20 SEO Quick Wins You Can Implement Today

What Are SEO Quick Wins?

SEO quick wins are optimizations that deliver meaningful results with minimal time and resource investment. Unlike comprehensive SEO strategies that take months to execute, quick wins can be implemented in a single day and often show results within weeks.

For startup founders and small teams, quick wins are particularly valuable because they allow you to build momentum while working on longer-term SEO initiatives. Think of them as low-hanging fruit that improves your baseline performance while you develop a more comprehensive strategy.

Why Quick Wins Matter

Quick wins serve multiple purposes beyond just improving rankings:

Build momentum: Early results keep teams motivated and demonstrate SEO value to stakeholders
Establish baselines: Fixing obvious issues gives you a clean foundation for measuring future improvements
Free resources: Eliminating technical debt means your site can fully benefit from larger initiatives
Compound gains: Small improvements across many pages add up to significant overall impact

How to Prioritize Quick Wins

Not all quick wins are equal. The best approach is to prioritize based on two factors:

Factor	High Priority	Low Priority
Potential Impact	Affects high-traffic pages, fixes critical errors	Affects low-traffic pages, minor improvements
Implementation Effort	Can be done in under an hour, no dev needed	Requires multiple hours or developer support

Throughout this guide, we will indicate the estimated time for each quick win and its expected impact level. Start with high-impact, low-effort wins and work your way down the list.

Pro Tip

Before starting, export your current rankings and traffic data from Google Search Console. This gives you a baseline to measure the impact of your optimizations. Set a reminder to check results in 2-4 weeks.

Technical Quick Wins (1-5)

Technical quick wins focus on fixing issues that prevent search engines from properly crawling, indexing, and understanding your site. These are often the highest-impact optimizations because they remove barriers that limit your entire site's potential.

Win 1: Fix Broken Internal Links (30 minutes)

Broken internal links hurt your SEO in multiple ways: they waste crawl budget, create poor user experiences, and prevent link equity from flowing through your site. Fortunately, they are easy to find and fix.

How to Find Broken Links

Using Google Search Console (Free):

Navigate to Indexing > Pages
Look for "Not found (404)" errors
Click to see which pages are returning 404 errors
Use the URL Inspection tool to see which internal pages link to broken URLs

Using Screaming Frog (Free up to 500 URLs):

Crawl your website
Filter by Status Code > Client Error (4xx)
Click "Inlinks" tab to see which pages link to broken URLs

How to Fix Broken Links

Update the link: If the content moved to a new URL, update the link to point to the correct page
Remove the link: If the content no longer exists and there is no replacement, remove the link entirely
Set up a redirect: If many external sites link to the broken URL, create a 301 redirect to the most relevant page

Expected Impact

Fixing broken links typically improves crawl efficiency within 1-2 weeks. Sites with many broken links may see ranking improvements for affected pages within 2-4 weeks.

Win 2: Add Missing Meta Descriptions (1 hour)

Meta descriptions do not directly affect rankings, but they significantly impact click-through rates. Pages without meta descriptions rely on Google to auto-generate snippets, which are often less compelling than custom-written descriptions.

How to Find Pages Without Meta Descriptions

Using Google Search Console:

While GSC does not directly show missing meta descriptions, you can identify pages with low CTR that might benefit from better descriptions
Go to Performance > Search Results
Sort by impressions (high to low) and look for pages with below-average CTR

Using Screaming Frog:

Crawl your website
Go to Meta Description tab
Filter by "Missing" to see all pages without meta descriptions

How to Write Effective Meta Descriptions

Meta Description Checklist

Keep between 150-160 characters
Include target keyword naturally
Add a clear value proposition or benefit
Include a call-to-action when appropriate
Make each description unique - no duplicates
Match search intent for the target keyword

        <!-- Example meta description -->
        <meta name="description"
        content="Learn 20 SEO quick wins you can implement today. Get actionable optimizations that improve rankings without major technical work. Start seeing results in weeks.">
      

Win 3: Compress Images (1 hour)

Unoptimized images are one of the most common causes of slow page load times. Large image files directly hurt Core Web Vitals scores and user experience, both of which affect rankings.

