Increasing user-specific elements are becoming an increasingly important part of search engine results, but SEO isn’t just about keywords anymore. You can also optimise your site with Structured Data (you may have heard of Rich Snippets) and by increasing the quantity and quality of your backlinks (links with point to your website and give Google that vote of confidence). These factors play a vital role in search engine rankings but the fundamental principles of SEO are still relevant to these evolving marketing verticals. In this article, we’ll discuss what these factors are and how they affect your website.
On-page optimisation
On-page SEO is vital for visibility in search engine results. We consider on-page optimisation to include both Technical SEO and “on website” content. Without optimisation of these factors, a business won’t be seen as frequently by website visitors. An important step of on-page optimisation is Keyword Mapping also known as Keyword Research. Keyword Mapping involves the mapping of your site’s structure and keyword targeting of individual pages – it’s a holistic approach in order to avoid Keyword Cannibalisation (Keyword Cannibalisation). Once you’ve done this, you can then implement proper SEO tactics and make recommendations for a structured site.
In order to rank well in the SERPs, a webpage must satisfy both the user/searcher and the search engine (Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc). Search engines measure satisfaction by various signals. Creating content that is relevant to what Google (and other popular search engine) users are looking for is critical. For this, search engines look at the title and headings of a page as well as other content. Time on a site is vitally important as is number of pages per visit and bounce rate. These metrics help search engines to determine whether or not the page and overall website has the information the searchers/users are looking for. However, you may already have some content that is not optimised for SEO. At Internet Marketing Platinum, we focus on 3 pillars of SEO which involves Technical SEO, Content and Links (Link Building/Outreach). Getting Technical SEO right is vital, both as your website currently stands as well as building good Technical SEO into your future website changes and on-page SEO content.
On-page SEO strategies should take into account the content and HTML code on a webpage. By implementing these strategies, your website will become more relevant to search queries. According to experts, it takes less than 10 seconds to convince a searcher to stay on your page. Generally information is easy to find these days and website visitors will click off a page onto a rival or competition website if they don’t find what they are looking for quite quickly. Moreover, great content and headlines can convert visitors to customers and repeat users. But how can you ensure that your website is visible on Google’s first page?
As part of on-page SEO, you can include images. While images can make a webpage more appealing to viewers, not all of them are created equal. Some can actually slow down your website. Using images correctly can boost your SEO ranking opportunities. Just be sure to give each image a descriptive title and alt text attribute to aid with, primarily accessible and also search engine rankings. In fact, Google el al include image alt texts as ranking factors due to equality and accessibility reasons. Remember, this is only half the battle. Make sure to optimise everything properly! If you’ve got all of these steps, you’re well on your way to increasing your website’s visibility in search engines. Video and audio is also important. Don’t forget to add different media types of captivate and engage with your audience!
Structured data
Implementing structured data on your website is one of the best ways to increase the visibility of your website in Google search results. This type of data is referred to as schema markup and makes it easier for search engines to understand and match your content with relevant search queries. There are nearly 800 different types of schema markup. Learn about these different types and how they can benefit your business. Then, implement this strategy on your own website to get started.
The advantages of structured data go beyond improving search rankings. It improves the user experience on your site by making it more visually appealing to the user. This helps increase your website’s click-through rate, which indirectly improves your rankings and SEO. If you’re wondering how to use structured data in your SEO strategy, Google provides a free tool to test your site’s structured data. Type in your website’s URL and click the test button to see whether your site is structured correctly. The test will also show any errors or warnings related to your HTML markup.
Structured data is especially useful for enterprise businesses that have brick-and-mortar locations. In the SERPs, structured data can give users additional information about your business, such as the hours of operation and the types of payment accepted. The rating and reviews structured snippets can also be used to inspire users to click on your listing. While structured data doesn’t guarantee rich snippets on SERPs, it’s an important part of an SEO strategy.
Although structured data may be complicated, implementing it is not difficult. A Google-approved tool can help you implement the markup. Using a structured data markup helper is another great option. It provides a list of possible values for each element on your page and marks mandatory fields. It then generates an HTML code for your website. The output format will be either JSON-LD or microdata, depending on your CMS (content management system).
