In today’s online competitive market, getting ranks and traffic through traditional SEO techniques is quite difficult. In other words, keep yourself updated with the latest SEO techniques. Here are a few remarkable SEO techniques to use: Use canonical URLs Sometimes, URLs pose a great problem for search engines. That is why, it is essential to address certain serious issues regarding URL patterns and resolve protocol complexities (server complexity). Tips:

• Set your preferred domain – It is all about telling Google, which version of your website you prefer.
• Always verify ownership of both the www and non-www versions of your domain.
• Use a "301 redirect" to redirect traffic from your non-preferred domain.
• For 301 redirect consult the Apache .htaccess Tutorial and the Apache URL Rewriting Guide.
• Refer to - https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/93633
• Use rel="canonical".
• Always use absolute paths rather than relative paths with the rel="canonical" link.

Note - If you fail to specify a preferred domain, Google may treat the "www" and "non-www" versions of the domain as separate references to separate pages. Use rel="nofollow" This tag instructs Google don’t follow this specific link. You must use it to restrict Google to crawl certain web pages. Tips:

• Use this tag to restrict untrusted user comments or guest book entries.
• Use it to restrict paid links from influencing search results.

Use simple URL structure A website's URL structure should be simple and logical. Always try to organise your content so that URLs are constructed logically. Tips:

• Consider using punctuation in your URLs.
• Use hyphens (-) instead of underscores (_) in URLs.
• Use a robots.txt file to block Googlebot's access to problematic URLs.
• Avoid using session IDs in URLs.
• Check Webmaster Guidelines for URL parameters.
• Trim unnecessary parameters.
• Avoid using overly complex URLs.
• Check your site for broken relative links and fix them.

Use hreflang Use hreflang for language and regional URLs. Basically, Google use it to serve the correct language in search results. Hreflang tags allow you to target different markets. Tips:

• Make sure you provide correct hreflang value.
• Never use wrong country or language codes.
• Use it to handle cross-annotations among different languages.
• Always use absolute URLs rather than relative URLs.

Publish images wisely If you want to gain good rankings and improve the performance of your website, optimise images according to the guidelines.  Tips:

• Avoid embedding important text in images.
• Try to make image’s file name as descriptive as possible.
• Create good alt text.
• Always provide good context for your image.
• Avoid using blurry, unclear images on your website.
• Try to specify a width and height for all images to help search engines.
• Check https://developers.google.com/web/fundamentals/performance/optimizing-content-efficiency/image-optimization?csw=1 for better optimisation techniques.

All the above mentioned guidelines are likely to increase your website’s overall performance.