There have been several significant improvements in the field of search engine optimization (SEO) in the last few years, the most significant of which has been Google’s emphasis on creating great user experiences. It’s difficult to believe that, just a decade ago, black hat marketers controlled the SEO industry, and their main goal was to boost traffic and rank higher. To cut a long tale short, it wasn’t attractive and Google didn’t like it. The “secrets” to SEO nowadays are not at all secrets. It’s common sense. High-ranking brands address the search intent of their target audience, provide excellent content, as well as invest time and energy in optimizing their websites for search engines.

Here are 9 SEO ‘secrets’ that you need to learn from big brands –

Table of Contents –

1. Focus on E-E-A-T
2. List Down the Best SEO Keywords
3. Use the Target Keyword ASAP
4. Remember Above-The-Fold SEO
5. Always Add Internal Links in the Content
6. Analyze SERPs for Clues
7. Find & Remove 404 Errors
8. Build Niche-Relevant Backlinks
9. Track SEO Performance & Progress

1. Focus on E-E-A-T

The acronym E-E-A-T stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. It’s a parameter of Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines that assesses the quality and caliber of the content on your website. Your website’s likelihood of ranking highly on SERPs rises if it receives a high E-E-A-T score. Therefore, you should focus more of your SEO efforts on improving the E-E-A-T of your website.

Google evaluates the expertise and reputation of the content’s author. Perceived expertise may be influenced by several factors, including the author’s qualifications, experience, credentials, and internet presence. Establishing expertise may also be aided by authorship signals, such as author bios, author profiles, and authorship associations with reliable websites. Other crucial elements include the website’s age, domain authority, trustworthiness, and track record of producing excellent content.

In order to assess the user’s perception of quality and competence, Google examines user signals such as click-through rates, time spent on a page, bounce rates, comments and shares on social media; and user feedback such as reviews and ratings.

2. List Down the Best SEO Keywords

Keywords are one of the main elements of SEO that help to drive traffic and conversions toward your website. Consequently, in-depth research and analysis are necessary before you decide on specific keywords to rank high on SERPs. You can find the best SEO keywords using the Google keyword planner. 

You can find the keywords in two ways – either search by keywords or by website URL. By keywords, we mean that you can type your primary keyword and the planner will suggest more related keywords. You can also paste your competitor’s website link and the tool will suggest all the keywords on which your competitors rank. Not only this, you can see the average monthly searches and the competition a particular keyword has.

Make a list of all the relevant keywords by brainstorming and competitor analysis. Think from a user’s perspective. Think about words they are likely to search when looking for products and services related to your brand. Include synonyms, short-tail, long-tail, and variation keywords.

3. Use the Target Keyword ASAP

Put the target keyword at the beginning of the webpage’s content. This signals the search engines that your content is relevant and relatable to the audience. Usually, when people visit a webpage, they scan the content to see whether it suits their needs or not. Early placement of the target keyword on the page’s content draws users in and gives them confidence that the information is relevant to their search. The target keyword is included in Meta titles and descriptions that search engines often display when displaying search results. The term is more likely to show up in these Meta elements if it is placed early in the webpage’s content.

Using the target keyword early in your page’s content might help boost the likelihood that it will be chosen as the featured result if the search engine produces a featured snippet for the query. Your webpage’s body text should naturally and relevantly contain the target keyword.

Use the keyword in the first paragraph or better, within the first sentence to show the page’s subject matter clearly. Also, include the keyword throughout the content where it fits, however, avoid overusing it. Balancing keyword usage with good quality content is important for both user experience and search engines.

4. Remember Above-The-Fold SEO

Show high-quality and relevant content ASAP, above the fold to engage users and provide them with the info they are looking for. This may include a brief introduction, main points, or excerpt of the webpage’s main content.

Put a captivating and keyword-rich headline prominently at the top of your webpage. The headline should be attention – grabbing and enticing. This will make the website visitors to continue read or explore the rest of your content.

Provide a call-to-action (CTA) above the fold that is obvious and easy to click to direct readers to do the required action. This might be purchasing something, subscribing to your newsletter, or getting in touch with your company. The call to action (CTA) should be easily visible and encourage visitors to proceed.

Make sure to optimize your above-the-fold content for mobiles as well for the best user experience. This is important as a significant portion of your website traffic comes from mobile devices. Including social proof as well as customer testimonials is crucial to establishing brand credibility and trust with the target audience in the initial impression.

