Search Engine Positioning: 25 Strategies For Better SEO

Search engine positioning is the practice of optimizing individual web pages so that they rank as high as possible in the search engines for particular keywords.

The reason search engine positioning is so important is that the click-through rate (CTR) from the search results falls away dramatically as you go down the SERPs.

You can see this in the following chart, measuring click-through rate against SERP position:

Image source: Backlinko

By the time you get half way down the page, your SERP snippet is getting less than 10% of the available clicks from Page #1 of the search results.

To put it another way: the lion’s share of the traffic on any search results page goes to the top three positions in the SERPs.

As we’ll see in this article, search engine positioning is about optimizing a range of On-Page SEO factors that can help your pages to rank higher in the search results.

In this blog post, you’ll discover 25 search engine positioning strategies, including how to:

• optimize for mobile search
• optimize for voice search
• prime your content for ‘rich answers’
• write content that has high topical authority
• speed up your website
• reduce bounce rate
• improve your click-through rate (CTR)
• increase ‘dwell time’
• make your pages easier to scan

and more!

But first of all, what’s the difference between SEO and search engine positioning?

Search Engine Positioning vs SEO

Search engine positioning is a specific skill within SEO.

SEO refers to everything you do to get your content on Page #1 of the search results, while search engine positioning refers to the techniques you use to get your pages as high as possible in the search results.

Think of it like this: if SEO is like building a piano, search engine positioning is like tuning the strings.

Search Engine Positioning Strategies

Here are 25 search positioning strategies that will help your pages to rank higher in the search results:

#1. Optimize for mobile search

Mobile search now accounts for 59% of organic search traffic:

Image source: Statista

And that’s why optimizing for mobile is a key search engine positioning strategy.

Here are three key steps for optimizing for mobile:

Test your site using Google’s mobile-friendly tool

The first thing to do is check if your site is already mobile-friendly. Use Google’s Mobile Friendly Testing Tool.

If your page passes the test, you’ll see a green sign telling you that your page is mobile friendly:

Use a mobile-friendly WordPress theme

A mobile-friendly theme is one which adapts responsively to different devices so that it always displays correctly on any device. Here are some of the most mobile-friendly WordPress themes:

• Neve
• Jupiter X
• Newspaper
• Karma
• Divi
• Astra

Enable accelerated mobile pages (AMP)

Accelerated Mobile Pages or AMP is a mobile-friendly format created by Google in 2015 to ensure that content is served to mobile devices in the fastest and most responsive way.

To create AMP pages, just install the AMP for WordPress plugin.

#2. Optimize for Voice Search

The rapid uptake of voice-based digital assistants (like Alexa, Cortana, Siri, and Google Assistant) means that voice search is becoming a big part of organic search:

Source: Statista

In text search we all became adept at using very abbreviated search terms such as ‘best cms 2018’. But in voice search people are much more conversational: they’re more likely to say “what is the best content management system in 2018?”

Here are some of the ways you can optimize for voice search:

• Use more conversational phrases in your writing
• Include an FAQ page which algorithms can use to extract answers to common questions
• Use Structured Data Markup to give voice search devices quick clues as to what your content is about
• Use even longer tail keywords – voice search usually contains many more words than text search

For more tips on how to optimize for voice search read these two articles:

• Search Engine Land – ‘How to optimize for voice search’
• Neil Patel – ‘How to Optimize for Voice Search: 4 Simple SEO Strategies’

#3. Optimize for ‘Rich Answers’

Rich Answers are when Google gives you the answer to your search query directly in the search results – you don’t even need to click on the listing.

Let’s say you typed in: “what is pageless design”.

Google gives you an Answer Box (which is a type of Rich Answer):

Optimizing for ‘Rich Answers’ is a search engine positioning strategy that not many bloggers are using, so do this and you’ll be ahead of the pack!

So how do you get your web pages to show up as Rich Answers in the search results?

Here are four key tips:

 Use schema markup

This allows Google to easily extract relevant data from within your source code to be used in the Answer Box.

This is what a SERP snippet can look like when Schema Markup has been enabled:

In the example above, Google has pulled out some of the experts I interviewed in the article and placed them in the SERP snippet. This helps my search result to stand out from the others.

Here’s another example:

In this instance, Google has pulled two of the plugins I reviewed and placed them directly in the SERP snippet. Again, it makes my SERP snippet stand out and therefore it attracts more clicks.

