14 Quick SEO Wins to Boost Your Site's Performance
Date
Jun 08, 2026
Running a site doesn't always mean big overhauls — sometimes one small tweak moves the needle. Below are 14 quick SEO wins you can ship today — fixes that pay off across rankings, conversions, and UX at the same time. Let's dig in.
Contents
- 1. Make your content easy for AI to quote
- 2. Fix your headlines to be clear
- 3. Fix H1 - H6 HTML tags
- 4. Remove duplicate titles and descriptions
- 5. Add the right CTA at the right place
- 6. Create a custom 404 page
- 7. Place internal links to converting pages
- 8. Reclaim your unlinked brand mentions
- 9. Add badges for trustworthiness
- 10. Add user-generated content
- 11. Provide transcripts for audio and video content
- 12. Add alt text to images
- 13. Update old/declining posts and delete unnecessary ones
- 14. Add structured data
- Conclusion
1. Make your content easy for AI to quote
Ranking on Google and getting quoted by AI are now two different games. AI Overviews show up on roughly a third of searches, and ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini don't hand users ten blue links — they return one synthesized answer. You can sit at position 3 and still be invisible inside it.
The good news is you don't need a 'GEO strategy' or a six-month overhaul to start showing up. Some of the best quick SEO wins right now are simple content edits, and a few of them get you most of the way. Here's where I'd start:
Lead with the answer
AI pulls clean, self-contained answers straight from the top of a page. So answer your page's main question in the first sentence or two, then expand.
Compare: "In this guide, we'll explore everything you need to know about topical authority…" and "Topical authority is the trust a site earns by covering one subject in depth. Here's how to build it." The second one is what gets quoted.
Write in chunks AI can quote
Comparison tables, plain-language definitions, and standalone stat sentences are the formats that get cited most, because they're pre-packaged answers. Comparison guides and definition pages are heavily cited in AI answers because they mirror how models structure information.
Use real questions
Genuine questions in your customers' words, answered up front, still help AI parse your page. But don't add FAQ schema expecting those expandable dropdowns: Google announced it would drop FAQ rich results in June 2026.
The markup is fine to leave on the page, it just doesn't earn a SERP feature anymore. And if a question has real search demand, give it its own focused page rather than burying it in a 15-question accordion — AI tends to cite tight single-topic pages over sprawling FAQ blocks.
Pro tip
If you're not sure what content to make for AI to cite, a tool like RankDots can give you a starting point. It groups your keywords into topic clusters and shows which subtopics you haven't covered yet.
2. Fix your headlines to be clear
Headlines and subheadlines are the first things people see once they land on a page. That’s where you can either grab their attention or fail to do so.
Here is a quick test to see if your headlines are good: Imagine your website would be just your headline, subheadline, and a call to action. Then ask yourself: “ Would anyone understand what my service/product is about and take action just based on my headline?”
If yes, don’t touch your headlines. If not, consider fixing them.
However, there is a disclaimer part: Change your headlines only after a successful A/B test. Otherwise, you risk lowering your conversion rate instead of raising it.
While you can certainly get all creative with your headlines and subheadings, it's important not to lose sight of the following rules:
- Highlight your business’s unique selling proposition (USP) on home and product pages. You should state your unique qualities and what sets your product or service apart from the competition. Compare: “ Audit your website today for better SEO” and “ Maximize your website's potential with our all-in-one SEO audit solution”. The second headline seems more appealing since it tells users they can address all of their SEO issues and maximize their potential for better rankings and traffic.
- Get it SEO’ed – include your main keyword. If you aren’t managing Nike, Apple, or Ikea sites, make sure you signalize to people and search engines what your whole page and business are about. However, don’t abuse the rule, making your whole title a broad keyword won’t make you stand out.
- Use power words for a better impact on visitors. Discover, unleash, master, secret, revolutionary, one-of-a-kind, powerful, proven – such strong words have been proven to evoke certain emotions or responses in people.
- Watch out for the length of headlines, keep them around 50 – 60 characters long. Try to use all 60 as long headlines tend to work better. As for subheadlines, make them even longer (within reason – up to two-three lines).