Quality of backlinks
There are several things to consider when choosing between the two main link-building strategies: quantity and quality. Quality backlinks are trustworthy and reliable, and they take time to acquire. The quantity versus quality debate is an interesting one to consider, but the truth is that most websites can benefit from both strategies. Here are some guidelines to help you decide which type of backlinks is best for your website. The quality of the backlinks you receive from a website will have a significant impact on your website’s rankings.
Quality of the backlinks is critical for search engine ranking. Backlinks from high-ranking pages are important for search engine optimization. If a link points to a website that doesn’t have a high page ranking, it will be useless for your website. Similarly, if a website has 30 backlinks from low-ranking pages, it won’t pass the value of the domain to the linking page. Ultimately, quality matters more than quantity.
The relevance of the link is another important factor. Google looks at the topic and page content of the site that is linking to you. If the page has the same topic as your website, the link will have more weight. In addition, backlinks from high-authority websites are better than those from lower-quality websites. While this doesn’t have a direct impact on your website’s SEO, they can still contribute to your marketing performance.
Lastly, remember that the anchor text on your backlinks matters. While a link with no anchor text is still highly valuable, it is worthless if the link does not lead to any value for your readers. Hence, always opt for followed links. However, you can opt for generic anchor text instead of keyword-rich anchor text. Those who are aiming for a higher SEO score should focus on incoming links.
Google’s algorithm
If you want your website to be seen by the masses, you should learn more about SEO and Google’s algorithm. Google uses keywords in part to determine page rankings. SEO is the most effective way to rank for specific keywords, and it tells Google that your website is about a particular topic. Years ago, keyword stuffing was a common practice. Today, keyword-focused websites are more likely to rank well. Listed below are three tips that can help you improve your rankings.
Keep track of Google algorithm updates. Although Google rarely makes major changes to its algorithm, it makes frequent tweaks. Keep an eye on these changes to ensure your website remains relevant. Use Google Alerts to stay informed about algorithm changes. Google updates their algorithm hundreds of times every year, and these changes can directly impact your page performance. It’s important to monitor Google updates so you can be prepared for the next major update. This way, you’ll know what to do and when to do it.
RankBrain is an update that changes the importance of backlinks, content length, and domain authority. It also takes into consideration how users interact with the search results. This update has affected SEO ranking, but Google continues to make tweaks. To make your site stand out from the crowd, make sure you focus on user experience. Google wants to make sure people find the information they need, not just the spammy websites. So, if your website doesn’t provide great user experience, you’re not going to get the ranking you’d expect.
In addition to updating its algorithms, SEO experts should also stay on top of the latest changes. In 2007, Google announced 450 algorithm changes and made nine updates a week. Since then, it’s been a lot more frequent. Hundreds of changes are made each year, and SEO experts should always be aware of the latest updates. With these updates, the future of SEO is bright. For example, Google will introduce RankBrain, a machine learning algorithm that anticipates users’ search intent.
Mobile optimisation
There are some key strategies to follow for effective mobile SEO. Google penalizes websites with large pop-ups and interstitials. These distractions interfere with the user experience. In addition, you should learn how to make mobile SEO more effective, which can start with a mobile usability test. Test your mobile site regularly and make changes to improve your mobile website. Then, submit your mobile site to Google for indexing. Use the Search Console to measure your mobile site’s performance.
Before optimizing your website for mobile, upgrading your desktop site was a simple matter of implementing a responsive design. However, as mobile technology has improved, mobile SEO has become increasingly complex. It is no longer enough to create a responsive design that adjusts to the screen size of mobile devices – it must be responsive and provide a good user experience. Ultimately, if you don’t optimize your mobile site, you’ll be missing out on a substantial portion of potential customers.
Mobile SEO also relies on site speed. Almost half of mobile users abandon sites that take longer than three seconds to load. Speed has been an important ranking factor for years, and Google is putting a greater emphasis on fixing speed issues. Core Web Vitals metrics and the Page Experience update are proof of this. Once you’ve optimised your site for mobile, make sure your CTA (call to action) is clear and easy to find. This can help change your audience’s behavior instantly.
If your website is geared towards mobile users, it’s a good idea to improve your conversion rate as well. Google’s Mobile-first index will place more weight on user experience signals, so a high mobile bounce rate can hurt your rankings. Compare mobile and desktop bounce rates with Google Analytics, which provides a useful comparison tool. To use Google Analytics for mobile optimisation, sign in to your Google Analytics account and navigate to “Site Content” and “Landing Pages.”