Ask a question and then answer it

When you ask a question in your content, and then answer it, that primes the algorithm to create an Answer Box.

Create an FAQ page

It’s  likely that Google looks for content for its Answer Boxes from within FAQ pages. So this is another way of increasing the chances of your content ending up in an Answer Box.

Turn your headline into a question

To get Google’s attention, turn your headline into a question that includes your keyword phrase, and then answer the question in the text beneath the headline

Here’s a way to find questions  you might be able to answer: type a ‘seed phrase’ into Google using an asterisk as a ‘wildcard. In the example below I typed in ‘how do you * in wordpress’:

That gives you a list of popular queries about how to do things in WordPress.

To get even more ideas, click on one of them and then look at the ‘related searches’ below. These are often in the form of questions that searchers frequently ask:

#4. Address Searcher Intent

One of the keys to search engine positioning is understanding and addressing searcher intent:

 

#5. Write longer content

Studies have shown that longer content ranks higher in the search results.

Brian Dean’s study of over 1 million search results shows a clear correlation between length of content and ranking. The average length of pages ranking in positions #1 to #3 in Google is 1900 to 2000 words.

One of the reasons long form content ranks higher is simply that it takes longer to read. More time on page translates into higher rankings.

If you only implement one search engine positioning strategy from this article, make it this one! Aim for about 2000 words or more and you’ll be on the right side of the data.

#6. Write blog posts with high topical authority

As search engine algorithms get smarter, they’re able to measure how well a piece of content covers a particular topic. And that allows search engines to rank web pages on the basis of topical authority.

So, how do you increase topical authority?

• Be clear about the topics that make up your niche
• When you write on those topics, make sure you cover all the related sub-topics
• Create pillar pages, each one acting as a hub for a cluster of related blog posts
• Create internal links between posts or pages on your site that deal with related topics
• Include latent semantic indexing keywords in your blog posts
• Use the ‘Related searches’ feature in the Google results to find semantically related keywords

For more tips on how to increase topical authority, see my article How To Find Seed Keywords In Your Niche & Increase Topical Authority

#7. Speed up your website

Page speed is a ranking factor. Here are some tips for speeding up your website load time:

Check your site speed

The first thing to do is check your site speed.

Here are two of the best tools for checking your site speed:

• Pingdom
• GT Metrix

If your page loads in 1.5 – 2 seconds, that’s considered a good site speed.

There are two main factors that affect the speed of your website:

• the way your web host has configured their servers
• the content you put on your web pages

You don’t have much control over the first item (except to change web host).

But you can control the second item.

How to improve site speed

The main areas where you can speed up your website are:

• reduce image size
• use a content delivery network (CDN)
• reduce the number of HTTP requests
• reduce the number of plugins on your website
• minify CSS and Javascript
• enable HTTP/2

The best way to address these issues is to (1) use a speed optimization plugin such as WP Rocket, (2) use a content delivery network such as StackPath, and (3) use an image optimization plugin such as Short Pixel or Imagify.

#8. Reduce bounce rate

Google defines bounce rate as a single-page session on your site:

“In Analytics, a bounce is calculated specifically as a session that triggers only a single request to the Analytics server, such as when a user opens a single page on your site and then exits without triggering any other requests to the Analytics server during that session”.

To put another way, bounce rate is the percentage of visitors to a particular website who navigate away from the site after viewing only one page.

When a visitor bounces from your site, the content on your page was not what your visitor was looking for or expecting.

Since Google is in the business of matching search queries to search results, a high bounce rate sends a bad signal to Google. The algorithm will start moving you down the search results.

Brian Dean conducted a study of over one million search results and found that low bounce rates are strongly associated with higher Google rankings:

Find your bounce rate

To find your bounce rate, log into Google Analytics and then go to Behaviour > Site Content > All Pages:

So what is an acceptable bounce rate?

It depends on what industry or niche you’re in. So it’s hard to come up with a single figure for everyone.

But here are some ‘ballpark’ figures for bounce rates provided by Go Rocket Fuel

• Bounce rate of 26 to 40 per cent is excellent
• 41 to 55 per cent is about average
• 56 to 70 per cent is higher than average, but still no cause for panic
• Bounce rate over 70 per cent is usually cause for alarm

#9. Improve your click-through-rate (CTR)

Click-through rate (CTR) is a key SEO factor in Google’s algorithm – the higher your CTR, the higher your page will rank in the search results.