How to Find Unoptimized Images

Using Google PageSpeed Insights:

Test your key pages at pagespeed.web.dev
Look for "Opportunities" section
"Properly size images" and "Serve images in next-gen formats" indicate optimization opportunities

Using Screaming Frog:

Crawl your website
Go to Images tab
Sort by Size to find the largest images
Focus on images over 100KB that appear on important pages

How to Compress Images

Online tools: TinyPNG, Squoosh, or ImageOptim can compress images by 50-80% without visible quality loss
Convert to WebP: WebP format is 25-35% smaller than JPEG/PNG with the same quality
Resize dimensions: Do not serve a 2000px image if it displays at 800px
Lazy loading: Add loading="lazy" to images below the fold

        <!-- Lazy loading example -->
        <img src="image.webp"
        alt="Descriptive alt text"
        width="800"
        height="600"
        loading="lazy">
      

Pro Tip

Always specify width and height attributes on images. This prevents layout shift (a Core Web Vitals metric) by reserving space for images before they load.

Win 4: Add Alt Text to Images (30 minutes)

Alt text serves two purposes: it describes images for visually impaired users and helps search engines understand image content. Missing alt text means missing opportunities for image search traffic and accessibility compliance.

How to Find Images Missing Alt Text

Using Screaming Frog:

Crawl your website
Go to Images tab
Filter by "Missing Alt Text"
Prioritize images on high-traffic pages

Using browser DevTools:

Open your page and press F12
In Console, paste: document.querySelectorAll('img:not([alt])')
This shows all images without alt attributes

How to Write Good Alt Text

Alt Text Best Practices

Be descriptive but concise (under 125 characters)
Include relevant keywords naturally when appropriate
Describe what the image shows, not what you want it to rank for
Skip phrases like "image of" or "picture of"
Use empty alt="" for decorative images only

        <!-- Good alt text examples -->
        <img src="dashboard.png" alt="Analytics dashboard showing monthly traffic growth chart">
        <img src="team.jpg" alt="Startup team collaborating in modern office space">
      

Win 5: Internal Link Audit (2 hours)

Internal linking is one of the most underutilized SEO tactics. Strategic internal links help search engines discover content, understand your site structure, and distribute page authority throughout your site.

How to Audit Internal Links

Find orphan pages (pages with no internal links):

Use Screaming Frog to crawl your site
Compare crawled URLs to your sitemap
Pages in your sitemap but not found via crawling may have insufficient internal links

Find pages with few internal links:

In Screaming Frog, go to Internal tab
Sort by "Unique Inlinks" (low to high)
Pages with fewer than 3 internal links may need more

How to Improve Internal Linking

Link from high-authority pages: Your homepage and top-performing pages pass the most equity
Use descriptive anchor text: "technical SEO checklist" is better than "click here"
Link contextually: Links within content are more valuable than footer or sidebar links
Create hub pages: Topic overview pages that link to related detailed articles
Update old content: Add links to new content from existing relevant pages

Warning

Do not go overboard with internal links. Adding dozens of links to a single page can look spammy and dilute the value of each link. Aim for natural, helpful linking that serves the reader.

Content Quick Wins (6-10)

Content quick wins focus on improving existing content rather than creating new content. These optimizations can improve rankings for pages that are already indexed and potentially driving some traffic.

Win 6: Update Title Tags (1 hour)

Title tags are one of the most important on-page ranking factors and directly impact click-through rates. Improving title tags on underperforming pages can boost both rankings and clicks.

