75 SEO tips you can apply directly

Door:

5/4/2020

Are you looking for hands-on SEO tips that can make your website score directly higher in search results?

We have compiled a list of 75 SEO tips, these search engine optimization tips are divided into the various ranking factors, such as on-page, keyword research, link building, content and more...

If you're only interested in one of the topics, you can use the navigation menu below to navigate quickly.

1. Keyword Research

How do I do keyword research and competition analysis?

With every SEO campaign you start with keyword research. Why? It's important to know what your target audience is looking for in the search engine.

SEO tip 1 is therefore: Target on the right keyword

The biggest mistake is that a website or page is not optimized for a keyword. In addition, it may also be that too many keywords per page are used, or that the wrong keywords are used.

You can solve these three problems by optimizing each page or blog for one important keyword. You can test this by sending the page to an acquaintance and asking where they think it's going?

At least make sure you type your keyword into Google so you know which page is best optimized for your keyword according to Google. If this content is too different from your content, you'll probably choose the wrong keyword.

2. Consider the search intent

Sometimes you come across keywords with a huge ly high search volume. Don't stare blindly at the search volume, you should take into account the search intent of the Google hit.

It's about giving value to your target audience. Preferably visitors who become a lead or customer. Therefore, answer the questions below when you have a keyword in mind.

Are these people looking for this keyword because they want to buy something from me?
Is it possible to turn this keyword into a lead?
Is there enough search volume to pay attention to this keyword?
Is the search volume coming from the right country?

3. New website? Grab low-competition keywords

When you have a new website or a low authority site it is more difficult to rank to keywords with higher competition. It therefore makes sense to bet first on keywords with lower competition. You can look at the competition grade ads gives you. For example, it is also useful to use the Ahrefs tool and look at the ''Difficulty'' tool.

4. Check out your competitors' keywords that provide traffic

Would you like to know which keywords your competitor ranks on? You can do this by entering your competitor's URL in Ahrefs and then going to organic search. Then you get a list of keywords and your competitor's Google position.

5. Set an alert to check your competitor's new backlinks & keywords

Stay up to date with your competitor's new backlinks. This is useful so you know your competitor isn't overlooking you with a new keyword.How do you do this? Also this you can do through Ahrefs.Alerts > New > keywords > Add alert fill > the competitor's domain in set report frequency > Add

6. Check long-tail keywords with more ranking potential

Some articles don't just rank for a short keyword. In addition, 70 of google search results are a long-tail focused, i.e. people search for whole sentences.

A handy way to look for longer keywords is to look at Google's own suggestions.

7. Look for content opportunities

Content opportunities are content capabilities where the competitor ranks on a particular keyword, but you don't yet. You can also check this with the ahrefs tool.

Site Explorer > Enter domain > Search > Organic search > Content gaps > Enter competitor domain > Show keywords

8. Look for questions that are still unanswered and answer them with content

Question and answer sites, such as Quora, can provide very good content ideas. Look for questions that are often asked, people ask those questions here because they haven't been able to find the answer elsewhere.

In addition, Quora can be used to indicate the competitive nature of a keyword. When you see a Quora ranking in the top 3 of Google, it means that it is not very competitive and offers a keyword opportunity!

But how do you find relevant keywords that Quora ranked for without going crazy? For this purpose, the "organic keywords" function can be used in Ahrefs.

‍Site > Explorer > Enter Quora.com > Organic keywords Filter > keywords related > to your niche Filter by positions 3 and under Sort by volume

‍Here you can see which keywords Quora.com ranked on #3 or higher. All you have to do now is create content around those keywords to beat Quora in the rankings.

With Ahrefs' keywords explorer, it is also possible to find niche-related questions.

‍Keywords > Explorer Enter > broad > keyword Phrase Match Filter by using keywords with the words: "how", "what" or "true".

2. Content

Keyword research... Check!

Now it's time to create content around these keywords. This is considered the most essential part of SEO. You can't rank if you don't have content!

But... creating content isn't just about getting the right words on your Page. It's about a lot more. It is an art to write good content!

Below we try to explain all the tips that we believe are important for writing good content!

