Low-Hanging Fruit SEO: Simple Tactics for Big Results

Maximizing time, effort, and money doesn’t just have to be some SEO pipe dream. Some simple (but not magical) SEO tactics can give you a much higher return on investment—even if you’re working with a small budget.

This article explores all kinds of low-hanging fruit tactics to improve your SEO. Think of them as simple tasks that you might have overlooked or small kinks on your site that need updating. And when executed properly, making these changes can give a real boost to your organic traffic.

Alright, let’s get started!

What are low-hanging fruits in SEO?

Using a low-hanging fruit SEO strategy means spotting and taking advantage of easy opportunities otherwise missed by you or your competitors. That is, “low hanging fruits” are simple tasks that require little effort while delivering big gains to your website’s rankings, traffic, and overall performance. 

Some examples include:

• Optimizing pages with easy-to-improve positions.
• Identifying underperforming pages and updating their content.
• Targeting low-competition keywords.
• Addressing keyword cannibalization.
• Gaining insights from competitors’ tactics.
• And much more.

Let’s break down each aspect of low-hanging fruit SEO below.

How to find your low-hanging SEO fruits

Only in a perfect world is it simple to get SEO insights from your website data. The real world is far from that, which means it takes time, effort, and resources—especially when managing multiple projects.

One of the best ways to improve your site performance is to invest in a tool that gives you hands-on data while highlighting key issues and providing quick fix recommendations.

SE Ranking’s Insights feature transforms raw data (on keywords, CTR, pages, competitors, and more) into categorized, data-driven recommendations. It helps users highlight SEO opportunities with minimal effort.

Below, we’ll outline key insights for achieving quick SEO results and show you how to use the tool to achieve them.

Address keyword cannibalization issues

Keyword cannibalization happens when multiple pages on your site target the same keyword cluster and share the same search intent. This problem can have several negative effects: it weakens off-page optimization, reduces the effectiveness of internal linking, harms user experience, wastes crawl budget, and makes it harder for search engines to evaluate your pages. 

Fortunately, this issue can often be resolved relatively quickly. Here’s how:

1. Review your list of pages with keyword cannibalization issues.

2. Evaluate each page’s performance and only keep the most relevant ones. In the detailed list, you can evaluate pages that rank for a single keyword using parameters like Page Trust, the number of referring domains and keywords, traffic forecast, position, impressions, clicks, and more. Pay special attention to these metrics—especially the traffic each page generates. 

3. Once you understand your site’s architecture better, delete weaker pages or redirect them to stronger ones using 301 redirects. You can also merge competing pages. Refer to this guide to learn how to implement redirects properly.

• To keep similar pages, use canonical tags to tell bots which page is primary and which are duplicates. This helps crawlers understand which page holds more value while treating the others as copies. We’ve provided detailed instructions on how to specify the canonical URL in a dedicated blog post. 
• Use the noindex tag to fix cannibalization issues. This tag allows search bots to crawl the page without indexing it. This stops it from appearing in search results. You can apply this solution to all pages competing with the primary page. 

4. After that, update your internal linking. If you don’t, your internal links will go to 301 pages instead of 200. This is bad for SEO. Proper internal linking ensures the primary page gets more weight and search engines see it as more important.

Discover more about keyword cannibalization in this guide.  

Pages with poor-quality content

Another quick but effective optimization option is improving low-quality pages, which is much easier than creating and optimizing content from scratch. 

The Insights section displays pages with poor-quality content. The tool highlights all pages on your site with content quality below the average value of your competitors in the top 10. It will show you each page’s Content Score and the keyword it ranks for. Content Score assesses content quality and relevance, impacting organic search rankings. It also factors in keyword usage, headings, structure, images, readability, grammar, and more.

Open the details and click on the Content Score to analyze your page’s details and receive quality improvement recommendations.

To improve the page score, conduct a content audit. This will also help you decide which pages are worth the effort. After that, consider the following solutions:

Case 1: If your content is outdated and updating it is not worthwhile, consider redirecting it. Alternatively, if there’s no suitable destination for a redirect, you can remove the page—just ensure your 404 page is helpful and encourages users to explore your website further.

Case 2: If your content has the potential to rank higher, update it. To streamline the optimization process, use the Content Editor tool. This tool generates a brief with all necessary content parameters, including structure, terms to use, links, and more. Follow the recommendations closely to see the Content Score improve.

We provided detailed instructions in our guide to performing a content audit.

Keywords whose impressions or clicks dramatically increased

To pinpoint content ripe for picking, look for keywords that have shown dramatic increases in impressions or clicks.

By clicking View all in the Insights tool, you can see the pages ranking for these low-hanging keywords and identify content that needs your attention.

When clicks or impressions increase (indicating that Google is showing your page to users more frequently), it’s a clear signal that you need to focus on these queries and the pages ranking for them. 

Increases in impressions might stem from page updates, Google’s algorithm updates, or shifts in query intent. Whatever the reason, Google now deems your page more relevant to specific queries. By capitalizing on these opportunities, you can further boost their success and overall performance.

