20 “innovative” or “out-of-the-box” SEO hacks
Here are 20 more “innovative” or “out-of-the-box” SEO hacks focusing on leveraging different platforms, content formats, and technical aspects I hope can impactfully help you:
- Optimize for “People Also Ask” (PAA) SEO Hack: Research the PAA boxes related to your core topics. Create clear, concise answers to these specific questions within your content, often using H2/H3 headings for the questions themselves. This increases your chances of being featured directly in the SERPs.
- Leverage YouTube SEO (Hack): Treat YouTube as a search engine. Optimize video titles, descriptions, and tags with keywords. Create compelling thumbnails. Add transcripts/captions (which Google can crawl). Embed relevant videos into your blog posts to increase dwell time.
- Create Interactive Tools/Calculators SEO Hack: Develop simple tools relevant to your industry (e.g., a mortgage calculator for a finance site, a calorie counter for a health site). These are highly linkable assets (“link bait”) and can attract significant organic traffic.
- Repurpose Content into SlideShare Presentations SEO Hack: Convert blog posts, webinars, or data into visually appealing presentations and upload them to SlideShare (owned by LinkedIn). Optimize the title and description for search; SlideShare presentations often rank well on Google.
- Host “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) Sessions or Webinars SEO Hack: Promote these events, record them, and then repurpose the content. Create blog post summaries, video clips for social media, and full transcripts for your site. The Q&A format naturally targets long-tail keywords.
- Optimize for Google Discover SEO Hack: Focus on creating high-quality, engaging content with compelling visuals (large, high-res images are key). Ensure your site is mobile-friendly and follows Google News/Discover guidelines. Discover can drive significant traffic outside of traditional search.
- Use Schema Markup Extensively (Beyond Basics) SEO Hack: Go beyond basic Organization or Article schema. Implement specific types like FAQPage, HowTo, VideoObject, Product, Event, or Recipe schema where relevant. This helps Google understand your content better and can result in rich snippets in search results.
- Build Internal “Topic Clusters” SEO Hack: Instead of just random internal linking, structure your content around core “pillar” pages covering broad topics, linked to multiple “cluster” pages covering specific sub-topics in detail. This shows topical authority to Google.
- “Digital PR” with Original Data/Studies SEO Hack: Conduct your own research, surveys, or analysis relevant to your industry. Publish the findings as a report or infographic. Pitch this unique data to journalists and bloggers for high-authority backlinks and brand mentions.
- Optimize Images for Visual Search SEO Hack: Beyond alt text and file names (which are still important), ensure your images are high-quality and contextually relevant. Use descriptive captions. Consider submitting images to platforms where visual search is prominent (like Pinterest, as you mentioned, or Google Images).
- Leverage Expired Domains (Carefully) SEO Hack: Acquire relevant expired domains that already have some authority or backlinks. You can 301 redirect them to your main site if the topic is highly relevant, or rebuild a mini-site on them. (Caution: This is an advanced tactic and can be risky if done improperly).
- Answer Questions on Quora/Reddit with Value (and Subtle Links) SEO Hack: Find relevant questions in your niche. Provide genuinely helpful, detailed answers. Where appropriate and natural, link back to a specific resource on your site that offers more information. This drives referral traffic and can sometimes lead to indexed answers.
- Create Comprehensive Glossaries or Resource Pages SEO Hack: Build ultimate guides or glossaries for terms in your industry. These become valuable, linkable assets that other sites might reference.
- Podcast Guesting SEO Hack: Appear as a guest on relevant podcasts in your industry. You’ll often get a backlink from the show notes page and gain brand exposure to a new audience. Mention your website during the interview.
- Transcript Optimization for Podcasts/Videos SEO Hack: If you host your own podcast or create videos, publish full transcripts on your website. Search engines can crawl this text, indexing keywords you might not have explicitly targeted otherwise.
- “Skyscraper” Technique 2.0 (Add Unique Angle) SEO Hack: Find top-ranking content for a keyword, make something significantly better (longer, more up-to-date, better design), BUT add a unique element – original data, expert quotes, a specific case study, or an interactive component the others lack. Then do targeted outreach.
- Run Surveys on Social Media, Publish Results SEO Hack: Use polls on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram Stories to gather opinions or data on a topic. Compile the results into a blog post or infographic. It’s engaging and creates unique content.
- Target “Near Me” Keywords with Local Landing Pages SEO Hack: If you have physical locations or serve specific areas, create dedicated landing pages for each significant city/neighbourhood. Optimize these pages with local keywords, maps, addresses, and area-specific information.
- Monitor and Reclaim Unlinked Brand Mentions SEO Hack: Use tools (like Google Alerts or paid monitoring software) to find where your brand is mentioned online without a link. Reach out to the site owner and politely request they add a link to your homepage or relevant page.
- Focus on Core Web Vitals as a Tie-Breaker SEO Hack: While content is king, technical performance matters. Ensure your site loads quickly, is visually stable (no layout shifts), and is interactive fast (LCP, CLS, FID/INP). In highly competitive SERPs, superior user experience signaled by these metrics can make a difference.
Which SEO Hacks are new to you? Comment on how they’ve helped you.
PS, I need to take my own advice and start implementing some of these — which ones do you suggest? E-mail me!