9. Find ideas for your content that have already proven themselves.

Try to rank higher on a keyword, but do you get stuck while you're searching for content ideas? Then why not look at popular existing content? This is very easy with Ahrefs Content Explorer.

‍Content > Explorer For Topic > or Keyword in Explore

But what to do when you don't have a keyword in your head yet? In this case, you can use the Ahrefs' "Best By Shares" reporting to find out which content from your competitors is shared the most and is the most popular.

‍Site > Explorer Enter your competitor's domain in > Explore > Pages > Best by shares

‍This lists all of your competitor's content with the most shared articles at the top. Once you know what's popular, it's the art to improve and own these ideas!

10. Use existing studies in your content.

By using existing studies, you can easily distinguish your content by targeting a popular keyword. In addition, the use of existing studies is also good for creating trust.

11. Write a super introduction that will grab the reader right away.

Okay, someone ended up on your site... Great. But this is only half the job. Your next task is to keep them on your site. For this reason, your introduction must be phenomenal.

Here are three tips for writing your intros:

Keep it short.
Tell the reader exactly what it gives them to read your piece.
Hold them.

The first two are fairly simple, but how do you hold readers? It is especially important to make sure that they feel like reading your piece and that they do not leave your page.

Give them hints about what they'll have left to your article, but don't give them too much away. This helps to hold the attention of visitors, so that they continue reading until the end.

For example, you can indicate that you will reveal certain details later in your post if they continue reading. However, it is important to ensure that your page answers all the questions that the site scores for in Google search results.

Fortunately, it's easy to find out. You can use Ahrefs site explorer to see which keywords will increase traffic to your site. Here's what you do:

‍Site > Explorer Fill > > Domain > in Explore Organic search Organic keywords

‍Or, of course, you can use Google Search Console for free.

12. Make sure you read away content very easily.

There's nothing worse than being confronted with a huge piece of text after clicking on your search result...

Here are some spearheads to make sure your text is informative, clear and easy to read:

Divide your content into logical sections (this is also helping with SEO!);
Write short, simple sentences;
Process a story by your text;
Use bullet points and numbered lists;
Alternate text with images;
Use videos, slideshows, and other media (only when it's appropriate/relevant!)

The Hemmingway Editor is a good free tool that can help you with this. It gives hints of where you can improve and simplify your text (works best with English texts!).

13. Write only relevant content.

The fact that longer content is better for SEO is only the case when the content is good and relevant to the visitor to your website. If something can be short, write it briefly. At all times, try to think if the reader has something to do with your text.

14. Use links to other pages

Linking to high-quality and authoritative pages, which have the same topic as your site is good for building relationships.

NOTE: It's not always good to put as many links in your text as they don't need to. It is best to ensure that the links are opened in a new tab or window to ensure that visitors stay on your website.

3. On-page SEO

Great content isnot everything... It's also imperative that your content is optimized for both Google and people. Without proper on-page optimization, even the best content can fail.

In order to implement the tips below, we recommend installing Yoast free SEO plugin (when using WordPress).

Let's get started right away with the following on-page SEO tips:

15. Use your most important keyword in your page's title tag.

There are probably situations where pages rank high without the keyword being in the title tag, but there is indeed a significant correlation between keywords in the title tag and the rankings.

So make sure that every page on your site has a unique title tag that matches your main keyword. We also recommend doing the same for your meta description and your H1 tags.

Use one meta description and H1 per page. Ideally, these also include your target keyword, although this is not crucial. You're just not supposed to fill your H1 with keywords, generally this should just be the title of your piece.

16. Write great titles that are irresistible to seekers (and generate more clicks)

Are you in third place in search results and want to grab extra clicks? Then make sure your title becomes irresistible and asks to be clicked. Although you only have 55 characters to play with, you can get a lot of thought.

Make sure the title is all-encompassing, grabs attention and evokes emotions. If you need ideas about what works, check out a few viral sites on Facebook. They are often masters at creating catchy titles with high click-through rates.

For example, Upworthy writes 25 titles for each post, after which they test the best two or three before making their final choice.

Another tip... If all your competitors follow a particular format, it may be wise to do something completely different to differentiate you and win extra clicks.

17. Owner of an ecommerce site? Add "Buy Intent" keywords in your ecommerce titles and generate more revenue

If you own an ecommerce store, you want to make sure you get consumers when they are in the "buy" phase.

