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When you strategically grow your online presence and aim to increase your organic traffic, you know SEO offers an invaluable set of tools. You also know that it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Every expert will give you the same piece of advice: plan, implement, be patient. It does take time to see the results you want. But that does not mean that there aren’t quick SEO solutions at your disposal. What can you do today - now - to move towards your goals?

SEO Hacks You Can Do Today 

If you have an established website and want more organic (i.e. free) traffic and a higher ranking, consider these quick SEO solutions:

1. Do a Site Audit

This is step 1. Period. Any action you take must be based on two factors: where you are now and where you want to go. If your site is optimized, great. You’re ahead of the curve. If not, you need to take action. Either way, you need to know where “Start” is. We offer a free site audit that tells you what’s working - and what’s not. Within 24 hours, you will have a roadmap for building a better digital experience.

2. Go to Reddit 

We know… It’s easy to fall into the rabbit hole that is Reddit. But when you go in with a focus - keyword research - this platform is a veritable goldmine. Either go directly to a subreddit where your target audience is likely to spend their online time or do a search around your topic (e.g., real estate, clean eating, organic wine, etc.) and see what pops up. Look for keywords that come up again and again. This is what people are interested in. These are the keywords that can help you attract more organic traffic.

If you’re looking for quick SEO solutions, this is the way to go. Reddit is a new twist on keyword research - and it is one well worth exploring.

3. Put Your Keywords to Work

Take a look through your website’s pages, specifically the titles and subheadings. These are magnets for search engine spiders that crawl web pages because they clarify what the page is about. Include focused keywords in these strategic locations for a quick SEO bump.

4. #Numbers

You have original, informative, high-quality content. Great. Now, think numbers. Research shows that when content contains a number, people are more likely to click on it. This is a quick and easy fix. For example, if you have an article or blog that provides advice for those wishing to buy a home, you might simply redo the headline: “10 Tips for Homebuyers in 2021” or “5 Things You Need to Know About Buying a Home.” 

5. Don’t Sit on Content

The internet feasts on content - and its appetite is voracious. Your site is also ranked, largely according to how fresh your content is. So if you are waiting to release some wisdom… Don’t. Drop it. And then focus on creating a content strategy that emphasizes regular posting of relevant, valuable content. Remember, the more content, the more opportunities to rank. And we all love fresh meat.

6. Check Your Outbound Links 

You know you need to focus on quality backlinks. When reputable sites point back to your site, search engines recognize this and rank accordingly. But a backlink strategy takes time. What you can do now is look at the sites to which you are linking. Yes, that’s right. Make sure you are linking out to sites that are legit and respected. Why?

More than a decade ago, Google quietly rolled out the Hilltop update. Long story short, the update is designed to tell Google if a page is a “hub” of information. If a page links out to awesome sites, it reflects positively on them.

7. Search Intent in Everything 

Why are users searching for what you’re trying to rank for?  Are they asking a question?  Explicitly answer their questions to match their intent and earn a higher relevancy score.  Search engines have become increasingly sophisticated and display results based on past search history.  If your content answer's a searcher's questions, the more likely you'll be able to help them.

8. Go Long

Sometimes short and sweet is the right move. But other times, especially when it comes to SEO, it is better to go long. Long-form content (~1400-1800+ words) performs better in search engine rankings than a 300-word blog. Shorter pieces do have a place but make sure to introduce a healthy mix. Take action right now: can you combine several blogs to make one informative article or guide? Do it. 

Next step: capture your thinking on a relevant subject and create a whitepaper or eBook. 9. 

9. Use More Text Than Images

Spiders can’t read images, so make sure you’re using alt-text correctly so search engines can understand it. If you have a predominantly image-based page, think about adding some keyword-rich text to help rank.

10. Don’t Ditch Images

Yes, we just said to use more text. But - and this is a big but - actual, real live human beings respond more emotionally to images. They grab the eye, and the attention, of your target audience. While spiders need text, people need images. As mentioned, you can have your cake and eat it too by adding optimized alt-text to images and incorporating some descriptive text to fill out the experience.

11. Create a Site Map

Don’t have a site map? Well, now you have a to-do for today. A site map makes it easier for spiders to crawl your site and allows users to experience your content in one centralized location.

12. Sharing is Caring

Make it easy for people to share your content with their diverse circles of connection. It is easy and quick to add social share buttons, email to friend buttons, and comment sections. The more people visit your page and/or interact with your content; the more relevant search engines will deem your site.

13. Enrich Your Snippets

Rich snippets are more informative, attractive search results. They’re the ones that show descriptions, star reviews, and more - all designed to help searchers select the best result. You can add structured data to your site, which is a piece of code that speaks to search engines; it tells them to create a rich snippet - and traffic tends to follow.

14. Design Around User Experience - Always

If your site isn’t inviting and easy to navigate, your bounce rate will likely be high. This weighs into how useful search engines think your page is and rank you lower if you consistently have a high bounce rate.

15. Get Help

Another step you can take right now is to reach out to an expert in SEO and digital marketing. While there are techniques you can implement today, long-term success results from sound strategy and ongoing effort. Don’t worry: we have you covered.

THAT Agency offers boutique services tailored to your needs. Whether you require an all-inclusive SEO strategy or want to outsource select functions, we will work with you to build a solution that empowers your business to rank, grow, and thrive.

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