Top 3 SEO Tips and Tricks You Need To Know

Are you tired of spending valuable working hours creating SEO-optimized content that still doesn't seem to do much to increase your conversion rates or ranking factor?

Do you feel like you're getting lost in the details of SEO, but haven't created a strong enough foundation when it comes to your digital marketing strategy?

Are you new to the world of all things SEO, and simply have little to no idea what you're doing?

If so, we know you are seeking access to the most effective and current SEO tricks that won't just save you time, but will also help you to build your brand trust and recognition.

The good news?

It's not as hard as you might think to create engaging and optimized content.

But how can you pull it off?

By focusing on the “Big Three” SEO tricks, which we'll cover in this article.

1. Mobile-Friendly Content Matters

The first of the “Big Three” of SEO tricks, “Mobile-Friendly Content”.

Before getting too far, what does “Mobile-Friendly Content” mean exactly?

Mobile-Friendly Content means to ensure that you've done everything possible to optimize your content for users who will access your website and blog posts on their mobile devices.

But why exactly is mobile-friendliness so important?

First of all, as of 2017, search is up as much as 80% in the past 2 years from a mobile device than on their desktop computers. This means that, if your website isn't optimized for mobile use, you're going to conservatively miss out on over half of your target market.

Additionally, Google has officially switched to a mobile-first search index strategy. In the past, your website was indexed (AKA, crawled and categorized by Google) according to how it would appear to a user getting online from a desktop computer.

Now, however, Google indexes your website according to how it looks to a user searching your site on a mobile device, like a smartphone or a tablet.

What if your mobile and desktop sites are built differently?

Load times and providing answers to questions your searchers aka potential customers are asking are most vital for both mobile and desktop.  If these both aren’t addressed and consistently a focus, rankings will drop.

Most website themes come responsive and mobile ready, so if you still manage separate mobile and desktop websites, it might be time to consider a redesign immediately.  

Now, let's take a look at some of the most effective SEO tricks you can implement to increase your website's overall mobile-friendliness.

SEO Tricks For Mobile-Friendliness

Now that you have a better understanding of why mobile-friendliness is so important, let's get to the specific SEO tricks you can use to keep mobile users on your site for as long as possible.

First of all, make sure that your website can be easily read on a mobile device. This is one of those SEO tricks that's almost laughable in its simplicity.

However, because it's so obvious, you might be surprised by how many people forget to do it.

Take a look at your font size.

Is it legible on the smaller screens of a mobile device? Is your text spaced out evenly across the page? If not, aim for a paragraph break about every two sentences. Avoid “walls of text” at all costs.

And speaking of text?

Think about what you can shorten into an icon, button, or graphic instead.

For example, instead of saying something like, “Be sure to share this post and follow us on social media for more exciting updates!” Simply include share and follow buttons at the bottom of your mobile site page or blog post.

And about the buttons themselves?

Another forgotten SEO trick is to ensure they're large enough for mobile users to actually click them easily.

Optimizing Images And More

What about the images you use on your mobile site?

Are they displaying fully and correctly? Are their sizes actually optimized for mobile devices? If you use WordPress, a plugin such as WP Smush is great for image optimization and compression.

Finally, make sure you take the time to remove any autoplay features and pop-up ads from your mobile site.

Not only are pop-ups annoying, but they'll also seriously slow your mobile loading speed.

These SEO tricks will help you to boost your site's mobile-friendliness — and climb in the search engine results in the process.

2. Blogging Gives You A Serious Leg Up

Next up on our list of the “Big Three” SEO tricks, “Blogging”.

What is Blogging?

Blogging means to regularly update your website or blog with relevant information to your readers in a casual or conversational tone.

It's time to talk about the importance if blogging.

First of all, you should know that brands that have a blog have over 430% more indexed pages than those that don't.

This means that your website will have over 430% more chances to rank higher in search engine listings than your blog-less competitors.

But blogging also gives you the chance to incorporate other SEO tricks into your website. Let's take a deeper look at why blogging is one of the best things you can do for your website.

More Opportunities To Use Keywords

A big reason why blogging is one of the essential SEO tricks?

Because it gives you more opportunities to use keywords in your overall website content.

When you write blog posts, make sure that you take the time to do plenty of keyword research.

Essentially, “keywords” are the search terms that people type into Google and other engines when they're looking for the services and products that your company offers.

Why is it good to use “keyword-rich” content on your website?

The end goal of every website is to create content that speaks directly to the audience of the website.  

What’s important to understand however is you are not directly speaking to your audience, you are first speaking to the “search engines” on the internet so they can, in turn, deliver your content to the most appropriate and relevant audience on the internet.

The most effective way in speaking to search engines whether using written text, audio, or voice is by understanding the questions and information your target market is seeking and provide the answers in a detailed and informative way, also known as keyword-rich content.

Where to start when selecting keywords to use on your blog?

One of the best SEO tricks is to ensure that you select a few “location-based” keywords.

For example, include the name of your state, city, and even general service area in your “longtail (over five words) keyword phrases”, like this Chicago, Illinois SEO Expert, or Chicago, Illinois SEO Consultant.  

