The Dos and Don'ts of Linkedin Marketing

Learn the 9 easy SEO quick wins that will help you rank higher and get more traffic in the next week.

This quick-start guide shows you how to gain quick wins in your SEO strategy with just a few small changes.

What Is SEO Quick Wins?

SEO Quick Wins is a collection of SEO tips and tricks from our SEO community. All of them are easy to implement and work.

9 Easy SEO Quick Wins You Should Implement Immediately

There are some quick wins you can implement that will easily improve your search engine ranking. In this article, I'm going to share 9 easy SEO quick wins you should implement Right Away to maximize your SEO efforts.

Let's face it - SEO isn't always easy.

With so many aspects you have to keep in mind, from a technical perspective, from on-page optimization through to off-page SEO, it can get tricky sometimes. However, it doesn't always have to be like this... That's why we've created this list of quick "easy" SEO wins that are easy to implement and can bring instant value to your website right away.

1. Optimize Title Tags

When it comes to quick SEO fixes, properly optimizing your titles is a no-brainer. Good title tags not only improve the relevancy of your pages but also increase the click-through rate of your snippets in Google searches. Unless your website has thousands of pages, optimizing title tags is a quick and straightforward process. Just keep in mind a few important practices when writing title texts:

• Include a focus keyword: If you want to rank for a specific search query, it's (obviously) necessary to put that keyword in your title tag. It is also a good practice to put the focus keyword at the beginning of the title (it may grab the reader's attention faster).

• Maintain the optimal length: Stay away from titles longer than 50-60 characters (as Google will likely cut titles longer than that). Instead, try writing title tags that are concise and precise, in just a few words, so they can be fully displayed in the SERP.

• Be unique: Although providing original titles can be a somewhat difficult task, try to set yourself apart from the rest of the search results. Here are some tips that you can use to write more catchy titles that may attract more users:

• Writing Questions Titles in the form of a question usually grab the reader's attention faster (especially if it's the exact question they wrote as a search query).
• Include the numbers - titles like “10 Helpful Tips for…” or “7 Types of…” simply never get old and are still popular on the Internet.
• Use special symbols and characters - Brackets, dashes, piping, or any other strange characters can act as visual elements that break up boring, unified title text.
• Include your branding - Writing the brand name at the end of the title tag is a common practice that provides an opportunity to submit your website (or company) directly in the SERP.
• Title Length - The tool will check if you have exceeded the recommended character limit.
• Snippet Appearance - You can check what your title tag will look like as a search result, along with the page URL, meta description, etc.
• Check out and compare competitors - You can even check out what your snippet will look like with the title tag in the actual SERP, along with other ranking pages. This is especially useful if you want to get some inspiration from your competition or simply see how your title tag will stand out from the rest of the search results.

2. Add structured data markup (to get rich results)

Data structured in the form of a rich result can greatly boost the CTR of your snippet in the SERP and improve your page's relevance to the search engine. Rich results are search results on steroids - just check out how they stand up to the rest of your regular search results: Structured data is especially useful if you don't have many competing websites using it.

Although implementing structured data doesn't always produce a rich result by itself, you can't go wrong if you use it. There are also some quick tips that you should keep in mind:

• Don't add every possible schema notation just for it - always try to choose notations that might be relevant and useful to your users.
• Implement structured data for top-performing pages first - they're more likely to appear as rich results in SERPs.

3. Optimize your images

Did you know that image size can greatly affect page speed? According to State of the Web, the average transfer size of all images on a page takes up about half the size of the entire page! Since page speed is a ranking factor for Google, it is always a good idea to optimize and reduce the size of your images on the page.

Here are some tips on how to do that:

• Resize large images: Try to use dimensions that fit the width of your page (with +- a few pixels). In general, it is always recommended to use images with dimensions slightly larger than your page width. For example, if your blog page is about 1000px wide, then there is no point in using 3000px wide images.

• Use appropriate file formats: The appropriate formats for your images play an important role in their file size. The most common file formats are JPEG, PNG, and GIF. In general, you should convert most PNG images to JPEGs (which greatly reduces the file size of your images) - on the other hand, there are a number of exceptions that specify which image format should be used over the other:

• JPEG - The most common file format with the smallest file size, usually recommended for classic photos.
• PNG - The file format is usually recommended for illustrations, screenshots, or images with clear text
• GIF - A very limited format recommended for simple short image animations

• Compress your images: Compression is a process that can significantly reduce the file size of an image without losing much of its quality. Depending on the quality of the original image, you can use different degrees of compression and find the one that best suits your file size/quality ratio. Besides the technical aspect of images, you should also pay attention to their alt texts - they can affect your pages' performance and relevance in Google searches. 

• Image alt text not only helps visually impaired users but also search engines like Google better understand what is actually in the image. By optimizing the alt text, Google can start using your images in Google Images - thus bringing some extra traffic to your website. Writing good alt texts isn't rocket science, and it doesn't even take a lot of time (unless you use hundreds or thousands of images).

Here are some quick tips to keep in mind:

• Be descriptive - Write accurate, objective alt text that clearly describes what's in the image.
• Write short descriptions – The alt text should be a short description of the photo that is in just a few words.
• Don't keyword stuff - Saving alt text with a bunch of useless keywords will not help users or search engines to rank your images correctly. Always use the focus keyword in alt texts only when appropriate.

4. Optimize pages for featured snippets

Optimizing your content for featured snippets is a relatively simple way on how you can outpace your competition and get to the top of the SERP. Although featured snippets tend to get fewer clicks than the #1 search result in the SERP, they can greatly boost the CTR of your pages that are ranked fifth, eighth, or even lower in the SERP.

