5 Unexpected Ways You Can Improve Your Website’s SEO

[guest post by Tess Pajaron]

The basics have all been well defined, but what happens when the basics won’t carry you any further? In order to stay competitive, you need to be one step ahead of what all of your competitors are doing. Utilizing uncommon techniques can help you gain the edge you need to rise to the top.

1. Enforce a strict originality policy

When you want to keep your site’s blog active, you might feel tempted to turn towards curated content when things get busy. This can actually be a mistake. Duplicate content can work against your SEO strategy, even if you’re only using it once in a while.

Lots of little dings for duplicate content over a long period of time can have lingering effects that you may not be able to undo. Only publish content that is absolutely original. If you need to hire a copywriter specifically to write original pieces for your blog, do that.

2. Change your site’s design

SEO doesn’t only work with keywords. The way your site’s navigation is optimized will affect the way Google crawls it. By streamlining your site, you’re doing more than just making it user friendly.

You want crawlers to be able to get into every nook and cranny, and it’s worth changing the way your site works. Just be sure to “noindex” any pages that contain duplicate content to keep your rankings high.

3. Never purchase links

Even if you’re smart about it, purchasing links is never a good idea. Google has updated their algorithms, and they’re getting wiser and wiser when it comes to recognizing purchased links.

If a purchased link goes wrong, you’re not only wasting money you could have spent on something more worthwhile – you’re running the risk of significantly damaging everything you’ve built. Earn your links. Team up with other sites and network to the fullest extent.

4. Don’t emphasize density

Keyword density used to be a big deal. Nowadays, it’s more obnoxious. Stuffing keywords stops working after a certain point, and readers have caught on. If you find yourself having a hard time trying to incorporate a keyword into a sentence, it probably shouldn’t go there.

Rather than packing the keywords in, sparingly use them in pieces of content that your readers will actually enjoy. You’ll be able to retain your readership, and that counts just as much as using the right keywords.

5. Use organic SEO

Cross promote everything. If you have a Facebook, Twitter, or even Instagram for your website, you should be using that to circulate your content. You’re broadening your audience, and helping your content reach people who may not have seen it otherwise.

Make sure you’ve made it easy for your readers to share content directly from your site. Placing buttons next to the article and encouraging readers to share content they’ve found useful can help you reach way more people than by relying on the power of keywords alone. Let some things happen naturally.

SEO changes from minute to minute. With so many people using deceptive techniques to boost their place in the rankings, search engines are constantly changing their methods to catch up with the fraudsters. Make sure you stay abreast with current SEO methods and make adjustments when they need to be made.

* About the Author: With a background in business administration and management, Tess Pajaron currently works at Open Colleges, Australia’s leading online educator. She likes to cover stories in careers and marketing.

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