25 Unique SEO Tactics That Deliver Big Results

Wish link building could be a passive task?

Want to be guaranteed top positions on your most relevant keyword SERPs?

Looking for more ways to grab a place in featured snippets?

Get closer to your goals with my top SEO tactics for link building, keyword research, and content optimization.

I have taught over 100 SEO growth hacks to tens of thousands of bloggers and marketing pros on my podcast The Blogging Millionaire.

I want to share some of these techniques with you.

These 25 unique SEO tactics have driven the most significant results to my blog and the blogs of my listeners.

Link Building Tactics

1. Create Highly-Linkable Original Research Posts By Polling Facebook Groups

It’s possible for any site, including single-person blogs like Backlinko, to get over 1,000 referring domains to their website by creating original research posts.

Original research posts are quick, simple reports of small studies that are written by the researcher that completed the study.

With Facebook groups, even a new blogger can create these highly-linkable content pieces.

• Step 1: Find Facebook groups in your niche with over 1,000 members.
• Step 2: Make a few poll posts that address compelling questions around a topic in your industry.
• Step 3: Create a blog post revealing your findings and include plenty of images that visualize your stats.

I recommend writing 1 original research post every 90 days.

2. Write Posts On The Most Searched Industry Stats In Your Niche

Bloggers and reporters are constantly going to Google to find stats they can use in their articles.

You should write pieces of content for all the stat keyword phrases in your industry.

By creating a high amount of coveted content, your articles and blogs are more likely to be linked to by another blog or news site.

Pro Tip: Post titles containing the highest number and the current year in brackets tend to draw the most clicks.

Example: 50 Latest Pet Adoption Statistics [2022]

You can also internally link to these stat posts when you use a single stat in one of your own content pieces.

3. Get Passive Links Year-Round By Ranking Position 1 For Low-Competition Phrases

A study by Ahrefs looked at 10,000 non-branded keywords and found that position 1 on Google receives a median of 24 do-follow backlinks every year.

Most reporters are on a tight deadline, and they tend to grab their supporting information from the URL that ranks at the top of their organic search.

Build a passive backlink funnel by writing 50% of your posts on low-competition phrases that deliver position 1 rankings.

4. Do Interviews On Podcasts With High Domain Authority (DA) Sites

A podcast interview is one of the easiest ways to get high DA backlinks.

Once your interview goes live, the podcast publishes a show notes page on their site with a link back to your domain.

• Step 1: Go to Apple Podcasts Charts to identify the top 300 shows in your niche.
• Step 2: Eliminate all shows that have less than a 40 DA and do not interview guests.
• Step 3: Go to the RSS feed of each qualifying podcast to find the email address of the host.
• Step 4: Send the host an email with a pitch on how your interview will benefit their audience.

If you do not have the time to reach out to podcasts, set up a profile on PodcastGuests.com to have the hosts come to you.

5. Promote Your Most Linkable Asset With Targeted Paid Ads

If you have a blog post that consistently gets organic backlinks, promote it to amplify your results.

• Step 1: Check your backlink profile using your favorite tool.
• Step 2: Discover which posts have the highest number of backlinks.
• Step 3: Promote it with paid ads to get it in front of more people who may link to it from their websites.

The three ad channels with the biggest bang for your buck are Facebook, Twitter, and Google.

Keyword Research Tactics

6. Use Estimated Traffic Potential Instead Of Single-Phrase Search Volume

One of the biggest keyword research mistakes is using the generic keyword volume that most keyword tools give you.

Single-phrase keyword volume is meant to be used for Google ads, not organic search.

Ahrefs, which uses traffic potential, and RankIQ, which uses estimated yearly traffic, are two keyword research tools that show you the actual traffic you will get from ranking on page one.

For the phrase “pros and cons of genetic testing,” the search volume misleads the user to believe a top-ranking result will get 90 monthly visitors.

The accurate traffic potential number from Ahrefs and RankIQ is over 1,000 monthly visitors for that same phrase.

7. Look For Keywords With Multiple “Zero Backlink” URLs Ranking On Page One

With this technique, a first-page ranking can be obtained in less than 60 days for most of these keywords.

• Step 1: Look at the SERP details in your keyword research tool for your target phrase.
• Step 2: Examine the number of backlinks for URLs that rank on the first page for that phrase.
• Step 3: If there are at least two URLs with zero backlinks, then add the phrase to your post planner.

Screenshot from Ahrefs.com, January 2022

Your post will be able to easily rank on page one without having to do any link building.

8. Avoid Trying To Rank On SERPs That Have The Local Pack – It Has The Lowest Organic CTR

In October 2021, the CTR was 8.66% for the number 1 organic position when the local pack was served up on SERPs.

As a comparison, the top organic position without the local pack had a CTR of 24%.

9. Identify Keyword Clusters Of Topics To Build Content Hubs Around

A strategically interlinked content hub will push each of your topic posts higher up in Google rankings.

First, create your future hub’s individual posts by discovering what your content hub could contain.

Start by researching the keyword topics that your site ranks in the top 10 for.

If you rank high with a post for [thomas edison inventions] and another for [nikola tesla inventions], find out how many other “name + inventions” keywords can be turned into posts.

For this example, there are over 500 phrases that can be turned into stand-alone blog posts.

Each of the 500 “name + inventions” phrases generates over 1,000 monthly organic visitors.

Once you have published 20 posts on inventors and their inventions, then you can create your content hub.

Continuing with our example:

• Step 1: Create a page to be your hub and title it “The Greatest Inventors of All-Time.”
• Step 2: Organize the inventors by time period.
• Step 3: Create one or two paragraphs summarizing the inventor and his most famous invention.
• Step 4: Add an internal link to the inventor’s inventions blog post for the reader to see all their inventions.
• Step 5: Link back to “The Greatest Inventors of All-Time” content hub from the blog posts for each of the inventors.

