Looking for a collection of no-nonsense SEO tips that you can easily implement to boost your site’s search engine rankings? Then look no further.
We’ve put together a list of 3 SEO tips and best practices. They’re split into logical sections to cover various aspects of search engine optimization—from on-page factors to keyword research, link building and more.
For most tips, you will also find a link to further reading, including official Google guidelines (where relevant). We’ve also handpicked some of the best SEO guides on the web.
To jump to a specific section, use the quick links on the left.
Strapped for time? Start with these 3 SEO tips.
1. Keyword Research
Keyword research should be the starting point for any SEO campaign.
Why? Because if you don’t know what people are actually searching for in your niche, you’ll be relying on luck—rather than data—to guide your decisions.
That’s no way to run your business.
Follow the solid keyword research tips below to get started 🙂
1. Make Sure You’re Targeting (and Optimizing for) the RIGHT Keyword
Most people make one of three mistakes when it comes to keyword targeting:
- They fail to optimize for any keyword(s) at all;
- They attempt to optimize for too many keywords;
- They optimize for irrelevant keywords.
You can solve those first two mistakes by remembering this: each page/post on your website should target one “main” keyword or topic.SIDENOTE.It’s also important to try to avoid targeting the same keyword on multiple pages. This is because Google will usually only choose to rank one of these pages, and it may not be the one you want them to rank!
A good exercise for choosing the right keyword is simply to send your page to a friend and ask “what is this page all about?”
Their answer will usually give you the best keyword/topic ideas.
However, you should still always Google keywords before committing to them.
Why? Because it’ll help you to understand what—in Google’s eyes—is the best result for that particular keyword. If most of the results are vastly different to the content you’re trying to rank, it probably isn’t a great keyword to target.
Screenshot showing the top 3 ranking pages in Google for the keyword “outreach”. These results are vastly different to our content, meaning this isn’t the best keyword to target.
Same goes for keywords with a lot of SERP features (e.g. featured snippets, Adwords ads, shopping results, etc).
These push the “10 blue links” (i.e. organic results) way down, which results in a lower CTR and less traffic.
2. New Website or Low Authority? Find Low Competition Keywords for the Best Shot at Ranking Quickly
Running a new website with low authority?
If so, you’ll find it harder to rank for competitive keywords.
Sure, it can be done, but it won’t be easy. You’ll need to go the extra mile and create something super awesome. Then promote it like crazy.
It, therefore, makes sense to first target less competitive keywords.
This is the quickest way grow your search traffic.
Fortunately, it’s easy to figure out how difficult a keyword is to rank for using our “keyword difficulty” (KD) score within Ahrefs Keywords Explorer.
Example:
Most keywords related to “search engine optimization” have very high difficulty scores.
But there’s one that has a low difficulty score and should be easier to rank for…
“What does SEO stand for”
You can find out how we calculate the difficulty score for a keyword here.
3. Set Up Alerts to Spy on Your Competitor’s New Keywords in Real-Time
Keep tabs on your competitor’s content strategy by monitoring their new keywords.
Why? Because if your competitor targets a new keyword, you may also want to target it.
You can set up an alert in Ahrefs, which will send you an email summary of all new keywords we have discovered your competitor ranking for.
Alerts > New keywords > Add alert > enter competitor’s domain > set report frequency > Add
Simple, but effective!