Here’s what we recommend doing:

1. Add keywords to the Keyword Manager so you can revisit them later. To do this, check the box next to the keyword and add it to the designated folder, as shown in the screenshot below.

2. If the keyword is new, evaluate its potential, intent, and relevance to your site. Use the Keyword Research tool to analyze it thoroughly. It provides key metrics like search volume, difficulty, CPC, global volume, intent, and more. Focus on keywords with the highest potential.

3. Use the On-Page SEO Checker to optimize your pages for the most relevant keywords. This tool gives hands-on improvement suggestions based on in-depth analyses of top-ranking competitors. Don’t make drastic changes if your page already ranks high (within the top 3) changes. Instead, fine-tune the snippet to improve your CTR.

4. Build relevant backlinks to strengthen your authority for the queries you want to rank for. To do this, use the Backlink Gap Analyzer. It will compare your backlink profile to those of better-performing competitors. It will also identify missing link building opportunities (i.e., referring domains that link to your competitors but not to your main domain or URL).

5. The final step is to use the Rank Tracker to track the page ranking changes for that keyword once the described work is complete.

Keywords whose impressions or clicks dramatically decreased

Another low-hanging fruit SEO strategy is to focus on keywords with a dramatic drop in impressions and clicks.

Impression drops mean Google is showing your page to fewer people, often because it sees your page as less relevant to it.

Here’s how to boost your page performance and adjust your strategy:

1. Analyze SERP changes to the queries to see if the keyword intent shifted or stronger competitors entered the scene. If you’re already tracking the keyword, navigate to Project ▶️ My Competitors ▶️ SERP Competitors. 

If the keyword still isn’t being tracked, check Keyword Research ▶️ Organic SERP History instead.

2. Check live SERP results in the SERP Analyzer to identify your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses. You’ll get valuable insights, like methods for achieving top SERP rankings. The tool shows metrics for each competitor’s URL that provide clues as to how they keep their SERP positions high. These metrics include text length, content structure, page load speed, and keyword usage (and distribution) throughout the content.

3. Optimize your page based on the On-Page SEO Checker’s practical improvement suggestions. The tool will identify any technical, content, security, or other issues that could negatively impact page performance.

4. Review your page’s content in the Content Editor to find ways to improve its quality and effectiveness. Follow the suggestions provided to make changes.

5. Check your backlinks using SE Ranking’s Backlink Checker tool. It provides a detailed analysis, including the number of backlinks and referring domains, Domain/Page Trust score, toxicity, and more. Then compare these metrics with competitors who have improved their rankings for your target keyword. Use this analysis to identify why your competitors’ off-page SEO strategy outperforms yours and improve your own.

Low CTR top results

One of the easiest ways to boost your SEO effectiveness is to identify top-ranking pages whose CTR is much lower than expected. Then you can tweak their snippets to make them more appealing to users.

You can find these insights on the SE Ranking platform when a top-ranking page’s CTR falls significantly below the average for its position. If multiple pages meet this criterion, only the one with the highest number of impressions is highlighted.

Appearing at the top of the SERP is a clear signal that Google sees your pages as authoritative and relevant for the query. Having a low CTR, however, can indicate that your snippets aren’t catching users’ attention; they aren’t clicking on snippets because they don’t want to. Plus, features like ads, AI Overviews, and other SERP elements can deter clicks. 

Here’s how we suggest tackling this issue:

1. Check if you’re already targeting the keyword. Is it one of your primary targets, or is it another opportunity to establish relevance? Note that this insight focuses on just one keyword per page. Your page might be performing well for another target keyword with even greater potential.

2. Analyze the keyword through Keyword Research. If it’s a potential new target, evaluate its traffic, competition, intent, and relevance to your goals. SE Ranking’s Keyword Research tool has all these parameters and more to help you decide.

3. Keep your snippet relevant to the query. Also, ensure it is appealing, trustworthy, and naturally includes the keyword. Make it more enticing by optimizing for rich snippets. The idea is to get the user to want to click on the page and read more. 

4. Check the live SERP results for the keyword. You can do this manually or with the Rank Tracker tool, as shown in the screenshot below. Also, verify if Google has automatically rewritten your title and meta description in the SERPs. If so, take note of the content the search engine highlighted on the page.

Use the SERP Analyzer to compare and contrast your top-ranking competitors’ titles and meta descriptions. The tool offers a clear visual representation of their snippet’s appearance on the SERP.

5. Add keywords to the Keyword Manager. This prevents you from losing them so you can come back to them later.

6. Monitor these keywords in the Rank Tracker. Track their positions, fluctuations, SERP features, and traffic changes. Organize your workflow by labeling keywords with tags or taking notes.

Pages whose impressions or clicks have dramatically increased

More clicks or impressions are a clear sign that you need to focus on these pages. Give them extra attention to bump up their quality and keep them soaring in SERPs.

