Would you like to read about my top 25 SEO tips for 2020 because if you have a website and a business online, then this will be very useful for you?
Top 25 SEO Tips for 2020!
Are you ready to learn how to get more visitors on your website for free in 2020 and beyond with Google organic search?
My goal is for this to be the very best search engine optimization or SEO tutorial that you've ever read.
I'm going to give you 25 concrete SEO tips in here that you can take immediate action on based on my experience having a business online for nine years, my experience getting thousands of people every single day to come to my own website.
I've averaged over a thousand clicks a day for the past three months. I've got a very fast website. I've got a 98 speed score on mobile, and 100 speed score on desktop for a top post on my website. I know what I'm talking about. I'm very good at this and I'm going to quickly package my biggest takeaways into these top 25 tips for you.
Are you ready to enhance your skills?
Let's do this.
Number 1
Test your page speed.
Google is obsessed with how fast your website loads because users like you and me are obsessed with how fast things go.
I've clicked out of webpages lots of times because they don't load fast enough. The easiest way to not rank in search results, assuming you're doing all the rest of this stuff, is to have a slow website. If someone clicks over to your website and it doesn't load, they click back and that's a negative signal of Google saying that the user had a terrible experience and they put that result lower.
Make sure you know how fast your website is going. A lot of these other tips will be to help you increase your website speed because website speed is so essential to ranking high in search.
Number 2
Register your domain longer.
This is a really easy SEO tip you can apply. Think about it from Google's perspective. If a domain is registered for a year, how reliable is that domain that it will still be there in a year compared to a domain that's registered for 5, 10, 15, 20 years?
You can even register your domain with some providers for a hundred years.
That's a little tip that's very easy to do that will give you a little bit of a boost.
Number 3
Use HTTPS.
Seriously I can't believe people are still not using HTTPS on their websites.
Use HTTPS, this is a trust signal. It is definitely a ranking factor that Google has clearly said they consider.
Make sure your website uses HTTPS.
Number 4
Use caching to help local users load faster.
If you're struggling with your page speed, one of the most common causes is either your server's loading slow, your host is slow or your theme is slow, and you've got users accessing your website all over the world.
One way to take the load off your server and to help everyone everywhere load faster is to make sure you have some kind of caching plugin or system in place.
For example, you're watching Netflix, you don't go to Netflix's main data center to watch videos. You get it from a local data center wherever you are in the world. Same principle needs to be on your website.
Number 5
Make sure you've got an XML sitemap for Google to index.
Yoast SEO makes this very easy on WordPress. This way you don't have to worry about whether Google knows these pages on your website and you can control what pages are indexed by Google very easily.
You can take out some of those low quality pages that don't need to be indexed by Google and just focus on your good pages.
Number 6
Make sure you've got a fast and secure web hosts like Kinsta.
That was one of the most frustrating parts of me getting started for years with my own website.
Get a web host really good and be obsessed with speed because you can do all the other performance enhancements, if your website is still slow, you'll keep ranking low in search results.
Number 7
Include the exact keyword phrase in the title.
Make sure if you want to rank for "amazing blue widget," that you have "amazing blue widget" exactly in the title.
I put the exact phrase I want to rank for in the title of my videos and in the title of my posts to ensure that Google knows that's what I'm talking about, and then I have the best chance to show up for the exact keyword phrase.
Number 8
Wikipedia.
Long format articles tend to rank the best. I've looked at some outstanding data on this and I've observed on my website that when you get to know everything about a subject and put it all on one page, those will tend to get way more search results than a bunch of little short articles.
My wife writes articles for law firms and they do a bunch of these short articles. I just want to tell everybody at these law firms and SEO marketing companies to put all these things into longer, fewer articles instead of putting them into these shorter ones because then it's much easier to get more backlinks to one page instead of having them all spread out. It's better to go all in and make deep pages that go into a lot of detail.
Most of my posts on my website are 1,000 to 5,000 words. That's what ranks the best.
Number 9
Share your post to all your social media accounts.
I just filmed a video recently showing how to do that with Zapier.
Make sure every time you put a new post up, it goes up to your Facebook, your Twitter, and whatever other social media accounts you have because Google takes into consideration if posts are being shared and going viral on social media platforms. Google has ways to signal that and include that in the search ranking.
This is a way to get traffic to your website to begin with, and then to build backlinks. When you share a post you just wrote on your blog, somebody else shares it on Facebook, somebody else shares it. Then, it gets back-linked, now you're ranking higher.
