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Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Five Ways To Supercharge Your SEO Strategy
Nick Zviadadze is the founder of MintSEO, an SEO and link-building agency. Search engine optimization (SEO) is more unpredictable than ever. In the past year alone, Google penalized many small websites, majorly reducing their rankings overnight. The reason for a penalty can be anything from toxic backlinks to mass-produced AI content that fails to engage users. The aftermath has left many business owners afraid to tinker with their SEO, thinking one wrong move could kill their credibility and traffic. But not everything that SEO 'gurus' warn you about will get you penalized. To help you stay on the right path, here are five ways you can enhance your rankings and avoid Google penalties. 1. Don't over-rely on AI content. Did you know 90% of the world's data was created in the last two years? This explosion coincides with the rise of AI tools like ChatGPT, which have made content creation faster, easier and far more tempting to overuse. But just because you can create thousands of words with one click doesn't mean those words will have an impact. For example, you might have heard about the infamous SEO heist: An SEO professional copied a sitemap, used an AI tool to mass-generate thousands of pages and grew traffic to over a million monthly visitors. Sounds like a dream, right? However, Google caught wind of it, hit the website with a manual penalty and tanked its rankings. Remember, Google rewards originality, insights and relevance, which are qualities AI often struggles to deliver. Mass-producing AI content might save you time, but it can cost you credibility, brand authority and long-term rankings. Here are some better steps you can take: • Use AI as a brainstorming tool to generate ideas or outlines, but ensure the final content reflects your expertise and voice. • Write fewer posts, focusing on ones that provide real insights and solve specific problems for your audience. • Run AI drafts through editing tools and your review process to align them with your brand tone and audience needs. 2. Chase the right metrics. SEO metrics provide insights into your performance, but obsessing over the wrong ones can have big consequences. Take domain authority (DA), for example. Many marketers assume it directly impacts rankings, which is why they try to boost it at all costs. Spoiler: Google doesn't use DA as a ranking factor, and focusing on it can distract you from what matters, like conversions, engagement and revenue. Here are a few ways you can keep your focus on SEO metrics that matter: • Track metrics that relate to your goals directly, such as organic traffic quality, conversion rates and revenue impact. • Use tools like Google Analytics to track user behavior and identify which pages drive engagement and sales. • Shift your mindset from 'more traffic' to 'the right traffic' by targeting keywords with clear intent and strong ROI potential. 3. Understand search intent. In addition to targeting the right keywords, you need to understand why users are searching for them in the first place. This is important because, in my experience, neglecting search intent is one of the quickest ways to tank your rankings and waste your content budget. For example, imagine you're targeting the keyword 'best project management tools.' You write an article about the features of your software. But all the top-ranking articles for that keyword focus on comparing multiple tools, with pros, cons and pricing. As a result, your article doesn't align with what users want, so Google won't rank it well. Here are some best practices for matching search intent: • Analyze the top-ranking pages for your target keyword to understand what users expect (like guides, comparisons or how-tos). • Align your content format with search intent; for example, if the top results are listicles, don't write a long-form essay. • Include practical, actionable advice that directly addresses your audience's pain points. 4. Build healthy links. Toxic link-building practices, like using link farms, private blog networks (PBNs) or cheap backlinks, can do more harm than good. That's because Google's algorithms are designed to spot and penalize unnatural link patterns. When you try to game the system with manipulative tactics, you risk triggering a penalty that could tank your rankings and damage your credibility. Why waste time on risky tactics when ethical link-building can get you better results? Here's how to build backlinks the right way: • Build links naturally by creating high-quality, shareable content. • Focus on earning links from authoritative, relevant sites in your niche. • Avoid paid backlinks from low-quality sources, as they're often more trouble than they're worth. • Regularly audit your backlink profile using tools like Google Search Console to spot and disavow toxic links. 5. Ignoring Business Fundamentals SEO is a powerful tool, but focusing only on rankings while ignoring the bigger picture can undermine your small business. This 'SEO tunnel vision' can lead to strategies that look good on paper but fail to deliver meaningful results. For example, let's say you optimize your site to rank first for a high-traffic keyword, but your page loads slowly, your call-to-action buttons are not visible and your product descriptions don't answer customer questions. Even if Google (by some miracle) ranks you well, your website visitors probably won't convert into customers. Remember, Google values sites that prioritize fast load times, intuitive navigation and mobile responsiveness, because these elements directly impact engagement. If your website frustrates users, they'll bounce, and Google will notice. To avoid this: • Prioritize revenue-driving techniques over vanity goals like ranking for high-traffic keywords. • Optimize user experience by ensuring fast load times, clear navigation and mobile compatibility. • Design pages with conversions in mind by prioritizing strong CTAs, product clarity and minimal friction in the buying process. • Regularly analyze how your SEO strategy translates to business outcomes like lead generation, sales and customer retention. Conclusion Done right, SEO can be a powerful growth driver. Avoiding SEO mistakes like over-relying on AI, chasing vanity metrics and neglecting search intent can go a long way toward saving your rankings and business. The key is to focus on quality, strategy and user experience to avoid penalties and build an SEO foundation that drives long-term results. Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?
