The Key Elements Of SEO And Getting To Know Each Of Them. [Search Engine
Optimization]
When you build or create a website, the first thing you should think about is
SEO (Search Engine Optimization). And if you already own a website, you
probably understand that SEO is the key to increase your site's ranking and
traffic. But all in all, understanding the key elements of SEO is the best
thing.
So, to better assist you in completing the best possible SEO for your site,
we've discussed the major key elements of SEO in this article.
These are the key elements you should focus on more especially if you’re just
getting started with SEO and you want to have the biggest possible impact on
your site.
A You New To SEO? If Yes, Check out our simple Beginner's guide to SEO
And More Releted SEO Articles:
Technically, SEO can be grouped, devided and cartorgorised in various ways for
some reasons.
● Disecting The 6 Major Parts Of SEO
• On-Page SEO
• Off-Page SEO
• Technical SEO
• Local SEO
• White-Hat SEO
• Black-Hat SEO
● Meanwhile, Let's Take A Look At How Search Engines Work. (A Brief
Explanation)
Search Engines are tools used by people who have a query(s) and are searching
for something on the internet.
There are three steps to how Search engines work: crawling, indexing and
finally ranking.
Search Engines rely on algorithms(computer programs) to look for clues and
give searchers the exact results they are looking for and organize those
results from the most relevant to the least relevant aiming to provide users
with the best answers.
In general, Search Engines want to show searchers the highest quality and most
trustworthy content at the top of the result page. (SERP)
● The Crucial Key Elements Of SEO
In this section, we've discussed the crucial key elements of SEO and we've
cartorgorised them in 2 parts on-page and off-page.
• On-Page SEO
Elements:
These are elements on a page of your website that you can optimize to improve
its search rankings. These elements make it easier for Search Engines to crawl
and understand the content on your webpage.
Here are the most important On-Page SEO elements or On-Page SEO ranking
factors you should consider when Optimization your pages.
- E. A. T:
Expertise - Authority - Trustworthiness.
Is a concept that Google uses to rank the quality of content on
webpages.
For On-Page SEO, this means that you need to tell search engines that the
content your webpages contain can be trusted as high-quality information.
If you prove to search engines that your webpage is an authority and you're
using your expertise to create high quality content, you will earn better
rankings on SERP.
- Content Quality:
The content of your webpage is the most crucial element of an effective SEO
strategy. When assembling your content, you should consider which information
is essential for your visitors.
- URL Structure:
The URL structure of your site is another element that signals to search
engines and users what your webpage is about. It should be treated like the
title tag: keep it short, and use the main keyword.
- Keywords Usage:
Using relevant keywords is a must in order to be found in the organic search
engine results pages. A good keyword is a term with many requests in Google
and is closely connected to your business area.
To be found in SERPs, you must integrate your keywords in the title of your
webpages as well as in the content of your website. It is preferable to
integrate the keywords at the beginning of your text, while assuring that the
integration looks natural and fitting to your content. If you simply list your
keywords, one after another one without proper integration you risk being
detected by search engine monitoring and your website can be penalised.
- Crawlability And Indexability:
If search engines can’t crawl and index your site, you won’t show up in search
results, it's that simple.
Google constantly crawls the web using bots(also called spiders) to discover
new webpages. So, crawlability refers to Google’s ability to find your
content.
Bots discover content through links. After crawling, bots send data back to
Google so that it can analyze the page and add it to its index. Only indexed
pages can show up in search results.
- Page Speed:
Page speed has become one of the major ranking factors used by Google. Page
speed is related to user experience. There are plenty of studies that show how
page load and longer loading times leads to more people abandoning the page
before it even loads.
- Title Tags:
Every page on your site has a bit of HTML code called the “title tag”. They
act as the first signal to search engines and to users what the page is about.
When someone performs a search, the clickable link in the search results is
pulled from the title tag you set for your page.
- Meta Description:
The text that appears below the title tag in a search results page is called
the meta description.
You have more characters to work with than a title tag, which you should use
to elaborate on what the page is about.
Just like with title tags, they are not one of the most significant on page
ranking factors by themselves. Not directly, anyways, according to Google
themselves. However, a good meta description will help convince users to click
on your page in the results (aka improve CTR).
It will help drive more traffic and conversions to your site.
- Internal Linking:
Another important On-Page ranking factor is having strong internal links to
other pages on your site.
Having internal links helps search engine crawlers (Bots) find more related
content to a page. This helps Search Engines better understand the general
focus of your website.
They also help the real people who browse your website. When you have links to
related content to provide more context or information on a topic, people are
likely to click on them to learn more.
That engagement keeps them on your site for longer, which is another positive
signal to Google that they like and trust your content.
- Mobile Friendliness:
Another major ranking factor or element for or a page is how friendly it is
for visitors viewing it on their mobile devices. This is called
“mobile-friendliness”.
Almost more than 60% of all online traffic is now done on mobile phones. As a
result, Google now indexes websites based on their mobile pages — not their
desktop pages anymore.
To have a “mobile-friendly” page, it needs to be easy to read and function
properly. A common issue with a page developed for desktop first, is that when
it gets adjusted for mobile that text or images become too small to see. Or
buttons and other interactive elements don’t work, become hidden or broken,
and so on.
On-Page SEO Check List:
- Post title
- Keywords
- Meta description and header tags
- User experience
- Mobile Friendliness
- Internal linking
- Page load time
- Content quality
• Off-Page SEO Elements
Off-page SEO is what you do outside your website to try to improve its search
engine rankings. It’s often used synonymously with link building, but it goes
beyond that.
The main thing that successful off-page SEO techniques have in common is
authority and trust. Links, mentions, and social signals combine to provide a
complete picture of how authoritative your site is.
- Backlinks:
Backlinks are links from other sites that link to your site, (also called
references) and they’re one of the most important SEO elements. Google
considers both the quantity and quality of your backlinks, so, ideally, you
want a large number of links from high-authority sites.
- Brand Mentions:
Without backlinks, brandmentions can still positively impact your search
rankings. That’s because they act as an implied link.
Since links are Google’s indicators for online relationships, it makes sense
that mentions also provide information about relationships.
Social media brand mentions are an off-page SEO factor that you can optimize
for. Create an engaging and targeted social media campaign to increase your
branded mentions across multiple platforms.
- Leverage Social Media:
Traffic from various sources is a positive indicator for Google, so you should
also consider your social media marketing as a part of your larger off-page
SEO strategy.
You should still share your content across your social media channels because
it drives website traffic, improves engagement data, and increases the chances
that someone will discover your content and link to it organically.
Influencer marketing can also help increase the off-page authority of your
website and get your content in front of more people.
Off-Page SEO Check List:
- Backlinks
- Leverage social media
- Brand mentions
- Optimize local SEO