8 SEO Strategies That Actually Still Work in 2024

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With algorithm updates, document leaks, and AI-powered reviews flooding search results and being taken down, the key question for businesses is: what still works in SEO in 2024?

8 SEO Tactics That Still Work in 2024
As with any era of SEO, it's important to understand not just how the norfolk island b2b leads algorithm affects everyone, but how it affects the site.

And, as with any era of SEO, there are different rules for different types of sites, and what works for one site won't work for another.

In this article, we'll focus on what we've seen still work in businesses with typical small to medium sized sites. If the site is a different type, these methods may work better or not work at all, depending on the tactics, authority level, and type of site.



1. Link creation

It shouldn't come as a surprise, but building quality links to the domain as a whole—and especially to the pages you want to rank for—still works.

Of course, not all links are created equal. There are a few important caveats that, while they may not have changed much in recent months, are important for companies to consider when building links or engaging with link building service providers:

The pages you get links to that actually drive traffic affect the value and perceived quality of the link. In other words, you want links not only from legitimate sites that drive traffic, but also from individual pages that get real traffic from real people.
Given that some sites that were included in the recent good content update seem to have recovered after the link profile cleanup, you'll probably want to be especially attentive to the quality of the links pointing to your site and the link text.
Of course, all the usual caveats about links being from authoritative sites that the sites they link to also apply.
2. Content processing

While a site may have other issues, if there is a site with old pages that have dropped in rankings from posts, doing a thorough cleanup to update key pages is still effective.

This is true for several reasons. The preferred content type (and intended purpose) for a search results page can change over time:

There may be more variety on a search results page, the page may no longer be relevant to what is being searched for in the SERPs, or the intent may be similar (e.g. many listings still rank high in search results), but the nature of those listings may have changed (e.g. longer or shorter lists, different formatting, etc.)
You need to go back, review your content, and make adjustments. Likewise, you want to audit the internal and external links pointing to key pages (especially if they're losing traffic over time) and make sure the anchor text you're using isn't too relevant to your target keyword.
3. Look like a real businessman

While it is true that you don’t need to fake it, you may also need to help it become clear that you are a real business and what type of business you are. If you haven’t invested in SEO and/or don’t have a strong brand, your site may have:

There are very few external links from other sites pointing to it.
Limited presence in directories and business data providers
Small number of search queries for the brand
What you can control from an SEO perspective (besides the link building we've already mentioned) is making sure that links are created and that the name, address, and phone number are consistent across different data providers. This isn't just for businesses with a local presence.

4. Forums and user content

If you've done any searching recently, you've probably seen quite a bit of information pop up on niche forums. Depending on your site and niche, you might want to consider using a community element (niche forum or user forum) and/or consider purchasing a forum in your niche that has meaningful content.

5. Parasitic content

The actual implementation of this tactic can vary (e.g. creating lists and including your company in them, placing “second-tier” or lower quality links on the page – the idea being that you don’t have to worry about link quality because the content is hosted on a third-party website, a highly secure domain, etc.). But even if you’re not going to resort to more aggressive versions of this tactic, it’s worth considering whether you can create content that will be hosted on an authoritative domain and rank higher, particularly in terms of value.



6. Software SEO

Programmatic SEO is the practice of creating pages that are generated programmatically (nowadays often supplemented with content generated by artificial intelligence).

What you need to have:

Some data (ideally something confidential that only you/your company has access to, allowing you to leverage your knowledge and expertise) that is applicable to the relevant requests.
A robust template with some reusable content and fields to insert unique queries and data as needed.
Some content created with the help of artificial intelligence will help to create content on the pages.
If done correctly, with the right data set, the right query space, and on the right site, programmatic search still works.

7. Tools and tool sites

While a number of mid-tier affiliate and ad-supported sites have suffered from the latest useful content update, some of the sites that have survived are tool or calculator sites. These are sites whose purpose is ostensibly to provide a specific tool or set of tools.

These sites also host a lot of content supported by advertising and/or affiliate programs, in addition to the main functionality of the tool. While the site may be about services or products, this is another area where you might want to consider creating or buying an existing tool site in a niche if you are in business.

8. Review of the best products (on small business sites)

One of the areas of search that has seen the most change in recent years is product search, or best X and best X for Y queries. You can become an affiliate marketer, reviewing and promoting products in search results where affiliates no longer compete.

You can create a summary like the one above to promote your own product or service – either by combining several of your own products/services or promoting yourself along with your competitors. Detailed lists of examples, tips, tactics, etc.

Where to start?
As with almost everything SEO related: it depends! Certain tactics will work well with certain sites and certain business goals: look at the site's capabilities, test, and double down on what works!