21 Helpful and Actionable SEO Tips and Tricks for 2021

 

 

Prism SEO Services presents the top 21 Google SEO suggestions for 2021, including what to prioritize and what to watch for in the current year.

 

These are 21 easy-to-implement strategies that should help you increase your organic traffic. These are some of the most useful suggestions we've gathered over the past year. Many of these will be included in our own SEO Services strategies.

 

We now have four categories: increasing clicks, content/on-page SEO recommendations, technical SEO, and link building. There are a total of 21 of them. That's all right. Are you ready to jump right in?

 

Increasing the number of clicks

 

Let's start with clicks, specifically how to get more Google clicks without actually ranking higher because that's one of the most appealing aspects of SEO. You don't need to rank higher to generate more traffic if you can get more clicks from your current positions. So let's discuss some particular tactics for raising clicks without increasing rankings.

 

1.                   Optimization of the favicon

 

First and foremost, favicon optimization. Now we are shocked that this hasn't been discussed more in 2020. Google uses favicons in mobile search results, and they can affect your click-through rate depending on how high contrast they are, as well as whether they are visible or not. A good favicon can make a difference of a few percentage points, which may seem insignificant, but it does make a difference if you get it right.

 

2.                   Breadcrumb optimization

Let's look at breadcrumb optimization while we're optimizing our favicons. Breadcrumbs appear in Google's search results on both desktop and mobile devices. They could be keyword-heavy breadcrumbs, influencing your click-through rate.

 

Google now obtains its breadcrumbs from a variety of sources. That might be your URL, your schema markup, or your actual page breadcrumbs.

 

What you want to do is double-check that Google is providing the breadcrumbs you want, based on the keywords you selected. The simplest method to handle this is to make sure you have breadcrumbs with links on your page and that you're utilizing schema markup.

 

It should ideally match the structure of your URLs, although this isn't always the case. So it was a fantastic breadcrumb audit.

 

3.                   Optimize Meta Descriptions

 

Let's go over those meta descriptions and see what we can do to optimize them. This is how SEO used to be done back in the day. However, according to a recent survey, meta descriptions are used on only 30% of websites.

 

That's logical, given that another study found that Google rewrites the meta description 70% of the time, mainly because the user's keywords aren't used. However, if we write a well-crafted meta description, we can get users to click, which means utilizing keyword-rich descriptions that people are searching for, so that when Google uses your meta description, it encourages clicks and acts as marketing copy for your website.

 

4.                   Titles with numbers

 

Titles, as well as meta descriptions. We previously shared a study that found that adding dates to titles improved rankings for a specific brand. Numbers are one thing we routinely test in title tags, and the results are usually quite consistent.

 

Dates in title tags, in particular, are frequently a winner, such as January 2021. Don't make it seem like you're spamming. If it doesn't make sense, don't include it, and don't try to be clever. However, we at Prism, the leading SEO Agency in Dubai, believe that includes a number would significantly enhance your click-through rate for any given query.

 

5.                   <Title> boilerplate

 

Consider performing a boilerplate audit on your title tag. The fifth piece of advice. What exactly is a boilerplate? The elements of your title tag that appear repeatedly are known as boilerplate. At Prism, we, for example, end every title tag with "Prism," our brand name.

 

We used to add "Prism Blog" to the end of every Prism Blog until we did some testing and discovered that removing it resulted in more clicks and higher ranks. So, instead of being boilerplate, you want your titles to be distinct and valuable. It doesn't always work out. That boilerplate is useful at times. But you'll have to take the test to find out.

 

6.                   FAQ and how-to schema

 

Sixth tip: schema, particularly FAQ and how-to schema. When Google added them in search results, it was a big gift to us. You get a lot of SERP real estate with the FAQ schema. You can't always win it, and you can't always win the how-to schema, but when you do, it can significantly boost or affect the number of people who click on your result and explore those FAQ schemas.

 

It isn't suitable for every page. You'll want to double-check that those FAQs are truly on your pages. However, in the right circumstances, it is one approach to generate clicks without affecting your Google rating. That's all right.

 

Content/on-page SEO

 

Now let's look at some content and on-page recommendations.

 

7.                   Relaunch your most popular content

 

Let's go on to number seven. This is the year I want you to relaunch your most popular content. After a few years, content can get stale. As a result, we launch content. You've created a blog, launched it, and promoted it on social media. After that, most people forget about it.