10. Easily Discover Your Niche’s Lowest-Competition/High-Traffic Phrases With RankIQ’s Keyword Libraries

Unless you are a top keyword research expert, it will take 100+ hours to research a single niche.

You will also make small mistakes along the way, leading you to write content on keywords out of your range.

RankIQ is currently the only keyword research tool with top experts who do the research for you. They have hand-picked the lowest competition, high-traffic keywords for over 300 niches.

Content Creation Tactics

11. For Posts That Rank #3 – #10, Add More Content To The Tail End Of Posts To Safely Move Up The Rankings

By adding content to the end of your post, you keep the layout of the original blog post the same.

This process keeps you from changing existing content, which could decrease your rankings.

The additional content at the end increases dwell time while helping you rank for more long-tail keywords and phrases.

12. Write 40-50 Word Paragraphs To Rank For More Featured Snippets

Moz and multiple other studies have confirmed that the optimal length for featured snippets is 40 to 50 words.

This word count is also about the average size of a three-sentence paragraph, which is ideal for reader engagement.

13. Add FAQs To The End Of Your Post, Covering Questions From Google’s People Also Ask

A simple FAQ section at the end of your post can deliver significant value to the reader.

• Step 1: Before you hit publish, type your target keyword into Google, and look at the most popular People Also Ask questions.
• Step 2: Click on the last question to see more questions, and another four will show up.
• Step 3: Find a few that were not covered in your post, and create a FAQ section at the end.
• Step 4: Mark this section up with FAQ schema.

This extra section will increase your on-page time, help you show up in People Also Ask, and get you a few more featured snippets.

14. Use AI SEO Tools To Make Your Post The Most Comprehensive Post On That Topic

AI SEO tools like Clearscope and RankIQ identify everything you need to cover in your blog post to compete for a first-page ranking.

These tools also come with an AI content grader, making it easy to know where you stand and where you need to be.

15. Create Stat Infographics That Have A 16:9 Aspect Ratio

There are very few pieces of content that will generate backlinks and social shares, like a stat infographic.

• Step 1: Do a Google search for “topic of your blog post + statistics” (example: influencer marketing statistics).
• Step 2: Identify the top five most compelling stats.
• Step 3: Create a 16:9 image that highlights the stat and mentions the source.
• Step 4: Strategically place each of your stat infographics throughout your post.

Pro Tip: Using the 16:9 aspect ratio will make your stat infographic look great on desktop and mobile.

Page Title Tactics

16. Add The Most-Searched Front-End Title Modifier To Increase CTR

Most topics and niches have specific front-end modifiers, such as “easy” or “DIY,” that audiences search and identify with.

For example, food bloggers get most of their organic search traffic from recipe posts.

The 2021 Food Blog SEO Study identified the top three front-end modifiers for recipe posts: easy, best, and homemade.

“Easy Carrot Cake Recipe” is a great example of a recipe title that uses “easy” as a front-end modifier

The front-end modifier plays a major role in getting Google searchers to click on your result.

17. Add The Most-Searched Tail-End Title Modifier To Rank High For Your Primary Long Tail

Sticking with the same recipe example, the two most searched tail-end modifiers for recipes are “with” and “without.”

For carrot cake, the primary long-tail keyword having “with” in it is: [carrot cake recipe with pineapple]

Here’s the final title using the front end “easy” and tail end “with pineapple” modifier: Easy Carrot Cake Recipe with Pineapple.

18. For List Posts, Lead With A Number 10 Higher Than The Highest Number On Page One

People click on the highest numbered title because they perceive that page to have the most comprehensive information on the topic they are searching for.

On top of that, going 10 further on your list will increase the users’ average time on the page and help you rank for more long tails.

19. Use 60 Characters Or Less To Keep Google From Rewriting Your Title

A September 2021 study found that Google is 57% more likely to rewrite title tags over 600px.

The limit for what the SERPs can display is 600px (approximately 60 characters).

20. Add The Current Year In Brackets To Show Your Content Has The Latest Info

Google searchers want the most up-to-date information; make it easy for them to locate it.

Make the current year stand out in your title by putting it in brackets.

People click on headlines with brackets 38% more than those without.

Internal Linking Tactics

21. For Posts That Rank #2 – #8, Link To Them From Your Highest Authority Pages

Positions two through eight will have the most significant gains by moving up the rankings.

You will get a traffic increase from 28.4% to 53.2% by moving up a single spot.

This increase can usually be achieved by adding two or three internal links from high authority pages on your site.

22. Link Up All New Posts From At Least 2 Pages With Significant Page Authority

As soon as a new blog post is published, link it up from two existing pages with high page authority.

These two internal links will give the new post an authority boost right out of the gates.

23. Use Longer Anchor Text To Give Google More Context & Increase CTR

Instead of just linking up a single word phrase, link up a group of words that gives more context for Google and entices the reader to click it.

This will decrease the bounce rate and increase dwell time.

SEO Knowledge Tactics

24. Use Feedly To Aggregate The Latest Headlines From The Top SEO Blogs

Each morning, read through the new headlines of your favorite SEO blogs. Make it easy and use Feedly.

For example, I have three feeds. The first has all the daily news sites and blogs like SEJ. The second has the blogs that add new posts weekly, and the last feed shows all the latest tweets from SEO experts.

25. Listen To SEO Growth Hack Podcasts Like The Blogging Millionaire

I love listening to solo show podcasts that give unique, actionable tactics. Instead of listening through a 45-minute interview to find one tiny nugget, these shows have a proven expert teaching actionable growth hacks in short 10-minute episodes.

If you liked my list of 25 SEO tactics, I teach new ones like these every week on my podcast.