SEO is an acronym for Search Engine Optimization.
Search Engine Optimization is about indexing your web pages on search engines and fixing any other issues that may be holding your website back.
SEO is also about content and keywords.
Your content and keywords tell search engines and visitors what they will find when they visit your web page.
Here are the basics for how SEO works.
Algorithms have been developed by search engine companies to scan your website and its contents. The search engine is looking at each web page and is doing it's best to figure out what the content is describing.
Search engines like each web page to be about one subject, and the material on that web page should support that subject. When you supply high-quality content on the web page, you signal to the search engines that you know what your talking about. You web page then has the authority to answer a searcher's query. The web page is then ready to be indexed.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is also taking part in the indexing process to help search engines do a better job matching a query to an indexed web page. AI is here to stay, which may change the methods for how SEO works over time.
In short, SEO works to make it easier for search engines to understand your web page content.
What is Indexing?
Think of indexing like a vast library. Keeping track of all web page information is a big job. Indexing a web page happens after the search engine identifies a new page or new content on an existing page. If the search engine can determine what the content is about, the page can then be listed or indexed in the search engine.
The best-optimized sites that provide accurate information have a high-ranking score. Pages that meet the criteria for a high ranking score will find their web page, blog post, and website listed higher on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). The SERP page is the list that comes up on your screen when you ask the search engine a question.
The algorithms are continually changing. These changing algorithms mean your SEO will need updating to keep your web page ranking high. Check your analytics, search console, and SEO audit, then correcting any errors that may affect your web pages will keep your site working for your company. Set a schedule to do these checks and stick to it.
Make sure your SEO is not an afterthought.
Fixing your site after the fact will cost you more in the long run. Working of SEO at the beginning of a project gives you a good foundation in the beginning.
Do your research. Find out what questions people are asking within your industry. Answer those questions. Content does matter when it comes to ranking. Optimize your web pages with best practices or White Hat SEO.
When SEO implemented, people and search engines are happy because they can find the best high-quality answers to their questions or query.
How do I know if my web pages are optimized?
To improve your website, you need to look for problems that are sometimes not so easy to find. Website improvement reports, sometimes called an SEO audit report, are the starting point to a website improvement plan for content that already exists.
An SEO audit report is the best way to expose problems your web pages may have.
A good website SEO audit includes the following twenty-seven checks:
4xx status codes
5xx status codes
restricted resources
404 page set up
robots.txt file
xml sitemap
www and non-www versions
HTTP/HTTPS issues
302 redirects
301 redirects
redirect chains
rel=" canonical"
pagesmobile-friendly
pages with mixed content
multiple canonical URLs
frames
pages too big
dynamic URLs
URLs too long
dofollow external links
broken images
empty alt text
empty title tags
duplicate title tags
empty meta descriptions
duplicate meta descriptions
too long meta descriptions
After you have gone over these twenty-seven items, a plan can be put in place to deploy any fixes needed.
Make sure you are using the best SEO software possible or hire someone who has the experience needed to do SEO the right way.
Please be very careful; you don't want to get a warning from Google about something you didn't do right. If you do get an alert, make sure you fix it right away, or your site could be un-indexed. Getting your site re-indexed can take a while to fix, and that is lost business.
Search Engine Optimization, when done the correct way, helps your website, web pages, and blog posts, get the recognition they deserve.
Happy Optimizing!
Wendy Danko
Setting Your Website Up For Success!
About the Author
Wendy Danko is an SEO Consultant and Web Designer at WenKo LLC. A design background has its perks, especially regarding SEO and website design. Wendy is determined to help all her clients understand and improve their SEO and website design. As a result, her clients have uncovered new leads to grow their client base with website improvements.
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