 

So go back and look at your most popular content from the past two to five years, or even ten years if you want to go that far, and see what you can relaunch by changing it while retaining the same URL. Relaunching some of your older content with some modifications can result in gains of 500 percent to 1,000 percent in some circumstances. As a result, in 2021, conduct a relaunch audit.

 

8.                   Internal linking should be increased.

 

Increasing internal linking is number eight. When it comes to swiftly increasing rankings for customers, many top SEO services already realize that there are two levers that are the easiest to pull.

 

The first is to use title tags and meta descriptions to increase clicks, but the second is to increase internal links. You're probably aware that you can improve internal linking on your site, and there are possibly some options you haven't considered. So let's look at a handful of quick ways to accomplish this without putting in too much effort.

 

9.                   Add fresh links to old content.

 

The ninth step is to replace outdated links with new ones in your old content. This is a step that we see individuals omit regularly. When you create a new blog post or piece of content, make sure you go back and update your older content with the new links.

 

So you're looking at the top keyword you want to rank for, using Google Search Console or tools like Keyword Explorer to determine what other pages on your site rank for that keyword, and then linking to the new content on those sites.

 

We've discovered that doing so consistently lowers the bounce rate. So you're not just adding new content and links to your existing page, but you're also adding relevance. You're tagging new content with links. As a result, make sure that when you publish new content, you also update your existing content with those new links.

 

10.               Remove any links that aren't necessary.

 

Number ten, get rid of any links that aren't necessary. This is PageRank sculpting at its finest. In SEO, PageRank sculpting is a bad word, yet it does work to some extent. This isn't page sculpting with nofollow links. Unnecessary links are being removed.

 

Is it really necessary to have a link to your team page on each page of your site? Is it necessary to have a link to your contact form on each page of your site? You don't in a lot of circumstances. You do that on occasion. However, by removing the ineffective links, you can pass more link equity to the links that matter, which is a crucial Google ranking indicator.

 

11.               Audit of mobile link parity

 

You must do a mobile link parity audit for number 11. What exactly is it? What is a link parity audit for mobile devices? That is, make sure your mobile site's links are the same as your desktop site's links. What is the significance of this? In the last few years, Google has shifted to a mobile-first index, which means that what they see on your mobile site is what they see on your website. What matters is that.

 

So many websites have a desktop version and then a mobile one, with links missing. They do away with features like header navigation and footer links. The average desktop page has 61 links, whereas the average mobile page has 54, according to recent research.

 

As a result, there are seven fewer links on mobile pages than on desktop pages across the web, implying that a significant amount of link equity is being lost. So conduct your own research on your own website. To avoid losing that equity, make sure your desktop and mobile sites have equal mobile link parity.

 

12.               Long-form content should be prioritized.

 

Number 12: long-form content is something you should invest in. Now, we're not claiming that the length of a piece of information is a ranking determinant. It isn't the case. Short-form material can achieve excellent rankings.

 

We encourage you to invest in long-form content because long-form content consistently earns more links and shares, according to our research. It also has a higher ranking in Google search results. Short-form content isn't a problem. I'm a big fan of stuff that is only a few words long. However, in terms of SEO ranking potential, long-form content often provides more bang for your budget.

 

13.               Make use of more headers.

 

Make sure you do number 13: use more headers when creating long-form material. I'm referring to the H2 and H3 tags. Use good, keyword-rich header tags to break up your material. Why? According to A.J. Ghergich's research, the more header tags you have, the higher your ranking for featured snippets will be.

 

Sites with 12-13 header tags, which appears to be a lot, rank for the most featured snippets of anything they looked at in their last study. As a result, make sure you're using header tags to split up your information. It gives it a little more context. It's a terrific strategy to boost your content's ranking potential.

 

14.               Use subject clusters to your advantage.

 

Utilize topic clusters (number 14). Don't just release one piece of content at a time. Make sure you link together multiple pieces of material that are all about the same subject. When you do that and properly link them together, you can boost engagement since people are reading many articles.

 

You can incorporate the appropriate contextual inner links. I have a fantastic case study that I'd want to show you in the transcript below, where someone did this and got incredible results. So start thinking about topic clusters for 2021.

 

15.               Tabs' content should be brought out.

 

Finally, remove your content from the tabs. If you have the material in accordions or drop-downs, or if you have to click to see it, research after study reveals that content that is removed from tabs and placed in the main body, where users don't have to click to view it, performs better than content that is hidden in tabs.

