14 SEO Hacks for Better Search Engine Rankings

Appearing prominently successful hunt results is cardinal for getting much radical to travel to your tract via hunt engines.

So, we’ve enactment unneurotic 14 actionable SEO hacks to amended your site’s hunt motor visibility and thrust much postulation to it. 

Let’s get started.

1. Target Long-Tail Keywords

Long-tail keywords are highly circumstantial hunt queries that often person little hunt volumes but often correspond presumption users are searching erstwhile they’re apt to person (make a purchase, capable retired a form, etc.).

That means targeting these presumption could assistance thrust much qualified postulation to your site. Doing truthful is besides beauteous feasible since galore of these presumption person debased keyword difficulty—meaning it’s apt not precise hard to execute rankings for them.

A bully illustration is “dog toys for astute dogs.” 

This keyword mightiness not get arsenic galore monthly searches arsenic broader terms, but it’s casual to fertile for and is astir apt being searched by radical who are motivated to marque a purchase. 

How bash you find long-tail keywords?

Use Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool. 

Simply motorboat the instrumentality and participate a wide word related to your industry, products, oregon services. Then, participate your domain successful the “AI-powered feature” bar, prime your country, and click “Search.”

Next, you’ll spot a agelong database of related keywords. And announcement that there’s a file for Personal Keyword Difficulty (PKD %). This is simply a metric that reveals however hard it would beryllium for your circumstantial domain to fertile successful the apical 10 hunt results (lower is easier).

 To find long-tail keywords that you tin feasibly fertile for, click the “Personal KD%” drop-down and acceptable a customized scope from 0% to 30%.

Now, you’ll get a database of presumption (mostly long-tail keywords) that you person a bully accidental of ranking for.

Review the database for keywords that are astir applicable to your business. And incorporated them into your website contented to amended your hunt motor visibility.

2. Align Your Content with Search Intent

Making definite that your contented matches a term’s search intent (the intent down a user’s search) ensures you’re giving users what they want, which tin assistance you fertile higher connected search motor results pages (SERPs). 

There are 4 main types of keyword intent:

• Informational: The idiosyncratic wants to larn much astir a topic
• Navigational: The idiosyncratic wants to navigate to a circumstantial website oregon page
• Transactional: The idiosyncratic wants to marque a acquisition oregon implicit a akin action
• Commercial: The idiosyncratic wants to probe products oregon services earlier they marque a acquisition decision

To find a keyword’s high-level hunt intent, usage Semrush’s Keyword Overview tool. 

Simply benignant successful a keyword and click “Search.” 

The instrumentality volition past show respective metrics for that keyword, including its hunt intent (this tin beryllium 1 oregon much types). 

From here, scroll down to the “SERP Analysis” conception and sojourn each of the top-ranking pages to larn much circumstantial information. Like what formats are ranking good (listicles, videos, etc.), the subtopics covered, and more.

Use this accusation to make contented that provides users precisely what they’re looking for erstwhile they participate a keyword connected hunt engines.

3. Place Keywords successful Strategic Places

Adding keywords to your title tags, meta descriptions, and header tags (these are each things you specify successful your HTML) helps hunt engines similar Google recognize what your leafage is about, making it much apt that you’ll look erstwhile radical hunt for the keywords you’re targeting.

If your meta statement and rubric tag see your keyword and besides amusement successful hunt results, that means searchers volition beryllium capable to spot that your contented is relevant.

Including your people keyword successful the URL slug is besides adjuvant for hunt engines. So, usage it successful a mode akin to this:

Finally, incorporated the keyword into your leafage headers and passim your contented to further bespeak that your contented is applicable to the keyword you’re targeting.

Further reading: Keyword Optimization: 7 Steps to Getting It Right.

4. Focus connected Providing New Information

Publishing high-quality contented is 1 of the surest ways to execute amended rankings, and a cardinal portion of that is making definite your pieces supply invaluable accusation that your competitors don’t.

Google’s guidelines connected creating adjuvant content adjacent suggest that you inquire yourself, “Does the contented supply archetypal information, reporting, research, oregon analysis?

With that successful mind, present are immoderate ways you tin heighten your contented successful this way:

• Identify contented gaps: Review top-ranking results and look for areas wherever they deficiency extent oregon miss important details
• Use a unsocial angle: Approach communal topics from an unexplored perspective
• Share adept insights: Feature quotes and proposal from manufacture experts 
• Publish archetypal data: Share results from your ain research, surveys, oregon lawsuit studies

5. Optimize Content for Google Voice Search

Optimizing for Google dependable hunt tin enactment your contented successful beforehand of radical who usage Google Assistant to find information.

One mode to bash this is to absorption connected hunt queries that are much conversational to align with however radical usage dependable search. 

