SEO is full of advice, best practices and yes, even myths!

SEO misconceptions often exist. Many people think that more links will improve rankings, while others believe they only need to do SEO once. These create false expectations.

So let’s separate fact from fiction. In this article, we’ll debunk seven common SEO myths so you can focus on the strategies that drive real results.

1. Myth: SEO Is a One-Time Task
2. Myth: SEO Is All About Rankings
3. Myth: More Links = Better Rankings
4. Myth: Meta Tags Don’t Matter Anymore
5. Myth: Long-Form Content Always Ranks Better
6. Myth: Duplicate Content Will Get You Penalized
7. Myth: You Can See Immediate Results With SEO

• Final Thoughts
• FAQ: How can I effectively maintain my website’s SEO performance despite frequent changes to ranking signals and algorithms?

Myth: SEO Is a One-Time Task

Many businesses mistakenly believe they can complete an SEO checklist and move forward without further planning or action. This usually doesn’t work out very well.

SEO needs regular maintenance like any vehicle or home. Failure to maintain it properly could spell disaster for businesses.

Google and other search engines regularly introduce new ranking signals in order to stay current in their results. Any site that falls behind quickly becomes irrelevant, unvisited and ineffective.

Content quickly becomes out of date as competitors emerge and user behavior shifts. Staying competitive requires regularly updating content, building backlinks and managing technical SEO tasks to keep audiences engaged.

SEO is not once-and-done, and success doesn’t happen overnight. Stay focused, learn what it takes to outrank your competitors and always optimize to keep up.

For more, read: Myth-busting SEO for the CMO: Myth No. 3 – SEO Is a One-Time or Sometime Initiative

Myth: SEO Is All About Rankings

SEO involves much more than increasing search rankings to drive visitors to your website. And while ranking higher is important, it’s just part of the bigger picture:

Rankings can be misleading. A keyword’s rank depends on multiple variables including search intent, the device being used, the location of the searcher, etc. Investing resources just to rank highly for something nobody searches for is a waste of time.

Instead, prioritize the keywords your target audience searches frequently and optimize your content around them to drive more qualified traffic. We helped one client rank successfully for a generic one-word term — it only took two years, but it did pay off for them.

Relevant traffic is the key. SEO success isn’t measured by rankings alone; it should be gauged against organic traffic growth since this provides the clearest indication as to whether SEO is fulfilling its role effectively or not.

While rankings are just one piece of the puzzle, it’s the relevant visitors that SEO brings who will engage with your content and potentially convert.

Rankings don’t always mean business growth. SEO’s primary function is to increase organic search visibility and bring people to your website, regardless of conversion rates influenced by outside factors (website design, sales processes or pricing structures, for instance).

While our job as SEOs is to bring visitors in through organic searches, converting them into sales, leads or customers is the job of the website and the business.

SEO should always be seen as a long-term commitment, focused on producing tangible business outcomes rather than mere rankings gains.

Focusing on organic traffic quality and optimization rather than search position is your path to greater success.

Myth: More Links = Better Rankings

It’s commonly believed that more backlinks will lead to better ranking. This is actually a myth.

Backlinks remain essential for SEO, but the quality, not quantity, of links is what really counts.

Google places considerable weight on the authority and relevance of sites that link back to you.

A few high-quality backlinks from reputable sites can have a bigger impact on your rankings than dozens of low-quality or irrelevant links.

According to Google’s own guidance, links are no longer one of the only top-ranking factors as they once were, meaning a hyper-focus on building as many links as possible can be ineffective.

“I think they are important, but I think people overestimate the importance of links. I don’t agree it’s in the top three. It hasn’t been for some time.”
—Gary Illyes, Google

Instead, prioritize earning natural links by creating high-quality content that authoritative websites want to link to. Google will view your site as more credible than others who use outdated link-building strategies.

Using links from unsuitable sources like spam sites and link farms can hurt your SEO performance. You might even get penalized by Google, so avoid these kinds of links.

Quality is the guiding principle when it comes to link building.

For more, read: The New Link Building Manifesto: A Complete Guide to Earning Links That Count

Myth: Meta Tags Don’t Matter Anymore

Meta tags might seem like minor details when considering SEO, yet they remain important despite Google changing how your snippet renders in the SERP.

Here’s why meta tags matter:

Context for crawlers: Meta tags provide important context to search engine crawlers about your page’s content. Crawlers use meta tags to evaluate relevance, so optimizing your tags helps search engines display your website as part of queries more often.

Good first impression = improved click-through rates (CTR): Title tags and meta descriptions make up your search result snippet, and they are the first things searchers see on your listing.

Although their optimization doesn’t directly influence rankings, an optimized title and description can greatly boost CTR by making your listing more enticing for searchers to click on. A higher CTR can indirectly support relevance signals that Google values when ranking content.

Boosting relevance: If your title tag and description closely match the content and the search query, they are more likely to be displayed as-is, without adjustments by Google. Well-written tags reduce the likelihood of modifications and ensure your site is presented clearly and consistently in search results.

For more, read:

• What Are Meta Tags? Why Are They Important to SEO? How Do You Create Them?
• Why Does Google Change My Webpage Title in the Search Results? (And What To Do About It)
• Do Meta Descriptions Matter Anymore?

Myth: Long-Form Content Always Ranks Better

You’ve probably seen those studies — you know, the ones that say there is a definitive number of words that help your content perform better (like this and this)?

While that data is interesting, it doesn’t tell the whole story about content performance.

While length could potentially be a factor in relevance and therefore ranking, it’s not a golden rule.

Google has disputed the idea that word count matters, saying it’s not a ranking factor.

The reality is that it could be more nuanced than that. Here are some things to consider:

Relevance over length: Google’s goal is to deliver users content that addresses their queries effectively. Writing 500 or 3000 words doesn’t matter as long as it meets searchers’ needs. That said, understanding an appropriate range for the type of topic and industry is helpful.

Intent is key: Different queries demand different content lengths. Google understands user intent, ranking content that aligns with what a searcher wants instead of content type or length.

For instance, when people search for egg boiling instructions, they don’t care about lengthy essays on the science behind water temperature, they just want a quick answer. Knowing the average length for top-ranked content gives you a starting point so you’re not wasting your efforts.

Engagement and user experience matter more: Engagement metrics send signals to search engines about the value of content. Long-form content must engage readers for it to rank well, otherwise they’re likely to leave quickly. This will ultimately hurt your ranking.