How to Find Title Tags to Update

In Google Search Console:

Go to Performance > Search Results
Add a filter for position 5-20 (pages close to page 1)
Sort by impressions to find high-potential pages
Look for pages with low CTR relative to their position

Title Tag Optimization Tips

Title Tag Checklist

Keep under 60 characters to avoid truncation
Place primary keyword near the beginning
Include numbers when relevant (e.g., "20 Quick Wins")
Add power words (Ultimate, Complete, Essential, Proven)
Include your brand name at the end
Make each title unique across your site

        <!-- Before: Generic title -->
        <title>SEO Tips - MyCompany</title>

        <!-- After: Optimized title -->
        <title>20 Proven SEO Tips That Actually Work in 2025 | MyCompany</title>
      

Win 7: Add FAQ Schema (1 hour)

FAQ schema markup can earn you rich snippets in search results, displaying expandable questions and answers directly in the SERPs. This increases visibility and click-through rates significantly.

How to Identify FAQ Opportunities

Pages that naturally answer multiple related questions
Pages ranking for question-based queries ("how to," "what is," etc.)
Product or service pages where users have common questions
Blog posts that cover topics comprehensively

How to Implement FAQ Schema

        <script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "FAQPage",
  "mainEntity": [
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "What are SEO quick wins?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "SEO quick wins are optimizations that deliver meaningful results with minimal time investment. They can typically be implemented in a few hours and show results within weeks."
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "How long do quick wins take to show results?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Most quick wins show measurable results within 2-4 weeks, though some technical fixes can impact crawling within days."
      }
    }
  ]
}
        </script>
      

Pro Tip

The questions and answers in your FAQ schema must also appear visibly on the page. Google can penalize sites that use schema for content not visible to users.

Win 8: Refresh Old Content (2-4 hours)

Content freshness is a ranking factor, especially for topics where information changes over time. Updating old content is often faster and more effective than creating new content from scratch.

How to Find Content That Needs Refreshing

In Google Search Console:

Go to Performance and compare the last 3 months to the previous 3 months
Sort by "Clicks Difference" to find pages losing traffic
These declining pages are prime candidates for refresh

Content audit approach:

List all content published more than 12 months ago
Check each piece for outdated statistics, broken links, or old screenshots
Prioritize pages that still get some traffic but have declining trends

How to Refresh Content Effectively

Content Refresh Checklist

Update statistics and data with current figures
Replace outdated screenshots and images
Add new sections covering recent developments
Remove or update references to old tools, techniques, or events
Improve formatting (add headers, bullets, images)
Update the publication date (use "Last updated: [date]")
Add internal links to newer related content

Win 9: Improve Thin Pages (Varies)

Thin content pages (typically under 300 words with little value) can hurt your overall site quality in Google's eyes. Improving or consolidating these pages can boost your entire site's performance.

How to Find Thin Pages

Using Screaming Frog:

Crawl your website
Go to Internal tab and sort by Word Count
Review pages with fewer than 300 words
Also check for pages with low "Text Ratio" (ratio of text to HTML)

How to Handle Thin Pages

Expand the content: If the topic deserves more coverage, add valuable information
Consolidate pages: Merge multiple thin pages on related topics into one comprehensive page
NoIndex: For pages that need to exist but should not rank (privacy policy, terms, etc.)
Delete and redirect: For pages with no value, delete and 301 redirect to the most relevant page

Note

Word count alone does not determine thin content. A 200-word page that perfectly answers a simple question is not thin. Focus on value, not just length.

Win 10: Optimize for Featured Snippets (1-2 hours)

Featured snippets appear above regular search results (position zero) and can dramatically increase your visibility and traffic. If you already rank on page 1 for a query, you have a good chance of winning the featured snippet.

How to Find Featured Snippet Opportunities

In Google Search Console:

Export queries where you rank positions 1-10
Search each query manually to see if there is a featured snippet
Note what format the current snippet uses (paragraph, list, table)

Types of featured snippets:

Paragraph snippets: Answer "what is" or "why" questions in 40-60 words
List snippets: Answer "how to" questions with ordered or unordered lists
Table snippets: Display comparative data in table format

How to Optimize for Featured Snippets

Featured Snippet Optimization

Include the exact question as a heading (H2 or H3)
Provide a concise answer immediately after the heading
For paragraph snippets: Answer in 40-60 words
For list snippets: Use proper HTML list markup
For table snippets: Use proper HTML table markup
Expand with more detail below the concise answer

        <!-- Paragraph snippet format -->
        <h2>What are SEO quick wins?</h2>
        <p>SEO quick wins are optimizations that deliver meaningful ranking improvements with minimal time and resource investment. They typically take less than a day to implement and show results within 2-4 weeks, making them ideal for building momentum while developing long-term strategies.</p>
      

Authority Quick Wins (11-15)

Authority quick wins focus on building trust signals that help search engines understand your site's credibility. While true authority takes time to build, these optimizations establish foundational trust signals.