This graphic from Neil Patel shows the relationship between CTR and Google Position:

Improving your CTR from the SERPs is another vital search engine positioning strategy.

Google watches this metric  closely and it directly affects your ranking in the search results!

Here are five tips for increasing your CTR:

1. Use this title tag formula

The wording of your SEO title or title tag plays a key role in whether or not people click on your web page. To get more clicks on your web page use this tried and tested formula for your meta title:

Number + [powerful adjective] + keyword

2. Use numbers and symbols

Use numbers and symbols in your meta title – they stand out in the SERPs:

3. Place your keyword at the start

Use your keyword at the start of your SEO title (or meta title)

4. Include your keyword in the URL

Include your keyword(s) in the URL:

5. Use your keyword in the meta title and meta description

Use your keywords in the meta title and the meta description – Google will put them in bold:

#10. Improve ‘dwell time’

Dwell time, also called ‘time on page’, is one of the metrics that Google uses to rank pages.

The reason dwell time is important for search engines is that the more time a person spends on your page the more likely it is that your content answered their search query.

So the more time people spend on your page, the higher your page will rank in the search results.

For some great tips on how to increase time on page have a look at my article Seven Best Ways To Increase Time On Page & Get Higher Rankings.

#11. Make your page easy to scan

It’s hard to get the average visitor to go below the fold, as the following graphic shows:

Dr. Jakob Nielson’s research shows that people spend a whopping 57% of their time above the “fold” (i.e. on the first screen of content).

How do you get visitors to keep scanning down your page?

Make your page easy to scan by breaking up walls of text using short paragraphs, headings and sub-headings, images, and large font size (16 px and over).

Here are some tips from Susan Greene on how to Make Your Web Content More Readable.

You can also make your pages much more scannable by using good visual hierarchy as UX Planet explains in the ‘Do’s and Don’ts of Web Design’.

People scan when they first arrive at a web page: they quickly want to see what the page has that’s relevant to them.

Here’s an example of how to draw in the visitor’s eye using visual hierarchy:

#12. Target featured snippets

Going after featured snippets is another powerful search engine positioning strategy. Prime your content with snippets of text that lend themselves to being used in a featured snippet:

#13.  Use content mapping and interlinking

Linking internally between different pages that share the same topic is another strategy that will help push your pages higher in the search results:

#14. Keep your content up-to-date

A huge percentage of online content hasn’t been updated for five years or more. So of if you regularly update your old blog posts (with new info, new images, new headings etc), you’ll be ahead of the pack:

#15. Use your keywords strategically

Make sure to place your keywords in these strategic locations:

#16. Optimize your meta title and meta description

Your meta title and meta description are like little text ads for your web page. Optimize them so that Google can better understand what your page is about:

#17. Use schema markup

Adding schema markup to your site helps Google add extra features to your SERP snippet. And that makes your snippet stand out from the rest:

#18. Use a featured image

Google shows featured images in some SERP snippets in mobile search. This makes your page stand out from the others and can improve click-through rate (CTR).

Make sure your featured image contains the title of the your article in a legible font – this seems to improve SERP ranking. Google can read text embedded in images and so images containing your keyword could potentially improve your SEO.

For more on this topic, see this article: Did Google Just Read the Text on My Image and Can This Affect My Rankings?

#19. Link out to authority sites

Linking out to authority website will strengthen your search engine positioning.

Here are some of the reasons external linking is good for SEO:

• It makes your resource more valuable to your readers, and therefore more likely to be shared
• It provides an opportunity to build relationships with other bloggers
• It creates an incentive for other sites to link to you (reciprocity is a driving principle in human behaviour)
• According to Moz, linking to relevant authority websites is likely rewarded by the search engines in their algorithms.

#20. Build high authority backlinks

Backlinks are still one of the top three ranking factors. So link building is a vital search engine positioning strategy:

#21. Target long-tail keywords

This is the essence of search engine positioning!

The biggest mistake I see bloggers making is not doing keyword research before writing blog posts. And the second biggest mistake I see is when bloggers target head keywords instead of long tail keywords.

A head keyword is a keyword that contains only one or two words. An example would be ‘WordPress editor’.

