What is Advanced SEO? Techniques You Need to Beat the Competition

Traffic advancing in different directions. We only see the lights at night.


What is advanced SEO? Do I really need it?

You may wonder after reading some “advanced SEO techniques” posts.

Most of those already assume you know! I’ll tell you below!


What is the Advanced SEO Definition?

OK. So by now we know what SEO is.

Advanced SEO is indeed not clearly defined though.

Yet many people nonetheless seem to agree what it is!

It is also often used as a synonym for “technical SEO”.

I in contrast (and most other people outside the tiny SEO industry) practice content and social SEO (as in creating linkable assets or reaching out to bloggers).

So advanced SEO can’t be all about technical aspects!

My personal impression as to this inherent definition is below.

The two most important aspects of advanced SEO seem to be that

  • it appears to consist of complex Web development and analytics tasks
  • it is leading to significantly higher organic reach on search engines like Google and beyond.

Yet this is just the most common definition. You need to know what it means to you.

Do not simply copy other people. You’re probably different.

As most website owners have access to advanced SEO techniques and tools it may be a good idea to advance in a different direction than the mainstream.

To beat the competition you need to do more or something different than everybody else.

Helpful website and SEO tools like those by Wix, Semrush, Yoast are used by millions.

Thus you need to step up your game to get ahead faster than others.


How Do SEO Experts Describe Advanced SEO?

The problem is that ‘advanced’ means a lot of things to a lot of people. Some of those meanings are useful and can inform our future efforts, but some are closer to myth than reality. Dr. Peter J. Meyers @dr_pete says on @Moz.

Advanced SEO might feel complicated, but it really all boils down to how much value Google thinks you provide to your users. Andrew Ansley @SEO_Savant_ explains on Raven.

Advanced SEO refers to SEO techniques that are not widely known (…) . These techniques are usually related to technical SEO and to latest changes made to the Google ranking algorithm. Alex Chris suggests on Reliable Soft.

Aren’t you tempted to spice your routine up with a bit of advanced [that is] uncommon SEO techniques that will increase your chances to rank higher, faster, and with even more energy? Valerie Niechai asks on Link Assistant.

Advanced often mean a technique that an experienced listener hasn’t heard of before. Very subjective. I pity the conference planners! Mark Alves @markalves adds on Twitter.


In What Direction is SEO Advancing?

Before you embark on an advanced SEO journey make sure to advance in the direction that is really advancing your goals.

Do not just blindly implement advanced SEO techniques that are common by now. Just because it’s difficult does not mean it’s better.

Ask yourself a few questions at first before implementing advanced SEO techniques or paying for tools that promise to be advanced.

Technical SEO is usually needed as a foundation for website success but does not guarantee it when you neglect content and social SEO.

  1. Did you implement most if not all basic SEO best practices already?
  2. Are complex Web development and analytics tasks really advanced or merely difficult to implement?
  3. In what other directions could your SEO advance to?
  4. Does advancing mean evolving or just getting more complicated?
  5. Why strive for complexity when simplicity is often the best advancement?
  6. Is advanced SEO just another synonym for modern or SEO 2.0?
  7. Can you broaden your scope instead of trying to be better at SEO exclusively?

I agree that you need to differentiate between basic SEO or SEO basics and advanced SEO

Yet I am not sure the current way the SEO industry is advancing along is the ideal course.

Also when you reduce advanced to solely technical aspects of it – that often are only on-page factors – into account we are only specializing but not advancing.

When we compare the SEO industry to other industries we’ll notice that there efficiency is key not complexity for it’s own sake.

You can’t automate SEO anymore like you could a few years ago.

Thus advancing more and more into the Web development and analytics direction is a step back. Modern SEO is about people not technology.

I’ve been obsessing about analytics for years but the actionable insights are limited.

You can spend the whole day on analyzing your traffic and expect much better results due to the sheer amount of effort.

You need to find some middle-ground. Check analytics and ensure your website technology is sufficiently supportive of search engines. Don’t exaggerate.

While there are new tools – which of course have to be programmed – relying on automation and programming for SEO backfires!

There are many reasons why employing advanced technical SEO or “leveraging” AI content can backfire.

Why? It’s due to the fact that E-E-A-T human input is increasingly used for search results ranking.

In general AI technology has already ruined the Web!


Actual Advanced SEO Techniques and Tools

OK, theoretically speaking we know that advanced SEO is not one size fits all.

Also SEO success can depend on many things – including yourself and your skills.

Let’s take a look at actual SEO techniques that could be viewed as advanced in some sense.

You see it’s not just about technology. The actual technology part is also largely dependent on Google so be cautious.

Likewise the tools of the trade get more advanced albeit complicated.

For example there are plenty of tools that spider your website to imitate Google bots and to find issues upfront.

Think of Semrush, Screaming Frog, Exploding Topics. They are advanced in different senses of the word.


What SEO is All About These Days

As you see at the end of the day SEO is not only about SEO anymore!

It’s also about soft business and interpersonal skills. Outreach is the best example.

SEO becomes increasingly intertwined with an overall marketing strategy.

Currently SEO is advancing in a few different directions: technical, social and content!

  • technology and complexity (Web development, analytics)
  • social media (networking, public relations where the public actually is)
  • content creation (blogging, writing, “rich media” like video)

These directions are very different, but the movements towards them takes place at the same time.

While some people concentrate only on one of those, others attempt to cover all of them.

That’s my point: You can’t limit yourself to advanced SEO in the sense of complex Web development and analytics.

Tracking conversions, sales, ROI is fine but you can’t succeed in the long run when you analyzed your perfect customer without ever talking to her or him.

Using meticulously coded websites that make search engines happy will never be a success strategy when you can’t offer pillar content.

In SEO 2 often the simple solutions are the best.

Why not socialize with the potential consumer or to find out what he wants instead directly of sifting through website usage data?


Advanced Can be Simple Too

Yes, sometimes advancing is simple. Don’t scan me! Just ask me want I want.

It’s done offline by asking “can I help you?”. You can do it online too.

Advanced SEO is about making your preferred audience visit your site and then making the visitor find what s/he wants.

This is advanced SEO or SEO 2! When it comes to basic SEO you just want

  • to rank
  • get found
  • or garner huge traffic.

In advanced SEO you make sure the traffic is viewed as people, customers, multipliers.

In SEO 2 people out there do not hate SEO! They love it!

They often don’t even notice it because it just perfectly fulfills their wishes.

Advanced SEO is not about technical skills only. It’s also about social skills.

Did you beat the competition already by using advanced SEO?

Tell us about it in the comment section! I might add your techniques and tools to the post itself!