Win 11: Claim Unlinked Brand Mentions (2 hours)

If someone mentions your brand or product online without linking to you, you have an easy link-building opportunity. These are warm outreach targets since they already know and reference your brand.

How to Find Unlinked Mentions

Using Google Search:

Search: "your brand name" -site:yourdomain.com
Review results to find mentions without links
Also search for your product names, founder names, and unique terminology

Using Google Alerts (ongoing):

Set up alerts for your brand name and variations
Review new mentions as they come in
Reach out promptly while the content is fresh

How to Request Links

Find the author's contact information (LinkedIn, Twitter, or site contact form)
Send a brief, polite email thanking them for the mention
Suggest adding a link would help their readers find more information
Keep expectations realistic - 10-20% response rate is typical

Pro Tip

Focus on mentions on sites with some authority (DA 30+). A link from a high-authority site is worth far more than multiple links from low-quality sites.

Win 12: Update Broken Outbound Links (30 minutes)

Linking to broken external pages creates a poor user experience and may be seen as a negative quality signal. Fixing these is quick and improves your content quality.

How to Find Broken Outbound Links

Using Screaming Frog:

Configure to check external links (Configuration > Spider > Check External Links)
Crawl your website
Go to Response Codes > Client Error (4xx)
Filter to show only External links

How to Fix Broken Outbound Links

Find the new URL: Content may have moved. Check if the site has a redirect
Use Wayback Machine: Find archived versions and see where content moved
Find alternative source: Link to a different authoritative source covering the same topic
Remove the link: If no suitable replacement exists, remove the link

Win 13: Add Author Bios (1 hour)

Author bios establish E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness), especially important for YMYL (Your Money, Your Life) topics. They help readers and search engines understand who creates your content.

What to Include in Author Bios

Author Bio Elements

Full name and professional photo
Relevant credentials, certifications, or education
Years of experience in the field
Notable achievements or publications
Links to social profiles (LinkedIn, Twitter)
Brief description of expertise relevant to the content

Author Schema Markup

        <script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Article",
  "author": {
    "@type": "Person",
    "name": "Jane Smith",
    "jobTitle": "SEO Director",
    "url": "https://yoursite.com/team/jane-smith",
    "sameAs": [
      "https://linkedin.com/in/janesmith",
      "https://twitter.com/janesmith"
    ]
  }
}
        </script>
      

Win 14: Create or Optimize About Page (2 hours)

Your About page is a trust signal for both users and search engines. It should clearly explain who you are, your expertise, and why visitors should trust your content or business.

About Page Best Practices

About Page Checklist

Company history and founding story
Mission statement and values
Team members with photos and bios
Credentials, awards, and press mentions
Physical address (if applicable)
Contact information
Links to social media profiles
Customer testimonials or case studies

Organization Schema

Add Organization schema to your About page to help search engines understand your business:

        <script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Organization",
  "name": "Your Company Name",
  "url": "https://yoursite.com",
  "logo": "https://yoursite.com/logo.png",
  "foundingDate": "2020",
  "founders": [{"@type": "Person", "name": "Founder Name"}],
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "streetAddress": "123 Main St",
    "addressLocality": "San Francisco",
    "addressRegion": "CA",
    "postalCode": "94102"
  },
  "sameAs": [
    "https://linkedin.com/company/yourcompany",
    "https://twitter.com/yourcompany"
  ]
}
        </script>
      

Win 15: Social Profile Linking (30 minutes)

Connecting your website to official social profiles helps establish your brand's online presence and creates consistency signals that search engines use to understand your entity.