Head keywords typically have a monthly search volume in the thousands. But they also have massive competition.

As a beginning blogger you simply have no chance of ranking on Page #1 of Google for a head keyword.

So what’s the solution?

Go for long tail keywords.

These are keywords that contain three or more words. They typically have a monthly search volume in the hundreds. Because their search volume is much lower, the competition to rank for these words is also much lower.

Here’s an example. Let’s say you’re writing an article about raising teenagers. Instead of targeting the keyword ‘raising teenagers’, go for the keyword ‘positive parenting strategies for the teenage years’. 

But where do you find long tail keywords?

Here are my three favourite methods for finding long tail keywords:

 Google Auto Suggest

You’ve probably noticed that when you type in a search query, Google gives you a handful of popular queries that other searchers have typed in:

These are fantastic long tail keywords!

And you know people are searching on these terms because that’s where Google got them – from previous searches.

‘People Also Ask’ (PAA)

Scroll down the search results to the ‘People Also Ask’ section:

PAA is a great source for long-tail keywords.

You can take it a step further and click on one of the items in PAA. In this example, I clicked on the first item in the PAA box:

You’ll notice that every time you click on an item in PAA, Google adds more long-tail variations to the PAA box. This is an almost endless supply of long-tail keywords!

Google’s ‘Related Searches’

You may have noticed when you do a search that Google gives you a list of related keywords at the bottom of the page:

Google’s ‘related searches’ are a goldmine for long tail keywords!

#22. Use LSI keywords

Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) keywords are words that are semantically related to your main keyword.

LSI keywords are words that are often found in the same context as your main keyword, so they help search engines understand the context of your article.

Here are some LSI keywords for the keyword ‘coffee machine’:

With the Hummingbird algorithm (introduced in September of 2013) Google is no longer focusing on single keywords.

Instead, Google now understands context and patterns of words. It also understands the breadth and depth of the whole topic you’re writing about.

One of the factors that Google now uses to rank web pages is topical authority – how well you have covered the particular topic you are writing about.

And one of the techniques that search engines use to measure topical authority is latent semantic indexing. The algorithms know that certain words cluster together in predictable patterns, depending on what the topic is. And those word clusters are made up of latent semantic keywords.

So if you want your article to rank well in the search results, you need to use as many of the LSI keywords associated with your main keyword as you can.

The best way to find LSI keywords is Google itself. Start typing your keyword into the search bar and look at the long tail variations that come up in Google Auto Suggest. Those variations contain excellent LSI keywords.

You can also scroll down he search results till you see the ‘People Also Ask’ section – that’s another great source of LSI keywords.

And finally, have a look at the ‘Related Searches’ section at the foot of the search results page: those related searches also contain LSI keywords.

#23. Turn your blog posts into YouTube videos

Did you know that YouTube is a search engine?

In fact, it’s the second largest search engine on the web.

YouTube delivers massive amounts of free, targeted traffic to bloggers who are savvy enough to tap into this river of traffic.

And the best part?

Because relatively few people are making videos (compared with writing blog posts) the competition to get ranked on YouTube is far less than the competition to get on Page #1 of Google.

So all you need to do is invest in either Camtasia (for Windows) or Screenflow (for Mac) and turn your blog posts into YouTube videos.

#24. Use images in your blog posts

It’s been proven time and again that including images in your blog posts results in more shares.

In a study of over one million articles, BuzzSumo found that articles with an image once every 75-100 words got double the amount of shares of articles with fewer images:

Here are three of the best sites for finding royalty-free images that you can use in your blog posts:

• Pexels
• Unsplash
• Pixabay

You can also make your own images using a graphic design platform like Canva. Creating your own images is far better for SEO and user experience than using stock images.

For more information on this topic, see this articleby Blue Compass: Are Stock Photos Bad for SEO?

#25. Use shorter URLs

SEO whizz Brian Dean analyzed over one million URLs and found overwhelming evidence that shorter URLs rank better on Google:

And here’s Google’s John Mueller himself making the same point:

Conclusion

Search engine positioning is about making small adjustments that give you a slight edge over the other pages in the SERPs.

We’ve covered a lot of these techniques in this article – so many, it may seem overwhelming. But don’t be put off – even if you only implement 2 or 3 of these strategies, you’ll soon see results as your pages start climbing up the SERPs.

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