Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a method that is used to get your webpages ranked higher in Google search results and create brand awareness. It is a powerful tool that can generate huge amounts of traffic and leads for local businesses. Many people feel that SEO is a very challenging task. However, if you analyse the fundamental aspects that need to be done, you will find that SEO can be done effectively by following some good practices. Here is a comprehensive list of the SEO best practices in 2018.
- URLs Should Be Accessible to Crawlers
Your page needs to be optimized in such a way that the content on it is in an accessible format. This means that it should be in a text readable format. This allows the crawlers from Google to access it more quickly. This is important even for videos, images, embeds, or other things of the same kind. These forms of media need to be in such a way that the crawlers can put them into their web indices. If this is not done, your SEO efforts will not work, as crawlers are used to index pages, and if your page is not indexed to Google it is non-existent.
- Appropriate Keyword Research
It is very important that the right keyword is chosen for each individual piece of content that you create. You must analyse what people are searching for, and based on that,select the keywords that are highly searched and most relevant to your business. Keyword research is one of the crucialand valuable activities that have to be done. When a person types in a keyword, they are looking for something very specific to that keyword. Your website or company has to ensure that the content that comes up in relation to the keyword gives the searcher what they are looking for in regards to finding a solution to their problem. It is unlikely that different searchers will type the same keyword that you have optimized for every time, so it is important to have secondary keywords, also known as LSI’s as well,which are related to the main keyword. So, it is crucial to choose the keyword after doing thorough research. It is good to make all keywords work together to help the same content rank highfor multiple keywords.
- Take the help of SERP analysis
You should do some competition analysis using the SERPS, which means that you need to make a Google search query for the keyword in which you want to target and analyse the results that are returned. After that, you should try and figure out what pages are optimized or relevant to the keyword searches. You need to find out what gaps are in the market. Find keywords that are searched a lot, but with not as much competition. This will give you an excellent chance to lead the ranks for that section, especially if you can create content better than your competitors.
- You Need Credibility and Authority
To start off, you need some credibility, that is, a person or some people who can make a big impact if they create content,for example, a professional in the field. This is because having a very credible person allows you to do link building while also having a more social impact. Many other sites will be willing to use or link back to your content on their pages. This increases your traffic and backlinks. Moreover, Google and the searchers will also believe that your content is credible. This gives a very legitimate feel also and builds trust with the searcher. You are more likely to have your content viewed if a credible personcreated it, instead of otherwise. This is also called Influencer Marketing. Then you have to ensure that you are serving the goal of the searcher. Even if you optimize your page very well, you may lose a lot of your viewers if your page doesn’t have a lot of credibility. This is because after some time Google will realize that the content is not serving the end user well and it will rank you lower. You need to make sure that you serve the searcher better than anyone else.
- Your Meta Tags and Meta Descriptions Should Be Well Thought Out
Google uses the meta description very frequently. People tend to think that it isn’t used a lot, but in fact, a majority of the time, Google does use the meta description. Along with this, Google uses a truncated form of your URL as a snippet with several other things. Optimizing the meta tag and the meta description by having a strong CTA (Call-To-Action), allows you to get more clicks on your site. This is what is seen in the search results and is going to be what makes a searcher click on your link or go find another other link that better captures their attention. Optimizing this part of your site good is the easiest way to get a lot of traffic.
- Your Primary Keyword, Secondary Keywords and Related Keywords
Any keywords that are semantically connected can be considered to be related keywords. Google will take these to be very important to show that your content is relevant to the query of the searcher and covers the topic in-depth. It is important that your content is mainly text-based because if Google finds it hard to figure out what some content is, then it is more likely not to consider it. It will not realize that the images and videos are actually some content on the page.
- Content Needs To Be Enhanced Using Rich Snippets
Not everyone can make use of rich snippets. However, there are some people who can use them very well. If your content has data that can be easily represented in images and tables, then it can be featured as a snippet along with the link. If you want a higher chance of capturing this snippet, you need to get your content formatted in a list style post if possible. If you can ever do this, you should take the opportunity.
- Page Must Be Designed With Speed and Security as Important Criteria’s
While it is very important to give a great and fulfilling user experience by having a smooth User Interface, excellent visuals, and layout, it is equally important to ensure that the searcher can get the job done and get what he wanted quickly. Aside from this, HTTPS remains to be very important. It is something Google also focuses on. When setting up the hosting your website, always be sure to purchase an SSL certificate for your site.
- Plan to have the ideal person amplify the content
Once you figure out who the person or list of people are, then you can have a special list of publications and people who can help in the amplification of the content. By executing this plan, you would have been able to create plenty of strong backlinks, and there will be several referrals through word of mouth. This will help you create a lot of buzz across the web ensuring that your content is found by both people and Google crawlers as well.
These are some of the ways you can improve your SEO and optimize your website or page in 2018. To see a huge boost make sure to follow these tips!