On the other hand, well-crafted, relevant pieces that keep visitors coming back are more likely to rank highly regardless of length.

Long-form content may not always rank highly, but it’s still valuable and worth your time.

Longer articles containing relevant, well-researched content will establish your site as an authority resource that is likely to earn more backlinks and shares, helping your SEO.

For more, read:

• The Complete Guide to the Basics of Google’s E-E-A-T
• Want Customized SEO Advice per Keyword? There’s a Plugin for That

Myth: Duplicate Content Will Get You Penalized

People often believe that duplicate content on your site will result in a Google penalty. The truth is duplicate content doesn’t automatically spell trouble.

Google recognizes duplicate content occurs naturally across the web and does not penalize websites for it unless it’s done to manipulate search rankings (for instance when one site scrapes all the content from another).

Non-manipulative duplicate content include things like product descriptions on e-commerce websites, printer-friendly pages or content that’s shared across multiple URLs in the same site.

So rather than issuing penalties, Google filters duplicate content and only shows the most pertinent version in search results.

Duplicate content can still cause issues for your website, however, without incurring penalties.

Google might struggle to figure out which version of the content to show, meaning your pages may compete against each other, and the page Google picks may not be the one you’d want to rank.

If you don’t want to leave this up to Google, you can take control by implementing canonical tags or 301 redirects.

These tools signal to search engines which version of your content should be indexed and consolidated, preserving SEO value and ensuring that your best page ranks.

For more, read:

• Is Duplicate Content Bad for Search Engine Rankings?
• Understanding Duplicate Content and How to Avoid It

Myth: You Can See Immediate Results with SEO

SEO is a long-term strategy, and immediate results are rare — unless there’s some technical fix that quickly gets a bunch of content indexed that wasn’t before.

The reality is that SEO doesn’t deliver quick wins like paid ads.

It’s a slow-build process that typically takes several months up to a year to show significant improvements.

Factors like competitiveness, the site’s history and the complexity of your industry can all impact this timeline.

• Your industry’s competitiveness plays a huge role in how fast you see results. For less competitive niches, you might see traction earlier, but for more saturated industries, it could take up to a year to make a noticeable impact.
• Though SEO is typically slow to show results, there are occasional cases where businesses see faster progress, but this is rare. New content, technical fixes or targeting low-competition keywords might yield quicker wins, but these are exceptions, not the rule.

If you’re making changes today, also know that it will take time before Google even “sees” them.

Depending on the size and authority of your site, this can take weeks or even months.

It’s a long-term investment, and the payoff builds gradually, but it lasts longer than quick, short-term tactics.

For more, read my article at Search Engine Land: How long SEO takes to work

Final Thoughts

SEO is an ever-evolving process that demands consistency, relevance and adaptation for success. The key is to stay informed and always be strategic.

Now that you’ve debunked these common SEO myths, you can approach your SEO efforts knowing that what truly matters are the results driven by relevance, engagement and sustained effort.

Need more website traffic? Better ranking? Higher engagement and qualified leads? Our SEO experts are happy to help you build a successful SEO program that drives business growth.

Get your free consultation

FAQ: How can I effectively maintain my website’s SEO performance despite frequent changes to ranking signals and algorithms?

Maintaining your website’s SEO performance may feel like trying to catch smoke with one hand, as algorithms constantly shift and evolve. To stay ahead, the trick lies in being flexible while adapting quickly using strategies that meet both search engine rules and users’ needs. Let’s break down how you can keep SEO performance on track.

SEO is essential to digital marketing success, especially now when search engines like Google regularly make algorithm adjustments that affect user experience and content relevance. One effective strategy to stay up to date on the latest trends is reading SEO news, joining webinars, and participating in industry forums. Doing this allows you to detect emerging issues early and ensure your site meets these criteria.

Content creation is a major part of successful SEO. Search engines favor materials that provide real value to their users, so take time in crafting articles that not only engage but are original and informative as well. Using tools like keyword planners will help identify terms your audience searches for. Don’t forget to update older posts; outdated information could harm your rankings.

Be mindful not to overlook the technical side. A website that is fast, mobile-friendly and secure will rank higher with search engines than one that doesn’t. Think of your site like an efficient machine — all its parts must work together seamlessly for maximum SEO success. Utilizing regular audit tools can detect technical glitches before they cause SEO failure.

Gaining quality backlinks is like giving yourself an SEO boost from reliable sites. High-quality links help build up the authority and visibility of your site, so consider guest blogging or teaming up with influencers as means for building backlinks. Quality is always the goal.

Imagine you’re stuck in a store and can’t locate anything you’re looking for. It’s frustrating, and you’re not likely to go back there.

Similarly, a well-organized, fast-loading and mobile-friendly website keeps users satisfied and engaged. Visitors are happy, and it’s great for SEO.

It’s important to leverage social media, which you should think of as the buzz on your block. Sharing content on these platforms increases reach and interaction without impacting ranking factors. In fact, more shares can lead to backlinks that boost your authority.

Advanced tools are invaluable when it comes to tracking performance and making smart moves. Tools such as Ahrefs, SEMrush or our own SEOToolSet® provide insights into user behavior, traffic sources and keyword performance. These tools give you valuable data to determine what works for your strategies and tweak accordingly.

Schema markup can increase search visibility by providing search engines with an outline of where your content lives and making it simpler for them to understand it.

Step-by-Step Procedure

1. Stay Informed: Keep up with trends and algorithm changes.
2. Review SEO Tools: Utilize tools such as Ahrefs, SEMrush or SEOToolSet® for insights.
3. Assess Content: Ensure all content remains relevant and engaging for readers.
4. Optimize Keywords: Research and utilize relevant search terms.
5. Boost Technical SEO: Optimize speeds, mobile-friendliness, and security as key areas to address.
6. Build Quality Links: Engage people through guest blogging or content that people will want to share.
7. Increase User Experience (UX): Provide users with an easy navigational experience when visiting your site.
8. Make the Most of Social Media: Share content widely across various social networks to extend reach and engagement.
9. Monitor Analytics: Conduct an in-depth data analysis to pinpoint strengths and areas for improvement.
10. Implement Schema Markup: Utilize structured data to enhance search visibility.
11. Conduct Regular Audits: Address any technical issues quickly.
12. Participate in Communities: Join SEO forums and webinars for updates and insights.
13. Adjust Your Strategies: As new information or trends emerge, adjust your strategies as necessary.
14. Optimize Your Mobile Site: Make sure your website is mobile responsive by optimizing for full mobile functionality.
15. Be Diverse with Content Types: Utilizing videos, infographics and more as differentiators will keep content varied and unique.
16. Produce Content That Fulfils User Needs: Develop content to satisfy user requirements.
17. Optimize for Voice Search: Take into account how voice searches differ from traditional searches when optimizing for them.
18. Utilize Local SEO: Increase search visibility with local listings.
19. Increase Page Speed: Optimize images and use caching.
20. Experiment With A/B Testing: Investigate different strategies to see what works.
21. Establish a Powerful Brand Presence: Engage with your audience regularly.
22. Comply With SEO Guidelines: Implement best practices to avoid penalties.
23. Promote Interaction: Collect feedback from comments and discussions on social media platforms.
24. Examine Competitor Strategies: Gain insights from studying competitors to see where they excel and fail, then utilize this knowledge to adapt your strategy accordingly.

