SEO Tactics to Drive More Traffic to Your Site

SEO tactics continue to evolve as the algorithms and search results pages change – and they’re always changing. Google had more than 5,000 algorithm tweaks in 2022 plus a half-dozen major updates. It may leave you wondering, what technique will improve the web search results the most?

To start, commit to publishing high-quality informative content. Once you consistently put out great blogs, service, and product pages, you’re ready to get into the little stuff that has a big impact. At Oneupweb, we’re sticking to tried and true white-hat SEO tactics.

There are two ways to create better search results for your site with SEO this include:

• On-page SEO tactics – As the name suggests, these include SEO strategies that appear on each page of your site. They include page title optimization, keyword optimization, using internal and external links and effective headings and formatting.
• Off-page SEO tactics – This includes all SEO tactics that aren’t directly related to publishing content on your site. It can include using social media, backlink building and email marketing.

How to Use On-page SEO Tactics

On-page SEO is the most impactful way to improve quality site sessions, increase conversions and put your content in front of the right audience. There are countless incremental changes a professional SEO agency can do to help your site, but you can tackle the big stuff on your own. Here are the basics of on-page SEO.

Develop a Content Calendar

Sites that publish consistently tend to have a higher conversion rate, especially when new content is posted one to two times a week.

Developing a content calendar ahead of time helps you see the big picture and keep your blog publishing schedule on the right track. Increasing the amount of content on your site also widens your keyword pool and provides your prospects with more resources. Just be sure to avoid keyword cannibalization with keyword research before you get writing!

Frequency isn’t the main driver here. The priority should always be quality content that is useful to the user. Plus, writing informative pieces help you build trust and accumulate quality backlinks.

Publishing a low-quality blog once a week is not a good organic SEO strategy and will eventually hurt your website. Always publish with the intention to help and provide relevant answers to the questions being asked.

Use Pillar Content

Pages are ranked based on relevancy to the search query. Google prefers sites that employ the Expertise, Authority, and Trust (E.A.T.) tactic.

Pillar pages are the parent page on your site (normally found in your nav bar) that help people understand more about the topics your cover and areas you serve. It’s important to build your content calendar around these pillar topics. These types of pages are typically 2,000 words or more and include a mix of internal and external links.

Pillar content hierarchy lets you include long-form content via your pillar pages and short-form content (that focuses more on a specific question). Pillar pages (parent pages) are then linked to topic pages (child pages) to create meaningful relationships for search engine crawlers and users to better understand your site.

Optimize for Featured Snippets

For more than a decade now, Google has tried to keep people on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) instead of clicking through to your site. The shift has changed the way digital marketers have looked at creating content, with a new emphasis on winning SERP features and viewing click through rate with less emphasis.

The featured snippet is usually in the zero position at the top of the results page. Ahrefs reports that winning a snippet can add 8.6% of available traffic to your site.

The best way to optimize for featured snippets is to:

• Study what’s working for the search term you want to rank for
• Duplicate the current snippets format (with your unique content)
• If there’s a bullet list, provide an HTML bullet list.
• If there’s a short paragraph, replicate that. (Keep in mind 40-60 words is the sweet spot.)
• Use the question in a header
• Put the question in the title tags
• Use subheadings that Google can list

Off-Page SEO Tactics

Off-page SEO refers to your efforts that don’t directly involve content creation. This SEO methodology includes technical SEO tactics that help your page rank better over time.

Run Full Scale TSAs Annually

We run a full technical site audit on our own site at least once a year and as often as every six months. The goal here is to stay on top of all that’s going on with your site. You can see all sorts of issues when you crawl your site and address issues with 404s and other technical problems that reduce page rank and hurt user experience.

Internal Linking Strategy

Internal linking is when you link to a page of your website on your blog or another website page. This is important because it gives search engines context about how all your pages relate to each other and can help increase your E.A.T. score.

Speed and Core Web Vital Audits

One survey found that 52% of online shoppers would only stick around for six seconds for a site to load before leaving. People want sites to load quickly and effectively to fit their device. If you want to monitor your site’s speed, you should run regular site speed tests and check your core web vital scores.

These are both major indicators of your site’s health and could help you keep more traffic if your site is unreasonably slow without your knowledge.

Keyword Position Tracking

One of the best ways to keep track of your organic keyword performance is by tracking your keyword positioning. This can be done using many tools from Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Moz. Each tool will have a different interface and different services on their free and paid options.

Keyword positioning can help you realize which pieces are doing well, which ones could use some more elbow grease, and which are hanging in the middle. This data can then inform your content strategy for the better and make you more effective at winning the snippet and PAA sessions of the SERP.

Yes, We’re Talking About SEO Practice

It generally takes four to six months to see improvement after implementation. Be patient and trust the process and remember that SEO is never finished. Every change Google makes to its algorithm has a ripple effect across the web. Not sure where to start? We’ve got your back. We’re a fully integrated marketing agency with a dedicated SEO team ready to jump in and help. Get started by reaching out or calling 231-922-9977 today.