Top 5 Surprising Ways to Boost SEO

In the world of SEO, there are an incredible number of ways to strategically build your credibility in the eyes of users, and, of course, Google. Common areas of focus for SEO include creating exceptional content, improving site structure, optimizing alt tags & meta descriptions and developing backlinks.

Once you’ve laid the groundwork - resolving technical issues, establishing a clear site structure, and optimizing your core pages for target keywords - the next step is to explore under-leveraged tactics to propel your SEO strategy.

Often, teams pour their energy into churning out new blog posts or acquiring backlinks, overlooking powerful yet accessible strategies that can positively impact user engagement, topical authority and rich search features.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll dive into five surprising tactics to boost SEO (each rated by importance and timed to your site’s growth stage), to help you build dwell time, concentrate authority, harness Search Engine Results Page (SERP) features and tap into authentic user signals. By the end, you’ll understand not only what to implement but when.

1. Boost Dwell Time with Animated High-Resolution SVGs to Boost SEO

Importance: Medium

When to Implement: Once your core 10 webpages are live, begin enriching them with animations. These webpages include your key service or product pages and cornerstone blog posts.

Why It Works

Dwell time - the duration a user spends on your page before returning to search results - is a critical engagement signal for Google. Interactive elements like animated SVGs break up text monotony and guide the eye, reducing pogo-sticking (quick back-and-forth behavior) and signaling content relevance.

Basically, the longer a person stays on a single webpage, the stronger the signal to Google that this is relevant information for a given keyword. Images captivate people, even moreso if those images have people in them. Above all else, what really gets people’s attention is video.

Why Choose SVGs over GIFs

• Scalability: Unlike GIFs, SVGs scale well on any device, load quickly and loop seamlessly. File sizes are minimal, allowing you to maintain fast Core Web Vitals while improving the user experience.

• Performance: Vector animations load faster and use smaller file sizes, preserving Core Web Vitals.

• Seamless Looping: Smooth, non-jarring loops maintain the user’s focus without distractions.

User Behavior Impact

Animations help users form mental models of your content structure—knowing exactly where to scroll next and what actions to take—leading to higher time-on-page and lower bounce rates Nielsen Norman Group. Even modest improvements compound when applied across multiple high-traffic pages.

Implementation Tips

• Lazy-load animations so they only fetch when scrolled into view.

• Use tools such as Lottie or Figma plugins to export optimized SVG animations.

• Measure impact in Google Analytics. Track average session duration and bounce rate before and after deployment.

2. Prune “Zombie” Pages to Concentrate Authority

Importance: Very Important

When to Implement: Conduct this after your site reaches 20–30 pages, or annually once traffic data over 6–12 months shows low-value URLs.

What Are “Zombie” Pages?

What are zombie pages? Pages with virtually no traffic or engagement that dilute your site’s overall link equity and consume crawl budget.

Proven Impact

An e-commerce site saw a 31% boost in search traffic and a 28% revenue increase after pruning 11,000 underperforming pages.

Why It Matters

Google favors “one strong page versus many small pages,” so consolidating or removing thin content aligns with Google’s algorithmic preferences.

Step-by-Step Pruning

1. Audit: Use Google Analytics / Search Console to find pages with <10 visits/month over six months.

2. Evaluate: Retain any page with conversions or unique backlinks; consider merging similar content.

3. Remove or No-Index: Delete low-value pages or apply "no index" tags for thin content.

4. Redirect: Implement 301 redirects for any inbound-linked pages to preserve link equity.

5. Update Sitemap: Refresh your XML sitemap to reflect the pruned site structure.

3. Build Topical Authority with Content Hubs

Importance: High

When to Implement: After you’ve established 10–15 cornerstone pages, you can group them into pillar-and-cluster structures.

What Is a Content Hub?

A hub-and-spoke model where a comprehensive “pillar” page links to multiple in-depth subtopic pages (and vice versa), signaling thematic depth to Google.

SEO Benefits

• Enhanced Crawlability: Clear internal linking paths help search engines discover and index-related content.

• Concentrated Link Equity: Authority flows from the pillar to clusters and vice versa, boosting overall rankings.

• User Experience: Visitors can navigate complex topics effortlessly, spending more time exploring your expertise.

Real-World Results

Brands implementing content hubs see significant increases in organic traffic to both pillar and cluster pages within months.

Implementation Tips

1. Identify: 3–5 core topics aligned with your highest-value keywords.

2. Create a Pillar Page: Offer an exhaustive overview and link to each subtopic.

3. Develop Cluster Pages: Each cluster page dives deep into a specific topic. Ensure each cluster page links back to the pillar and to 2–3 related clusters.

4. Update Navigation & Sitemap: Submit an updated sitemap and use breadcrumb navigation to reinforce the hub structure.

4. Capture Google’s “People Also Ask” with Q&A Schema

Importance: Medium

When to Implement: Once you have stable pillar content, scan Search Engine Results Page (SERPs) for People Also Ask (PAA) opportunities and craft targeted Q&A sections.

Why “People Also Ask” Matters

People Also Ask boxes appear in nearly 50% of all search queries, offering prime real estate for featured answers and indirect coverage of related keywords.

Schema Advantage

Implementing FAQPage or QAPage JSON-LD markup clarifies which text segments answer specific questions, improving eligibility for PAA and other rich results.

Traffic Lift

Pages optimized for PAA often see a 5–15% bump in organic clicks, as users engage with the concise answers directly in SERPs.

Implementation Tips

1. Research Questions: Use tools like Backlinko's tool, AlsoAsked or a manual SERP review to gather top-asked questions.

2. Format Content: Format each question as an H2 / H3, followed by a 40-60 word answer.

3. Add JSON-LD: Wrap your Q&A sections in QAPage schema

4. Monitor: Track PAA presence under Search Appearance in Google Search Console.

5. Leverage User-Generated Content for Authentic Freshness

Importance: Less Important

When to Implement: Once you have consistent monthly traffic (>1,000 sessions) and are ready to target engagement.

Why UGC Matters

User reviews, comments and testimonials infuse genuine, long-tail keyword variations and fresh content, signaling to Google that your content is relevant and community-endorsed.

Engagement Boost

User contributions increase session durations and reduce bounce rates, enhancing your page’s perceived value.

E-E-A-T Alignment

Genuine reviews and discussions build trust and authenticity under Google’s E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) framework.

Implementation Tips

1. Add UGC Widgets: Integrate reviews or comments on product/service pages.

2. Moderate Thoughtfully: Filter spam but preserve authentic user language.

3. Showcase Top Feedback: Highlight top user testimonials on landing pages.

4. Encourage Contributions: Encourage reviews via post-purchase emails or incentives.

Roadmap for Implementation

1. Stage 1 (0–10 pages): Focus on solid content, technical SEO and site speed.

2. Stage 2 (10–20 pages): Introduce animated SVGs and chart initial People Also Ask opportunities.

3. Stage 3 (20–30 pages): Build your first content hub and conduct a pruning audit for zombie pages.

4. Stage 4 (30+ pages & steady traffic): Roll out user-generated content features and refine People Also Ask / Q&A schema across clusters.

   
   

Boost SEO: Next Steps

By weaving these five tactics into your SEO strategy, you’ll unlock under-leveraged ranking signals and position your content to retain a foothold on page 1 of Google. Each strategy targets a unique aspect of Google’s ranking algorithms, from user engagement to topical authority and SERP feature visibility.