The success of your site depends on the volume of relevant traffic you drive on a regular basis. Driving more traffic is something every website owner who wants to increase revenue aims for. Staying on top of SEO is crucial to boosting your traffic and brand awareness. However, that is a never-ending process because Google’s algorithms are updated continuously. SEO takes a lot of research, experimentation, and constant dedication, but it’s all worth it. Once you achieve a high ranking, you will increase visibility, which results in more traffic, more conversions, and increased revenue. The following advanced SEO tactics can help your site improve its search ranking and traffic in 2020.
Figure 1 There are many advanced SEO strategies that can improve your ranking.
1. Making your site mobile-friendly
For many businesses, having a mobile-friendly website is much more than an advanced SEO tactic - it is a necessity. If your site is not optimized for mobile devices, here are the top three reasons why it should be:
- Mobile devices generate approximately half of all website traffic;
- Over 40% of online transactions come from mobile devices;
- Google has introduced a mobile-first approach to crawling and indexing sites.
2. Accelerating page loading speed
Most visitors come to your site looking for specific information, but merely providing that information is not enough. Today’s users have a short attention span and expect fast website loading times - two seconds or less. If you fail to meet this requirement, people will leave your site and go to your competitors. Moreover, loading speed serves as a ranking factor for Google. Companies often overlook the importance of boosting page loading speed. However, even a one-second improvement can make a significant difference in your ranking. If you want your site to provide a fast online experience, you need to continually monitor and improve your page loading speed.
It is easy to see page speed acceleration as one of the more advanced SEO tactics. However, there are several ways you can improve your site’s speed yourself. But if you’re not comfortable with your own tech skills, an SEO expert can help you achieve the best possible result.
Figure 2 Waiting for a page to load can be frustrating and results in high bounce rates.
3. Increasing your content production
Sites that publish new content 2-4 times a week achieve the highest number of leads and conversions. However, there are no strict rules. The frequency of content publication should be in accordance with your overall content strategy.
It is also important to publish high-value, informative articles that provide solutions to people’s problems and answers to their questions. Quantity without quality won’t get you the results you desire. Low-quality blog posts will hurt your site in the long run. On the other hand, sharing valuable knowledge with your audience will help you connect with them in the best possible way. For example, if you run a moving company, share useful moving and packing advice and how-to instructions. Since creating unique content on a regular basis can be time-consuming, you may need an ally in this process so you can focus on other tasks.
4. Re-optimizing old content
You probably have content on your site that is a few years old. Content that is outdated isn’t beneficial. Re-optimizing the kind of content that receives low traffic or conversions will help you get it back at the top of search engine results pages and make the most of it. When you find old content that could use a touch-up, there are several things you can do to give it a new life. Keyword insertions, title tag updates, internal linking, etc., are some of the things to focus on. More in-depth updates, like rewriting or adding content, may be necessary, depending on the age of the content.
Figure 3 Increasing content production is one of the most demanding advanced SEO tactics.
5. Advanced SEO tactics related to image optimization
Optimizing blog images for on-page SEO is another factor that can improve your ranking in 2020. Here are some dos and don’ts to take into consideration:
- Do not use random image file names. If you choose relevant words when naming the files, your image will appear when someone types those words when searching the internet.
- Do not use images that are too large because they take more time to load. There are tools you can use to reduce the size of pictures if necessary.
- Include Alt text to describe every image. This is a brief description of what the image represents. If the image fails to load, the Alt text will show up. With Alt text, search engines will be able to identify your graphics.
- Always include image captions - visitors read them much more often than the content.
6. Using shorter meta descriptions
Longer meta descriptions are no longer the right strategy. Google’s old limit of 158-160 characters for meta descriptions is back. You should try to incorporate all the critical information in the first 150-155 characters. Try to keep your descriptions short, relevant, and straightforward without revealing too much.
7. Internal linking
Linking your articles to other relevant pages on your site will make your visitors stay there longer. It is crucial to make the relevant pages DoFollow and avoid NoFollow links. Having an internal linking strategy in place will help you pass “link juice” from high-authority pages, show the value and relevance of newer and older posts, improve your pages’ rankings, and reduce your bounce rate.
8. Guest posting
Backlinks can also help you drive more traffic to your site and improve your ranking in 2020. The links you get from guest posts are contextual, and that is the best kind of links. Including more guest posts is also a great way to build links to internal pages on your site. Remember to link to relevant pages on your website within the guest article as well.
