Quick SEO wins are a proven SEO tactic that looks to exploit the low hanging fruit and enable you to gain some ground in the short term whilst you are pursuing more long term goals and harder to obtain keywords and phrases.
In this SEO Quick Wins post we look at 5 tips that are easy to implement in your search engine optimisation strategy.
1. Use a Keyword Research Tool (e.g. Moz) to identify Low Competition Keywords
Moz is a useful tool and even the free account is ample for the non professional who only intends to look up a few keywords and competitors a couple of times per month.
This SEO Quick Win centres on the principal that if there are keywords out there that you dont yet have but your competition does, yet you have a higher Domain Authority than your competitor, all things being equal, if you write a page of content (of greater relevance) specifically targeting that keyword, you should be able to outperform your competitor.
SEO Liverpool Keywords Search Using MOZ
The above image shows the keyword search for ‘SEO Liverpool” and the two listings above, from the first 10 search results show an entry point of a website with a Domain Authority of 26.
The idea behind this SEO Quick Win No 1 is that if your site has a domain authority of 27 or above, then all other things being equal, if you were to write a page of content that outperforms the landing page of your competitor, you should be able to attain that keyword as the metrics that Moz uses for its Domain Authority ranking give you a reasonable estimate of how Google might rank two given websites.
2. Review & Fix your Title tags & Meta Descriptions (on WordPress)
For this Quick SEO wins we look at WordPress, which is a fantastic content management system and no other single tool in the last 10 years has given small business owners anywhere near as much power over their own Google SEO rankings. With the SEO phrase, ‘content is King’ still holding true, WordPress puts you firmly in the driving seat.
However, WordPress does have some quirks so if you are not wordpress savvy you could be missing out on vital SEO benefit if your Title Tags and Meta Descriptions are not up to scratch.
With the free Yoast SEO plugin for WordPress, you can quickly and easily adapt a title tag structure that is optimal for your website and review your meta descriptions.
The Yoast SEO plugin (even the free version) will enable you to improve your title tags and meta descriptions with its on-oage SEO review tool that also rates your page for the given search term you are looking to attain, as shown in the example below (which is for this very page)
3. Check your rankings on Google Search Console
One of the first items on your SEO set up task list should be to connect you site to Google Search Console (GSC) and check it for any errors.
Even as an SEO professional Google Search Console (GSC) is an invaluable tool as you will uncover a wealth of valuable data from Google and how it sees your website.
In GSC, Google will show you many of the obscure and long-tail keywords that you are ranking for already. Additionally, you will see the average estimated position you have for those keywords so it is a great snap-shot tool in terms of actual rankings you have obtained.
Perform a Full GSC Review
If you head to the tab > Performance (the top graph on the homepage of GSC once you log in and choose the project you look at) and then select > Full Report, by default, you will see Queries sorted by Top queries, which shows you which keywords currently drive the most traffic to your site.
The important take away here is that the keywords which drive the most traffic to your site might surprise you. For example, you may rank very well for off-topic content, which results in lots of irrelevant traffic. So when your Google Analytics says you have 5,000 unique visitors, but you aren’t getting enquiries or conversions, a quick look at GSC > Performance > Full Report could reveal that 90% of your traffic is from off-topic content.
Real Life Example
From 2016 to 2019 our business had first page results for the search term ‘SEO Liverpool‘.
You would think this would be the holly grail for an SEO business in Liverpool and performing a keyword traffic review saw that there was some 800-1000 searches a month, indicating that it might well be a great search term to attain.
However, aside from other Liverpool SEO companies searching each month to see where they were ranking, SEO Liverpool is also short for the ‘Student Experience Office in Liverpool’ (University). With 25,000 students each year, it stands to reason that the relevancy of “SEO Liverpool’ is not what it appears in regards to Search Engine Optimisation.
So when looking for Quick SEO wins just make sure you consider the full SEO environment around you.
4. Review Google’s People Also Ask for opportunities
For this Quick SEO win tactic we will look at Google’s ‘People Also Ask’ which is the most popular SERP feature on Google, after site links and it is typically visible on more than two-thirds of all Google results.
As such Google’s ‘People Also Ask’ is a treasure trove of relevant and timely Google Search Intent data that gives you an insight into what key phrases are being searched which may be of relevance to you. PAA questions are very easy to review as you simply search Google for competitive keywords relevant to your business.
For us, it could be for “SEO.”
These questions (if answered by you) are often a surefire way to earn search traffic as they are responding to timely Google search trends for certain questions that people are asking Google, but for which you have overlooked as they generally never appear in keyword research tools.
Take the questions most relevant to you and answer them as specifically, clearly and effectively as possible while using numbered lists or tables within a long form post, supported by several smaller, more succinct posts and curate your content and internal links towards the long form post you are hoping will rank for the answer to the Google ‘People Also Ask’ question you have targeted.
5. Perform a website audit using a free tool
An SEO Audit is one of the first things we offer prospective clients and whether you are looking to engage a freelance SEO, or do some DIY SEO, an SEO Audit is a great tool to enable you to get a snap-shot of where you are at, in terms of SEO.
After all, you cant get to where you are headed, if you dont know your starting point and performing an search engine optimisation audit will help you ascertain any glaring issues that are holding you back.
If you don’t have the resources right now to engage an SEO Expert, you should consider starting with free website auditing tools. There are a number of them to choose from and here are some of the more prominent:
- Semrush site audit – If you have less than 100 pages to your site, you can sign up for a free audit.
- Woorank has a text input where you can check your website URL right away, but you have to sign up for a 14 days free trial to see the actual results beyond some basic info about your homepage.
- HubSpot Website Grader lets you “grade” your website for free in exchange for your mail address.
- Sitebulb offers a free trial for 14 days. That should be enough for a first look at your website.
- ContentKing makes you sign up for a free trial before viewing the assessment.
- Sitechecker requires a 7-day trial to get a website audit.
Looking For a Google Ads, Paid Search and/or SEO Strategy Expert?
If you liked our post on Quick SEO wins and are considering going a step further?
With Google Ads budgets in excess of £3m per year being managed with over 300% ROI, Edible Marketing is an SEO Consultant , Freelance SEO & PPC consultant with a wealth of experience across multiple industries.
We understand how Google Ads and Google Search works but more importantly we get to know your business, your products and services and we come up with a holistically focused plan of action to better understand your target audience and how best they might engage with your campaign.