 

To be clear, we do not believe that Google treats information in tabs differently. They appear to be able to index and rank it without difficulty. However, I believe that consumers engage with content more when it is outside of tabs and that some of those signals may help those pages rank higher.

 

Technical SEO

 

That's all right. Just a few technical SEO pointers.

 

16.               Core Web Vitals

 

The year to invest in Core Web Vitals is number sixteen. In 2021, Google emphasizes many page experience signals. Very soon, it will be a ranking element. We at Prism, the best SEO Company in Dubai are discussing cumulative shift arrangement, which is a difficult word to pronounce. We're talking about site performance and providing a positive website experience in general.

 

Some of these issues are really technical, and Google provides tools like Lighthouse to assist you in figuring them out. One recommendation we have is to use Cloudflare, specifically its APO for WordPress if you are using WordPress.

 

It's a fantastic approach to speed up your WordPress site while also improving your scores on some of these Core Web Vitals. It's inexpensive, simple to set up, and a terrific method to speed up your WordPress website.

 

17.               Keep sitemaps to a maximum of 10,000.

 

Sitemaps are number 17 on the list. You're allowed 50,000 URLs per sitemap in sitemaps. This is a question that appears in every SEO quiz. How many URLs are permitted per sitemap? Instead, if you have a huge site with indexing troubles, limit your sitemaps to 10,000 URLs (tip 17).

 

You are not required to use all 50,000. We have evidence that adopting fewer sitemaps and condensing them into a small number of URLs can increase crawlability. It's almost as though Google is prioritizing those in some way.

 

The evidence appears to back this up. Google Search Console also gives you a little bit more information. You can see what is and isn't indexed.

 

18.               Use dynamic sitemaps in your favor.

 

Use dynamic sitemaps as well. A dynamic sitemap varies depending on what you want Google to crawl. Put the high-priority URLs in their own separate sitemap if you have a huge corpus of URLs you want Google to crawl. Maybe you should limit it to 1,000 URLs.

 

Remove them when Google crawls and discovers them, and replace them with new high-priority URLs that you want Google to find. Keep the sitemap short and sweet, and make it clear to Google the pages you want them to focus on.

 

Link building

 

Let's briefly go through some link-building tips for 2021, because link-building is something that everyone enjoys. No, we are not kidding. Link construction is something that everyone despises. Link building is quite difficult. There are some pros and wonderful people in the field that genuinely enjoy it and excel at it.

 

19.               Acquisition of a passive link.

 

Number 19: passive link acquisition is one way we might accomplish this. Creating content that passively earns links when people discover it in the SERPs is what passive link acquisition entails. It means we won't have to go out of our way to reach out to people. It implies that when people come across it when journalists come across it when bloggers come across it, are motivated to link to it.

 

You accomplish this by producing the types of material that journalists, bloggers, and web designers seek. When you develop material like this, it usually generates a lot of links when others discover it. Passive link building is one of the most long-term strategies for gaining links.

 

20.               Intersection of page-level links

 

Page-level links intersect at number 20. When you need to undertake outreach, focus on the pages that are most likely to connect to you. We've known for a long time that finding websites that link to your competitors but not to you is one of the best SEO techniques for link development.

 

We go a step further and look for web pages that link to at least two of our competitors but not to us. If they're connecting to numerous competitors but not to us, that implies they're normally a resource page, and they're more likely to link to us if we ask.

 

At Prism Digital, we have a fantastic tool called Link Explorer that does page-level link intersection. We believe it is the best tool in the SEO industry for this specific work, not because we are biased, but because we use it ourselves.

 

21.               Be the Final click.

 

Be the last click in 2021, tip number 21. What exactly do we mean when we say that? We're talking about satisfying your customers. You want to be the first click that people click after you earn the first click, but you also want to be the last click. This indicates that they have found what they were looking for.

 

The number one ranking signal is user satisfaction. With all of this, your goal is to satisfy the consumer and provide them with what they're looking for. That is SEO's allure. They're looking for something, and you're giving it to them at the right time. You'll almost certainly improve in ranks and receive the traffic you deserve if you can be the final click.

 

That concludes our list of 21 recommendations. This is your 2021 road map. We hope you found it interesting. Please spread the word about this article and leave your 2021 thoughts in the comments below. Everyone, thank you.