There are four stages to an effective SEO strategy. Take them as the cornerstones of your SEO structure. Maintaining stability while becoming larger is only possible with a solid foundation. Search engine optimization is a complex idea. You can work with Bear Fox Marketing, an SEO company in Boise, to augment your efforts as you gain knowledge of the pillars.
The Need to Focus on Technical SEO is the First Pillar
The foundation is built on technical SEO. Why? Search engines need to find, crawl, and index your web pages before they appear in search engine results.
Search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing use automated software called “spiders” to crawl the web and collect information from the pages they find. There are files and directives (bits of code) on your site that give instructions to spiders, telling them how to navigate and what information to index.
To tell search engines where to go and where to stay, use the robots.txt file. Crawling a site’s whole is standard practice for search engines. To avoid having duplicate, thin, or hidden material on your site indexed in search results, you may use the robots.txt file to block crawlers from specific areas.
The robots.txt file is not the same thing as an XML sitemap. It tells search engines not to crawl, index, or display certain parts of your website. Think of it like a resume for your online presence. Conversation starters like a page’s latest update date and its value in relation to other pages on the site are included.
Each page’s header is a potential location for meta tags. Customers have yet to learn these criteria exist. Instead, they provide specific instructions to search engine crawlers on how to best individual index pages.
User Experience and Content Form the Second Pillar
Search engines may find and index our site pages due to technological SEO. The information on each page is revealed to the viewer through exploration.
Since SEO’s conception, content has played a key role. The assets include text, images, videos, PDFs, tables, and more. The content of a page is used by search engines to determine its category.
We can break down the relationship between content and search engine optimization into five main categories:
Quality
You need content that’s both unique and well-written to attract and retain readers.
Keywords
Words you want to show up for in search results should be sprinkled throughout the copy. Put sentences together and use synonyms to give the reader some background.
Data
Search engines prioritize new, relevant content. If you have a website, your blog is probably the most popular part.
Type
Text, images, video, and other elements that are relevant to the website’s subject matter should be used in concert to create a dynamic, aesthetically appealing, and engaging page.
Relevance
The relevance of your site’s content is measured by how closely it answers users’ search queries. If your website is well-suited to its target audience, it will rise in search engine rankings.
In spite of the quality of the information on your website, search engines will only ignore it if it is well-organized and difficult to navigate. Here are some user experience improvements that will please both your visitors and the search engines:
Navigation
Your website’s content is well-structured, making it easy for visitors to find what they’re looking for.
Look
Your site’s design and layout exude trust, authority, and familiarity, which is great for business.
Feel
Your website’s responsiveness and ability to engage with visitors are a big plus.
Usability
Website users want a streamlined experience and reliable functionality.
Now that you know how important content is to SEO, you can start thinking about additional ways to make your site more engaging to search engines and human visitors.
On-Site Search Engine Optimization is the Third Pillar
In the world of SEO, the word “optimization” is thrown about too much without a clear definition. What does it mean for a website to be “optimized”? Making it run faster, making it easier to use, or including keywords in the content is part of the solution.
In order to “optimize” or improve a website for visitors and search engines, the following elements are crucial:
Tags for page titles and meta descriptions are located in the header of every web page. Data points like this are what go into making up a search engine’s results page. Ranking and click-through rates for results are affected by their titles (click-through rates). The amount of clicks is unaffected by the meta-description elements.
H1-H6 tags normalize the header’s look and break up your content into manageable chunks. This is the page or section header, as indicated by these components, which are read by search engines.
In order for search engines to better understand what a photo is about, its alternative text must describe it in words. Not only can alt text help those with visual impairments see what’s in a picture, but it also gives search engines a better idea of what the photo is about.
Users and search engines alike will appreciate the convenience provided by internal links inside a website’s structure. A link’s meaning and value are revealed when the user clicks on the link’s anchor text (the anchor text). In addition, they pass the authority of one page to the next, which helps your website’s overall rating.
Structured data are snippets of code that describe the content of a website to search engines. This also contributes to how well a page does in search engine rankings. How does Google quickly incorporate things like recipes, movie times, and event dates into search results? The importance of structured data, often known as schema markup, cannot be overstated.
An SEO site audit is a necessary first step in formulating an SEO plan. When compared to on-site optimization, off-site optimization is inherently inferior. In that case, let’s have a look at the implications.
Off-Site SEO is the Fourth Pillar
Thus far, we have spoken about your website and the numerous aspects that affect its search engine rankings. As opposed to this, search engine optimization may be applied to more than just your website. The online credibility of your website is also a factor.
For a pizza place in New York City, you could make the coolest website ever. The food is delicious, and the service is lightning fast. Sure, it’s imaginable. Until Google has evidence from other sources that this site is the finest in New York, it will not include it in its search results.
Google, Yahoo, and Bing all keep an eye out for three main off-site signals:
- Your website contains links to other sites. These connections are helpful because they facilitate the transfer of value (search engine rankings) among different websites. The use of links is a simple method through which one website may promote another. A website’s authority determines the weight that a link from that website carries over another website. If you want people to take your website seriously, have The New York Times link to it instead of your dog groomers.
- Google Maps is a special case of a local search profile. It would be best if you used Google My Business to add your company’s physical location or the area it services to Google Maps. Sharing your location and contact details with Google might help establish credibility. Positive reviews from satisfied customers can also help build confidence.
- Internet search engine optimization (SMO) can be affected by social media. A link in a Facebook post does not carry the same weight as a traditional backlink for the reasons stated in #1. However, the value of your profiles on social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others increases when you include links to your website there.
Summary
If you take the time to learn how SEO works, you can appreciate its relevance better. It also sheds light on the reasons why working with a group of SEO pros could be beneficial to your goals. Visit www.bearfoxmarketing.com for more information on the services offered by an established SEO marketing firm. All eyes are on you as we wait for a reply.