The post Fact or Fiction? 7 Popular SEO Myths Debunked appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

The search engine is often a starting point in the customer journey. In 2023, Klarna reported that 44% of shopping experiences start with a search engine. And BrightEdge research shows 53% of website traffic comes from organic search.

Getting your share of traffic from the search engines is possible with the right SEO strategies. But don’t expect overnight success; SEO takes commitment. And part of that commitment is undertaking technical SEO.

In this article:

Unfortunately, technical SEO is an often overlooked piece of the SEO puzzle.

If you look at Backlinko’s SEO Jobs Report, you’ll find only 23% of employers look for SEOs with technical skills.

At one point in a discussion on Reddit, Google’s Gary Illyes pointed out the fact that SEOs often focus on the wrong things and forget about technical SEO basics:

“i really wish SEOs went back to the basics (i.e. MAKE THAT DAMN SITE CRAWLABLE) instead of focusing on silly updates and made up terms by the rank trackers, and that they talked more with the developers of the website once done with the first part of this sentence.”

So where do we go from here? If sites are hyper-focused on some — but not all — the things that matter, will they compete?

In many cases, no. Google’s growing focus is on the user experience, and one of the major ways you create a good user experience is through how your site performs for visitors.

Google discusses how page experience can factor into ranking here:

“Google Search always seeks to show the most relevant content, even if the page experience is sub-par. But for many queries, there is lots of helpful content available. Having a great page experience can contribute to success in Search, in such cases.”

Technical analysis is a major part of how we help clients at Bruce Clay Inc. realize success. Take, for example, this case study where we used technical SEO as part of the larger strategy to help one client realize a 166% jump in website traffic.

Now that we’ve discussed why it’s important, let’s look closer at what technical SEO is and some best practices you absolutely need to succeed.

What Is Technical SEO?

Imagine you’re building a house. Before the fancy decor or the high-tech gadgets, you need a solid foundation and framework; that’s what technical SEO does.

Technical SEO is optimizing the technical aspects of a website to improve how it performs for both search engines and visitors.

Technical SEO tackles things like how fast the site is, how it renders on different screens, if it is secure, if it’s optimal for search engine crawlers and more.

When you zero in on the tech side of your website, you lay down a solid foundation for all things SEO.

Technical SEO vs. On-Page SEO

While technical SEO focuses on the “back end” of a website to improve performance, on-page SEO hones in on helping webpages be more relevant for a search.

In truth, they work hand-in-hand — everything you do to improve a page can make it more relevant for rankings.

You want each webpage to perform its best, so you layer a great-performing webpage (technical SEO) with things like quality, optimized content (on-page SEO).

To learn more, see Technical SEO vs. On-Page SEO.

Technical SEO: 5 Best Practices You Can’t Ignore

Now let’s explore the five technical SEO best practices you can’t ignore if you want to create a user-friendly and search engine-friendly site:

1. Site structure
2. Core web vitals
3. Mobile-friendliness
4. HTTPS
5. Optimizing a website for crawlers

1. Site Structure: Building a Relevant, Easy-to-Use Site

How your site’s content is organized and how your internal link structure is set up can make your site more authoritative, more relevant for search queries and offer a better user experience.

Google says this about site structure:

“When you’re setting up or redoing your site, it can be good to organize it in a logical way because it can help search engines and users understand how your pages relate to the rest of your site.”

You can use SEO siloing to organize website content based on how people search for it:

• Implement physical siloing by linking webpages through URL structures into directories.
• Use virtual siloing to create informational silos through contextual links and related webpages.

Google explains how organizing content in directories can be helpful:

“If you have more than a few thousand URLs on your site, how you organize your content may have effects on how Google crawls and indexes your site. Specifically, using directories (or folders) to group similar topics can help Google learn how often the URLs in individual directories change.

For example, consider the following URLs:

https://www.example.com/policies/return-policy.html
https://www.example.com/promotions/new-promos.html

The content in the policies directory seldomly changes, however the content in the promotions directory likely changes very often. Google can learn this information and crawl the different directories at different frequencies. To learn more about search-friendly site structures, check out our guide for ecommerce sites, for which a good URL structure is more important as they tend to be larger.”

Internal Linking Best Practices

Your site structure relies on internal links, whether it’s your main navigation, footer links, contextual links or related content links.

An internal link is a link that takes a user from one page on a website to another page on the same website.

Internal links are different from external links, which point to a page on another website from your website. Internal links are also different from inbound links, which point to a page on your website but come from another website.

Your internal links:

• Help users find content.
• Help search engines understand you’re a relevant site for your target keywords.
• Enable search engines to discover more pages.
• Passe link equity between webpages.

Here’s what Google has to say about links:

“Links are a great way to connect your users and search engines to other parts of your site, or relevant pages on other sites. In fact, the vast majority of the new pages Google finds every day are through links, making links a crucial resource you need to consider to help your pages be discovered by Google and potentially shown in search results.”

