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SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a combination of technology and strategy. Ultimately, It should answer: How do I rank the keywords that are searched by my customers. When it comes to SEO, there is no shortcut to it. Google will analyze your page content and determines whether they answer a certain query that users are searching for.
But first, let’s understand how is it used. When users come into a Search Engine (Google, Yahoo, Bing, Baidu), they key in a word or a phrase called the “Search Query”. The Search Engine then compares it to their database of indexed web pages, pulls out a website and show it to the searcher.
The Search Engine’s goal is to show the most relevant website or webpage that matches the “query” of the searcher. Knowing how to put your business to show up when people did a “query” on your related business, that is SEO.
“Write for Human, Rank for Google”
The best tip to remember when it comes to SEO is to not forget you are still writing for a human audience. Make sure the flow of the sentence is natural but it is able to make people understand what product are you offering.
Google uses up to 200 Ranking Factors to determine your website rank.
On Page SEO
Domains and URLs
Publishers don’t usually think about what kind of domains they want. But little did they know it greatly impacts SEO. So choose your domain name wisely instead of going for unrelated names.
For URLs, messy and lengthy URLs will demote the site as it indicates the structure of the site. Short, neat, and clean URLs will definitely boost up the chance of landing on the first spot.
Image Optimization
Having the right file size is important so that your image is not pixelated when shown on the screen, especially on those Apple Retina Devices.
However, sharper images mean a larger file, and large files are slow to download. This is especially true for those portfolios or design websites.
Optimizing the Image helps to reduce the file size, increasing download speed.
Also, Alt Text in the image is also important because it tells people what this image is all about, especially for people who rely on text to speech.
Internal Links
Just having content on your website ain’t going to be enough to rank high. Building internal or hyperlinks to other content in your site will greatly benefit for a search engine to learn about your website.
For example, you write a blog about a certain service then link it to the service page in your blog post so that it saves the hassle for users to find it.
Security
Having an SSL certificate also creates better security for users especially for e-commerce websites that contains sensitive data. Use HTTPS instead of HTTP will provide better security and trust in customers.
Refrain from using tactics like:
Thin Content
Creating content that is similar to what you already have is considered thin, low-quality content as it has a less unique factor.
Cloaking
Hiding HTML code of website where visitors can’t see is considered cloaking. But it will not fool the crawler that Google has.
Keyword Stuffing
Although keywords help to increase the ranking in the Search Engine spamming keywords in a page makes you sound like a robot. And visitors just don’t like to visit a page that does not provide quality content. So use keywords naturally that can relate to your visitors.
Off Page SEO
These are the factors that publishers do not have direct control of it. But they still have an impact on your rankings.
These are some of the Off-page SEO factors that you should be mindful:
Trust
Gaining trust from search engines is an essential factor especially for google. Trust determines whether your website is legitimate for visitors to access. Building backlinks to other quality sites may improve your trust from Google.
Links
Backlinks are one of the most essential ways to get through SEO rankings. But spamming links can easily get you banned from search engines.
One of the ways is to build relationships with other quality content creators and fans. This will have them link back to your site in their own content.
Social
Having good content with no presence won’t get you anywhere. When it comes to boosting your page up, quality shares from influencers and social media such as sharing and liking posts will definitely boost your ranking.
Security
Having an SSL certificate also creates better security for users especially for e-commerce websites that contains sensitive data. Use HTTPS instead of HTTP will provide better security and trust in customers.
Refrain from using tactics like:
Link Buying
Just because backlinks are powerful, doesn’t mean that you should buy links to your website. Work on getting quality links and you will be able to build links naturally.
Forum Marketing
Forum marketing is answering questions on various forums. This method is just outdated and time-consuming.
Mass Social Production
It is one of the worse things you can do on the internet. Having many social media channels just aren’t relevant to your business. You need to be on networks that relate to you and focus on your target audience instead of just being everywhere.