For example, someone looking for a purple dress may be searching for:

Reviews
Images of purple dresses
Information about what purple dresses are (you never know!)

But someone looking to buy "purple dresses" is much more likely to make a purchase.

So simply adding the word "buy" to your titles can get you more conversion.

One format we like to use [Product naam] for Ecommerce sites is: Buy Online. The gift about this title is that a template can be made of it, which means you don't have to write it for thousands of different products!

18. Enlarge Click Through Rate (CTR) by avoiding shortening your meta tag.

Title tags have 55 characters in desktop search results, after which they will be shortened. This looks kind of stupid.

The same applies to meta descriptions... these are typically shortened around 155 characters.

Besides it looks stupid, it can also have bad consequences for your CTR's.. A good rule of thumb is to keep your title tags below 55 characters and your meta descriptions among the 155 characters.

19. Sell your content in your meta description

The meta description is your ad in search results. It just doesn't always become visible (sometimes Google uses pieces from your text that have a better match to the search terms).

But if the meta description is shown, a well-written description can provide some extra clicks. Write a unique, comprehensive meta description for each page on your site, which communicates your Unique Selling Points (USPs) and added value and creates clicks!

But... Don't stick to your first description. Experiment with different meta descriptions to optimize your CTR. As an E-commerce store, you can set the price in your meta description or not.

20. Prioritize your content

Why do people visit your website? For your content, right? So make sure that right when people visit your page they can find what they are looking for. At least the user should be able to read your title (and your intro) without having to scroll.

You also need to make sure that anything that can take away the focus of your content is minimized, such as:

Too many ads: Let's face it, ads are annoying right? Google is not friendly to things that irritate their users.
Annoying pop-ups: Great for conversions? Of course. But too many can cause a visitor to leave your site right away. Make sure all pop-ups are easy to close and not too crazy. Delayed pop-ups or when the site is abandoned make it most likely.
Interstitial Ads: Google has indicated that it is punishing sites that use interstitial ads (ads that are all over the screen) on their mobile users. So be careful about this, especially with those who prevent users from reading the site's content.

21. Make sure your website looks good on any device.

Your website should also be available to users with disabilities. And of course a responsive website, which works on every device, Logical..

22. Generate more traffic by optimizing your images to the distance!

Google image can provide a lot of traffic to your website. This is especially true when you own an ecommerce company. Why? Because many people start their search on Google images instead of on the normal Google search.

But here's the problem: Google can't see what's on our images yet. You have to tell them this yourself. So add thescriptive alt texts (captions) to all your images and take advantage of it to provide additional traffic to your site.

You can also give Google an indication of what's in the image by putting a description in the file name.

Good: img src="happy-clown.jpg" alt="clown happy" />
Bad: img src="1550111.jpg" alt"" />

Simple, right!?

You should also make sure your images are compressed and optimized to be downloaded as quickly as possible. Why? Because this is not only a factor for ranking in Google Images but also in the regular search.

To make this a little easier, you could use a plugin. The plugin will automatically compress your images when you upload them. Imagify also has a bulk optimization tool, which allows existing images to be compressed to as much as 50. The big downside of additional plugins is that it correctly disadvantaged the speed of your site. We therefore recommend that it be reduced manually.

23. Use short, descriptive URLs for your content

If your CMS (Content Managagement System) allows, use short, descriptive URLs for your content pages.

Here's why:

They look better;
A slight SEO effect may occur by using keywords in your URL;
Anchor links (people who link to your URL) take your keywords with you.

24. Minimize duplicate content to keep Google Panda happy

"Duplicate content"= are large blocks of text that appear on many different pages of your site. That's not a big deal if you also have a lot of other content on your page.

But boilerplate texts can be a problem mainly for ecommerce websites. Why? Because product pages often have the same words about delivery terms.

What does Google say about this? Google says that there is very little unique content on the different pages, which probably provide little value.

25. Target your local SEO? Then put your address in the layout of your site

Your contact details can be found so easily.

But if your company targets local searches it's even more important. It's even advisable to add your physical address and contact information to each footer of your pages. This will make Google more aware of your location and communicate your trust to your visitors.