Internal linking best practices include:

• Auditing existing link structure. Regularly review your internal links using SEO tools like SEOToolSet, Screaming Frog, Ahrefs, Semrush or Google Search Console. Look for broken links, redirects, pages with no links and click-depth issues.
• Establishing click depth. Keep the number of clicks it takes to reach important pages from the homepage to a minimum, ideally no more than three. This makes it easier for both users and search engines to find and navigate your site’s key content.
• Only linking to important pages from the homepage. Only linking to important pages from the homepage helps distribute link equity and reinforce the importance of those pages to search engines.
• Using breadcrumb links. Breadcrumb links show users the path they took to reach the current page. They improve navigation and help users understand the structure of your site.
• Using anchor text wisely. Anchor text is the clickable text of a link. Use descriptive and relevant anchor text that provides users and search engines with context about the linked page’s content. Avoid generic phrases like “click here.”
• Using nofollow attributes as needed. Use the rel=”nofollow” attribute for links to pages like sponsored content, affiliate links or user-generated content. This tells search engines not to pass authority from your site to the linked page.
• Managing 404s. Monitor your site for 404 errors (page not found) and fix them by redirecting broken links to relevant pages. A custom 404 page can also help users navigate your site when they encounter a broken link.
• Managing internal links. Regularly review and update your internal linking strategy as your site grows and evolves. Add new internal links to relevant content, remove broken links and ensure your internal linking structure aligns with your SEO goals.

2. Core Web Vitals: Enhancing User Experience

Core web vitals (CWV) are a set of metrics that measure the load performance (how fast a page renders), interactivity (how quickly someone can interact with the page) and visual stability of a website (so there are no unexpected shifts).

CWVs are part of Google’s ranking algorithm, though how much weight they hold is up for debate.

Regardless of speculation, getting these right improves the site experience, which can definitely have an impact on how you perform in the search results and with your target audience.

Take, for example, all the data found on this page that shows the impact of web performance on user experience and business metrics.

As with many other ranking factors, think of CWV as that extra competitive edge. If all other sites are mostly equal, but one site is better at performing, which do you think will rank?

Google’s John Mueller stated on Reddit that CWV was more than just a “tie-breaker,” following up with some excellent advice:

“It is a ranking factor, and it’s more than a tie-breaker, but it also doesn’t replace relevance. Depending on the sites you work on, you might notice it more, or you might notice it less. As an SEO, a part of your role is to take all of the possible optimizations and figure out which ones are worth spending time on. Any SEO tool will spit out 10s or 100s of “recommendations”, most of those are going to be irrelevant to your site’s visibility in search. Finding the items that make sense to work on takes experience.

The other thing to keep in mind with core web vitals is that it’s more than a random ranking factor, it’s also something that affects your site’s usability after it ranks (when people actually visit). If you get more traffic (from other SEO efforts) and your conversion rate is low, that traffic is not going to be as useful as when you have a higher conversion rate (assuming UX/speed affects your conversion rate, which it usually does). CWV is a great way of recognizing and quantifying common user annoyances.”

3. A Mobile-Friendly Website: Performing on All Screens

Mobile traffic accounts for about half of the web traffic worldwide.

And because mobile traffic is growing and a mobile-friendly site is good for users, mobile friendliness is a ranking signal, and Google officially switched to mobile-first indexing.

There’s a lot that goes into having a solid mobile-friendly site. And there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. To ensure your site is mobile-friendly, follow these basic steps:

• Learn about mobile-friendly best practices. Review Google’s mobile-friendly guide and other resources to understand best practices. Consider consulting with an experienced SEO professional for guidance on making good choices.
• Test your site. Use tools like Google’s Lighthouse to uncover data on mobile-friendliness.
• Implement changes. Address the main issues uncovered in the testing phase to improve mobile friendliness. In terms of website configurations, responsive web design is often the easiest to create and maintain.

To learn more, including common mistakes to avoid, check out my article on mobile-friendly sites.

4. HTTPS: Enhanced Security for Peace of Mind

A vast majority of websites already deploy HTTPS (which stands for “hypertext transfer protocol secure”) – but if you’re in the 15% or so that currently doesn’t, it’s a non-negotiable.

HTTPS is a protocol that encrypts data sent between a user’s browser and your website, making it much harder for hackers to intercept sensitive information like passwords or credit card numbers.

But HTTPS isn’t just important for security; it’s also a ranking factor in Google’s algorithm. Back in 2014, Google announced that HTTPS would be used as a ranking signal, giving a small boost to sites that use the protocol.

Since then, Google has become more serious about HTTPS; in July 2018, Chrome began marking all HTTP sites as “not secure.” You can imagine what a warning sign like that could do for your traffic let alone conversions.

HTTPS is constantly evolving, and every new version can offer benefits like better security and performance. So if you want to improve your site’s security and traffic, and possibly give your rankings a boost, implementing HTTPS is a no-brainer.

If you need to migrate to HTTPS, follow the steps outlined by Google here, and check out my article on HTTPS for pitfalls to avoid.

5. Optimizing a Website for Crawlers: Enhanced Search Engine Experiences

Besides getting your content out there for the world to see, you’ve got room to tweak things a bit and make it easier for search engines to find and understand what you’re putting online.

This involves optimizing how search engine bots interact with your site, ensuring they can crawl and index your pages quickly and efficiently.

Some techniques to improve crawl efficiency include:

• Having an XML sitemap. Search engines use an XML sitemap to discover and index your pages. Sitemaps help improve the crawlability and visibility of your site. Read more: What is an XML Sitemap and How Do I Make One?
• Using the robots.txt file to control bot access. Robots.txt is a text file placed at the root of a website that tells search engine bots which pages not to crawl. This is known as the robots exclusion protocol. However, it does not guarantee that excluded URLs won’t be indexed, as search engine spiders can still find them through links from other pages or past indexing. Read more: What Is robots.txt?
• Implementing canonical tags to avoid duplicate content issues. The canonical link element helps solve duplicate content issues because it signals to search engines like Google which webpage is the original or best pick out of a group of pages that are duplicate or near duplicate. For more, see: How to Use the Canonical Link Element for Duplicate Content.
• Minimizing redirect chains and loops. Redirect chains occur when a URL redirects to another URL, which then redirects to a third URL and so on. This can slow down page loading times and confuse search engine bots. Redirect loops, on the other hand, happen when two or more URLs redirect to each other in a loop, causing crawlers to get stuck and preventing pages from being indexed properly.
• Monitoring and resolving crawl errors. Crawl errors occur when search engine bots encounter issues while crawling and indexing a website. Common crawl errors include 404 not found errors, 5xx server errors and DNS lookup failures. Monitor crawl errors regularly and resolve them quickly to ensure that search engines can index your site, and you can provide a better user experience for visitors.

Final Thoughts

Technical SEO is a critical aspect of any website’s optimization strategy. By incorporating technical SEO best practices into your overall SEO strategy, you can build a strong foundation for your website’s success in the search results and with users.