This is an easy step to miss just out of laziness or not having automation set up as I know, because I used to just write all these blog posts, not even share them to my social media.
Now I've got it automated with Zapier. It's very important.
Number 10
Paying for ads on Google will not help you rank higher on search.
It will put an ad up in search, but it will not help you rank higher in search itself.
Paying for Google ads only helps people to discover your website and can be very effective, but it will not directly impact your search ranking.
In fact, what I've seen lots of local business owners do, is stealing their own organic search traffic with their ads. When you do an ad in Google and you just set it up out there with their default way, they do it and put all these different terms in, people will search for your exact business and click on your ad instead of your organic search.
In most cases, I suggest not to run search ads. When you're working on building your business, it costs extra money, which you'd better be put into content creation.
Number 11
Mobile search is currently higher than desktop search and growing.
Make sure your website is not only mobile friendly, but that you've got a great mobile website.
I've seen so many businesses with terrible mobile websites. Your mobile website should ideally be managed in the same software content management system that you are using for the rest of your business.
It should just be designed responsive. That way it looks good on desktop, tablets and mobile, and you can manage all of it without having some separate mobile website.
Number 12
Use a CDN to help pages load fast worldwide.
This is very closely linked with the caching tip above. A Content Delivery Network plus a cache can help your pages load a lot faster, greatly reduce the amount of stress that you're putting on your server.
Make sure you've got a CDN and caching set up to help your website load fast.
Number 13
One of the best ways it's worked for me to build backlinks is to create online courses and give away free coupons.
Websites like Udemy have used this to blow their search traffic up by having instructors give away coupons to websites that then get shared virally.
I do this now. I give away coupons to my courses for free, give people links, and then those get shared and that has helped me build over 50,000 backlinks to my website.
This is one of the best ways to not only build backlinks, but to make sales and to build an email list. Instead of doing an email collection form, which I hate and almost never go through anyone's stupid pop-up.
What I do instead, is I offer a free coupon, which consistently converts and gets me an email address and email subscriber, and then leads to sales.
Online courses on your website are a great way to accomplish everything you're hoping to do from making money to building backlinks, to building a list.
Number 14
Try Google AMP to speed up mobile pages.
This was successful for me when I had a horribly slow theme on my website that was giving me low page scores on mobile.
I initially put Google AMP on, which greatly sped up the page load on my mobile. In fact, it was so fast that I tried to do it on desktop as well, and then realized, "Why don't I just upgrade my theme to get my website going faster?"
Google AMP may not be the right solution for you if like me you've already got a fast theme. However, if you've got a very intensive and well-designed desktop experience, you've been messing with a mobile website that is not working, Google AMP is the easiest way to get a really fast mobile experience.
Number 15
Enure everything is on your main domain. Subdomains do not count.
You get one main domain and everything should be on it.
For example, Jerrybanfield.com is where the main domain should be without any subdomains. In Google's eyes, Jerrybanfield.com and www.jerrybanfield.com are the same because both of those were on one domain.
Those are linked together in Webmaster Tools.
If I put something like blog.jerrybanfield.com that is a completely different website in Google's mind. I see so many instructors making online courses who've got their own website. Then they've got the courses on a different domain and that means if they share free coupons, it builds a courses domain and it doesn't build the domain of their actual blog.
You want to go all in on your link building, stop using all these different domains and having your links get scattered out all over the place. You want to focus and build one domain because it takes so much effort to build one domain search results that when you do that and go all in on it, then you'll get a lot more search traffic instead of building 15 different niche websites and hoping they rank.
Of course, if you have a whole business, you can build niche websites. For most people you just want a Jerrybanfield.com or something like that, put all your content on there, point everybody directly to that domain, then you get lots of search traffic.
Number 16
Backlinks are very important. There are good ways and bad ways to go about building them.
The best way to go about building backlinks is to sponsor guest posts or links on websites related to what you do.
The worst way to build backlinks is to go around asking everybody to just link your stuff for free because isn't that what everybody wants to do?
I've gotten thousands of requests to put links in my posts and my blog to send people off my website to go to somebody else's website who's done nothing for me, that purely is just self-interested in, "Oh, let me see if I can build a backlink."
This is often related to what I'll talk about in a minute.
Make sure when you build your links, just outright sponsor a post or sponsor a link because you'll get an enthusiastic response.