For a more in-depth understanding of keyword research, please check out our keyword research guide:
Beginner SEO Guide: How to Do Keyword Research

Increased Authority And Branding

Another reason why blogging is one of the top SEO tricks?

It helps you to increase your brand's trust and ability to build brand recognition.

Remember, blogging isn't just about hacking your way to the top. It's also about providing relevant, easy-to-digest, and up-to-date information to your audience that they can't find anywhere else.

Set a personal goal that your content will be the source your audience will come to rely on when they need product reviews, advice about your industry, and even opinion posts, and don’t stop until that is accomplished.

This is what helps to keep visitors coming back to your website and not just visiting it once, getting what they need, and never returning.

Additionally, blogging is an awesomely effective way to develop a voice for your brand.

Are you're looking for a way to differentiate yourself from your competitors?

The tone you take, the style you write in, and even the images you select will all help you to create a unique brand identity.

Internal And External Linking

Blogging has so many benefits that it can take up an article of its own, but it is no doubt considered one of the best SEO tricks because it gives you the opportunity to craft a better internal and external linking strategy.

In fact, brands with a blog earn about 97% more inbound links to their website than those that do not.

This means that blogging is an excellent way to widen your target market. You can do this by reaching out to similar blogs and asking them to include a link back to your blog in their posts.

Google certainly takes the number of inbound links your site receives into consideration when determining your ranking factor.

I personally focus on writing the best content possible that provides the best value to my readers, which often includes writing positive information about my competition.  I will do that every time because I don’t live in a world of competition, I live in a world of providing value to my readers.

The more you do this the more you will receive reciprocal links in return, which is a true organic link relationship that Google wants. (more to come in later posts)

You can also use internal linking to help you with this strategy.

When you're writing new blog content, always make sure that you include a link back to relevant past posts or product pages. For example, if you're writing a post on the best affordable floral arrangements? You could include a link to your floral company's best selling arrangements for under $50.00.

Above all, make sure that you keep both internal and external links relevant to the content you're including them within. Google can tell when you're linking for the sake of linking, and you risk getting penalized as a result.

Tells Google You Update Your Website Frequently

Finally, blogging is one of the most effective SEO strategies because it lets Google and other search engines know when and what piece of content you updated and how your audience reacted to the updates.

Google understands that websites with frequently-updated internal pages will likely provide more relevant information than those sites that haven't been updated in several months.

Because of this, often the search engine pushes these sites to the top of the results page.

Quick And Dirty Blogging Tips

Now that you know why blogging is one of the top SEO tricks?

Let's go over a few quick things you can do to make the most out of your blog.

First of all, if you are like most and don't have the creative writing skill to pull off a quality blog post, there are plenty of resources that will allow you to outsource your content.

If you want to create the content yourself, we suggest creating a posting schedule to help keep you accountable. Aim to post a new blog at least four times a week — more as you continue to grow your business.

Make sure that you use keywords in your blog titles, as well as in the meta descriptions of the postings themselves.

Finally, if you use any images in your postings (and you should)?

Make sure that the file name that you save these images under also contains a keyword.

3. Focus On Site Speed

The final entry on our list of the “Big Three” SEO tricks, “Site Speed”.

Ensuring that you're doing everything you can to help your website to load quickly.

Especially in today's instant gratification-obsessed world, you need your website to load as close to instantly as is possible.

But it's not just about meeting your customers' demands. Your overall site speed also has a huge influence on your ranking factor.

In fact, over half of mobile users say that they'll click away from a website that takes longer than just three seconds to completely load.

How does this make a difference when it comes to your website?

Because, whenever someone clicks away from your website, it lowers what's known as “dwell time.” Dwell time is the average amount of time that a visitor will spend on your website.

As you've likely guessed, sites with a higher dwell time rank higher in search engine results. This is why site speed is such a key part of our list of the top SEO tricks.

How To Increase Your Site Speed

So, now that you know why site speed matters, what do you need to know to boost your own?

You can use a tool, such as Pingdom Website Speed Test, to review your website performance.

First, consider choosing a content delivery network, or a CDN, that can handle the amount of traffic you expect to get.

Next, eliminate any autoplay video features and pop-up ads from your site (just as you did earlier to increase mobile-friendliness.)

Make sure that you've enabled website caching, which will greatly help your site to load faster on the devices of repeat visitors.

Take a look at the number of plugins you use, and get rid of any excess ones that you can.

Finally, be sure that you enable file compression on your website. This will help your website to limit the overall number of bytes it sends out.

To learn more about your websites page speed, check out:
WP Engine Review: The Pros and Cons of WordPress Hosting

Need Access To More SEO Tips and Tricks?

We hope that this post has helped you to understand the “Big Three” SEO tricks that you need to optimize your site and improve your overall ranking factor.

Of course, implementing these small but incredibly effective changes will also help to improve your site's overall user experience.

Remember, when it comes to your SEO strategy, things don't need to be complicated.

Just focus on mobile-friendliness, site speed, and creating an epic blog. The rest will come afterward.

Looking for more SEO advice?

We've got you covered.

Spend some time on our website to learn more about how to overtake your competitors, increase your conversion rate, and grow your brand at a rapid pace.