The Best Ways to Boost Your SEO Rankings

With the new Penguin updates, we are all asking the same question, “Is on page SEO dead?”
Well, this might seem like a legit question since the most recent updates have enabled Google to understand context and meaning rather than simply look for keywords and phrases. At the moment, authenticated links have the most effect on SEO, but on-page SEO may not be dead, just yet!
There are quite a number of factors that make sure that your website finds a place in the top ranked SRLs. While on-page SEO may still be one of them, it has very less effect on the SRL rankings at the moment. Here’s a brief overview as to what changed in the recent years.

Title:

After working with the most recent Google updates, almost all of us have already noticed that well written titles have a positive impact on website rankings. For best effects, I would suggest you to include the keyword at the beginning of your title. It is very simple and true especially in case of blogs. You may include a couple of phrases in the title, but make sure they are not overwhelming.

Complete the description:

Many webmasters do not pay enough attention to the page description even today. This is a massive SEO killer. While Google might swear that they don’t use description in the Penguin 4.0 to rank your pages, what they do not tell you is, they do use your website’s click through rate. So just make sure that you include an interesting and brief description for each page so that your target audience at least feels like clicking through.

Pay attention to your Header Tags:

H1-H5 tags are there for a reason. So, please make use of at least one main header tag or the H1 as your title tag. Include the main key phrase in the beginning. If you are a blogger, you should know that your blog title is automatically dubbed as your H1, and after that, you are set to being best friends with all search engines. Use the H2-H5 tags in the rest of the content, but make sure not to include your keyword in every one of them.

Main Body:

Now that you have gotten a whiff of the rest of the stuff, it is time for the page content. As we all know by now, the content should be fresh, unique, reader-friendly and relevant. Do not stuff in the same keyword over and over again. For example, if you are writing an article on painting you may want to use synonyms like illustration, sketch, image and portraying in your content.

Keyword density:

You may have already asked your digital search engine consultant a thousand times, but let me tell you that there is no ideal keyword density. You should remember that for short bodies, 1-2% keyword density is quite acceptable. For content over 10000 words, even a 6% keyword density may not set the filters off. But pushing that, would simply be risking it with Penguin 4.0.
But hey, if you are still stuck on the second page, do not grimace. Just go back to your website and give it a thorough overhaul. There must be a few key points you are missing and you will be able to get back to page 1 in no time at all!

Author bio: Derek Iwasiuk has his own SEO consultancy business. He is a digital search engine consultant and with his 18+ years of experience, he is currently the CEO of Engage the Crowd a leading online advertising and social media marketing agency.