26. Choose a cool domain name instead of listing your keywords

Research has shown that matching your domain name and keywords has little SEO value. Therefore, use a cool domain name to stand out to strengthen your brand. As baasenbaas.nl ;)

27. Improve your site's load speeds by implementing Google recommendations

Page loading time is a ranking factor. If everything else is constant, faster load times will lead to a higher ranking.

But how do you optimize your load times? First of all, you need to test the loading times of your site. This can be done using Google Pagespeed Insights. Pagespeed Insights will recommend a few things. Implement the changes if they are feasible for you.

28. If you use WordPress, install a Caching Plugin

A good caching plugin can dramatically improve the speed of your site.

Without caching plugin, WordPress is pretty heavy on database calls. You will especially see this on a day when there is a lot of traffic on your site. And just then you want your site to be fast!

A good caching plugin delivers static HTML versions of your pages to your visitors, which load very quickly and ensure that your server can handle a lot more traffic. A must is WP Rocket, this plugin is not free but one of the best. Some themes and hosters also have caching.

29. Install Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)

Accelerated mobile pages are stripped-down versions of your pages that load very quickly on mobile devices. Google will most likely rank AMP ready pages better, as these pages are already featured in search results. If you use WordPress, you can use the free AMP plugin to make it easy to set up.

30. Use Rich Snippets/Structured data to increase your CTR

Rich snippets are descriptive HTML tags, which make search engines better understand the content of your pages. In some cases, they can even be seen in search results!

31. Find high-ranking keywords with low CTR and increase traffic

The search analysis report is probably the most useful report in the Google Search Console. You can use these to find keywords with a below-average CTR for the ranking position.

Once you've found these, you can then split them with different meta descriptions to find out which variations work well for a higher CTR! For example, we could improve our CTR (0.54) on SEO Amsterdam.

32. Update your content regularly (and get a lot more traffic)

Update old content regularly to ensure it stays relevant, fresh and rankworthy.

4. Linkbuilding

When it comes to SEO, links are very important.

A study by Ahrefs found that link popularity still has the highest correlation with Google rankings. So, if you want to rank high, you have to start linkbuilding.

(So, great content isn't enough!)

Here are some tips for starting link building.

33. Repair broken backlinks to get instant SEO result

Use the "Best by links" report in Ahrefs site explorer to find broken pages with many links.

Site > Explorer Fill >> Domain in > Pages Best by links filter for "404 not found" errors

Try to fix the links by approaching the administrators of the linking site and asking them to update the link or by setting up a 301 redirect.

34. Steal the broken links of your competitors

"Stealing" from the links of your competitors is an expression that is widely used, but in this case it is really true!

Find broken links indicating that they have been moved or removed on your competitor's site;
Offers your own source as an alternative.

You can find all the broken links of your competitor's site within seconds, using the "Broken backlinks" feature in Ahrefs site explorer.

Site > Explorer Fill competitor > domain > in > Explore Backlinks Broken

35. Focus on building links that actually provide extra traffic (the golden line for linkbuilding!)

What is the best type of link you can get for your site? Easy. A link that provides extra forward traffic. (Isn't that what the left are for?)

Any link that is good for forward traffic to your site is good for your business a good one for SEO. It will also be completely safe from future Google updates.

But how can we find future link candidates who can provide forward traffic? Generally, it's all about looking at the website/page where you wonder, "will this website provide more traffic and will visitors quickly click on my link?" Only this is often easier said than done with some websites, so it's also good to look at the estimated traffic in Ahrefs Site Explorer.

Site > Explorer Fill URL/domain in > Overview

Other measures can also be used, such as:

Domain Rating (DR)
URL Rating (UR)• Ahrefs Rank (AR)

‍

And of course the values of MOZ:

DA (domain authority)
PA (page authority)

It is also important to keep in mind that Google attaches more value to links that are in a text than those outside a text.

36. Don't worry about "no-follow" – Be especially concerned about the link quality.

While dofollow links are still better for rankings, it is generally assumed that nofollow links affect SEO. All in all, it's normal to have a mix of both types of links in your backlink profile.

So don't worry too much about whether a link is dofollow or nofollow. If it's a high quality link go for it!