Our SEO experts can help you make sense of technical SEO. They can make recommendations on how to implement the right technical SEO best practices that will get the most results from your SEO campaign. Schedule a free 1:1 consultation with us today.

FAQ: How can I effectively implement technical SEO to enhance my website’s performance and rankings?

Technical SEO involves optimizing your website so that it loads fast, renders properly, provides a good user experience and more. It is a driving force in how well your website performs for users and search engines.

Here’s how you can effectively implement it to improve your website and search engine ranking.

Website architecture: An important part of technical SEO is making your website’s architecture organized and clean. When your website is well-structured, it makes it easier for search engines to crawl and helps users easily navigate it. Establish a clear hierarchy with clean URLs, and it’s a good idea to include an XML sitemap. The goal is to make your webpages easily reachable — the less clicks it takes for users to get to your webpages, the better.

Page speed: Page speed is a huge part of technical SEO, and it has become a major ranking factor for search engines. Fast-loading pages provide a better user experience and tend to rank higher on SERPs. You can improve your page speed loading times by optimizing images, browser caching and minimizing your JavaScript and CSS code. It’s a good idea to use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to get insights and recommendations to improve your site speed.

Mobile optimization: Another key aspect of technical SEO is mobile optimization. Google has moved to mobile-first indexing, which means that search engines prioritize the mobile versions of webpages for ranking. Optimizing your site to be mobile friendly improves user experience, page speed, and gives users the same experience across a wide variety of devices. You can test how well your site performs on mobile devices through the Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test.

HTTPS: HTTPS protocol makes your website secure and also helps to establish trust. Visitors want to know that any personal or payment information they provide will be kept safe. Sites using HTTPS are preferred over non-secure sites by search engines because they offer encrypted communication that protects data integrity and user information. Implementing SSL/TLS certificates is a straightforward process that adds another layer of security.

Duplicate content: Duplicate content is a very common problem that can harm website ranking. Canonical tags should be used to tell search engines what version of a webpage you prefer. And to consolidate duplicate pages, use 301 redirects. Google Search Console can help you identify and fix any duplicate content issues.

Structured data: Structured data is a very useful tool in technical SEO. It enhances the appearance of a search engine listing and adds rich information to help searchers make a decision, which can improve click-through rates (CTR). Implement schema markup to improve your site’s SERP appearance and give search engines more context/details about your webpage content.

These technical SEO tips will help improve your website performance and your search engine ranking.

Step-by-Step Procedure

1. Audit your site: Use SEO tools like Screaming Frog or SEOToolSet® to run a thorough site audit and find any technical issues.
2. Fix crawl errors: Use Google Search Console to find and fix any crawl errors, including 404 pages and server errors.
3. Optimize site architecture: Your website must have a logical structure with a clear hierarchy. Create an XML sitemap and submit it to search engines.
4. Improve page speed: Evaluate your site’s speed with tools like Google PageSpeed Insights. Optimize images by compressing image files and using the correct file format. Implement browser caching and reduce CSS/JavaScript code.
5. Mobile optimization: Give your website a responsive design so that it displays and performs as intended across mobile devices. Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to check performance.
6. Implement HTTPS: Make your site secure with SSL/TLS certificates. Convert to HTTPS.
7. Manage duplicate content: Avoid duplicate content problems by using canonical tags and 301 redirects. The content on each of your pages must be unique and valuable to increase your chances of ranking.
8. Schema markup: Mark up your pages with schema markup to boost your SERP appearance. You can verify your markup with Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool.
9. Improve URL structure: Use clean, descriptive URLs that incorporate your target keywords. Do not use long, complex URLs.
10. Internal linking: Use logical internal links to improve user experience and crawlability.
11. Fix broken links: Regularly audit your site to find broken links and promptly fix them.
12. Optimize Robots.txt: Check your robots.txt file to make sure it guides search engine crawlers appropriately and does not inadvertently block important pages.
13. Regularly update content: Search engines reward sites with fresh, helpful content. Review your content regularly and update it as needed to keep its value and relevance.
14. Monitor backlinks: Use SEO tools like Ahrefs or SEOToolset to track your backlink profile and remove any links that may be harmful to your site.
15. Implement AMP: You may want to consider implementing Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) to further improve page loading speed.
16. Reduce server response time: Ensure a fast server response time by either optimizing your server settings or switching to a faster hosting provider.
17. Breadcrumb navigation: Use breadcrumb navigation to improve user experience and help search engine better understand your website structure.
18. Set up canonical URLs: Define canonical URLs to prevent duplicate content issues.
19. Use lazy loading: If you have any content like images or videos that are not essential, implement lazy loading to defer their loading. This will improve your page speed.
20. Implement pagination: If your website includes large lists of content, use proper pagination to improve efficiency.
21. Track technical SEO metrics: Regularly monitor your technical SEO performance with tools like Google Analytics and Search Console.
22. Update plugins and themes: Using WordPress or some other kind of CMS? Keep your plugins and themes updated to avoid security vulnerabilities.
23. Regularly audit your technical SEO: Perform SEO audits regularly to ensure all elements are optimized and identify issues that must be addressed.

The post 5 Technical SEO Best Practices You Can’t Ignore appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

I’ve observed a massive evolution in my 28 years of experience in SEO. I’ve seen how it can positively impact not just websites, but the businesses and people who run them.

In this article, I’ll go over an introduction to SEO, including basic concepts:

• What is SEO?
• What’s involved in SEO?
• What you need to know about SEO
• FAQ: What are the best SEO practices for a successful digital marketing strategy?

What Is SEO?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a strategic marketing discipline that increases a website’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs).

SEO is crucial because higher visibility in search results typically leads to more traffic and potential customers for a business.

What’s Involved in SEO?

SEO encompasses a wide range of practices and techniques. These include:

Research and Strategy

Effective SEO requires comprehensive market research, detailed competitor analyses and alignment with clearly defined business objectives (whether it’s increasing traffic, driving sales or boosting brand visibility).

A solid SEO program begins with a deep dive into a website and the business. Understanding the unique needs and challenges of your target audience is critical.

Then, an in-depth technical SEO audit is the first best step, as it gives essential insights into what’s hindering search engine success.

Keyword research uncovers the queries your audience is using when searching for what you have to offer.

And competitive analysis comes next to get a clearer picture of what’s needed to succeed in the search results based on the competition.

