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10 Advanced SEO Techniques & Tips You Should Know

Update your search engine optimization strategy with these 10 advanced SEO tips and techniques to increase the visibility of your website in search results.

As Google continues to update its algorithm to provide searchers with the best possible user experience, SEO professionals must also update their techniques to remain competitive.

If you’re just getting started, you should start with SEO for Beginners: First, an overview of SEO fundamentals.

After you’ve mastered the fundamentals, you can move on to more advanced SEO tips and techniques to move the needle.

Here are ten facts you should be aware of.

1. Make Your Mobile Site a Priority for Mobile-First Indexing

Hopefully, you’ve been following Google’s transition to mobile-first indexing.

And, hopefully, you’ve avoided the many, many misconceptions about what mobile-first indexing is and how it affects ranking.

Let’s be clear: you don’t need a perfect mobile site to be king of the hill when it comes to mobile-first indexing (or the SERPs).

And you should not abandon SEO for your desktop site simply because mobile-first indexing has arrived.

Here’s what you should keep in mind about this change:

Mobile-first indexing has arrived.

That is, if you have a desktop and a mobile version of your site, the mobile version will be indexed and ranked ahead of the desktop version. If it hasn’t happened to you yet, it will shortly. There is no option to “opt-out.”

There has never been a better time to create a mobile-friendly website.

If you know your target audience is mobile, it’s time to go for it!

Use of intrusive interstitials is not advised.

Don’t do it. They’re not user-friendly, and while Google hasn’t cracked down on them yet, that could change soon.

Create content with a mobile audience in mind (without sacrificing value).

That means avoiding any formats that are difficult to load on mobile devices and retaining all of the content from your desktop site that helps it rank (shorter mobile sites may be nicer aesthetically, but they rarely rank as well).

Create a mobile-friendly website.

If your site hasn’t yet been migrated and you’ve been thinking about going responsive, now is the time.

Use “overwhelm-proof” methods to your advantage.

Indexing will not be hampered by hamburger and accordion menus, and they will frequently improve user experience (especially on mobile devices).

Remember that the fewer barriers your mobile site presents to Googlebot, the better.

To be safe, check your server log files for crawling errors regularly.

Read How to Write a Business Plan Assignment.

2. Speed Optimization

The speed of mobile pages is a ranking factor.

But how does this affect the SEO industry?

To find out, my team experimented before and after the infamous Page Speed Update to determine what factors influence true Google rankings.

The findings revealed that page speed has little to no effect on rankings — but the level of optimization does.

Using the PageSpeed Insights tool, you can assess both your page speed and your website’s optimization.

This tool now assesses sites based on both:

  • Quality optimization (“lab data” supported by the Lighthouse tool).
  • Loading time of real users (“field data” derived from CrUX report data on real user metrics of Chrome users).

I’m sure Google is vigorously testing all of the variables, and we’ll see a lot of changes very soon.

For the time being, ensure that your site is being aggressively optimized:

  • Conduct regular technical site audits and troubleshoot issues.
  • Follow Google’s suggestions for potential optimizations. You can find them in the PageSpeed Insights tool.

3. Make use of Google’s CrUX Report

The Google Chrome User Experience Report collects data as people browse popular websites to provide real-world user experience metrics. Data can be accessed through PageSpeed Insights, the Public Google BigQuery project, and the CrUX Dashboard on Data Studio.

While it isn’t yet a major factor in SERPs, I wouldn’t be surprised if Google began to rely more heavily on “field data” rather than “lab data.”

What makes this data difficult for SEO professionals is that if the industry does shift towards RUMs, it’s nearly impossible to uncover this data using local tests — making it difficult to optimize for.

The good news is that the CrUX report is public, and you can explore all of the data you need: device and connection type, the loading time of this or that page, and so on.

All you need is a Google Cloud Platform project with access to the CrUX public project page.