37. Provide a few anchor text links (which still affect Google rankings)... But don't do it too much.

A recent study by Ahrefs shows that keywords in anchor texts still have a lot of influence on the rankings. But... It has also been found that there is a sweet spot. Only one in three links should own a keyword for which you try to rank. Anything up there can cause problems with Google Penguin, so make sure you have diversity in your anchor texts.

38. Remove/deny all dangerous links

If you're really behind your business, don't waste time building spammy links. They just don't work. So it's useful to see if your link profile doesn't contain low-quality links. These can be a sign of negative SEO. And of course you also want to keep an eye on whether good links are coming your way!

You can export your full link profile using Ahref's Site Explorer & Google Search Console.You can find that under the heading links to your site in Search Console.

Any link that looks suspicious or is of low quality should ideally be removed. This means that you will need to get in touch with the webmaster to ask if it can remove the links.

If this fails, the best option is to use Google's "disavow" tool to deny them.

39. Find/monitor the links of your competition (and clamp them for your site)

If a site links to your competitor then you would like a link from them too! Use Ahrefs Site Explorer to export your competitor's backlinks and look for opportunities.

Site > Explorer Enter your competitor's domain in > Backlink profile > Backlinks > Export

You'll need to monitor your competitor's backlinks sharply. Ahrefs can send an email alarm daily, weekly or monthly with all the new backlinks they have discovered in connection with your competitor.

Set an alarm for your competitor's domain (or a specific page) and you'll soon be sent a list of candidates for links in your inbox.

Alerts > Backlinks > Add alert > Set frequency > Daily/weekly/monthly

40. Find sites that link different competitors... And make sure they link you too!

If a site links different competitors, but you don't, that's a great opportunity! Use Ahrefs Link Intersect Tool to find sites that link to different competitors and make sure they link to you too!

Tools > Link > Intersect Fill up > to 10 Competing Domains in Show Link Opportunities

41. Find your competitors' recurring backlinks (and keep an eye on their promotion)

Finding sites that link to your competitors multiple times is a convenient way to discover link building capabilities. And you can also get insights into their promotion strategy.

‍Look here how you can do this.

42. Find the content your competitors are most linked to, make something better and steal their links!

Find out which content generates the most links for your competitors through Best by Links on Ahrefs.

Site > Explorer Fill >> Domain > in Explore Pages Best by Links

RD displays the number of domains that refer for each page. Make something better and connect with all the sites to steal links!

43. Create fantastic "Linkbait" for a wave of traffic and left

"Linkbait" is content designed in a way to attract links. It's something cool, unique and valuable that any blogger/influencer would like to link to. These links can benefit the site's rankings.

This may be anything but it is often one of the following:

An inforgraphic
Data-driven map
A beautiful data visualization
A page focused on valued resources for a particular industry
Cool free interactive tool or content

Pretty simple, right!? People love to share articles they're excited about. If you can create something that seamlessly matches the passion of your audience, your content will spread like an oil slick.

You can also dive into the 'pop culture' (e.g. A band, TV program, a movie etc) to help spread your content this almost always creates an existing audience that you can target for promotion.

If you can't, you can always try to piggyback on the success of others to get extra viral traffic and links for your site. For example, you can do this by retweeting or sharing popular posts.

44. Boost your success by responding quickly to link capabilities by connecting via email

If an article is relatively new, a blogger will be more likely to add your link. To find new content for your keyword, it's easy to set an alarm for the keywords in Ahrefs.

Alerts > Mentions >> Add alert > Fill > Question in Set frequency Add

They will send you an alarm when a new message becomes available with the keyword indicated. Your task is then to respond as quickly as possible and get the backlink!

For most candidates, it is best to keep the emails personal and friendly. For example, if you're connecting with a University speaker for a link on a resource list, it's advisable to start with:

"Good evening Mr. [achternaam]"

Instead of:

"Hey [voornaam]!"

So set the tone of your email based on your candidate. With bloggers it often works to retweet one of their articles first, before you ask them for a link (don't forget to mention them so they can see your tweet!)

That way you can tell them in your email that you have already shared their post. Before you ask them for a link request! Do someone a favor and they will be much more likely to help you. That's just how people work.