Technical SEO

This aspect of SEO focuses on creating a website that is easy for users and search engines to navigate.

It includes ensuring fast load times, mobile responsiveness, secure connections, content architecture, internal linking and more.

Anything that has to do with the performance of a website falls under technical SEO.

Content Development

Content is the backbone of any good SEO strategy.

Creating high-quality content means ensuring the content is engaging, relevant and aligned with what users and search engines are looking for.

Content for SEO must be helpful, backed by first-hand expertise and answer the intent of the query completely.

On-Page SEO

On-page SEO involves optimizing webpages and their content for search performance and ease of reading, crafting compelling meta tags, optimizing images for search, using heading tags properly and much more.

Off-Site SEO

This aspect of SEO involves building credibility and authority in other ways.

Key activities include earning and managing high-quality backlinks and using brand marketing techniques, public relations and social media as complementary tools for SEO success.

What You Need to Know About SEO

There are three things you need to know about SEO to create your SEO “mindset:”

1. SEO isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution.
2. SEO is not static; it’s an ongoing process.
3. SEO requires a constant finger on the pulse.

SEO Isn’t a “One Size Fits All”

Different types of SEO, like local SEO and national or global SEO, cater to varying business needs.

Local SEO focuses on optimizing your online presence to attract local customers, while broader SEO strategies aim for a wider, perhaps international reach.

Crafting a successful SEO strategy requires customization based on comprehensive market research, an in-depth understanding of the competitive landscape and a keen grasp of the target audience’s needs and pain points.

A tailored approach is key, whether it’s to enhance visibility in local search results or to achieve a dominant position on a national level.

SEO Is Not Static; It’s an Ongoing Process

Search engines continually update their algorithms to provide more accurate and relevant results to users.

New competitors enter the market. The economy fluctuates, and current events impact society.

Therefore, SEO strategies must evolve and adapt to these changes to maintain or improve a website’s search ranking.

SEO is not and will never be a one-and-done thing.

SEO Requires a Constant Finger on the Pulse

To stay ahead in SEO, continuous learning and innovation are crucial. The field is dynamic; staying still means falling behind.

This involves keeping abreast of industry trends, algorithm changes and emerging technologies.

Regular research, strategic planning, consistent content creation, testing, performance monitoring and program evaluations are essential.

Final Thoughts

Creating an effective SEO program is like planning a grand adventure. It starts with setting clear, measurable roadmaps and being flexible to adapt to changes.

SEO is also a field that demands commitment. Embracing SEO’s dynamic nature is the key to sustained success. It’s a continuous process rather than a one-time task.

While it can be challenging, the payoff is big: traffic, customers, revenue and a positive impact on your livelihood and the livelihoods of those you employ.

We’ve helped thousands of companies succeed at SEO for over 28 years. If you’re in need of more website traffic, leads, sales, customers and revenue, reach out to us today for a free consultation.

FAQ: What are the best SEO practices for a successful digital marketing strategy?

SEO drives online growth, visibility, leads and ultimately, sales and revenue. In fact, SEO is so important to the success of a business that it must be prioritized in every digital marketing strategy.

Let’s dive into the key SEO practices you should focus on to achieve better results from your digital marketing strategy.

Keyword Research: Keyword research helps you figure out what keywords and phrases your target audience is searching for. The keywords you select inform your content and optimization strategy to be relevant for your users. You can conduct keyword research by using SEO tools like SEMRush, Ahrefs, or our own SEOToolSet®.

On-Page Optimization: Optimize your website’s meta tags, headings, URLs and content with the identified keywords to improve its visibility in search engine rankings.

High-Quality Content: High-quality content does several things — it provides value and relevance to your audience, answers user queries, addresses their needs and establishes your brand as an expert in your niche. The kinds of content you can develop include articles, blog posts, infographics, social media posts, white papers, videos and more. Just make sure it is informative and helpful, and incorporate your keywords naturally into it.

Link Building: A solid backlink profile helps establish yourself as a trusted authority. You can build high-quality backlinks by reaching out to industry influencers or websites for guest blogging opportunities. When your content is great, other people will naturally start to link to it.

Mobile Optimization: Google has moved to mobile-first indexing, meaning that the search engine will prioritize mobile versions of webpages for ranking. Optimizing your site to be mobile friendly improves user experience, ensures your pages load faster and provides a consistent experience across platforms. This is an important area to improve your ranking.

User Experience: Successful websites are optimized for both users AND search engines. SEO is what brings people to your site, but user experience is what helps people stay on your site longer, resulting in better ROI. Make your site easy to navigate with a clear hierarchy. Users should be able to easily find what they’re looking for, and the content you provide should be tailored to their needs.

Social Media: Social media is a powerful marketing channel to get the word out about your content. It can attract a wider audience to your content and website, improve your online presence and positively influence search ranking through social signals (likes, shares, comments, etc.). Incorporate a solid social media strategy into your SEO program to improve your online visibility even more.

Local SEO: If you’re a local business, optimizing your site for local SEO is critical to stay competitive online in your area. Create and optimize your Google Business Profile and ensure your listed business information is accurate. Include customer reviews and consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone number) details across all platforms.

Remember that SEO is never done — regularly monitor and track efforts, update your strategy as needed to adapt to changes and stay current with the latest SEO trends through SEO training.

Step-by-Step Procedure

1. Do thorough keyword research to find the keywords your target audience is searching for.
2. Incorporate keywords into your website’s meta tags, headings, URLs and content.
3. Create high-quality content that is helpful, engaging and relevant.
4. Build a strong backlink profile by earning links from reputable websites.
5. Optimize your website to be mobile-friendly and provide a seamless user experience across devices.
6. Ensure website navigation has a clear hierarchy and is easy to navigate.
7. Connect with your audience through social media platforms to amplify your content. Engage with them by commenting and responding.
8. If you have a physical location, ensure your website is optimized for local searches.
9. Use SEO analytics tools to gain insights into the behavior and preferences of your users.
10. Research your competition and look for opportunities to outperform them.
11. Look for ways to collaborate with influencers in your industry to expand your reach and credibility.
12. Regularly audit your SEO program to identify and fix any issues that might hinder your progress. Update your strategy as needed to adapt to algorithm changes.
13. Stay current on the latest SEO trends and best practices. One of the best ways to do this is through SEO training.

The post What Is SEO? appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

The bucket list is all the things you want to do before you die. I argue that every website needs a bucket list, too. This list prioritizes all the things that need to happen before the site becomes so irrelevant it “dies” in the search results.

