Search Engine Optimization is one of the most important aspects of website performance and ranking. It is not enough to just have a website but have one that’s fully optimized for search engines.
In our previous article, we discussed what Search Engine Optimization is and why you need it. In this article, we will discuss the 3 techniques of SEO and how you can use them to improve your website performance and ranking on Google.
The 3 search engine optimization techniques that your website needs to rank high on Google include:
Technical SEO
On-page SEO
Off-page SEO.
Technical SEO
This technique of SEO focuses on the technical aspect of optimizing your website to rank higher on search engines. Some of the things done include:
Having an organized website structure
Website architecture is defined as the layout or arrangement of the pages in your site and how they have been grouped and linked to each other. A clean and organized layout helps Google bots also known as spiders, to easily crawl your website and index (store) the pages. Once your website pages have been indexed, users can now easily find you on search engines.
A flat website architecture is advised for better crawlability and indexing.
What is a flat architecture?
This is a layout that enables a user to get to any page in 4 clicks from the home page.
Sitemaps
An XML sitemap is a list of all pages on your website. It helps search engines find content on your site easily. Sitemaps are not a must if your web pages are properly linked to each other. However, it does no harm having a sitemap. Does your website have a sitemap? Find out by filling this form and we will provide you with a report.
How to know the number of pages of your website that are indexed -Type this on Google – site:www.yourwesbite.com
Duplicate Content
Having the same content on different web pages might be okay for a user but for Google, it’s not. When you have duplicate content on different URLs, Google does not know which page to rank highest and therefore ranks all pages low.
The good news is that there is an element known as a canonical link element that tells Google what URL has the original content and that it should rank that page. Do you know whether your site has duplicate content? Get a free SEO Audit today.
Security
Keeping your site secure is very important.
One way of doing this is by enabling or purchasing an SSL certificate. What is SSL? According to DigiCert, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a server and a client—typically a web server (website) and a browser, or a mail server and a mail client.
It helps protect sensitive information, like credit card details, as this information passes across multiple computer networks. Having an SSL certificate is a Google ranking factor and therefore, an important step in improving the optimization and visibility of your site.
Robot.txt
What is a robot.text file?
Robots.txt is a file that tells search engine spiders not to crawl certain pages or sections of a website. Most major search engines (including Google, Bing and Yahoo) recognize and honor Robots.txt requests.
Why use a robot.txt file?
- Preventing the crawling of duplicate content.
- Keeping sections of a website private (example, your coming soon page or staging site)
- Preventing specific media from appearing in search results.
Speed
Why should you optimize your website for speed?
Google states that:
“Making a site faster improves the users’ experience while also increasing the crawl rate.”
According to Google, site speed is a ranking factor on the results page. Research shows that 53% of mobile website visitors will leave the website if a webpage doesn’t open within three seconds. Therefore, ensuring that your website is fast enough is a crucial task.
Wondering if your website is fast enough? Find out through our Website Audit.
The second technique is On Page Search Engine Optimization.
What is On-Page SEO?
On page SEO mainly focuses on content optimization. This ensures that your content has relevant keywords as well as enough. Moreover, it includes optimizing images to be smaller in file size to not eat up the server resources.
An example of optimizing your content can be found below.
- Having relevant titles.
- Having nail biting meta descriptions.
- Optimizing images to have the alt-text.
What is Off-Page SEO?
According to Ahrefs, Off-page SEO embodies any efforts taken outside of a website to improve its search engine rankings. Off page SEO goes hand in hand with the other techniques of SEO in improving ranking.
An example is link building or building backlinks. This is getting other websites to “talk” about your website on theirs. It is like giving a shoutout. They do so by adding a link directing users on their website to yours.
This however, is most effective when a website that has authority (a website that is trusted by Google, has a lot of traffic and is relevant) adds your website link on their site.
If you are already doing this, great work. If not, speak to one of our experts to help you optimize your website in an efficient and effective manner.
