Getting free organic traffic from search engines like Google is one of the best ways to boost your marketing ROI while simultaneously increasing brand awareness online. And while some SEO tactics only work for a while – or even hurt your search rankings at some point – there are tried-and-true online marketing strategies that have always worked and will continue to work for the foreseeable future.

Below are digital experts from jatapp.com company  explain four of these SEO best practices.

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Install a Recognized SSL Certificate

In 2014 Google officially announced that it was using SSL certificates as a ranking signal in its search algorithm. This means that – all else being equal – websites with current SSL certificates issued by legitimate, respected providers would have an edge in search rankings over sites without the certificate.

An SSL certificate gives visitors proof that your website is secure from hackers and malware. Sites that have a current certificate installed will have the HTTPS designation rather than the standard HTTP at the beginning of the URL.

Most web hosting companies now offer SSL certificates from respected issuers, and they’ll often install the certificate onto your site for free or for a small fee. Just be sure to upgrade your SSL certificate when it expires.

Improve Page Load Speed

Have you ever clicked on a link to go visit a website and had to wait for 5-10 seconds or even longer for the web page to load all of the text, images, and ads? That’s pretty annoying, and it causes a lot of visitors to click away in frustration.

You don’t want that to happen to your website, and Google doesn’t want that to happen very often either. That’s why your site can get a boost in search rankings by having a fast page load speed.

There are several ways to speed up your website. If you are already receiving or anticipate receiving high volumes of traffic, then you should upgrade to a dedicated server with your web hosting provider.

You can also speed up loading times by compressing media files and using a caching system such as the W3 Total Cache plugin on WordPress sites.

Write Guest Posts for Backlinks

One of the most powerful ranking factors that affect your search position is your backlink profile. Securing links from popular, authoritative websites in your industry – along with links from major media sites – can significantly boost your search traffic levels. You can also buy backlinks if you don’t feel like reaching out to website owners.

Writing high-quality guest posts for these blogs is one of the best ways to get these links pointing back to your website.

Perform a Google search for some of the major keywords and products in your industry and see which sites rank on the front page for those terms. Then reach out to the website administrators through their contact pages and ask if they would accept guest posts. Many sites already have a link at the bottom of their homepage inviting others to write guest posts for their blog.

But not all submissions will be accepted, so take some time to research the blog content already on-site in order to create content that will be a good match for the site and its audience.

When creating your guest post, don’t just link to your home page. Instead, link to specific product pages mentioned in your post. Or you could even create a dedicated lead generation landing page that is specifically for visitors who click through to your site from the guest post.

Avoid Spammy SEO Tactics

One of the worst things you can do is to use spam tactics – also called black hat SEO – to temporarily boost your search rankings. While you might get a short-lived increase in traffic, these tactics will eventually lead to a penalty. This will cause your site to lose nearly all of its search traffic as it sits at the bottom of the search results. In some cases, your site will even be removed from the Google index entirely. Instead, focus on white hat SEO best practices, such as the ones listed above.

It can take time to move up the ranks in Google’s search results. The best way to rank high in Google is to simply provide useful content and high-quality products that serve your customers and your audience well. Google wants its customers – i.e. searchers – to have a good experience. So if you have the same goal and act on it effectively, then your rankings will continue to improve over time.