Companies want to be found on the Internet with their company website. This assumes that the website is optimized for Google and Co. The following measures are crucial for company websites.
Optimize Metadata
The metadata includes, among other things, the titles and descriptions. The title is one of the direct ranking factors, and the optimization should not be approached half-heartedly. Essential terms, keyword combinations, and phrases in the form of questions should be taken into account.
The meta description itself does not directly influence the ranking but rather the click behavior of the user. It’s like a brand message. If it doesn’t go down well or if you walk past it carelessly, you lose traffic. Titles and descriptions should be unique and describe each page individually. This is often done wrong not only with new pages but also with existing carriers.
Define A Uniform URL Structure
Whether holistic content, pillar pages, or only small offer pages are created, a uniform URL structure is vital for the findability of the pages and optimal crawl behavior. An optimal URL structure includes:
- Speaking URLs with clear words.
- Avoiding special characters and capital letters.
- Avoiding filler words.
- Avoid unnecessary directories.
Also often neglected: URLs should be found under a unique URL and not under several variations (e.g., HTTP & HTTPS, www. & Without www.).
Optimize Website Architecture
The information architecture must also be taken into account. It is not the same as the URL structure but focuses on the click depth. It is important to clarify: Can the pages be set up with a flat website structure (as few clicks as possible from the start page), or is the website so complex that some pages can only be reached via several click paths? Either way, it should be ensured that critical pages are linked internally more often.
For websites with a large size and many individual pages that would have to be readjusted due to the URL structure or the architecture, a technical department is of great advantage for fast and efficient optimization. If the page is newly created and the SEO manager or the editorial team can influence the URL structures, a plan for the website structure is vital in advance.
Optimize Internal Link Structure
Relevant pages should be linked more internally. According to the link juice model, which describes the value of a link and thus its link power, a high number of incoming internal connections is a good signal for Google. The pages are given more consideration when crawling. Internal links can be created in some ways. Links via menu directories and breadcrumbs are typical. Automatically generated quick links in the text or on the pages as a list are also advantageous. Internal links from the running text also have a lot of weight.
A good example is Wikipedia! The internal link structure can be adjusted manually for small pages. Suppose you create a website for your company with a manageable number of pages. In that case, the best pages can be brought into focus through appropriate analyzes and can also be linked internally from other carriers. An internal linking plan must be drawn up for pages with greater complexity and a much higher number of pages.
Avoid Duplicate Content
One of the most common mistakes people make in SEO is duplicate content. This is not uncommon for both small websites and large pages. Duplicate pages often arise because page structures are constantly changing, different people write on the same topic, new pages are created repeatedly, and carriers are duplicated due to IT adjustments.
The identification of duplicate content is in the hands of the SEO manager. Adjustments, corrections, and improvements in the system are hardly possible without IT support if many indexed individual pages characterize the website.
Build Up The Heading Structure Hierarchically
The heading structure is often forgotten or underestimated, but it is of enormous importance. A new hierarchical heading structure is based on an H1 heading and the subsequent subheadings in H2. If there are several sections below the area with the H2 title, further subordinate headings are possible in H3. When building large pages, a clear structure should be made with short sections in simple language.
This is not only beneficial for the reader while reading but also for the search engine. Google and Bing also analyze specific text areas and, if they are of high quality, pull them into the rich snippets in the organic search results pages. But also, in the search results, you can always see the jump labels to the individual areas of a single page. Structure the content so that it is structured logically like a table of contents.
Local SEO For Local Businesses
If the business has a visiting address with opening times, local SEO is a must. With local SEO measures, your locations for visitors, for example, a shop, a practice, or a restaurant, can be seen in the organic search results within a short time. This includes measures such as maintaining a Google My Business profile with a good description, complete address and filled-in data, and links to other links on the Internet such as social networks.
Local SEO also includes entry in the relevant business directories. There are several large portals in which you can register for free. Optimizing with structured data on the website itself can also provide an advantage. If there is news on the page or events, they can be made recognizable on Google My Business or with the help of markups. Local SEO can be promoted independently by the search engine optimizer.
Minimize The Loading Time Of The Website
One of the biggest technical challenges in the field of technical SEO optimization is improving the loading time. This is a complex subject area that requires knowledge of search engine optimization and IT skills. Page speed optimization is a continuous optimization process.
Server-side optimizations are primarily an IT matter here. The SEO Manager can also activate some areas of server optimization with the help of .ht access files, such as gzip compression. However, server-side optimization depends on the type of server. Client-side optimization requires a basic understanding of how browser caching or source code optimization, such as merging CSS or JavaScript files, works.
Images on the website can be optimized in various ways: With WordPress, plugins can be helpful for image compression, for outsourcing images in content delivery networking, or lazy loading. All of these aspects are part of page speed optimization; Before you venture into this big topic, an inventory analysis of the websites should be made.
Analyze Keywords For Content Planning
Nowadays, the analysis of individual terms or the fixation on 2-word or 3-word combinations is not always up-to-date. Google better understands the connections between words, synonyms, and their relationships to one another due to the ongoing changes to its algorithm. This also applies to the formulation of W-questions, longer search phrases, or command actions such as “play the song x” in the area of voice search.
You do not optimize the respective pages for a unique selection of words (keywords) but many combinations and phrases. But since many SEO tools cannot consider the number of varieties, you limit yourself to the traditional way to make the optimization more measurable. Therefore, keyword analysis is of great importance at the beginning. In the keyword analysis, one looks at various metrics such as search volume, rankings, click rate, or competition of the keywords.
In addition, you look at search terms for which you are not well-positioned in contrast to your direct competitor. During the analysis, it is advisable to list categories or higher-level directories and the assignment to the URLs. This analysis does not yet influence the ranking, but it is the basis for a rough timetable, which terms come to the fore. A keyword analysis is usually the job of the responsible SEO manager. But feedback and opinions from content managers and management are also vital.
Build Backlinks
Link building and backlinks belong to the significant sub-discipline of SEO off-page optimization. If a website receives links from multiple domains, which are of high quality, then the rankings for keywords and combinations of search terms in the organic results are positively influenced. A good backlink comes from websites with high topic relevance, has many organic rankings, has high power and trust values when viewed, and has a high level of visitor numbers.
Dubious methods like buying links, exchanging links, or automated bots that generate links on pages violate Google guidelines. Pages can be penalized for this, or the links are entirely ignored, and the SEO manager is responsible for the costs.
Plan A Content Audit
A content audit is a cleanup of websites in which pages without added value and strong performance characteristics are removed, i.e., with a high bounce rate, few clicks, and low topicality. This has the advantage that the Google Crawler concentrates on the content that is relevant to the user. A quality analysis also provides information on what is not working and the focus of future texts.
Keep An Eye On Trends
What is commonplace in search engine optimization today may be scrapped tomorrow. The primary measures and tasks of search engine optimization remain essentially the same. Google likes technically flawless pages with user-friendly, topic-relevant content, and links from other websites are advantageous for the ranking. Due to updates and changes in the SERP ads, there will always be new features that will come into focus.
Also Read: WEB MARKETING: WHAT IT IS AND HOW IT WORKS