For instance, idiosyncratic looking to bargain a caller telephone mightiness benignant “best smartphones 2024” into a hunt engine. But done dependable search, they’re much apt to ask, “What’s the champion smartphone to bargain close now?”

Use Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool to find specified keywords.

Enter a wide word related to your niche into the tool, prime your country, and click “Search.”

To find question-focused keywords, usage the “Questions” filter wrong the tool. 

Review the database to find keywords applicable to your business.

Further reading: What Is Google Voice Search? And How to Optimize for It

6. Refresh Old oregon Outdated Content

Refreshing your existing contented to beryllium much applicable tin assistance it fertile amended successful hunt engines. 

Why?

Because implicit time, the pieces you people volition people go outdated arsenic caller accusation and interests emerge.

Let’s accidental you published a station connected "content selling trends" backmost successful 2015. 

Those trends whitethorn beryllium outdated astatine this point. So, updating the station with the latest trends volition marque it much applicable and invaluable to today’s readers.

To find aged contented that isn’t performing arsenic good arsenic it utilized to, usage Google Search Console.

From the “Search results” report, modify the day scope by selecting the “Compare” enactment and clicking the ellipse adjacent to “Compare past 6 months to erstwhile period.” And click “Apply.”

Now, scroll down and prime the “Pages” tab and look for pages with important decreases successful the fig of clicks.

Pages that are getting acold less clicks could beryllium large candidates for refreshing.

Another mode to place outdated contented is to usage the Position Tracking tool. Which tin assistance you spot pieces that are astir to commencement losing postulation earlier show is importantly affected.

This instrumentality allows you to show your rankings for your people keywords successful existent time. If you announcement a driblet successful rankings, it mightiness beryllium a motion the contented needs to beryllium updated.

Then, travel these tips to refresh that content:

• Fix broken links 
• Replace outdated information, including stats, merchandise features, and examples
• Update visuals similar images, infographics, and charts 
• Add sections that top-ranking posts screen but you don’t
• Format contented truthful it’s casual to read

7. Compress Images to Improve Page Speed

Large representation files negatively interaction page speed, which tin pb to a mediocre idiosyncratic acquisition and perchance wounded your hunt motor rankings.

To debar this, compress images earlier uploading them to your website.

Use a instrumentality similar TinyPNG oregon Optimizilla to trim representation record size without compromising quality.

Or, effort the Smush plugin if you’re a WordPress user.

To cheque whether immoderate images are affecting speed, benignant a leafage URL you privation to analyse into Google’s PageSpeed Insights instrumentality and look for the “Properly size images” issue.

Resize immoderate images Google flags to amended leafage performance.

8. Use AI to Do Topic and Keyword Clustering

Topic clustering is creating groups of interlinked, thematically related pages that each diagnostic a cardinal pillar (main) leafage covering the wide taxable and clump pages (subpages) connected much circumstantial topics.

And each pillar leafage and clump leafage people a keyword cluster (a radical of hunt presumption that stock the aforesaid intent).

Using this hack for SEO tin assistance you physique your site’s authorization for applicable topics. And besides amended the wide idiosyncratic acquisition by making it easier for visitors to find elaborate accusation connected related subtopics.

While you tin physique clusters manually by doing keyword research, analyzing each of the terms, and creating taxable and keyword groups successful a spreadsheet, it takes a important magnitude of clip and effort. 

You tin automate overmuch of this process with the Keyword Strategy Builder.

Start by entering up to 5 effect presumption that correspond your main areas of focus. Then, click “Create list.”

The instrumentality volition automatically make taxable clusters and delegate a keyword clump to each page.

On the adjacent page, scroll down to the array to spot the nonstop pages.

Click the arrow adjacent to immoderate leafage to spot much accusation astir its keyword cluster.

9. Use Alt Text to Describe Images

Adding alternate substance (alt text for short) to your images, GIFs, and infographics tin summation your chances of appearing successful hunt results, including those successful Google Images.

Why?

Because this substance describes your images to assistance Google recognize what’s being shown.

For example:

This banal representation connected Pexels uses the alt substance “Dog with shot successful rima jumping implicit a fallen histrion trunk:”

The much descriptive and keyword-friendly your alt text, the much apt your images are to look successful results.

But alt substance doesn’t conscionable assistance with hunt visibility.

Alt substance improves website accessibility for visitors who usage surface speechmaking software. And utilizing it ensures you conscionable regulatory requirements.

Most website builder and contented absorption strategy (CMS) options let you to adhd alt substance easily.

Follow these champion practices to constitute effectual alt text:

• Describe what the representation shows
• Stick to 125 characters oregon little to debar truncation connected surface readers
• Include applicable keywords erstwhile appropriate

Further reading: Image SEO: How to Optimize Images for Search Engines & Users

10. Claim and Optimize Your Google Business Profile

Creating (or claiming) a Google Business Profile (GBP) is simply a large mode for section businesses to summation their visibility among adjacent searchers.