Again, more impressions likely mean that Google liked your changes, which made your page more visible. It could have also been a result of an algorithm change or a keyword intent adjustment. If Google likes your content, keep it relevant. Here’s how:

1. Check specific search terms for which your clicks and/or impressions increased. You can view this immediately by clicking View All in Insights. 

2. Review each keyword to learn about its potential, intent, and relevance to your business. You can access a detailed keyword analysis directly from the Insights tool.

3. Then, create a plan to optimize your pages for the most relevant keywords. Use the On-Page SEO Checker to get improvement ideas. You can access a detailed audit directly from the Insights tool.

4. To boost your content authority, don’t forget about off-page SEO, which also impacts rankings. Use the Backlink Gap Analyzer to build new backlinks and uncover missing link building opportunities.

5. A click increase indicates that users find your snippet relevant. Ensure that your main content is just as engaging as the snippet. To do so, we recommend following the steps outlined in this section.

Pages whose impressions or clicks dramatically decreased

A decline in clicks and impressions signals that you need to improve your pages or rethink your strategy.

Use the Insights tool to identify all pages with this issue, determine which keywords these pages rank for, and follow the steps outlined in this section.

Competitors who jumped to the top 10

Tracking competitors who have recently improved their rankings can help you uncover new strategies or emerging trends they might be using. Adopting these techniques is a great way to improve your rankings, but at the very least, you can use these insights to stay aware of competitors who could become greater SERP threats later on.

The Insights tool displays a complete list of competitors with unusual ranking behavior. It also provides additional data, such as the number of positions the page has gained, its traffic growth, keywords, and more.

We recommend doing the following:

1. Add any competitor who has entered the top 10 from outside or improved by more than three positions within the top 10 to the My Competitors tool. This will help you track changes in their rankings, traffic, keywords, and more.

2. Evaluate the jumped pages’ metrics in the SERP Analyzer. Enter the keyword and the tool will highlight the core on-page parameters. It will also provide a list of page-change recommendations. 

Pay close attention to the Competitive Comparison section of the SERP Analyzer. It helps you find data on terms and related metrics, content elements like titles, meta descriptions, headings, URL length, and technical metrics—everything needed to find content improvement opportunities. Alternatively, you can visit the page to directly evaluate the content.

3. If no changes to the content explain the jump, competitors likely gained valuable backlinks to the page. To uncover these insights, look at the backlink portfolio of each competitor who got a jump. You can use the Backlink Checker tool and filter for new backlinks to get the complete picture.

4. Check your competitors’ ads. Their growth may be driven by paid traffic. If that’s the case, find out how much they are paying to achieve these results and decide if it’s worth copying this strategy. Evaluate the text to get ideas for your own ads. All of this information is available in the Competitive Research tool.

Competitors’ new keywords

You can use the keywords your competitors rank for as new opportunities for your website. The Insights tool shows new keywords for which your competitors have begun appearing in the top 30 search results.

Here’s how we recommend maximizing benefits and capitalizing on the most important keyword gaps for your business:

1. Add new (but relevant) keywords to the Keyword Manager.

2. Conduct an in-depth analysis of the keywords. This will help you decide if investing in these keywords is worth it.

3. Compare each keyword’s SERP changes to find out how Google interprets each keyword intent. Carefully evaluate whomever the search engine now considers irrelevant, who has a stable presence, who is new to the SERP, and why they got there. This can be done in the SERP Competitors section of the My Competitors feature by adding all relevant keywords to your project.

4. Find out the type of content you need to create to reach the top by checking the live search results in the SERP Analyzer. This tool provides detailed data on each page to help you identify the right parameters to focus on.

5. Create content for the most relevant queries using the Content Editor. Use it to create a comprehensive brief, generate text with the AI Writer, work in Google Docs using the add-on, and more. It has a ton of other features to help you produce well-optimized content.

6. Once your page is live, use the Rank Tracker to track its performance on the SERP by adding keywords to your project.

Competitors’ new pages

The pages your competitors now rank for (in the top 30) in search results provide valuable insights about their content strategy. This can help you figure out how to refine and advance your SEO strategy. Go to the Insights tool to review new pages along with their titles, and the keywords they rank for.

Start by analyzing these pages to ensure you aren’t missing any opportunities. Use the Competitive Research tool to review the live SERP results and learn more about keyword search intents, topic clusters, and target queries. 

Then, make a list of relevant pages for your website and create content for the most promising topics. Once your page goes live, monitor its rankings. We outlined how to perform all these steps in the previous section.

To conclude

Low-hanging fruits are a great starting point for working on a website’s SEO, but they aren’t a catch-all strategy.

Relying on low-hanging fruit SEO opportunities alone isn’t enough—you need a well-rounded strategy with continuous, comprehensive optimization. This includes regularly reviewing your content’s performance, analyzing which types of content drive the best engagement and search rankings, improving your link building process, fixing technical issues, and more.

By doing so, you can avoid chasing every easy win and instead prioritize the low-hanging fruits that align with your overarching strategy—ensuring that each optimization contributes to sustainable growth rather than just short-term gains.