Therefore, the featured snippet is an easy win that can instantly improve your ranking positions - even if there are competitors who are stronger than you. While there is no guaranteed way to win a featured snippet, you can at least improve your content and increase the potential cover that will appear at the top of the SERPs.

• Aimed at question-type search queries: Use keyword research tools like KWFinder to identify the questions users are typing into Google and provide a short, clear answer to these question queries:

• Answer using the "inverted pyramid" method: Try to answer question queries with the most important information first, followed by additional details and context. Using the inverted pyramid pattern increases the likelihood that your content will use a featured snippet.

• Format your content: Featured snippets tend to display content in certain formats only. The most common ones that Google can use are:

• simple paragraph
• bullet-pointed list
• numbered list
• tables
• graphs

5. Look for “reachable” keywords

“Language” are keywords that your competitors rank for that can “easily” be outclassed if you create better content. To find these "reachable keywords" and optimize your content for them, you need to:

• Find out who your competitors are
• Check which keywords are ranking and select them
• Create better content

Let's take a closer look at this process step by step.

• Find out your competition: To find Low Hanging Fruits, you need to know who your competitors are first. If you know your niche, you probably already know which websites you're competing against within the search results. In case you don't, you can use SEO tools like KWFinder and its Domain Search feature: Select the "Search by domain" tab.

• Enter your domain or exact URL
• KWFinder will suggest potential sites and competitors
• Create a list of all potential competitors that you can analyze

• Check and select keywords: Once you know who your competitors are, you can manually check each competitor's site and see what keywords they are ranking for. Then choose the ones that might be relevant to you.

"Accessible" keywords must meet two criteria:

• Chosen competitor has low authority – If a competitor's website has less authority than you, there is a good chance you will outdo them with better content than what they offer.
• Chosen competitor ranks high - The competitor's website must be somewhere in the top 10 search results for a given keyword.

There are many ways to find out the authority of your website. KWFinder uses industry-standard metrics Domain Authority, Page Authority, Citation Flow, and Trust Flow to estimate the overall authority of a given page. It also uses a cookie strength (LPS) metric.

This metric will help you determine if you are able to outperform your competitors for a particular keyword simply by comparing your stats to theirs.

• Create better content: Once you find any relevant keywords that have decent search volumes and at least one of the competing websites in the top 10 search results has less authority than you, you can add the keyword to your list of potential content-worthy topics. You can use the list with these 'low-hanging fruits' in your content strategy - all you need to do is write/create better content than your competitors and see how it will rank over time for the particular keyword.

6. Update and re-post old posts

Updating existing posts is a routine every webmaster must follow regularly. This is why your content needs to be updated every now and then. It can make a huge difference in ranking if you add a new piece of content or simply improve existing content.

To see which pages need some updates - go to Google Analytics (or any other tool that can help you with content auditing). And check if some of your pages haven't lost a lot of organic traffic over time.

When you identify pages that need to be refreshed, there are an infinite number of ways you can improve their content, for example:

• Add more interesting or important information to your content
• Improve the visuals and UX of your page
• Combine existing content from existing pages into one page
• Add more relevant internal and external links

Once you've refreshed your pages, it's time to promote them on social media letting your readers know you've made a huge improvement to your posts! 

7.Add internal links to new (and old) pages

Adding internal links between your pages is a useful practice that is often overlooked by many website owners. Many SEO experts have recommended internal linking as a “go-to” technique that can bring you immediate benefits.

The key uses not only structural links (eg in menus, categories, or footers") but also contextual links which can bring more value to users (and search engines too). Moreover, adding links from new pages to old pages and back brings you some important benefits:

• Speeds up crawling - Linking from strong pages to new pages gives the search engine a hint that it should scan your new page ASAP.
• Boosts New PageRank - Adding links from relevant parts of your website to recently published content improves PageRank. And it gives a free ranking boost right from the start.
• Keeps visitors on your site - Providing relevant internal links to useful pages (both new and old) gives the user a good reason to stay on your website longer.

However, keep in mind that you should always make links between those pages that are thematically related to each other.

8. Carry out the breadcrumbs

In today's age of SEO, breadcrumbs are "must" links that need to be implemented on a website from the start. There are two great reasons to start using breadcrumbs (if you haven't already):

• Improves navigation for users - breadcrumbs simply show visitors at the page level they are currently on and show them other relevant parts of your website that may be of interest (and thus will keep users on your website longer).
• Improve user experience in Google Search - Navigation crumbs can be used as part of your SERP snippet. This will help users (and the search engine) to better understand your site hierarchy and navigate them more quickly to the important sections

Breadcrumbs can be implemented on your website in a matter of seconds - if you are using WordPress.

9. Optimize anchor texts

Speaking of internal links, properly optimized anchor texts are another important aspect you must keep in mind. Body text can improve the relevance of the linked webpage - it signals users (and Google) what the linked page is about. Many people tend to forget the power and control of internal connections.

There are two main reasons why you should care about improved anchor scripts:

• It is used as a ranking signal for Google, indicating that the linked page may be relevant to a particular search query.
• It helps users quickly understand where a link might lead them - thus increasing the chance that they will click on it (if it works for them) and stay longer on your website.

This gives you a chance to fine-tune your anchor texts - not only for an exact match (or focus) terms but also for other relevant keywords that you'd like to rank higher with your pages.

The main advantage of internal anchor text is that you don't have to worry so much about the ratio of keyword-rich anchor texts to other, more general anchors.  This is because Google usually doesn't penalize pages with many internal links with the same anchor texts.     

Final Words

SEO Quick Wins provides you with a list of strategies you can use to make your website more visible in search engines. The above-mentioned strategies are simple and you can use them in just a few minutes to boost your website's visibility. If you are just starting out with your SEO strategy, there are tons of opportunities for improvement. Get a head start with the 9 SEO Quick Wins and Get Results Fast.

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