Social Profiles to Link

LinkedIn company page
Twitter/X profile
Facebook business page
YouTube channel
Instagram business profile
GitHub (for tech companies)
Crunchbase profile (for startups)

How to Implement

Add social links to your website footer
Include social profiles in Organization schema (sameAs property)
Ensure all profiles link back to your website
Keep branding consistent across all profiles

Note

Only link to profiles you actively maintain. Abandoned social profiles with outdated information can hurt rather than help your credibility.

Conversion Quick Wins (16-20)

Conversion quick wins focus on improving how users interact with your search results and website. Better user engagement signals can positively impact rankings while also driving more business results.

Win 16: Add CTAs to Top Posts (1 hour)

Your highest-traffic pages should actively guide visitors toward desired actions. Adding relevant calls-to-action can improve engagement and conversions without affecting rankings.

How to Identify Top Posts

In Google Analytics, go to Engagement > Pages and Screens
Sort by views to find your highest-traffic pages
Focus on the top 10-20 pages that drive the most organic traffic

CTA Best Practices

Effective CTAs

Place primary CTA above the fold
Add contextual CTAs within content where relevant
Include a CTA at the end of the content
Make CTAs relevant to the content topic
Use action-oriented language
Test different CTA placements and copy

Win 17: Improve Page Titles for CTR (1 hour)

Click-through rate is both a direct ranking factor and an indicator of how well your content matches search intent. Improving CTR means more traffic from the same rankings.

How to Find Low-CTR Pages

In Google Search Console:

Go to Performance > Search Results
Set position filter to 1-10 (page 1 results)
Sort by CTR (low to high)
Pages with CTR below average for their position are opportunities

Average CTR by Position (Approximate)

Position	Average CTR	Below Average
1	28-32%	Below 25%
2	15-18%	Below 12%
3	10-12%	Below 8%
4-5	6-8%	Below 5%
6-10	2-4%	Below 2%

CTR Improvement Tactics

Add numbers to titles ("7 Ways to...", "2025 Guide")
Use emotional or power words
Include brackets or parentheses [Free Template]
Better match search intent
Add structured data for rich snippets

Win 18: Add Table of Contents (30 minutes)

Tables of contents improve user experience on long-form content and can earn sitelinks in search results. They help users navigate and signal comprehensive content to search engines.

When to Add a Table of Contents

Content over 1,500 words
Posts with multiple distinct sections
How-to guides with sequential steps
Comprehensive resource pages

Table of Contents Best Practices

        <!-- Basic TOC structure -->
        <nav class="toc">
          <h2>Table of Contents</h2>
          <ol>
            <li><a href="#section-1">Section 1 Title</a></li>
            <li><a href="#section-2">Section 2 Title</a></li>
          </ol>
        </nav>
      

Pro Tip

Use proper heading hierarchy (H2, H3, H4) and add corresponding anchor IDs. Google may use these for jump links in search results, taking users directly to relevant sections.

Win 19: Speed Up Key Pages (2 hours)

Page speed directly impacts rankings through Core Web Vitals and user experience. Focus optimization efforts on your highest-traffic and most important conversion pages first.

How to Identify Slow Pages

In Google Search Console:

Go to Experience > Core Web Vitals
Click "Open Report" for mobile or desktop
Review URLs marked "Poor" or "Needs Improvement"
Cross-reference with your highest-traffic pages

Quick Speed Optimizations

Speed Improvements

Compress and resize images (covered in Win 3)
Enable browser caching
Minify CSS and JavaScript
Remove unused plugins or scripts
Defer non-critical JavaScript
Use a content delivery network (CDN)
Reduce server response time (upgrade hosting if needed)

Core Web Vitals Targets

Metric	Good	Needs Improvement	Poor
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)	Under 2.5s	2.5s - 4s	Over 4s
Interaction to Next Paint (INP)	Under 200ms	200ms - 500ms	Over 500ms
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)	Under 0.1	0.1 - 0.25	Over 0.25

Win 20: Mobile UX Improvements (1-2 hours)

Google uses mobile-first indexing, meaning the mobile version of your site is what gets indexed and ranked. Poor mobile experience directly hurts your rankings and drives users away.