There is a lot I could say here. To keep it short and sweet, though, I have categorized the SEO “bucket list” into three main buckets:

1. Get a strong foundation 
2. Create an SEO-friendly architecture
3. Write quality content 
4. FAQ: How can SEO Siloing improve my website’s subject and website authority?

1. Get a Strong Foundation

Search engines want to rank websites that provide a good user experience. That means: Get the technical stuff right.

This includes:

• An SEO-friendly content management system
• SEO-friendly web design (HTML Living Standard code and W3C compliance, for instance)
• A mobile-friendly website
• A fast website
• A modern design
• User-friendly webpages
• Technical SEO best practices

This list may seem small, but getting everything right in each of those bullet points is a huge undertaking. When you do get it right, though, your site can better compete in the search results.

2. Create an SEO-Friendly Architecture

How you organize the content on a website matters to both search engines and website visitors. This includes the navigation and internal linking of webpages.

SEO-friendly site architecture is created through SEO siloing. Siloing creates content categories/directories on a site based on the keywords you’ve selected through keyword research.

This SEO strategy helps to build subject and website authority and clearly tells the search engines what the content is about. In other words: It can make your website more relevant for a search.

For more on this, read:

• SEO Siloing: What, Why, How
• 5 Times When SEO Siloing Can Make or Break Your Rankings

3. Write Quality Content

If you haven’t seen Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines, then it’s time to do some reading on how important it is that you get the “quality content” piece right.

Of course, those guidelines are not the end all be all, but they are useful to understand how Google thinks about quality. Ultimately, you have to decide what is quality content for your website, and Google agrees.

Giving your website visitors useful information written by experts on the matter is the goal. How you go about doing that is up to you.

In general, though, you will need things like:

• A webpage with a clear purpose that delivers on that purpose.
• Content that is created with a good amount of expertise on the subject matter.
• Information that is well-written and useful.
• An optimized webpage in keeping with SEO best practices.

Content is one of the most important ranking factors, and quality content can often trump other ranking signals all else equal.

For more on this, read:

• What Makes a Webpage Quality?
• The Complete Guide to the Basics of Google’s E-E-A-T
• What Are Meta Tags?
• The Always-Up-to-Date SEO Checklist

This SEO bucket list helps ensure that your website is relevant for search queries and useful to your target audience. Don’t wait until your website dies before you prioritize doing all the important things that will keep your business alive online.

FAQ: How can SEO siloing improve my website’s subject and website authority?

SEO siloing is a powerful website structuring technique that significantly influences how search engines perceive and rank your website. By organizing your content into distinct categories or “silos” based on relevant keywords, you can create a logical and hierarchical structure that enhances your website’s subject relevance and authority.

When implementing SEO siloing, start by conducting comprehensive keyword research to identify primary topics related to your website’s niche. Group these keywords into relevant clusters, each representing a specific content category. For example, if you own a gardening website, you might have silos for “Vegetable Gardening,” “Flower Gardening,” and “Gardening Tools.”

Within each silo, create in-depth and valuable content that covers various aspects of the topic. Ensure that the content is interlinked through contextual internal links, guiding visitors and search engine crawlers to related articles within the same silo. This internal linking strategy reinforces the subject relevance and authority of each silo.

It is vital to keep each silo focused on its primary topic without mixing unrelated content. By doing so, you enhance the clarity and expertise of your website, establishing yourself as a trustworthy resource within your niche. Search engines recognize the organization and topical focus which can lead to improved rankings for your targeted keywords.

Another benefit of siloing is that it allows you to demonstrate expertise on specific subjects. When your content consistently delves deep into a particular topic, it signals to search engines that your website is a valuable and authoritative source on that subject. This can lead to higher rankings for related search queries and increased organic traffic.

Siloing enhances user experience by making it easier for visitors to navigate your website. The logical organization and clear interlinking guide users to relevant information, reducing bounce rates and increasing engagement. This positive user experience signals search engines that your website provides valuable content, contributing to improved rankings.

To make the most of siloing, regularly update and expand the content within each silo. As your website’s authority on specific subjects grows, you can explore broader or more specialized topics, further solidifying your website’s position as a go-to resource in your industry.

SEO Bucket List: How To Effectively SEO Silo Your Site

1. Perform comprehensive keyword research to identify primary topics and keywords related to your website’s niche.
2. Group similar keywords into content categories or silos, each representing a specific subject area.
3. Create high-quality and valuable content within each silo, covering various aspects of the topic.
4. Ensure contextual internal linking between articles within the same silo to reinforce subject relevance and authority.
5. Keep each silo focused on its primary topic and avoid mixing unrelated content to maintain clarity and expertise.
6. Regularly update and expand the content within each silo to demonstrate ongoing expertise and relevance.
7. Implement SEO best practices, including proper URL structures, meta tags and optimized headings within each silo.
8. Monitor and analyze the performance of each silo using web analytics tools to identify areas for improvement.
9. Engage in off-page SEO activities such as building quality backlinks and guest posting to further boost website authority.
10. Conduct competitor analysis to identify gaps and opportunities within your niche and adjust your siloing strategy accordingly.
11. Optimize website speed and performance to enhance user experience and reduce bounce rates.
12. Use responsive web design to ensure an optimal user experience across devices.
13. Audit your website regularly for broken links, duplicate content and any technical issues that could impede its SEO performance.
14. Monitor search engine algorithm updates and adjust your siloing strategy accordingly to stay competitive.
15. Pay attention to topics relevant to your audience and modify your content strategy using data-driven insights.
16. Utilize user-generated content like testimonials and reviews to establish trust among your target market.
17. Foster a community around your website by engaging with your audience through comments and discussions.
18. Stay up-to-date with the latest SEO trends and industry developments to maintain a competitive edge in your niche.

The post The SEO Bucket List: 3 Things To Do Before Your Site Dies appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

In this article, I’ll share what I believe to be some of the most important on-page factors that you need to check off your SEO checklist for every single webpage on your site:

1. 1. 1. Experience, expertise, authority, and trust
      2. Quality content
      3. Content freshness
      4. Readability
      5. Page experience
      6. Meta tags
      7. Heading tags
      8. Keyword optimization
      9. Image optimization
      10. Video
      11. Alt Text
      12. Schema
      13. Other structured data
      14. Links
      15. SEO insights

   FAQ: If you could only choose 15 on-page SEO tactics, which would you choose?

