Across the internet, you’ll find tons of articles telling you about common SEO techniques, from keyword research and website optimization to link building and content creation. However, there are many more techniques you can implement other than these basic ones.

Some of the techniques we will discuss today require a certain degree of expert knowledge, but don’t worry. If you work with the best Memphis SEO companies, you’ll have access to all the resources and expertise you’ll need.

Boost your rank with advanced SEO tricks and tactics

1. Make content for journalists

At this point, you already know how crucial link building is to your search engine results rank. Besides quantity, what matters is the quality of backlinks you have. This is why you need to target journalists. Credible news sites have high domain authority, so getting a link from any of them will positively impact your rank and reputation.

Journalists often research key facts like statistics and research results. Generate content that journalists may find useful, and you’ll end up with more relevant and valuable backlinks. Cite legitimate sources so these journalists can cross-reference the information you provided. 

If you have your R&D department, you can even publish articles detailing the results of your studies. Content like this is highly sought after since journalists are always on the lookout for industry innovations and developments.

2. Use multimedia to catch users’ attention

Google counts dwell time as one of its criteria for ranking websites. Dwell time refers to how long a user spends on your website. Given this, you need to ensure that you maintain their attention by making your content as engaging as possible.

Giant blocks of text won’t be enough to keep a user interested unless you’ve employed an excellent writer. You have to break up the drivel with bright, colorful infographics or GIFs. You can even embed a video to keep them on your site for a little longer. Practice restraint when using this technique, as adding too many images could break your reader’s focus and do the opposite of what you intended.

The best Memphis SEO companies have the in-house talent to cover your graphic design and video production needs. Take advantage of this and spice up your content with well-made images and clips.

3. Build backlinks with collaboration

Even giant corporations collaborate. It’s a system that works. Collaborations are mutually beneficial projects where each brand gets introduced to the other’s audience, potentially gaining both brands a wider consumer base.

Partnering with other companies will result in more backlinks for you since they will link to your site when referencing the collaboration. Furthermore, brand collaborations also gain a fair amount of media attention, generating even more backlinks.

Collaborations can be anything from a new product line, a writing feature, a video or podcast, and so on. Maintain a good relationship with your collaborators so you can pursue more collaborations in the future.

You can also partner with individuals like bloggers, influencers, etc. Ensure that the people you’re partnering with have a good reputation. Nothing sinks a brand faster than being linked to people exhibiting offensive behavior.

4. Focus on getting a Featured Snippet

Featured Snippet is a new Google feature that, as the name implies, spotlights one of the search engine results by featuring it at the top of the search results page.

Being featured gives you more real estate. A typical Google search result gets about 100px of space on the page, while a Featured Snippet gets 300px. This is advantageous because you immediately catch the user’s eye, and the likelihood they’ll click your site over anything else on the page increases.

The interesting thing about Featured Snippets is that they’re not always the top-ranking search result for that keyword. Sometimes they can be lower-ranked websites. And yet, because Featured Snippets dominate a larger screen area, they get more traffic than the first-ranked site for that keyword. 

What decides if a website will get featured?

There’s no final answer yet, but experts observe that the likelihood of getting features increases if your article is a list, a recipe, or contains a table. It’s generally agreed upon that Google features websites that most likely answer a user’s question, so identify the most common questions your audience may have and generate a list-type article based on that.

5. Use original images in your articles

Content writers love stock photos. They’re free to use and there’s a stock photo for every purpose. However, stock photos are seen by search engines as duplicate content and may harm your rankings. As much as you can, try to make your original images. You can utilize whatever medium is available to you, be it digital illustration to photography. What’s important is you don’t use something countless other writers may have already used in their articles.

6. Encourage a thriving comments section

Comments are more than just a way to engage with your audience. They also help your SEO efforts in several ways:

• Increases dwell time. Some readers like to browse comments to view input from others who have read the article. This lets them stay on your site longer.
• Contributes to keyword ranking. Some comments may even contribute to search engine ranking on other keywords.
• Builds brand-consumer relations. Responding to user comments is a great way to build a relationship with your consumer. Customers value brands that listen well, and by showing them your willingness to engage in dialogue with them, they’re likely to patronize you in the future.

However, you have to ensure that your comments sections are well moderated. Having too many spam comments can be detrimental to your ranking. Delete any irrelevant comments and respond to any insightful ones. Foster an environment of respectful exchanges. 

For some of you, this may be the first time you hear about such techniques. If you need additional help, remember that the best Memphis SEO companies offer services for the majority of the tricks listed here. If you need digital illustrators, video producers, and SEO experts, they’re the ones for the job.