SEO isn’t exactly a secret. Most business owners have heard of it, especially if they’ve started creating a website for their company. Though it’s not a secret, the keys to doing it well and getting a higher ranking are harder to come by. A lot has changed in recent years, so there is a lot of old information online that, at best, won’t be effective and, at worst, could harm the site’s ranking. Learn some of the top SEO secrets now to make sure you’re doing it right.

Tools Can Help Further Optimization

There are a plethora of tools online designed to help with optimization. Choosing the right ones to use is important. To learn what the potential return on SEO might be, check out an SEO tool online. There are also tools to help choose keywords, create content ideas, generate lists, and a lot more. Use these when needed to fully optimize a website and avoid missing out on anything that might be crucial and help the website’s ranking.  

Keyword Stuffing Doesn’t Work – And Can Hurt

Google has expressly stated that keyword stuffing can hurt a website’s ranking. Yet, many websites still have lists of keywords or tend to overuse keywords in their content. Why? In the past, this did work and did help websites get a higher ranking fast. There have been significant advances in technology in the past few years, however, so this doesn’t work anymore and can be harmful. Instead, use keywords sparingly in content and add in synonyms. The search engines don’t need tons of keywords to see what the content is about. They’ll figure it out.

Content Needs to Be High-Quality and Relevant

All content needs to be high-quality and relevant. On top of using the content to determine what the page is about, search engines pay attention to how long someone stays on the website. If visitors are engaged and stay to read the whole article, the search engines are likely to rank the website higher. If, on the other hand, visitors click back after noticing tons of spelling mistakes or the content doesn’t match what they expected, it’s going to harm the website’s ranking. Search engines today look for websites that provide the best information for searchers and are more likely to be relevant and helpful.

Links Need to be High Quality

Backlinks have been used for a long time now. In the past, websites lit up with blue lines in content that could be clicked to take the viewer to more information. Now, links tend to be more limited. Why? The goal for search engines is quality over quantity. Search engines like Google don’t want to just see a ton of backlinks. There shouldn’t be one in every paragraph. They are looking for quality backlinks that provide useful information for searchers, and that adds to the authority of the website. When adding in any backlinks, limit the number and make sure they’re to high-quality websites that already have authority whenever possible.

Optimization takes time and work, but it is possible to use it as a way to gain a higher ranking. The thing is, there is a lot of misinformation out there right now because of how much SEO has changed year after year. Use the secrets here to make sure you have the right start and to learn more about what you can do to improve the ranking of your website. With the right keywords used the right way, excellent content, quality backlinks, and more, you should start to see the ranking for your website increase and may be able to reach the coveted top position.