9 SEO Quick Wins: Small Changes for BIG Results - RankCaddy

9 SEO Quick Wins: Small Changes for BIG Results

by Martin Hayman

19 minute read

Let’s be honest, SEO is not always easy. Some websites are harder to get results for than others, and it’s often hard to predict when results will kick in.

That’s why looking for SEO quick wins is so appealing.

Yes, sometimes results can come quickly.

But more often than not, you’re looking at a good 6-12 months before you start seeing an impact from your hard work.

So how can you get results quickly?

What are the little quick wins that are going to make your clients or bosses realise they made the right choice hiring you?

We’re about to break down 9 quick wins you can jump on for quick results.

Even if you just use a few of these, you’re going to be driving more clicks and/or revenue… fast!

Without further delay, let’s dive in.

1) Do the Basics

OK, this first one might not have been what you were expecting

But before you close the tab, bear with me.

As obvious as it sounds, so many people skip this.

A lot of people are so focused on the next ‘advanced tactic’ or buzzword, like Core Web Vitals, that they often neglect the basics.

…and so on.

How to get quick wins from SEO basics

The quickest way to get some wins from these basic elements is using a few useful SEO tools.

First, run a quick crawl with your favourite crawler. Something like Sitebulb.

Then look at the internal URLs only and make sure you have columns for your title tags, H1s and meta descriptions.

You then have a choice.

Export these to Excel/Sheets or do your filtering from within your crawler.

You can then start to filter by your priority pages.

For example, for an ecommerce site, these may be the categories and sub-categories.

I know, scanning them manually doesn’t sound very technical or advanced but I did say we’re starting with the basics here.

You could easily find quick wins just from doing this.

You could also export the title tags that are too long (as well as missing H1s and meta descriptions).

When it comes to internal linking, see quick tip #9 for a few things to do for some internal linking quick wins.

The next quick win mentioned above is content quality.

But how do you know when your content quality needs improving?

Well, you could just start by manually comparing your content to what’s already ranking on page one of Google.

Don’t aim to make mediocre content. Aim to make something better than everything else on page one.

Another quick way to assess your content quality is using a tool like Surfer.

Surfer uses data from Google’s Natural Language API and combines that with data from the ranking pages for a given term. Surfer then makes suggestions about terms to use/write about, headings to include, how long the content should be etc.

If you want to learn more about the basics and beyond, check out Martin Hayman’s free SEO course which includes free resources and templates.

2) Low Hanging Fruit

Again this one may seem a little obvious but so many people seem unsure what to do with their low hanging fruit opportunities.

For those who are wondering what low hanging fruit opportunities are, these are basically keywords that are ranking between 4 and 20 in the search engine results pages (SERPs).

The idea behind these is that giving them a small bump could be a quick win in terms of traffic.

Finding low hanging fruit opportunities

The easiest way to find these is using your rank tracker.

In this example, I’m going to be using RankCaddy, as there is a one-click option for these.

What to do with low hanging fruit opportunities

You have your low hanging fruit keywords, but now what?

  1. Improve the on-page optimisation and internal linking
  2. Improve the content

3) Update Old Content

When it comes to content planning and optimisation, SEOs often get trapped in the idea of only thinking about new content.

But what about what’s already there?

How to find old content to improve

If you haven’t already run a content audit, now may be the time.

But if you’re looking for just a quick way to find some opportunities then just head to Google Analytics or Data Dive in RankCaddy and filter by your content pages.

How to improve old content

  1. Look at the main term you’re optimising for in SERPs.
  2. Analyze ranking pages and improve upon it further.

4) Trim the Fat

Do you have waste pages that drive little or no traffic?

How to find waste pages

I find the easiest way to find waste pages is by using Sitebulb.

What to do about waste pages

  1. Remove irrelevant or outdated pages.
  2. 301 redirect these or give them a 410 status.

5) Stealing Featured Snippets

What are featured snippets?

Featured snippets are highlighted excerpts at the top of Google search results pages.

How to find featured snippet opportunities?

  1. Look for SERPs with a featured snippet.
  2. Narrow findings down to search terms where your site is already on page 1.
  3. Amend the page to optimise for the featured snippet.

6) Fix Keyword Cannibalisation Issues

What is keyword cannibalisation?

It occurs when multiple pages on your website are trying to rank for the same term(s).

How to find keyword cannibalisation issues

  1. Check the top 100 search engine results for conflicting URLs.

How to fix keyword cannibalisation issues

  1. Decide which page to focus on for a specific search term.
  2. Merge and redirect unnecessary pages or amend content.

7) Use Search Console Data

Google Search Console is a gold mine of data to find quick wins.

Look at what terms are driving impressions

Finding terms you weren’t aware of might result in opportunities to amend or expand on existing content.

8) Low CTR Pages

Looking at pages with low click-through rates is another potential big win.

Why does your page have a low CTR?

You may need to improve the title tag, meta description, or check if the correct page is ranking.

How to find these opportunities

You can analyze these using Data Dive.

9) Internal Linking

Internal linking is another one of those things that is often overlooked but is so important when it comes to SEO.

Low hanging fruit

Start by improving internal linking for low hanging fruit pages.

Link from authority pages

Leverage existing authority within the website by linking to other pages.