3. Fix H1 - H6 HTML tags
H1 - H6 tags help to structure content on a webpage and make it more readable and accessible to users and search engines.
And while improved accessibility and better UX and SEO sound like something we all wouldn’t mind getting, it makes sense to pay due attention to these semantic HTML tags.
What I mean:
- Don’t use header tags purely for styling purposes. While header tags can be used to style text, they should always accurately reflect the content of the page. Using header tags incorrectly can confuse both users and search engines about the structure and content of your page.
- Put several H1 headings on a page only if it makes sense for your users. These days Google has no problem with multiple H1s — John Mueller has confirmed it repeatedly — so don't lose sleep over the count. What matters is a logical hierarchy your readers and screen readers can follow.
- Use H2 - H6 to create subheadings of different levels. Use them hierarchically to create a logical page structure. However, note that by using H4 - H6, you make your text structure too complicated.
- Add descriptive and relevant keywords to your H1 - H6 subheading. That’s the old gold SEO best practice.
4. Remove duplicate titles and descriptions
Google considers multiple pages with the same title tag and description as duplicate content. And the duplicate content issue is not a joke.
Duplicate titles and descriptions can negatively impact SEO because search engines will likely struggle to determine which page is the most relevant. This potentially results in lower rankings of the competing pages and a waste of your site’s crawl budget.
5. Add the right CTA at the right place
It may seem like the design and placement of a call to action is such a small, almost insignificant thing. But it’s not. There are case studies that claim that improving CTAs can result in a breathtaking conversion boost.
Conversions, however, aren't the only thing that CTAs affect. A well-designed and properly placed CTA makes it easy for users to find and complete the desired action. That, in turn, reduces frustration and creates a more positive user experience.
Disclaimer: Don’t blindly change your site’s CTAs. A/B testing is necessary before making any fixes. Also, use all kinds of click maps to analyze if users are clicking on your CTA buttons.
So what makes a CTA irresistible?
6. Create a custom 404 page
A 404 page is a web page that appears when users try to access a URL that does not exist or is broken. As a rule, users see this plain 404 Not Found text in black and white. This page may become their journey's endpoint.
But a solution exists – a custom 404 page that redirects visitors to relevant content and helps them navigate through your site. Such a page can improve UX and prevent users from leaving your site.
7. Place internal links to converting pages
You must have done internal linking for the sake of PageRank distribution and building topical authority. But have you ever tried linking to your high-converting pages from traffic-heavy, backlink-rich pages?
First, make a list of converting pages (Excel will do) – product pages, blog posts, and service pages. Consult Google Analytics to find ones. Then think through where you can place these links:
8. Reclaim your unlinked brand mentions
People mention your brand, your product, or your research all the time without linking to it — in roundups, blog posts, forum threads, social posts. Each one is a link you've basically already earned. You just have to ask. It's one of the fastest SEO wins in this whole list: nothing to create, no pitch to invent, just a short, friendly note.
9. Add badges for trustworthiness
Trust badges are visual indicators that a website has undergone some form of verification or certification, indicating that it is secure or popular.
10. Add user-generated content
User-generated content (UGC) refers to any content that is created by users of your website, such as reviews, comments, and social media posts.
11. Provide transcripts for audio and video content
A transcript is a text version of the audio or video content, which makes it accessible to users who are hard of hearing. Non-native speakers who find it difficult to grasp spoken language will also appreciate the effort.
12. Add alt text to images
Though it seems trivial, it's one of the easiest SEO wins here.
13. Update old/declining posts and delete unnecessary ones
By keeping your content fresh, relevant, and informative, you can attract more visitors, improve your SEO, attract new readers, and maintain credibility in your industry.
14. Add structured data
Structured data, also known as Schema markup, is a semantic vocabulary of standardized tags that are added to the page’s HTML. These tags help a search engine understand the content and context of your web page and better represent it in search results.
Conclusion
Small changes can make a big difference. Try these 14 quick SEO wins — with no rush, and with a bunch of A/B testing and SEO audits — and I'm sure you'll see positive changes.