You can get the raw data collected by Google for your site and change your strategy based on this information if you have some basic SQL knowledge:

4. Increase Your SERP Space

Google’s front page has seen numerous updates over the years, so who knows what the future holds for SERP staples such as local packs, ads, knowledge panels, answer boxes, and so on.

The only thing we can count on is that organic search results change all the time.

For example, the Hotel Pack has recently undergone significant changes, including a new filtering system and four results rather than three:

So, how do you break into this tumultuous search landscape?

Here’s where you begin:

Snippets from the Land

I know featured snippets have been around for a while, but their worth hasn’t diminished.

Featured snippets are still shown above search results (and, unfortunately, they’re still difficult to obtain and even more difficult to keep long-term).

So, how do you go about getting a featured snippet?

  • You create content based on ranking keywords related to questions (questions you know your audience wants answered).
  • You format your content snippet-by-snippet (in paragraphs, tables, lists, etc.)

It’s also worth noting this Stone Temple study, which discovered that different formatting techniques have varying success rates depending on the market:

Answer frequently asked questions (FAQs) about hot topics in your niche in small paragraphs of text (40-60 words — the size of a regular featured snippet).

While it isn’t a sure-fire way to the top, it appears to work well for a variety of definitions (just watch out for answer boxes on queries that provide actual dictionary definitions).

Make use of Schema

While schema markup will not result in a featured snippet, it may result in one (or more) SERP features.

Aside from the actual schema implementation, go to Google and play around with the queries you want to rank for.

  • Investigate which SERP types are retrieved in response to these queries.
  • Determine which spaces are occupied by your content and consider whether you are satisfied with what they contain.
  • Also (and perhaps most importantly), look for gaps in your content that your content can fill.

5. Consider videos to be the king of content

Video may have killed the radio star, but it appears that it is now targeting the written word as its next victim.

That’s a joke — please don’t stop creating content!

However, we have discovered:

  • Every day, billions of videos are viewed on YouTube.
  • YouTube is the world’s second largest search engine.
  • Since 2020, 96 percent of consumers have increased their time spent watching online videos.

And, lest we forget, videos are a fantastic way to increase engagement.

Here is the best place to begin creating and optimizing videos for your target audience:

  • Produce short brand videos and product demonstrations.
  • Make instructional videos about how to use your products or services.
  • Organize live broadcasts such as webinars or interviews.
  • For videos, add relevant metadata (shorter titles, rich descriptions) and transcripts so that Google can fully understand their intent (s).
  • Use exact keyword matching (this is still a thing on YouTube).
  • Fill in the keyword tags, which will be used for recommended videos.
  • Upload videos to popular platforms such as YouTube, Wistia, Facebook, Vimeo, and Instagram.
  • Make a video sitemap and submit it to search engines.

Also, keep in mind that the demand for how-to videos on YouTube is increasing by 70% each year.

6. Ensure that your Google My Business listing is up to date

Google My Business (GMB) features are being added at a breakneck pace in the pursuit of developing local search.

Google My Business (GMB) can have an impact on your rankings in local search results, according to Google.

Google Posts, images, Google Q&A, and reviews are all considered important GMB ranking factors.

Despite this, few businesses bother optimizing for GMB signals, so it’s a chance to get a leg up on your competitors.

Here are a few pointers to think about:

Make use of Google Posts

I’m sure you have a presence on Facebook and Twitter. Repeat the process for Google Posts.

Keep in mind that engaging calls to action can help to start conversations.

Add Your Own Google Q&A Questions & Answers

This way, this section will have branded content that is relevant to your company.

Upload and maintain images in your GMB listing on a regular basis

And don’t forget that you can now upload videos there as well!

Fill in the blanks in all of your listing’s categories

GMB is constantly being updated with new categories.

If you haven’t logged in to your profile in a while, you might be surprised to see a number of blank fields.

Make sure to keep your profile information up to date.