45. Use Buzzstream to send emails on a large scale (and keep an eye on everything)

Smaller outreach campaigns can be done using your regular client email. But when you have a larger candidate list or work in a team, it's often easier to use a tool to speed up the process.

‍Buzzstream is one of the best in the industry for this. You can use the tool to manage and monitor larger outreach campaigns. In addition, the automatic contact can find information from your candidates, which saves a lot of time.

Not a fan of Buzzstream? We also recommend:

Pitchbox
Yesware
Respona

It doesn't matter which tool you choose, as long as you look at which candidates have opened your emails multiple times without responding. These are your main candidates for a follow-up mail, just wait a few days before you send it. Just don't send more than one follow-up email. There is a blurred line between marketing and spam. And you certainly don't want to cross that line!

46. Find other goals for your content and adjust it accordingly (to get extra value out of it)

Get more out of your best content by turning it into an infographic, a Slideshare, a presentation, or video to share it on relevant sites.

You can also broaden your audience by customizing your best content for authoritarian sites, such as:

Medium;
Linkedin Pulse;
Social Media Today

And don't worry about copying content. As long as you link back to the original article.

Oh and for bad old posts, which hardly yield search results, why don't you remove them from your site and re-post them on Medium, LinkedIn, etc with a link back to your site.

47. Get left from Wikipedia and make sure they stay put...

Anyone can add a link to Wikipedia, but the trick is to make sure it stands. How does this work?

The answer is simple:

Only add a link if your content:

Perfectly matches the subject
It's totally amazing
Adds something to what's already available

If you link to something average, the link will disappear when a moderator checks the content. Link with something that is really useful and 9 times out of 10 the link will continue to exist!

48. Answer questions on Quora/Forums to ensure more links and more traffic

Links in your answer to questions on sites like Quora won't usually bring the most SEO value, but they can do more traffic. And traffic and sales is what we're looking for isn't it?

So get to work! The same goes for niche-specific forums. Participate, answer questions, and you will occasionally be able to share a link that will provide more traffic to your site. The gift about this is that the people who click through are probably already trusting you more. This means they're more open to what you have to offer them.

49. Change brand entries to links

When someone mentions your brand but doesn't add a link to your site, that's a link building option. They are already involved in your company, so just contact them and ask if they want to add your link.

It's very easy to keep an eye on mentions of your brand through Google Alerts. Just set an alarm for your brand name and you will be notified when there will be a mention on the internet.

50. Guest blogging on low DA sites, but with potential

When it comes to posting guest blogs, many people will swear to write only for super high-authority, industry-leading websites.

We don't agree with this. Why? Because the whole world is trying to get on these websites. For this reason, it is often much easier to write for a younger/newer websites.

Remember, just because the website is new and has very little traffic, this doesn't have to mean that this will always be so, many of these sites will get bigger with time.

Here are a few spearheads to keep in your head while guest blogging:

Relevance is number one, if there is no overlap in the target group of your site and the one you write for will save yourself the trouble of writing for them.
Make sure that all your guest contributions are top quality (yes, even if you publish for new websites!);
Be careful in adding too many anchor texts that match exactly in the body of your posts;
Add brand or bare URL links to your bio (don't use anchor links!).

51. Get appreciation for using your patented material. (Yes, that's a link!)

If someone uses one of your images without your permission, you can ask them to delete them. But it is much better (for both parties) to ask if they want to post a link!

52. Give your best content an easy boost by adding internal links

Want to give your best content a quick boost? Then add internal links from pages of your site with a high UR (URL rating). You can also find pages that have the most to a few internal links by using the Search Analytics report in the Google Search Console.

Here's how:

Use the Search analytics report, organized using impressions, to look at keywords with a higher number and average search position of 11.

Search Traffic > Search Analytics > Check Impressions + Position > Order By Impressions

Adding some internal links for these specific pages may be enough to get the keyword into the top 10 and boost traffic.

5. Technical SEO

Great content written? Check.

Perfect on-page optimization? Check.

Good job! But we're not done yet... It's time for the technical part. Technical SEO is about making sure your site is ready for success. And that there are no huge errors that can get in the way of your site's performance.

This is extremely important. You don't want all the work you've done to be for nothing.

