Your website might have a visually appealing design and a great user experience, but if you are not attracting the right kind of people, what is the point?
Most people are aware of the fact that you just do not launch your site and expect traffic and sales to come in. Trying to find your way to the top of Search Engines Results Page (SERPs) is always a headache and a bit of a challenge, especially if your business is in the competitive niche.
As you plan a brand new website or make changes to the existing one, you need to know several best search engine practices to rank high for your target keywords and to be relevant to what users are searching for.
Create Crawlable Site Structure and URLs
A big portion of SEO-friendly development is to ensure that it is easy for search engine bots to navigate your site and then index it.
That’s why you should be able to design the structure of your site, your navigation, and URLs in a way that it is easy enough to understand.
Site Structures
Poor site structure makes it difficult for search engine bots to assess your site, and it can affect the overall user experience as well. That’s why your site needs to be structured in a logical hierarchy.
URL Structures
Your pages should be properly labeled so that it is easier for chatbots to be able to navigate through them. Both bots and users would know what will be on the page because of the URL’s hierarchal structure that has predictable and constant naming conventions.
Navigation
All structures should be easy enough for users to navigate their way on your website.
So, where do you precisely direct your users’ attention? How will you arrange and label your links?
This usually includes on-page content, text links, and other design elements in a template that you are utilizing.
Create Useful and High-Quality Content
Your site’s relevancy is mostly defined with the quality of its content. So, if you are crafting a well-optimized content that brings your readers value, then most probably, Google will reward you for your efforts.
Meanwhile, if you create content that is mediocre and almost have the same features as your competitors, then your chances of ranking high are slim to none.
Here are some guidelines on how you can create high-quality content:
# Keep your text readable and use short and clear sentences.
# Cite facts and show statistics
# Utilize visual content
# Try to curate long-form content as it is said to rank better.
PRO TIP: To check for your content’s readability, use the Hemingway App.
Use Responsive Web Design
When creating an SEO-friendly website, it is a bit challenging to know what elements will bring you success in the long run. Having a responsive design is one of those crucial components.
So, if you are aiming for a more SEO-friendly site, you need to integrate a responsive site. It lets your website adapt to whatever device the user is using. Whether they are accessing your site via laptop, tablet, or mobile, they will still see the best version of your site in their devices.
Since each device has different screens, your site should be able to adapt to fit these screens. If you do not adjust accordingly, then users will have trouble having a positive experience with your site.
Make SEO-Friendly Titles, URLs, and Descriptions
A title that is search engine optimized contains your primary keyword. So, let’s say you are writing an article on the best fitness tips for beginners. The title should contain the phrase “best fitness tips for beginners.”
Next, with an SEO-friendly URL, you must find your main keyword in it. If your post is all about the best SEO tips, then your URL must look something like this: “/best-SEO-tips.”
Finally, your meta description (the text that you can find under your URLs and titles), should contain your keyword with a summary of your post.
Focus on Internal Linking
Internal linking is the most overlooked aspect when it comes to SEO. This allows search engines to find new pages on your site and index them.
You might write high-quality, engaging, and informative content on your site, but search engines like Google might not be able to find it. It is because Google might not be able to track down every page on your site. Therefore, it is your job to help Google find it.
This is precisely what Internal Linking does. It allows Google to find these relevant pages and index them on search results.
Optimize Image to Improve Page Load Time
The loading time of your website significantly impacts your SEO rankings as well.
If you do not have a quick-loading site that makes it easy for users to access information, then it is highly likely that they will leave and move on to your competitors.
To improve your site loading time, try to look at your site images. While they are certainly a great addition, not optimizing them could slow down your site because of its large file sizes.
That’s why you need to compress your image sizes to make your site load faster.
Utilize Schema Markups for Rich Snippets
Over the years, search engine result pages have become more and more focused on utilizing schema to show rich snippets.
Use Schema markup to make search engines understand what your content is all about. Keep in mind that rich snippets are search results that have other elements aside from the title, URL, and meta description.
Focus On the Readability of Your Site
Sometimes, it is easy to get lost in your design and other technical aspects of your site. But when doing these optimizations, you should also focus on your site’s readability so that it is easier for your audience to read the information.
Even if you have an aesthetically appealing site design, it hardly matters if people could not read your content.
A lot of users come to your site to look for information. While your website design makes an excellent first impression, your content will determine whether or not that first impression will be a positive one or not.
Final Thoughts
The importance of building an SEO-friendly site is undeniable. Making search engine optimizations on your site will improve your presence on search engines, most especially on Google’s SERPs.
Because Google is responsible for approximately 90% of the search traffic worldwide, it only makes sense that you rank higher to improve your online presence, boost your sales, and revenue in the long run.
So never stop optimizing. Make your site SEO-friendly as much as possible if you want to stay consistent and rise above the competition.
