r/juststart
✔️/r/seo
🎯SEO Pro Tip #42:
Want to learn SEO? The best way to do it is via practical experience. 5 ways you can get started:
✔️Create a niche website
✔️Start a personal blog
✔️Intern at an SEO agency
✔️Get a job as an SEO content writer
✔️Help a friend’s business rank (for free)
🎯SEO Pro Tip #43:
Use ego bait for link-building. Create a “Top X of Y” type article. E.g. “Top X SEO Experts of 2023” Reach out to experts mentioned in the article, and ask them for help with promoting the content (as in, linking to it from their blog).
🎯SEO Pro Tip #44:
Hiring SEO writers? Here’s how to vet them:
✔️Availability. How much content can they deliver?
✔️3+ Samples. Is their content quality good?
✔️Level of research. Are their articles on complicated topics?
✔️Trial task. Is their output as good as their samples?
🎯SEO Pro Tip #45:
An FAQ section at the end of an article is a good way to rank on the “People Also Ask” results box. Google your target keyword and extract relevant questions from the PAA box. Keep your answers very straightforward. “What is X?” => “X is Y”
🎯SEO Pro Tip #46:
Want to build backlinks on autopilot? Try the reverse link-building tactic. Target keywords related to trends or statistics in your niche. E.g. “CRM Trends 2023,” “sales statistics,” etc.
🎯SEO Pro Tip #47:
Want to hire quality writers on a budget? Try Expat Facebook groups! Hiring a native content writer in Bulgaria will be hell cheaper than in the US. Try these FB groups:
✔️Foreigners & Friends in Sofia
✔️Expats in Tirana
✔️Tbilisi Digital Nomads
🎯SEO Pro Tip #48:
Your competitors DON’T have thousands of backlinks, even though it may look that way. Apply these filters to get the REAL number:
1) Filter for do-follow links only
2) Backlink type: in content.
3) DR: 20+. Result 2,600 Backlinks => 95 Backlinks
🎯SEO Pro Tip #49:
Some SEO clients are just NOT worth it. Reject potential SEO clients if they:
🚩Fight too much for a discount
🚩Stretch the sales process for too long
🚩Think SEO is a get-rich-quick scheme
🚩Want results ASAP
🎯SEO Pro Tip #50:
“Monthly SEO audit” is not a thing. An audit is what you do when you take on a new client, and then maybe once or twice a year to review your work. If an SEO agency offers a monthly SEO audit, that’s a huge red flag 🚩