Headline: Forget Google Ads: 4 secrets for organic growth with on-page SEO

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When it comes to generating traffic from search engines, the research is clear: the higher a website site sits on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP), the more traffic, clicks, sign-ups and sales it will generate.

Therefore, the goal of any online business that is competing for users’ attention in the SERP should be to rank higher than its competitors.

However, because Google has never explicitly stated how they rank websites there is a virtual war playing out online every day as online retailers, comparison sites and media outlets implement different tactics to compete for the attention and clicks of their users.

Some sites do this better than others which is why, for example, when you search for betting bonuses, bookmaker comparison websites rank higher than the TAB’s homepage.

So what are websites like these doing (and not doing) to increase their Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

1. Forget paid advertisements

All too often businesses that want to level-up their SEO make the mistake of choosing short term strategies, like buying Google Ads.

While Google Ads undoubtedly drive traffic, their purchase does little on the way of actually increasing a website’s authority.

The reality is that without authority, Google will never rank a website.

In fact, one of the few things that Google has told the SEO community is that they judge a website’s quality through the acronym EAT - Expertise, Authority, Trustworthiness.

The key here is to switch from the short term thinking of increasing traffic with paid advertisements, to a longer term strategy of organic growth by increasing EAT factors on a website.

2. Focus on high value keywords

Not all search queries are created equally.

In the SEO community there is a lot of talk about keywords. Keywords are the words or phrases that people use when they type a search into a search engine.

For example, keywords related to “hotels” may be: “hotels”, “cheap hotels”, “best hotels”, “hotels near me” and “hotels in Wellington”.

All of these hotel-related searches are in the “hotels” family of keywords but they are not all relevant for different hotels in New Zealand.

For example, there’s no need for a 5-star hotel in Auckland to rank for keywords like “hotels in Wellington” or “cheap hotels” because even if they have the number one position in the SERP, they are not going to generate many bookings.

Instead online businesses should focus their SEO work on capitalizing on relevant keywords that will fulfill searcher’s intent. In this example more appropriate keywords may be “5-star hotels” or “hotels in Auckland”.

By focusing on high value keywords a website can therefore focus their growth and SEO work on the searches that will generate the most valuable traffic.

3. Treat every page as a landing page

Each page on a website tells a different story, and has a different focus - or at least it should.

Some pages on a site have the goal of making sales while others are more informational.

When optimizing a site from an SEO standpoint, it’s important to understand which pages are high value pages and to treat each as its own landing page.

For example, if a site sells surfboards, wetsuits, fishing gear and other water sports equipment it’s a good idea to have separate pages for each category. This way, each page can become an authoritative and trustworthy place for Google to send users.

Remember, the job of Google is to fulfill the searchers intent. If somebody searches for “wetsuits” then Google would prefer to send that person to a page dedicated to wetsuits, then to a page that has all sorts of water sports gear on it.

In general, the pages that generate income for a website are the highest value pages and therefore should be the pages that are treated as landing pages. Whether these are pages where users can buy products, click affiliate links or view ads.

4. Optimize pages for the user, and for Google

It’s not all about Google, but a big part of it is. However, there are some things that webmasters can do to satisfy both Google and searchers.

For example, having frequently asked questions on a page is a great way to tell Google that a site is authoritative and an expert in its field, as well as answering users’ questions related to their search.

Frequently asked questions, if written properly, can also be displayed and viewed in the SERP without the user even needing to click through to a site. When FAQ’s are displayed in the SERP they increase both the size of a website’s SERP listing as well as the Click Through Rate (CTR).

FAQ blocks shown in the SERP are called featured snippets and other featured snippets that Google takes from webpages and displays in the SERP include: lists, ratings, videos and images.

Featured snippet optimization therefore enables webmasters to increase the size of their SERP listings while driving more traffic and climbing in the rankings.

Article by New Zealand-based Content Writer & SEO Specialist for Leadstar Media, Mason Kelliher