Consider this. Will you put my post up for free on your website?
No, I won't even respond to that.
If you do it this way, "Hey, I'll pay you x number of dollars for a smaller website, maybe $20, $50 or $100 to do a guest post, to put this post on your website and link back to my website."
Yes, I'll get right on that.
See the difference?
You can spend your time wisely, get a few guest posts or related links paid, and then that will work easy for you.
Number 17
What you can do to really take things to the next level is to apply for guest posts or paid posts on popular websites.
This is the only thing I have not successfully applied myself, but I see others doing it and I'm researching it, learning how to do this myself.
I've seen a spreadsheet, which is how I learned about this. I've a guy who paid for backlinks on some very popular websites and that helps massively to get your ranking out in there.
Now, those backlinks or guest posts can cost thousands of dollars on those websites or you have to apply to be able to do a guest post on my website.
This is a great way, as long as they offer a backlink, to build a very valuable backlink that will build your search traffic a lot. I just saw one of my friends who his wife applied with her blog and got her post shared on this popular website all for free, and she even got paid to do it.
Look for some of these opportunities instead of trolling people asking for guest posts.
Number 18
It relates directly to number 16. Do not ever hire an SEO agency or a third party to help with SEO.
What often happens is you will be paying a lot more than whatever their service is really worth, and often the methods they will use are annoying or can cause problems, and leave you worse off and unable to build your own SEO well yourself.
I've gotten a lot of emails on my website from SEO agencies that all they're interested in is building backlinks.
Somebody has paid them to build the backlinks and raise their search engine ranking and all they do is send out thousands of emails trying to ask for free guest posts and backlinks, which must work sometimes, but it doesn't work very well with me.
When you hire these agencies, you're also taking off the responsibility of doing it yourself and for most people you need the responsibility yourself to create great content instead of focusing on just, "I'll pay somebody else to fix this problem."
No! Focus on doing a great job yourself and you will get great search rankings.
Of course, I've done most of these things I've said not to do, specifically this one.
Number 19
Never hire anyone to build backlinks for you on Fiverr or anywhere else.
This is even worse than hiring an agency although it's a lot cheaper and I did this. I got my first website ranked on the first page of search results for the exact keywords I was trying to rank for.
I even managed to sneak a link into the Wikipedia page and keep it in there for a while to my website even though that was against the terms.
I worked to build backlinks, and then I thought I could take it to the next level by hiring some expert on Fiverr, according to their profile, to build me thousands of really quality backlinks.
Within a few days of paying the person to do the backlinks, my website went down to the third page. The backlinks that they sent signaled to Google that they were purely spam and someone was trying to artificially manipulate search results.
This is the same reason I say don't hire an SEO agency because while some may be outstanding, a lot of the ones I've run into are putting you more at risk of having a problem instead of getting higher in the search results.
I'm grateful I did not do this on my later websites.
Number 20
Repost your blogs to [Medium](), to LinkedIn, to all these other websites because those backlinks link back to your original article, and not only help you get readers, but your posts might actually rank higher in search results on Medium or LinkedIn, then you can get people back to your blog, and that's a valuable backlink.
What I do is I post all my blog posts first on my website. Then, I share them out to other websites where I can repost them on Medium, where I can post it as an article on LinkedIn, and then a link back and say the original post was on Jerrybanfield.com here.
That way I've got multiple opportunities to rank on the same post.
Websites like Medium and LinkedIn are so big, they're not concerned about duplicate content, which helps me build my website and reach readers directly on Medium and LinkedIn. They read my blogs on Medium and LinkedIn, which then convert some readers back to my website who might be so happy with what they've found that they'll share on social media, buy my courses and backlink my website.
That is what's happened lots of times.
Number 21
No follow links recently got a boost, which has really helped my website out because I have a lot of no follow links.
Links on websites like YouTube, websites like Medium and LinkedIn that's set no follow to their websites.
No follow links do help some now, which means anywhere you can link back, your own YouTube channel, always link your own website, always link back anywhere you can to your own website.
On websites that have no follow, always make sure you've got a link on, for example, your Twitter profile back to your website, LinkedIn profile, back to your website, link everywhere you can from your own profiles back to your website. These links are helpful.
Number 22
Understand ranking in Google is a game of persistence and patience. I clearly did not get this when I started my first website.