Here are the tips to make sure everything runs smoothly...

53. Create a content hierarchy that ensures that all links are sent to your site by a funnel.

Allow PageRank to flow through your site as effectively as possible by coming up with a clear structure for your site. And for important pages, you might want to make sure that they can be accessed in different ways.

54. Use www. or non-www (not both)

This is something many sites still do wrong; ensure a good WWW resolve. It's been better than it used to be, but Google sees the same site with or without www as two different sites. So use either www or non-www and 301 redirect the one you don't use.

You can also use canonical URLs. But for safety, a 301 redirect is wiser.

It is also worth setting a preferred domain in the Google Search Console. You can do this in a number of clicks after you've verified both versions.

55. Set canonical URLs to remove duplicate content.

Add a canonical link element to set a preferred URL with the same content.

‍<link rel="canonical" href="http://example.com/the-defacto-version-of-the-page/">

‍For example, ecommerce systems that allow filtering of different categories can automatically create multiple URLs with much of the same content.

For example, check out the Yoast article here for more information.

56. Block spiders for sensitive content with robots.txt

Exclude Googlebot and other crawlers for sensitive parts of your site (such as admin) by blocking them in robots.txt

‍Click here for more information.

57. Use permanent301 redirects for moved or deleted pages

Always use 301 redirects to refer old pages to new URLs.

It was always the case that a 301 redirect did not pass on the full link power, but Google recently indicated that the 301 redirects can pass on as a full link. If you're using WordPress, you can use the free plugins to manage them.

58. Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to support your content

Many websites are hosted on a server located somewhere else in the world (eg. America). But, what happens when someone enters your website from England?

That data will have to go all over the world. This means that pages will load more slowly and this is bad for SEO. CDNs can solve this problem by creating cached copies of your website on servers around the world. That way, pages load faster, because visitors are closer to the physical location of the server.

This not only increases the speed of your site, but it also saves you bandwidth costs. CloudFlare is one of the easiest CDNs to set up. That's how you can do this.

59. Install an SSL Certificate on your site

Moving your entire website to SSL is recommended. Google gives a narrow ranking boost to sites that are accessible about HTTPS and this is likely to be a heavier ranking factor in the future.

You can use Let's Encrypt for a free SSL certificate for your site.

60. Identify potential index issues by performing a 'site:mydomain.com' search

This might give you an indication of how many pages Google indexed to your site by performing the following search:

site:mydomain.com

If the number of pages is higher than you expected, that's a sign that there are index issues that need to be resolved.

61. Get advice from Google on how to fix things on your site

Did you know that Google can tell you exactly what problems exist on your site? And that they can also give you feedback on how to improve them? Just sign up for the Google Search Console, this is completely free.

Here are a few useful practical things you can learn within the Search Console:

Use crawl errors reports to find out if Google has encountered errors on your site.

Crawl > Crawl Errors

If you see 404 errors, it means you'll want to set up 301 redirects for these pages. Server errors can be a sign that your site is suffering from down time and that's definitely something you should take a look at.

Try to solve all the problems anyway! But, those aren't the only solutions Google will tell you about... Run the HTML improvements report to get quick tips on improving your on-page SEO.

Search Appearance > HTML Improvements

If Google tells you to fix something then it's wise to actually do this.

62. Submit a site folder to help Google enter your site

It's useful to add a site folder or several to ensure that all pages on your site can be found, so you can then set up a crawl priority.

Crawl > Sitemaps

This isn't such a problem if the structure of your site is just right, but it's one you can strip off the list. The more you can help Google the better!

It's also valuable to make sure Google visits your site when it's updated. This will only cost a few clicks and your Page will be recached almost immediately.

Crawl > Fetch As Google > Fetch > Submit To Index > Crawl only this URL > Go

6. Winner Tips

Not everything in SEO can be pigeonholed. But, that doesn't mean those things aren't important! So here are several SEO tips you shouldn't skip...

63. Remove/minimize skinny content

The Google's Panda algorithm penalizes websites with too much lean/duplicate content. The solution? Make sure this content is amplified, deleted, or doesn't let it count.

You can make sure that this content is not counted in the following way:

‍<ina name="robots" content="noindex, follow">

‍Examples of content you don't want to count include tag and author archives in WordPress.