Utilize Evaluations

Reviews have always been an important factor in determining a company’s reputation and relevance, and this is unlikely to change anytime soon.

Request that each customer write a review mentioning a specific service or product that they enjoyed, and always respond to them.

7. Create High-Quality Outbound Links

Do you have outbound links in user-generated content on your website, such as blog comments or forum posts?

Is it possible to generate advertising revenue through sponsored links on your website?

You can go beyond the rel=”nofollow” attribute if you have any links on your web pages that you don’t want Google to associate with your domain. Google lets you qualify your outbound links with the following phrases.

  • For paid links used to generate advertising revenue, use rel=”sponsored.”
  • Use rel=”ugc” for links in user-generated content such as blog comments, forum posts, reviews, and so on.

8. Discover How to Use Google Search Console

Google Search Console is constantly adding new features, making it one of the most important SEO tools on the market.

It’s worth a look even if you prefer other tools.

Some of the most useful features are as follows:

URL Examining

Google will detect any problems with the links and will test them in real-time. Once they’ve been fixed, you can validate them directly in this tool and request a recrawl.

Report on Index Coverage

This report categorizes all URLs into four categories: Errors, Valid, Valid With Warnings, and Excluded, and explains why those statuses were assigned and how to resolve issues.

Report on Performance

It’s essentially the same old Search Analytics report you’re used to, but the date range has been significantly expanded — 16 months instead of 3.

Share Function for Reports

This allows GSC users to share their reports with anyone, even those who do not have an account. It’s useful when you need to share reports with your developers, for example.

Filters for Reports

These became far more sophisticated. They now have the feel of Excel.

9. List Your Products on Amazon (Especially If You’re a B2C Seller)

Amazon is essentially the Google of the eCommerce world.

So, if you sell something and aren’t on Amazon, consider how many customers you’re missing out on by not being there.

If you decide to take advantage of this opportunity, keep in mind that Amazon employs its own search algorithm known as A9.

When optimizing for the Amazon algorithm, keep the following in mind:

  • Sales velocity is regarded as an important factor.
  • Paid advertisements are a must if you want users to find you.
  • Make great content to entice users to convert (use images, unique descriptions, reviews, promos, etc.).

10. Make Use of Creative Link Building

Link building is still very much alive and well.

Although it may not produce the immediate results that a hot Black Friday ad will, cultivating a healthy network of traditional links is still one of the most dependable methods of building long-term, sustainable growth for your business.

Methods such as coining a phrase that becomes a staple in your niche can take off quickly and earn you some valuable link equity.

For example, nobody had heard of “position zero” until a few years ago. A quick Google search now yields nearly 1 billion unique results for that key phrase.

Another method for link building is to obtain links from sites that use your visual content without attribution.

Search Google for this image if you’ve created any useful visual assets, such as infographics. Most likely, you will come across a number of sites that were delighted to discover and use your infographics.

You can now contact them and request that they include a link to your site as an image source.

Voila! Links for free!

You can also gain links by participating in public speaking events.

The event will provide you with a link. You can, however, share the event on social media and ask for likes and shares on other platforms.

Take advantage of your 15 minutes of fame to obtain as many links as possible!

These are just a few creative ways to earn links that gain traction quickly, but there are plenty more (and many just waiting to be discovered by someone like you).

Last Thoughts

I’m excited for the coming year. I believe that this year will be even bigger for video content and micro-influencers and that social listening will become more important than ever before.

But, whatever the future holds, don’t lose sight of the fundamentals. Tried-and-true SEO techniques are far from obsolete, so don’t disregard industry best practices in your pursuit of the latest SEO fad.

At the same time, don’t be afraid to approach problems in novel ways — who knows, maybe you’ll be the one defining SEO trends in 2022!

Need help with our free SEO tools? Try our free Robots.txt GeneratorGet Source Code of WebpageDomain into IP.

Learn more from SEO and read What You Should Know About HTTPS As A Google Ranking Factor.

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