Forbes
09-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The Lazy Marketer's Guide To Technical SEO
Nick Zviadadze is the founder of MintSEO, an SEO and link-building agency. getty Technical SEO often sounds like a secret code only agencies can crack. They use terms like 'crawl budget optimization' and 'JavaScript rendering analysis,' making it seem like your website is doomed without their help. But here's the hard truth: If your website has fewer than 10,000 pages, most of that technical SEO work is just expensive busywork. In this guide, I'll show you the bare essentials of technical SEO that matter and how to implement them. They can help you save time, money and sanity while focusing on what truly drives rankings: great content, solid backlinks and smart SEO strategy. When you hear technical SEO, you might picture complex audits, custom scripts and consultants poring over your site for hours. It might sound like a never-ending science experiment—one that justifies their monthly fees. But these efforts could deliver minimal return on investment. The reason is simple: Google's algorithms are incredibly good at indexing and understanding standard websites. If your site uses a platform like WordPress, Shopify or Webflow, you already have most of the technical groundwork baked in. Many advanced technical strategies agencies promote are designed for enterprise-level websites with massive, dynamic architectures, such as sites with 100,000-plus pages, like Amazon or eBay. However, if you're running a standard blog or small e-commerce store, your SEO challenges lie elsewhere. This means: • Spending hours optimizing crawl budgets won't fix mediocre content. • Adding advanced schema markup won't magically create backlinks. • Fine-tuning JavaScript rendering won't help if your competitors publish better, more engaging content. Technical SEO doesn't have to be complicated. Focusing on a few key essentials is enough to satisfy Google and get most websites some quick SEO wins. Here are six simple steps to cover your technical SEO without wasting time or money: An SSL certificate encrypts data exchanged between your website and its visitors, which keeps information like passwords and payment details safe. It's also a Google ranking factor, meaning a secure site (one starting with ' will perform better than one without it. Here's how you can add an SSL certificate to your website: • Check with your hosting provider, as most offer SSL certificates for free or at a low cost. • Use platforms like Let's Encrypt for a free SSL certificate if your host doesn't include one. • Test your SSL status with tools like SSL Labs. More than 60% of global web traffic comes from mobile devices, so your site needs to look and function perfectly on smaller screens. In addition, Google prioritizes mobile-friendly websites, which means that you'll have better chances to rank well if you: • Use a responsive theme that adjusts automatically to all screen sizes. • Test your site on multiple devices or use Google's Mobile-Friendly Test to identify usability issues. • Fix problems like small buttons, overflowing images or unreadable text to improve mobile usability. Slow-loading websites frustrate users and lead to higher bounce rates. Google knows this and considers page speed an important ranking factor. If you want to optimize your page speed, you need to: • Compress images with tools like TinyPNG. • Upgrade to a reliable hosting provider (avoid the cheapest options, as they often lead to poor performance). • Install a caching plug-in (like WP Rocket) to reduce load times. Your URLs should be easy to read, relevant and keyword-rich. This helps users and search engines to understand your content. It's important to: • Use short, descriptive URLs with primary keywords (like • Avoid long strings of random numbers, special characters or irrelevant details. • Update outdated URLs using 301 redirects to maintain SEO value. An XML sitemap helps search engines quickly discover and index your site's content. Without it, some of your pages might get overlooked. If you want to create or optimize your XML sitemap, here's how: • Use plug-ins like Yoast SEO or RankMath to generate an XML sitemap automatically. • Submit your sitemap in Google Search Console to ensure proper indexing. • Check your sitemap regularly to ensure all important pages are included. The file instructs search engine crawlers about which parts of your site to index and which to ignore. It prevents irrelevant or sensitive pages from showing up in search results. Here's how to use effectively: • Create a file using tools like Yoast SEO. • Block unnecessary pages like /admin, /cart or thank-you pages. • Use Google Search Console's tester to ensure it's configured correctly. Let's get real, the reason you're not ranking isn't technical SEO. It's everything else. Your content isn't engaging, your backlinks are nonexistent, and your keyword strategy is shooting for the moon instead of achievable wins. Instead of spending thousands on technical SEO, a better idea is to focus on these SEO techniques: • Fix your content. If it doesn't solve a problem or engage readers, rewrite it to include stats, examples and a clear call to action. • Build quality backlinks. Forget spammy link farms and focus on guest posts, partnerships and creating link-worthy resources. • Target the right keyword. Analyze competition and choose keywords you can realistically rank for, starting with long-tail keywords. • Step up your game. Study your competitors. If they're publishing more insightful, detailed or visually appealing content, match and surpass them. If you're stuck on page five of Google, the problem isn't technical SEO. Some of the most common SEO mistakes are a lack of content that resonates, links that build authority and a strategy grounded in reality. Stop chasing shiny distractions and start focusing on what drives real results. The path to better rankings is simpler than you think. Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?