GBP is simply a escaped concern listing that helps section users find and larn astir your concern and looks similar this:

Google uses these listings to service the astir applicable results for location-based searches (e.g., “plumber queens caller york”) successful a local pack (a effect that includes a representation and 3 salient businesses):

With a well-optimized illustration that includes close concern information, photos, services, and reviews, you basal a bully accidental of appearing successful a section pack.

The result?

More visibility and astir apt much clicks.

Research by SOCi recovered that listings successful the section battalion gain 126% much hunt postulation and 93% much conversion-oriented actions than businesses ranked 4-10.

11. Target Featured Snippets

A featured snippet is simply a abbreviated excerpt that answers a user’s query and usually appears astatine the apical of the SERP.

Here’s the featured snippet that Google serves up for the query “can cats devour canine food”:

Win the featured snippet, and you’ll apt get much eyes (and ears via Google Voice Search) connected your content.

You could besides get a credibility boost. If Google chooses your contented arsenic the featured snippet, searchers are apt to presumption it arsenic valuable.

To optimize your contented for featured snippets, reply the hunt query arsenic straight arsenic imaginable and align with the format the snippet is presently utilizing (paragraph, list, etc.).

To find featured snippet opportunities you tin spell aft with your existing content, usage Semrush’s Position Tracking tool.

Type successful your domain and click “Set up tracking.”

Follow the Position Tracking setup guide to configure the tool, past click the “Featured Snippets” tab to spot however galore of your people keywords person featured snippets.

Use the “Opportunities” tab successful the “Featured Snippets” array to specifically look astatine keywords that trigger featured snippets you don’t look for.

Find a word you privation to spell aft (it’s champion to take thing you already fertile highly for), past click the arrow icon adjacent to the URL that presently has the snippet.

This volition instrumentality you to the spot connected the leafage that contains the snippet. And the substance volition beryllium highlighted for you.

Study what you spot to summation inspiration connected however to trade your content.

12. Improve Internal Linking

Internal links are links that constituent to different pages connected your website, truthful they assistance administer authorization crossed your tract and alteration Google to much easy find your important pages..

Let’s accidental you conscionable published a caller portion of contented connected the nutritional needs of elder cats.

It would beryllium a bully thought to see a nexus to that leafage from a applicable existing leafage that’s already ranking for 1 oregon much terms. Like if you person a portion connected wide feline nutrition.

To find pages that could payment from links, usage Site Audit.

After you configure your project, click “View details” nether the “Internal Linking” section.

Scroll down to the “Pages passing astir Internal LinkRank” conception and reappraisal the URLs. Because linking from these pages is astir apt to payment your little authoritative pages.

Then, instrumentality a look astatine the “Internal Link Distribution” conception and click connected “# Weak pages.”

This volition instrumentality you to a database of pages that request much interior links pointing to them. 

Review this database and deliberation astir whether you person different pages you tin nexus from, peculiarly those from the “Pages passing astir Internal LinkRank” conception you reviewed earlier.

13. Add Schema Markup to Your Website

Schema markup (also called structured data) is website codification that gives hunt engines much accusation astir your leafage and makes you eligible to look for unsocial hunt results.

These unsocial results are called rich results, and they incorporate further accusation and basal retired from accepted listings. Meaning they whitethorn beryllium much apt to pull clicks from users.

Here’s an illustration of what a affluent effect tin look like:

In this case, the other links assistance users find sections that mightiness beryllium much applicable to them. And connected apical of that, the hunt container lets them find exactly what they’re looking for connected the listed site. 

You tin usage antithetic kinds of schema markup to show accusation like:

• Sitelinks (the links shown above)
• Business information
• Reviews
• Product details

And more.

Don’t interest if you don’t cognize however to constitute code—free tools similar Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper marque it casual to make and adhd schema to your website.

14. Identify Competitors’ Keywords

When you people keywords that your competitors fertile for but you don’t, you mightiness beryllium capable to further boost your visibility and seizure immoderate of their traffic.

You tin find these presumption utilizing Semrush’s Keyword Gap tool. 

To start, participate your domain and up to 4 competitors’ domains, take your location, and click “Compare.”

After moving the comparison, scroll down to the array and prime the “Missing” tab to spot keywords your competitors fertile for but you don’t.

Go done the keywords you’re missing to find high-potential topics that are applicable to your brand.

Once you’ve identified immoderate bully terms, you tin draught caller contented targeting them.

Further reading: How to Do an SEO Competitor Analysis + Free Template

Use These Hacks for Better SEO Results

By implementing these SEO hacks, you tin amended your hunt motor visibility and thrust much postulation to your site.

But support successful caput that SEO isn’t a substance of trying a fewer techniques and past moving on—it’s an ongoing process. 

To get the champion results, usage Semrush’s SEO tools.