The Best SEO Hacks to Use for Your Business in 2018

Without the proper SEO strategies in place, your business won't grow. We provide you with the best SEO hacks to climb the top of Google.

Have you thought about your business website's SEO? Whether you just learned the definition of those three letters or you think you've got a great strategy in place, everyone can stand to improve.

The world of search engine optimization moves fast. Changes can take months to occur or they can be rolled out overnight.

If you want to succeed online, you need to keep on top of the latest tips and trends. That's why we've made this list of 8 best SEO hacks.

Check off every item on our list and you're on your way to a successful SEO strategy!

1) Make Sure Your Google My Business Listing Is Optimized

This is probably one of the easiest SEO hacks on this list. It's also one of the most important ones.

Here's a list of what you need to do to make sure your listing is optimized:

• Make sure you've claimed your listing
• Verify your account
• Update the details of your business - For example, have the correct business hours displayed
• Populate the listing with high-quality images - Google prefers and prioritizes images of interiors
• Provide a link to your website - Bonus: make a UTM tag to track clicks
• Rake in customer reviews - This part really helps with local SEO

2) Improve Your Page Loading Speed

Think about the last time you had to wait a while for a page to load. What did you do? Did you click away from it?

Your customers are doing the same thing. If your page takes more than three seconds to load, 40% of visitors will click away.

Worse, the search engine result page (SERP) won't feature you. You might as well be invisible!

How can you improve your page's loading time? Try these tips:

• Improve your server time
• Reduce the amount of redirects on a page
• Optimize images
• Use compressed files when possible
• Minimize coding
• Cache any browsing

Taking these steps will help towards getting you ranked higher on the SERP.

3) Make Your Page Mobile-Friendly

More of the online world is being accessed through phones, tablets, and other devices. Because of that, Google has made the switch to prioritizing sites that focus on a mobile experience.

AMP, or Accelerated Mobile Pages, gives you a guideline as to building the perfect mobile website. AMP helps pages load faster and work best for mobile devices.

There are many online resources for you to test the mobile usability of your site. Do your research and find one you like to make sure your site is ready.

4) Structured Data Markup Is Key

No doubt you've Googled a company and found a small data panel off to the right-hand side. The data panel might list things like social media sites, recipes, or special offers.

While your Google My Business helps take care of some of that, you'll need to use structured data markup.

For Google pages, use Schema for Google. Open Graph is best for social media structured data markup.

5) Garner Great Reviews

This is one of the essential SEO hacks for local businesses. That being said, it works for any company, large or small.

Make sure you have a reputation management plan in place. It's a bit tedious but it's essential for ranking.

Here's where to start:

• Have a happy customer? Ask for a review. It's just that simple. (Don't be pushy, though!)
• Have an unhappy customer? Politely acknowledge their dissatisfaction, apologize, and see if you can take the conversation offline. (For example, give them an email just for customer complaints and go from there.)
• Respond to everyone - and we mean everyone! A little "Thanks for the great review, (name)!" goes a long way towards building goodwill.

Social proof takes a bit of time and effort but is one of the most effective ways to improve your ranking.

6) Be Smart About Keywords

Every SEO novice knows where to find keywords. A simple Google search will bring up plenty of options for you to center your content around.

We've got some of the best SEO hacks around for being smart about finding keywords.

For local SEO, add a "near" parameter to your URL. Adding "&near=cityname" gives you results as if you searched from the city's name that you typed in.

For free keywords, let your customers do the hard work for you. See what they look for in the search bar on your website.

7) Look for NAP Inconsistencies

Making sure your NAP (name, address, and phone number) are the same across every site is one of the easiest SEO hacks you can use.

Update your listing so that they're consistent across the board. You can use rank tracking software to see where your NAP is listed and see if they need to be changed.

One thing to keep in mind: your listing might appear in places beyond your own sites and social media accounts. You might have to contact the owners of those directories to get it changed.

Having it the same on all of your own sites is the main thing to keep in mind, though, so don't go chasing every single listing.

8) Keep Voice Search In Mind

All of our previous SEO hacks are things that will show you results right now. While that's great, you need to stay ahead of the curve.

Voice search is sure to be a huge disruption in the field of SEO. This is especially true with the rise of devices for the home that relies on voice activation.

Right now, most search is optimized for things people actually type into search engines. The future belongs to those who anticipate voice search results.

Start by creating an FAQ that answers common questions regarding your products or services.

Put Our SEO Hacks To Good Use!

Armed with these eight SEO hacks, you're ready to conquer the SERP page - and beyond! Want to keep up with the latest trends? Keep reading our blog and check out our free SEO tools!

Now we want to hear from you. Which SEO hacks are the most useful for your site? Which ones have worked for you in the past? Let's have a discussion - tell us in the comments!