If you want your website to rank high on search engines, make sure you’re using the right SEO techniques. While all search engine optimization is important, some methods are more important for long-term success. You’ll definitely want to add them to your calendar.

Keep reading to discover those ultra-important SEO techniques. We’ve numbered them for you according to their importance. Now, without any further ado, let’s dig in!

1. Reviewing Content for Quality and Relevance

Frequency: Ideally, do updates weekly. If you absolutely cannot fit weekly updates in, do it no less than once per month.

When you want increased website rankings, one effective strategy is to “battleship” your older content. If you have content that’s over a year old, it’s time to give it a once-over. Improving existing articles and blog posts with targeted keyword research can boost their ranking and generate more traffic.

When it comes to website success, your content is key. Your readers come to your site for information. Without updated content, they may not stick around.

Here are four solid reasons why updating older content on your site is essential.

• Keep Readers Coming Back – If you regularly update your site with fresh content, readers will keep coming back for more. The key is to provide your readers with valuable information via your articles. That way, they’re more likely to come back for another visit and read your latest post.
  
• Keep Your Site Fresh – Search engines like Google give preference to regularly updated websites. By updating your content, you’re telling Google that your site is active and worth ranking high in the search results.

Part of content freshness includes checking for outdated titles too. If you have headers that contain a previous year, update them to the current year. For example, update “Top SEO Techniques for 2020” to “Top SEO Techniques for 2022.”

• Improve What You’ve Already Written – Add to and update your older content to keep it relevant and timely. Add fresh content to your older articles rather than just updating the existing text. 

This is even more important with the newest “helpful content” Google algorithm update. Give your readers the most helpful version of content that you can.

• Rank for More Keywords – Check your analytics and look for articles just outside of first-page rankings. Focus on improving these. 

For example, if you see that your article about the best ten restaurants in New York is currently ranking on page two for the phrase “good New York food,” you could improve it by adding a paragraph about the New York cuisine scene and including more information about traditional New York dishes. 

2. Testing Page Speed or Website Speed

Frequency: Once per quarter. (Exception – immediately after significant site changes.)

The number of people connecting to the internet with cell phones or other small handheld devices is on the rise. This increase in limited processing power makes a fast, optimized site essential. 

Your website pages should load within three seconds. If not, you risk visitors leaving and going elsewhere.

If you want increased user engagement, conversions, and ROI, don’t ignore website pagespeed. A website’s page speed depends on how fast the site’s content loads. 

Several factors contribute to slow pagespeeds, including large image files, excessive code, and bad server configurations. A fast pagespeed, on the other hand, comes from optimizing images, minimizing code, and using a good server. 

Pagespeed is crucial because it affects a website’s bounce rate, conversion rate, and overall user experience. Google loves fast websites too. In fact, it’s a ranking factor.

If you are curious about your website, you can use Google’s Pagespeed Insights tool to run a performance audit and get suggestions on improving it.

3. Crawling for Broken Links

Frequency: Twice a year

If you manage a website, periodically checking for broken links and “404: page not found” errors is a must. Leaving broken links up not only looks bad for your website and leaves visitors without content but also hurts your site’s ranking in search engines.

This is because website page authority comes from and passes through links. A bad link, however, breaks the flow of page authority. Google’s PageRank algorithm is one of the factors that determine a website’s page authority. 

Page authority is an industry score (on a 100-point scale) that predicts how well a page will rank in search engine results. The age of the domain, the number of inbound links, and the quality of those links are all determining factors. A higher page authority score means a better search engine ranking.

There are a few different ways to crawl your website for broken links. The most common is to use a broken link checker tool. You can also check for broken links manually or using Google Search Console.

Redirect or correct broken links by directing them to a working URL. Broken links often come from page title changes (URLs), removed or moved content, and URL spelling mistakes.

4. Test Layouts and Functionality on all Devices and Browsers

Frequency: Monthly

Nowadays, it’s not enough to design a website that looks good on a desktop computer and hope it’ll also look good on a mobile device. With the vast majority of internet traffic coming from mobile devices, it’s essential that your website works well on all devices and browsers. User experience is the top priority.

This is where usability testing comes in. It ensures that your website is easy to use and follows best practices for optimal websites.

Testing your website layout and functionality on all devices and browsers is the best way to ensure that your website will be accessible to the broadest possible audience. 

Some of the reasons why functionality testing is essential are:

• Different devices have unique screen sizes and resolutions, affecting how your website appears based on the user’s device.
• Different browsers render web pages differently. It’s essential to test in as many browsers as possible, including Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari.
• Users interact with websites differently on different devices, so testing for all types of interactions is important.

Think about when you experienced a website that was hard to navigate. You probably didn’t stick around but left and went back to Google. At the end of the day, their competitor received your visit instead. 

Low session duration and high bounce rates are a clue to tip you off about these kinds of problems. Your website analytics will reveal if there are any problems.

5. Reviewing WordPress Plugins

Frequency: Once per Quarter

Most people think that search engine optimization involves content and structure exclusively. However, one often overlooked element of SEO is WordPress plugin maintenance.

Just like you need to check your website for broken links and other issues periodically, it’s important to review your plugins regularly to ensure they’re up-to-date and compatible with your website.

You should also deactivate unnecessary plugins and remove any that you don’t use. Sometimes you can get the same functionality out of your theme alone and don’t need that particular extra plugin. Also, if you use more than one plugin with the same functionality, pair it down to only one. 

Fewer plugins equate to a faster site with less possibility for something to go wrong. Incompatible WordPress plugins often cause a website to go down, the owner to get locked out of the admin area, or other related catastrophes.

In addition, keep in mind that some of them may slow down page load times. 

Don’t Get Too Caught Up in the Latest SEO News 

SEO is constantly changing and evolving. Keeping up with the newest trends is hard. However, it’s important to remember that not all changes are worth your time and energy. 

There are always new hacks and tricks that people claim will help your website rank higher in search engines. Most of them are nothing more than temporary solutions.

Instead of getting too caught up in the latest SEO news, focus on mastering the basics: 

• Make sure your website gets designed correctly and is easy to use.
• Your content is high-quality and informative.
• You’re building links from reputable sources. 

These are the things that will make a difference in your rankings. Don’t waste your time chasing after every new fad.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the SEO techniques that you’ll want to focus on are:

• Reviewing older content
• Testing pagespeed
• Checking for broken links
• Performing usability testing
• Reviewing WordPress plugins

Add these five SEO techniques to your regular calendar rotation, so your content stays fresh and up-to-date, and your website is tip-top. By staying on top of these SEO techniques, you can ensure that your website is always performing at its best, regardless of the latest SEO trends. 

Google will reward you with higher rankings, and visitors will spend more time on your site. It’s a win-win for everyone! 

If you have any questions or comments, please post them below. We’d love to hear from you!