Backlinks are important. There is no doubt about that.
As a matter of fact, backlinks maybe the 3rd most important search engine ranking factor. However, generating high-quality backlinks can be a bit of trouble for bloggers, internet marketers, and new e-commerce sites. Moreover, it becomes particularly difficult for a new blog.
We have already written a detailed post on how to generate high-quality and powerful backlinks for a new blog, and that post has a lot of useful tips. But it takes some time to generate genuine and powerful backlinks. So, in the meanwhile, can you generate more search engine traffic without them?
In this post, we are going to discuss exactly that.
This blog post has some important tips on how you can generate more search engine traffic even without backlinks.
So let’s get started.
1. Use Schema Markups
Do you use Google-approved schema markups on your website? Chances are that you don’t.
After all, according to a study by Searchmetrics, out of all the websites on the internet, only 0.3% use Google-approved schema markups for their websites. This means that a lot of websites — in fact, most of them — are losing out on incredible search engine traffic opportunities.
If you don’t know what scheme markups are, here is a simple definition:
“Scheme markups help search engines understand your content in a better way. They also help them identifying the most relevant information and, therefore, increasing the click-through rate (CTR) you receive from the search engine results.”
Here is an example of web pages with scheme markups comparing with websites that don’t have that.
As you can see, the first 3 websites have schema markups and it shows user-ratings, required time-frame, pictures, and a lot more information than the last 3 results.
And let’s be honest, if it were you, you would click the first 3 websites to find the necessary information, as it looks more relevant and informative.
So, in short, by using schema markups, you can significantly improve your CTR (click-through rate), which will ultimately increase the amount of free search engine traffic your website receives.
Here is a neat little guide for you on how to use schema markups.
How Schema Markups Help with On-Page SEO
2. Use Long-Tail Keywords
Using long-tail keywords is a proven and effective technique to leap ahead of your competitors and acquire more search engine traffic.
On paper, long-tail keywords seem to have less potential than “head” keywords. However, in today’s digital media age and with so much competition, it is almost impossible to rank for a profitable head keyword. All that potential means nothing if you can’t rank higher in the search engines and convert your traffic into paying customers.
This is why long-tail keywords perform so well. They have the best conversion rates, along with a consistent stream of organic traffic.
We have already written a brief guide on how to integrate long-tail keywords in your blog posts. It is a very comprehensive post that should give you a good head start in the right direction.
3. Create More Relevant Content
While backlinks are important, Google still prefers to show relevant content to their users. After all, their users don’t want to see a website with the most backlinks. They want to see a website with the exact information they are searching for.
So, in other words, relevancy of the content is still a bigger factor than backlinks. More importantly, you can acquire more search engine traffic and higher ranking positions by producing relevant content, instead of just focusing on generating backlinks.
Let me ask you a question.
What if BMW fails to generate backlinks and get penalized by the Google Penguin update? What will happen when someone searches for “BMW”?
It does not matter how crappy BMW’s link-building process may become, they will still rank higher for the term “BMW” — because, let’s face it, they will always be the most relevant website for the keyword “BMW”.
This is the basic concept that is always in the play. Focus on creating content that is relevant to your readers and helps them finding solutions to their problems, and you will get more search engine traffic — even without backlinks.
4. Improving the Headlines of Your Posts
If you want to generate search engine traffic without relying on backlinks, then one of your goals should be to improve the CTR or Click Through Rate.
Improving the headlines of your posts is the best option you have to improve the CTR, which will eventually increase the amount of organic traffic you get.
When readers search for a keyword, they don’t necessarily open the 1st result Google shows. They skim through the search engine result page and open the page that seems most interesting and helpful to them. This is why the headline of your post plays such a big part.
According to the very popular copywriter, David Ogilvy,
“When you have written your headline, you have spent 80 cents out of your dollar.”
So improve the headline as much as you can so it becomes more interesting, intriguing, and relevant to your target audience.
Here are a few guides for you:
Now, here is another catch.
When you improve the headlines and start getting better CTR, it indicates to Google that your content is actually more relevant to its users and, therefore, should be promoted.
For instance, if 75% of Google’s users are clicking on a blog post that is ranked on 5th for a certain query, it demonstrates to Google that the 5th ranked post is actually more relevant than the higher ranked posts. Eventually Google promotes your post so that it ranks at the top of the search engine result page. Google does it to provide the best possible search engine experience to its users, while it indirectly benefits you.
Final Words
Don’t get me wrong. Backlinks are important. And you will have to generate them at some stage. But in the meanwhile, there is no reason why you shouldn’t be getting more search engine traffic for your efforts.
