By Nick Brown

Everybody nowadays knows what SEO is. You will definitely notice how your competitors are using the best possible SEO tactics around. So now it’s up to you to step your game up a little. Work harder, think outside of the box and find a way to outperform the competition. You should already have the basics down, and now is the time to truly advance your game. Below you can find nine advanced search engine optimization tactics that will push you forward.

Bucket brigade style of content

You always want to keep the basics down if you want to get the best response possible. One of these is content. Namely, it’s all well and good if people just access your content. But, if they leave after two seconds, it will have an adverse effect on your rankings. Furthermore, quality content builds trust and loyalty. People will stick to your brand if they see you give out good content. While improving the writing on your site won’t directly improve your rankings, it will help you avoid penalties, and keep people coming.

The bucket brigade style of writing will improve the flow of your writing. Like a bucket brigade, where you have a line of people passing buckets to one another, perfectly in sync. You do the same with the writing of your content. Each sentence will flow to the next, creating a direct line from the first sentence to the last. Or, you can achieve the same effect by tying paragraphs together in this manner.

Try writing longer posts

While we always advocate quality over quantity in basically every aspect of your work, there are serious benefits to writing larger and longer blog spots. Namely, research has shown that posts which that end up on the first page had around 1900 words. In other words, its better to in-depth blogs and articles can do wonders for your SEO, and it seems these are much more popular than your standard fare. Of course, don’t think you will automatically get your SEO to skyrocket the moment you tack on 800 more words onto your blogs. Simply understand that it’s at the very least worth a shot.

Get quality links

You will notice that a running theme in this article is the point surrounding quality over quantity. We consider this approach an advanced SEO tactic for two simple reasons. First, we can guarantee that your competitors focus too much on the quantity of the work, not the quality. Second, getting quality work in whatever aspects takes much more work and effort than standard SEO tactics. Now, back to the topic.

You want to get excellent, quality links instead of just getting whatever you can get. A good backlink means that you are reliable, it shows Google’s algorithms that you are to be trusted. So, stay away from spam and dead links, and stick to your guns.

Optimize for voice search

Gadgets like Google Home and Amazon Echo are here to stay. You can pretty much count on voice searches being part of our everyday lives. More and more statistics show that a large number of internet browsing is done through voice search. So, you need to hop on this train before anybody else does and optimize your site for voice search.

First, you need to get your site mobile friendly. Then, understand that voice search optimization is mostly based on longer keywords. Think of as an organic process. You use different words and phrasing when typing something online, compared to the way you speak. Place some “keyphrases” in your content, and have them start with What/Why/Where/How questions.

Understand your audience fully

In order to make truly stand out, you need to understand just who your content is aimed at. Don’t just be satisfied with some basic information (though it is of course useful). Actually think about where your target audience lives, what cities, countries…

So, let’s say you are set in Australia, or at the very least your target audience lives there. You want to figure out what Australians of a certain age, gender, class and educational background like. Then, you adapt your content and efforts into that direction. If needed, contact a local company, an SEO Sydney company in this case, and see what they have to say. A local company can definitely give you advice, or provide their services, with much more effectiveness when you deal with a certain location.

Next, what are their interests, how do they speak…? Gather as much info as you can, and take all that into account.

Work on your tag game

Understand that when a search engine moves through your web page, it doesn’t really scan the images on your page. However, you can still step up your game in this aspect by adding tags. Adding the right title or alt tag to your content is that one extra step that will strengthen your SEO greatly. It’s a sign of thoroughness that not every company implements. So, add proper phrases and tags, and implement your keywords in there.

Don’t forget to update old content

A great, and easy, way to get ahead of your competitors is by looking back and analyzing your old content. You may have written a bit about one topic two years ago. What is happening today? Is the content still relevant? Can it be updated? If so, how?

Edit and upgrade that old article. Refresh its SEO optimization, add new information, perhaps remove what’s not useful or true anymore. Furthermore, you can create entirely new articles based on the old ones, using the latter only as a framework.

This represents a very easy and effective way of providing good content and getting better rankings. It’s also something that not every competitor knows about (or wants to implement).

What keywords are your competitors using?

A great way to gain an advantage over your competitors is by figuring out what their weak points are. You should also, however, figure out what their strengths are. One of the best ways to do this is by keeping tabs on what keywords they are using themselves. Here you can see two things. First, places where you can grow, unexplored keyword options or ideas that you haven’t thought about using. The second thing is where they may be making mistakes.

Finding the right keyword research tool can help with this process. However, the point here is that you yourself need to learn and observe what your competitors are doing.

Try posting video content

As always, understand that content is the best way to improve your rankings. It’s organic, it’s clear, and it’s authentic. However, it would be a grave mistake to only limit yourself to actual writing. What you should try is getting some video content in there, as soon as possible.

Now, the reasons why video content is so useful is that it has a much higher visitor retention rate when compared to textual content. You will notice that Google has begun to feature videos when you search for something online.
As far as the type of content is concerned, try some tutorials that are relevant to the services or goods you offer. How-to-guides and general information will definitely be appreciated.

 Conclusion

The internet landscape is always changing. Constantly shifting and turning, you never know what you can expect when it comes to this kind of work. If you truly want to stand out, you need to master the basics, and then improve upon them. Get good content, but truly make the words flow. Use backlinks, but go with the best ones, choose quality over quantity. Mix things up, and some videos, implement voice search… Essentially, always keep your ear to the ground, maintain your foundation strong, and move towards new trends.

By Nick Brown

By Stephan Spencer

The temptation to take the “quick and easy” route is everywhere, and SEO is no different. Contributor Stephan Spencer shows how going black- or gray-hat might sound good initially, but in the end, like Icarus, you may get burned

What kind of risk are you willing to take for better rankings and more organic traffic?

For many years now, there has been an ongoing debate in the search engine optimization (SEO) world about whether “black-hat” or “gray-hat” tactics — that is, techniques that attempt to achieve quicker results by flouting the search engines’ guidelines — are acceptable.

While many commentators take a moralistic tone around this issue, I prefer to look at it in terms of risk. If you are willing to risk a Google penalty for the possible payoff of quicker or better rankings, then go for it! Just don’t be surprised when Google gets wise to what you’re doing and your traffic takes a nose dive! Doesn’t matter if it’s months or years later; expect to pay the piper.

Steering clear

Personally, as someone who works with a lot of large corporations with much at stake, I steer well clear of black-hat and gray-hat techniques.

For anyone working on a domain they don’t want to go down in flames, there’s simply no way to justify gambling with a site’s authority and reputation in such a reckless manner. In the SEO world, there are plenty of people willing to take the risk. Many SEOs I know make the point that what is considered gray-hat and black-hat may be subjective, depending on the industry you are operating in.

[Read the full article on Search Engine Land.]

By Stephan Spencer

Sourced from Marketing Land