5. Always Add Internal Links in the Content

Internal linking is undoubtedly one of the most important SEO secrets as it enhances your site navigation, improves user experience, distributes link equity, and boosts search engine crawlability. Internal linking makes it easier for visitors to explore related topics or find additional information that they find interesting. This can surely improve their user experience and motivate them to spend more time on your website. It also helps to distribute link equity or “link juice” throughout your website. Link equity means the value or authority passed from one page to another via links. By linking to important pages within your website, you show their importance to search engines. This can boost the visibility and authority of those pages, which can potentially improve their rankings.

6. Analyze SERPs for Clues

By examining specific sites, user behavior, and search engine performance, you may gain an understanding of how SERPs work. To be sure how your website will be ranked and shown to the target audience when they search for questions relating to your brand, it is essential that you thoroughly research and understand how search engine algorithms work.

Look over the search results for the target keywords and analyze where your competitors rank. Make a note of the different kinds of information they have, how they structure it, and any tactics they might be using. You can use this info to pinpoint areas that need improvement, learn about effective optimization methods, and create plans to outrank your competitors.

Additionally, SERPs might offer hints about the intent of particular search queries. Analyze the structure and content of the pages that rank highly to find out what people are searching for when they enter a specific term. Are they wanting to make a purchase, searching for product reviews, or seeking information? You may produce more relevant and tailored content that better meets user needs by aligning your content to user intent.

Observe the different SERP elements and rich results that show up in the search results. These consist of picture carousels, reviews, local results, information panels, and more. Understanding which features are present for your target keywords can help you optimize your website and create content that will be more visible and encourage more clicks.

7. Find & Remove 404 Errors

Pages that do not open when a user clicks on the URL are the ones having 404 errors. Finding and removing 404 errors is one of the important SEO secrets that big brands do. It enhances the user experience for visitors, strengthens the structure of the website, and protects your site from potential harm.

To find any broken links on your website, conduct an internal link audit. This can be done manually by going over each page on your website and its links, or it can be done automatically by utilizing SEO auditing tools or website crawlers that can search your website for broken links. Once the broken links have been located, fix them or delete them to stop users from seeing 404 errors.

8. Build Niche-Relevant Backlinks

Link building is another one of the important SEO secrets that helps in increasing the reach of your organic traffic. When obtaining backlinks, the only thing you really need to be certain of is that you should prioritize link quality over quantity. An artificial and unfavorable backlink profile might hurt your SEO and cause search engines to penalize your website. Thus, use white-hat link-building techniques only to get long-term SEO advantages. Make a list of all the possible authoritative websites that have link-building opportunities and contain content connected to your brand in order to develop backlinks that are relevant to your niche. Additionally, you may establish connections with bloggers and other key players in your field. Participate in their content, spread the word about their posts, and provide thoughtful remarks. Building genuine relationships can lead to opportunities for guest blogging, collaborations, or mentions, resulting in niche-relevant backlinks.

9. Track SEO Performance & Progress

Measuring the effectiveness of your SEO activities is essential since it facilitates decision-making. Your website’s metrics, KPIs, analytics, and backlink profile should all be routinely checked. Additionally, it enables you to be informed and up to date on current SEO and industry trends, which help you develop your SEO approach further.

Key SEO indicators may be tracked and analyzed with the help of a powerful website analytics tool like Google Analytics. Metrics like average session duration, bounce rate, goal completions, and organic search traffic may all be tracked using Google Analytics. These metrics give you information about how well your website functions and how successful your SEO tactics are. Moreover, you can also use a website audit to identify the issues that are holding back your site and implement successful fixes to elevate your business’s organic growth.

Conclusion –

In conclusion, Google’s emphasis on improving user experience and rewarding high-quality content has caused a substantial evolution in the SEO environment in recent years. Prioritizing components like E-E-A-T, keyword research, above-the-fold content SEO, internal linking, SERP analysis, error management, backlinking, and performance tracking has helped big brands adapt to these changes.

By putting these SEO secrets into practice, brands can give their audience meaningful experiences in addition to raising their search engine rankings. Keep in mind that SEO is about more than simply getting your website ranked higher; it’s also about building trusting relationships with visitors and providing the greatest content and experience.

Remember that along with these SEO secrets, other important things to remember while starting your SEO journey are consistency, flexibility, and constant progress. Keep up with the most recent developments in best practices and trends, and take the initiative to optimize your website for both search engines and visitors. It is possible to position your business for success in the cutthroat digital market with commitment and thoughtful planning!