Technology & Science

The Simple and Effective Guide to SEO

The Simple and Effective Guide to SEO

People are under the very assumption that SEO is too complicated and that it is not worth the effort. However, this is not true. The basics of SEO are straightforward. Most web traffic comes from Google’s most organic results. Google and other types of search engines choose which pages to rank based on hundreds of signals. SEO is essential as it is the process of boosting these signals to rank higher on the organic search results.

Below Are The Benefits Of SEO

1. SEO leads to more traffic

Many people tend to click one of the first few search results; ranking higher usually drives more traffic to the website. The ranking position correlates strongly with overall traffic to a page.

2. SEO leads to consistent traffic

Ranking in a search engine leads to both consistent and passive traffic. However, this is rarely the case for various social media platforms and email marketing, which results in traffic spikes that quickly fade. All of this happens because social media networks are specifically designed to surface fresh content. The emails often get marked as read or forgotten. They also could get land in a spam box. The total number of searches that have been performed on search engines is consistent from month to month, and the traffic tends to be both consistent and passive once you rank.

3. SEO leads to free traffic

One has to pay for ads. However, search traffic is free. Ads on search engines can be costly. Creating content that ranks in Google is not free. However, it is very cheap compared to paying for ads.

How Do You Get Your Website To Rank On Google?

SEO helps you rank higher. However, you cannot rank higher if Google does not know your website exists in the first place. Google will also find your website on its own. However, there are a couple of key benefits to submitting your file, such as-

  • Faster discovery

It is the case with most new websites that do not have any backlinks from other websites. It might take some amount of time for Google to discover them.

  • Improve your website

Google Search Console is the tool that gives recommendations on how to improve and optimize your website.

The very first step to submitting your website to Google is finding your sitemap. Sitemaps are the files that list all of the important pages on your websites. The second step of this process is to create a free Google Search Console account and submit the sitemap.

How To Set Yourself For The Success Of SEO?

Getting your website indexed by the search engines means you’re in a race. One can get easily caught up in this rat race, and the odds of you winning could be bleak. This is where the SEO factors in. It is an ongoing process that, if done well. Increase your odds of winning. One can do the same by following the below steps-

1. Get a good domain

If you have already registered a domain, it is outstanding and won’t hinder your SEO efforts. However, if you have not chosen one yet, it is worth keeping the attributes of a good domain in mind. Below are the two attributes-

Domain name

Some of the few attributes of a good domain are-

  • The name of the business
  • Has no hyphens
  • Is short and memorable

TLD

TLD stands for top-level domain. This is the part after the names like .com, .co.uk and .org. This makes no difference for SEO. Most people use .com as it is the most recognizable and trusted. Various charities use .org. One should stay clear of TLDs like .info and .biz, which are associated with low-quality websites. However, with a low-quality website, you can still build a legitimate website that ranks.

2. Use a website platform

Most people refrain from coding their websites in HTML and CSS. They make use of a website platform. These pieces of software allow folks with little or no coding skills to create a website, manage content with extreme ease and take care of the technicalities. 

Below are the two types of platforms-

  • Hosted platforms

These types of platforms do everything under one roof. They host your website, provide readymade designs that one can install and edit easily. They also let you create and manage the content without touching code.

  • Self-hosted platforms

These platforms also let you manage and create content without too much code. However, you have to host and install them yourself.

Many people make use of SEO Melbourne, which is a search query used by businesses and individuals in the city of Melbourne that are looking forward to connecting with the several SEO agencies in Australia. These agencies help people increase their organic search presence.

What kind of platform should one choose?

The SEO professionals recommend a self-hosted and open-source platform like WordPress because-

  • It is customizable

One can edit the open-source code however they like. However, a vast community of developers already know the platform inside out.

  • It is extensible

There are millions of readymade plugins that can extend its functionality and include thousands of SEO plugins.

Most well-known hosted platforms provide more than enough SEO capabilities for most people. 

3. Use a good web host

Web hosts are the ones that store your site on a hard drive that anyone with an internet connection can access. If you are using a hosted platform for the website you run, you have little control over your hosting. Many SEO guides claim that dedicated hosting is better than shared hosting. It is true, but it doesn’t make much difference until your website is the one that gets a lot of traffic. Cheap hosting from any type of reputable company is fine for many people out there. There is not much difference in the performance between hosts when you pay a few dollars a month. Given below are a few tips that matter-

Security

It is vital to ensure that the host gives you a free SSL/TLS certificate.

Server location

It takes some amount of time for data to travel between the server and the visitor. Hence, it is best to choose a host with servers in the same county as most of your traffic.

Support

24/7 support is ideal. It is also important to test how good the support is by asking the questions before you sign up.

4. Create a positive user experience

Google is the search engine that gives visitors a positive experience. One should build a website to benefit all your users, and any optimization should be geared towards making the user experience better.

Use HTTPS

One does not want his personal data to be susceptible to hackers. Hence, one should always encrypt their site with SSL/TLS.

Choose an appealing design

No person likes a website that looks like it was designed in the ancient age. There is no need to redesign the website every six months. However, the website should be visually appealing.

Make sure that it is mobile friendly

More searches are performed on a mobile than a desktop. It is very critical that your website is as pleasant to use on a mobile as on a desktop.

Use a readable font size

Many people browse the web using all kinds of devices. However, one should make sure that the content is readable across the board.

5. Avoid the intrusive pop-ups and ads

Nobody likes seeing ads in between. However, you might need them sometimes. You can avoid the intrusive ads. 

6. Make sure it loads as fast as it can

Page speed is a confirmed ranking factor on a desktop and a mobile. Your site should load faster. 

Create a logical site structure

Visitors and search engines need to be able to navigate your site easily. Hence, it is important to create a logical hierarchy for your content.

The easy way to do this is by creating a mind map. Each of the branches in the mind map will become internal links which are the links from one page on a website to another. Internal links are very crucial for SEO because of the following reasons-

  • They help search engines find new pages

The pages without internal links are rarely found and indexed.

  • They help pass Pagerank around the site

Google’s ranking algorithm, which attempts to assess a page’s worth, is built on PageRank.

  • They help search engines understand what all your page is about

Google looks at links and surrounding text for this.

Use a logical URL structure

URLs are very important as they search to understand the topic of the page.

Conclusion 

Always keep in mind that the main goal of any search engine optimization campaign is to increase the visibility and traffic of your website’s or business’s products or services. Look for ways that search engine traffic might benefit your company and website; don’t just follow the newest SEO buzzwords or follow every Google suggestion because doing so might boost your search ranks at the expense of your organisation as a whole.

Leave a Reply