64. See if your site hasn't been hacked or contains added links

If your site is hacked, your traffic will drop in rapid succession... And Google can even remove you from search results (doi organic traffic!). So it's important to make sure your website hasn't been hacked and doesn't contain suspicious outgoing links.

With Sucuri's free site check, you can quickly check your website for hacks/security issues and you can find out if you're not blacklisted. If you have problems, Sucuri offers a paid cleaning service.

65. Keep an eye on whether you don't have a sudden drop in your traffic

A sudden drop in your traffic is normally a first sign that you have been penalized. But before you panic, make sure your site is neither like that that could have caused this decline.

Such as:

Was your website offline for a period of time?
Is your analytics code installed in a good way?
Did you accidentally block Googlebots?

If everything is fine, then there is probably a penalty... But, even if you haven't been punished, it doesn't mean you're in a good place. Declines in traffic that align with Google updates are usually an early indication of algorithmic penalties.

You can view the Panguin tool to map it out. If you see a correlation, this could mean that you will be punished in the future, so then seek help!

66. Beware of manual penalty notifications

Even worse than a drop in your traffic is a manual penalty. A manual penalty means that someone from Google has reviewed your website and penalized you on the basis of something suspicious.

This may include:

Too aggressive or manipulation link building
Low-quality content• Suspicious outgoing links
Non-supervised user content
Manipulative use of a markup scheme

Manual web spam penalties will typically be communicated by an email or message in the Google Search Console. Restoring these manual penalties is very difficult, so you have to be very careful in removing links or deindexing pages. If you have any doubts, try to consult an experienced SEO consultant.

67. Find out which keywords are under "not provided" by linking Google analytics and the Google Search Console

Google Analytics is the industry standard when it comes to traffic statistics. But, although it tells you a lot, analytics no longer tells you which keywords provide traffic.

This is because Google ranks many keywords below: "not provided". This is very irritating. This means that you will not receive any or hardly any useful information.

Fortunately, by connecting the Search Console to Analytics, you can extract the keyword data from the "Search Queries" report. This is not perfect, but it is indeed an improvement.

‍That's how you can do this.

68. Make sure spam links are removed.

Spam links arise when spammers lead Google Analytics to believe that a link has taken place, which never actually occurred.

That's annoying. And this makes your Google Analytics data skewed. These references have no value and provide inaccurate reports. Fortunately, this is easy to fix and you can clean up your statistics.

‍That's how it works.

69. Follow outgoing links with 'event tracking'

The more knowledge you have about how users interact with your site the better, so it's worth setting up event tracking for your outgoing links.

If you generate a lot of traffic for someone, it means they're probably aware of this. This can make them more susceptible to outreach.

70. Make it almost too easy and attractive to share your content

Social media has no direct impact on the rankings. However, it does ensure that your content is distributed and ends up with potential linking partners.

Social traffic can have an indirect impact on factors influencing the rankings, such as:

Traffic/buzz;
Brand searches;
URL searches;
Etc.

So, it makes sense to make it as easy (and attractive) as possible to share your content.

Here's how:

Share your posts on social media: Always be active on social media and share your content. More people who see your content = more people sharing your content;
Display social buttons (and counts) in prominent positions: If people can't see your social buttons, they won't click on them. Make sure they are immediately clear to your visitors. Showing your current number of shared posts also provides social evidence and can lead to more people sharing.
Use open graph metadata: This makes your link look better on Facebook/Twitter/etc. Nicer links get more clicks and are shared more often. If you have Installed Yoast, the plugin will help you with this.
. Create custom images for all your posts: Use light, colorful images that attract attention when people scroll across their timeline. This will help generate more clicks from your socials.

The latest SEO tips

Here are the latest SEO tips that will keep you running up front in the SEO race...

71. Learn as much as possible about the search engines and the field

Knowledge is power. There are many good SEO blogs that offer free advice, so learn as much as you can.

72. Watch for updates (and case studies from the industry)

Things change within SEO, so keep track of these changes. Industry studies can also help.

73. Be patient

Effective SEO takes a lot of hard work and time, but those worth a time are worth it. Research has shown that SEO still generates the most value from the investment of all incoming marketing channels.