I tried every day to look at the search rankings and how high I was. I don't even look at that stuff now. All I do is create great content. It's really helpful for people. I share it as I've explained in here out on my social media, out on other blogs and I'm looking at how I can share it on some of the highest traffic websites in the world.
Then I trust that all good things will go forward from there because today I see, this is a game of patience and persistence. This isn't a game of you just write a post. You get all this traffic and make all this money.
You just keep doing valuable things on your website every single day and you will build a lot of clicks like I've got now.
That goes directly into 23.
Number 23
Focus on creating great content and making your competitors your teachers.
I never go keyword creep on my competitors. I never get upset now because my competitors are ranked higher than me. I don't get into any of that.
If you're thinking like that, there's an opportunity to think differently. When you think differently, you will get the results you're looking for. When I started out, I was thinking competition. I was looking at and getting upset that these websites were ranked higher than my website and I did not do very well because of that.
Today I just make great content and if somebody is ranking higher than me on something and I happened to notice it, I take notes. What does this website doing a great job on that I can learn from? What did this website talk about in their 25 SEO tips that I can put into my 25 SEO tips. In fact, sometimes I will literally take information directly from a competitor.
"Oh, that's good information. Let me go ahead and make a video on that. Hey, that title worked great for them. I'll go ahead and use the same title myself."
Your competitors are your teachers, not your enemies.
Number 24
I suggest, if you really want to rank high, to make a new blog post every single day. Not once a week, not once every couple of weeks, not twice a week, every single day.
That gives you 365.24 chances a year to get a post that is helpful. The best posts you can write solve problems and when you come across a little problem, write a quick little post about it.
Even a sure little post that solves a specific problem, especially if you Google something and there's nothing out there that's good. Write a little post up on it. I have one little post as my top post on my website now. It is a quick three-minute video with the transcription of that post in a blog post showing how to fix a little error on TikTok.
If I wasn't doing a post every day, I might not have done something like that. I'd do a video and a blog post every day, and that will take you to the next level, especially when you combine it with this last tip.
Number 25
Get quality feedback on what you're doing.
A lot of entrepreneurs I know online, and if I look back at myself when I started my business, this is what I was missing.
I was trying hard, I was watching courses, I was looking at tips, I was creating great content at one point.
I finally started creating great content after years of not creating much that was helpful. Where I started to do really well online is when I got quality feedback on what I was doing.
When I talked to people without a lot more experience than me and they started to look at what I was doing and apply what they saw through all their vast knowledge into specific actionable tips I could take.
That's why I've got calls now. I have group calls and I have one-on-one calls. It's amazing how clueless some of the entrepreneurs will be when they come sit on Zoom and do a call with me.
They say, "Jerry, here's what I'm doing. I don't know what to do with it."
I process it for a couple minutes and say: "Here are some of your best opportunities."
When you get quality feedback on what you're doing, you can often find little tweaks you can make that will give you a huge boost.
I'm so grateful you made it all the way to tip 25.
I hope this has been the very best SEO tutorial you've seen in a long time, if ever. I hope it's given you some very clear actionable tips today that you can immediately take action on to boost your website, to get more traffic, to get your message out there to the people who would like to find it, who would benefit from it the most.
I'm honored you've spent this time with me.
I hope this was useful for you today and I'll see you in the next one.
Last words
Nice work, sticking around all the way to the end. You've just watched a preview of my complete SEO course, which you can take totally for free if it's your first course with me today at Jerrybanfield.com.
Just add the course to your cart, click on the coupon field down at the bottom and put your coupon code "blogpost" and you will get the course for free as your first course on my website.
For the best experience, I suggest you schedule a call with me if you've got any questions, if you really want to get to know me and to get some feedback on your business.
What I noticed most entrepreneurs are missing online is really good feedback, and I'm available to give you that for a very affordable cost in a group call, and for the best experience in a one-on-one call. Go to Jerrybanfield.com/call/ today, and you can pick out a time that works best for you.
If you haven't already, you will love joining us as a subscriber and turn those notifications on to make sure you see the new videos every day on YouTube. I'm creating every day with the goal to help you be successful and build your business online.
I appreciate the chance to serve you and I'll see you on Jerrybanfield.com, I'll see you on a call, and I'll see you wherever else you want to be.
I love you.
You’re awesome.
I appreciate the chance to serve you today and I will see you again soon.
Love,
Jerry Banfield
Edits from video transcript by Michel Gerard.
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : https://jerrybanfield.com/top-25-seo-tips-2020/