Are you looking to grow your business’ traffic swiftly yet organically? You see your numbers grow little by little but you need a boost in order to stay relevant.
You can’t help but feel a little jealous of your competitors. Why do they seem to be growing at rapid speed and you’re not? It could be that they have a bigger budget when it comes to marketing or they have someone devoted to SEO 24/7.
Rather than refer to black hat SEO tactics–the dark side of search engine optimization that’ll land you in hot water–you just need to know the fastest SEO techniques.
Curious to know more? We’ll catch you up to speed on all the latest trends that’ll give you that boost in traffic you need.
Let’s get started!
Speed Is Everything
One quick and easy way to get a bump in the rankings is to decrease the load time of your site. Put yourself in your visitor’s shoes: if a site takes more than three seconds to load, you’re likely to click off and find another one that’s faster, right?
That’s just the way the world works now. Everything is depended on speed–food delivery, Amazon packages, you name it.
Without that efficiency, that’s probably why you aren’t seeing the numbers you want to.
Remember how we guessed that you’d leave a site if it took more than three seconds to load? We weren’t just throwing a random number at you. Shockingly, a whopping 40% of visitors will leave if a site if it takes more than three seconds to load.
To make sure your site is up to speed, here are a few things you can do right now to cut down on load time:
- Reduce image file sizes
- No walls of text
- Optimize above-the-fold content
- Reduce redirects
- Optimize for mobile
Keeping your site minimal is key to decreasing load time as well.
Mobile-Friendly Is on the Rise
If you haven’t heard of this term yet, mobile-friendly means to have a website that’s optimized for mobile devices. We’re talking about smartphones and tablets.
It’s also no surprise that this trend is picking up speed. Think about it: we spend more time on our phones than we did on a desktop computer ten years ago.
The ease and accessibility of our phones and tablets make it easier to conduct searches. Wherever we’re at, we can grab our phones and find the answers we need.
We know it may seem a little daunting to hear that you need to cram your whole website on a tiny screen but it is doable. Your mobile site should include all of your content but in more bite-sized pieces.
Bite-sized meaning more to the point. On a desktop, it’s easier to create a bigger site with lots of content. On mobile devices, you want to lead visitors to the information they’re looking for, not have them endlessly scroll through your site.
That said, you’ll want a menu that’s easy to navigate. Include a couple of links to important places like your blog (if you have one), your products/services, and your about or contact page.
Be sure to break up long walls of text and don’t include too many images. And remember–mobile screens are designed for fingers. So, you’ll want your buttons to have a good amount of space between one another so users don’t get frustrated.
Don't Allow for 'Linkless' Backlinks
Backlinks act like a signal for search engines to know which sites are trustworthy. If you have a link on a site that’s not yours then that gives you a little nudge in the rankings. It tells Google that your site is relevant and full of useful information.
Unfortunately, not everyone who mentions your site links to it. This is called a ‘linkless’ backlink. While it doesn’t hurt your ranking, it doesn’t help it either.
The point of a backlink is to gain traffic from another site. Without that link, it doesn’t tell search engines anything about your site.
Think of it as someone praising you for your years of hard work without an incentive. In a workplace scenario, that would mean no raise or promotion.
To prevent ‘linkless’ backlinks from happening to your site, there are free and paid tools out there. Just search for “backlink checker” and that’ll bring up a list of tools and apps that’ll alert you when your site is mentioned without an appropriate link. Or get in touch with us and we can run a report for you.
Check Those Reviews
If you offer products and/or services, we’re sure your business is on sites like Yelp. The reviews that people leave play a factor in your online reputation and ultimately, your traffic.
Have a lot of bad reviews? Don’t expect people to visit your site any time soon.
Even a couple of bad reviews can send people to your competitors. While you can’t make the bad ones go away, you can still help yourself.
Politely respond to the author of the review and reassure them you’re aware of their complaints and you’re willing to work with them to come to a solution. Even if they don’t answer back or take any other action to your reply, it still works in your favor.
Other people reading the reviews will see your response. They’ll see how you’re willing to work with the disgruntled customer. In turn, you’ll still gain traffic while keeping your online reputation intact.
And be sure to never add fuel to the fire. Take all reviews (good and bad) into consideration. After all, you didn’t start a business for yourself but rather your customers.
Start Growing Your Traffic with the Fastest SEO Trends
While SEO isn’t meant to be conquered overnight, there are some tactics you can take to grow your traffic organically and at a good pace. Let the fastest SEO trends we mentioned guide you in gaining more business.
For more articles like this one, be sure to check out our blog!
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About the Author:
Mike Carroll
Mike steers the overall strategy & direction at Bearhug Digital, promoting constant innovation and success.
Sometimes referred to as the ‘unicorn’, he has the ability to communicate and execute on big ideas effortlessly. Mike challenges his team to strive for excellence when crafting digital solutions. He leads from the front and is involved in every aspect of every project. With a passion for leveraging technology to solve business challenges, Mike’s eye for design and vision for scaleable solutions drives innovation and exponential results.
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