How to Find Mobile Issues

In Google Search Console:

Go to Experience > Mobile Usability
Review any errors listed
Common issues: text too small, clickable elements too close, content wider than screen

Manual testing:

Test your key pages on actual mobile devices
Use Chrome DevTools device emulation
Test different screen sizes and orientations

Mobile UX Quick Fixes

Mobile Optimization Checklist

Use responsive design (no separate mobile site)
Set viewport meta tag correctly
Use minimum 16px font size for body text
Space tap targets at least 48px apart
Avoid horizontal scrolling
Make buttons and links easy to tap
Simplify navigation for mobile
Test forms on mobile devices

        <!-- Viewport meta tag -->
        <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
      

Warning

Do not hide content on mobile that exists on desktop. Google expects mobile and desktop versions to have the same content. Use responsive design rather than separate mobile pages.

Prioritization Framework

With 20 quick wins to choose from, you need a system to decide where to start. The impact-effort matrix helps you identify the optimizations that will deliver the best results for your time investment.

Impact vs Effort Matrix

Plot each quick win based on its potential impact and implementation effort:

Category	Quick Wins	Priority
High Impact, Low Effort	Fix broken links, Add meta descriptions, Update title tags, Add FAQ schema	Do First
High Impact, High Effort	Refresh old content, Internal link audit, Speed up key pages, Mobile UX improvements	Schedule Next
Low Impact, Low Effort	Add alt text, Social profile linking, Add table of contents, Update broken outbound links	Fill In Gaps
Low Impact, High Effort	Claim unlinked mentions, Improve thin pages	Consider Last

Recommended Order of Implementation

For most sites, we recommend tackling quick wins in this order:

Week 1: Foundation Fixes

Fix broken internal links (30 min)
Add missing meta descriptions (1 hour)
Update title tags for underperforming pages (1 hour)
Update broken outbound links (30 min)

Week 2: Content Optimization

Add FAQ schema to relevant pages (1 hour)
Optimize for featured snippets (1-2 hours)
Add table of contents to long content (30 min)
Add CTAs to top posts (1 hour)

Week 3: Technical Improvements

Compress images (1 hour)
Add alt text to images (30 min)
Speed up key pages (2 hours)
Mobile UX improvements (1-2 hours)

Week 4: Authority Building

Internal link audit (2 hours)
Add author bios (1 hour)
Create/optimize About page (2 hours)
Social profile linking (30 min)

Ongoing

Refresh old content (2-4 hours per piece)
Improve thin pages (varies)
Claim unlinked mentions (2 hours weekly)
Improve page titles for CTR (ongoing based on data)

Tracking Results

To measure the impact of your quick wins, track these metrics before and after implementation:

Metrics to Track

Organic traffic: Overall and page-level from Google Analytics
Rankings: Position changes for target keywords
Click-through rate: From Google Search Console
Core Web Vitals: From Search Console or PageSpeed Insights
Crawl errors: From Search Console Coverage report
Indexed pages: Total pages in Google's index

Pro Tip

Create a simple spreadsheet to track which quick wins you have completed, when you implemented them, and what metrics looked like before and after. This helps you understand which optimizations work best for your specific site.

When to Move Beyond Quick Wins

Quick wins are excellent for building momentum and fixing obvious issues, but they are not a substitute for a comprehensive SEO strategy. Once you have completed the quick wins relevant to your site, focus on:

Keyword research: Identify new content opportunities based on search demand
Content creation: Develop new pages targeting valuable keywords
Link building: Earn quality backlinks to boost domain authority
Technical infrastructure: Address deeper technical issues
Competitive analysis: Understand and outperform competitors

Quick wins lay the foundation. Strategic SEO builds the structure that drives sustainable organic growth.