1. Experience, Expertise, Authority and Trust

If we’re paying attention to Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines (SQRG), we know that experience, expertise, authority and trust are essential to a quality website.

Here are some things to consider:

Trustworthiness: Google wants to be sure that the webpage is accurate, honest, safe and reliable. That may look different for different types of websites (ecommerce versus informational) and different types of topics (like “your money or your life” topics).

Experience: This has to do with the first-hand experience about the page topic from the content creator. Google recognizes that experience is valuable to nearly any type of topic (think social media posts, forums discussions) but especially important for things like product reviews.

Expertise: Do you have the right level of skill or knowledge to speak intelligently on a topic? This is yet another key element in how Google assesses the quality of a webpage.

Authoritativeness: The authority factor takes into account the brand or the person’s reputation as a go-to resource. Often, this isn’t as serious as it sounds; in the SQRG, Google gives a couple examples such as “a local business profile page on social media may be the authoritative and trusted source for what is on sale now,” or “the official government page for getting a passport.”

This all boils down to the following questions:

Was your content created with the necessary experience and expertise needed for the topic? Is your website and brand an authority on the topic? Can people trust you?

For more, read:

• The Complete Guide to the Basics of E-E-A-T

2. Quality Content

Writing is an art and science, so there isn’t a definitive guide to what quality content is. But here are a few tips to consider. Do you:

1. Answer the query better than your competition?
2. Consider data from the search results like “People Also Ask” and “Searches related to” in addition to addressing common FAQs?
3. Include original research, data, opinions and images?
4. Fact-check and cite quality, relevant resources?
5. Write with a high degree of accuracy when discussing “Your Money or Your Life” topics?

3. Content Freshness

Not all topics need to have fresh content to be quality (think a page on the American Civil War), but some queries deserve freshness and others need to be maintained to be relevant.

And remember that Google says in its SQRG that unmaintained sites are low quality:

… unmaintained/abandoned “old” websites or unmaintained and inaccurate/misleading content is a reason for a low Page Quality rating.

Everyone wants to create new content, but I recommend spending 50% of the time refreshing old content, too.

For more, read:

• Creating New Content vs. Optimizing Old Webpages: Which Is Better for SEO? [Search Engine Land]
• Steps for Updating Your Website Content

4. Readability

Would the target audience easily understand and relate to your content?

The grade level with which you write your content can make a difference. For example, a scientific topic may be written at a higher grade level than a topic about a hobby.

If you examine the search results, you will begin to see that certain queries create results that are written at a similar grade level.

If you have the right SEO tools (like our WordPress SEO plugin), you can easily see what the average grade level is among the top-ranked websites for a query.

For more, read:

• Want Custom SEO Advice per Keyword? There’s a Plugin for That!

5. Page Experience

Google’s “core web vitals” are elements of a webpage that provide a good user experience.

Core web vitals measure things like how fast the page renders, how responsive it is and ensures things like buttons and links don’t unexpectedly shift, causing someone to click on something they didn’t intend to.

Here’s an overview of the three core web vitals:

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) measures how fast the largest image or text block renders on a webpage. Google recommends that it happens within the first 2.5 seconds of when the page first starts loading.

First Input Delay (FID) measures interactivity – how quickly a webpage loads and executes so that the user can interact with the page. Google wants pages to have an FID of 100 milliseconds or less.

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) measures visual stability on a webpage, and pages need to maintain a CLS of 0.1. or less.

Each of these core web vitals has specific thresholds that your webpages must meet at least 75% of the time.

Core web vitals are signals in Google’s page experience algorithm update. To stay competitive, website owners need to work on these technical factors.

For more, see:

• Core Web Vitals for SEO: An Overview
• 3 Expert Tips to Improve Core Web Vitals [On-demand Webinar]

6. Meta Tags

Meta tags may seem like a small thing in the grand scheme of SEO, but they serve an important role.

When done right, meta tags help:

• Search engines determine the topic of your webpage
• Drive clicks and organic search traffic
• Avoid duplicate content issues

So what do you need to consider when it comes to these tags?

• Always include an original title tag and meta description tag for every page.
• Make sure the tags are properly configured in the head section of the page (it’s less likely this would be an issue when using a CMS).
• Write compelling copy that informs a search engine user and entices them to click from the search results to your webpage.
• Include the most important keyword(s) in the right order – but do not keyword stuff or make it sound unnatural.
• Consider the length, taking into account best practices and also research that suggests title tags between 40 to 60 characters have the highest CTR.
• Know that Google can and will rewrite titles and meta descriptions to make them more relevant, according to Google. This can be frustrating but remember that is only a rendering issue (what the user sees). The actual tag remains the same. Here is a possible solution to that if you want more control.

For more, read:

• What Are Meta Tags? Why Are They Important to SEO? How Do You Create Them?

7. Heading Tags

The heading tags make up the “table of contents” for a webpage.

Heading tags help search engines and website visitors easily distinguish between a main section and the subsections on the page, and how those sections relate to one another.

Heading tags are categorized as H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, etc. H1 represents the title of the topic, and subsequent headings represent subsections.

Here are some tips:

• The sequence of heading tags (H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, H6) should be used in a hierarchy (think of it as an outline of a research paper).
• An H1 heading tag always correlates to the main topic of the page.
• I don’t recommend having more than one H1 tag on a page in most cases (definitely not on informational webpages, but maybe OK on main navigational pages in some cases).
• Subsequent sections after the H1 default to an H2 tag.
• You can have more than one H2 tag.
• If an H2 section has subsections underneath that, they would start with H3 tag, and so on.
• You can create subsections all the way to H6.

For more, see:

• What Are Heading Tags and Why Are They Important to SEO?

8. Keyword Optimization

Keyword optimization is one of those touchy subjects in SEO.

People either believe you should intentionally optimize a webpage or do nothing and let the content speak for itself.

I am a firm believer that the content is naturally optimized when you write it well, but that you can always tweak it with keywords to make improvements to relevancy.

Consider this scenario: A person searches on Google for a topic that you have written about on your website. Next, Google determines which webpages to serve in the search results.

Let’s also say that all else was equal between your webpage and your next competitor (meaning you both did all the right things well from an SEO perspective, and you both had quality content).

But you made sure the exact queries/keywords that the person used to search showed up on your page – and all the relevant related words as well – and your competition didn’t.

Do you think you might have a better chance of ranking on top than the competition?

I think so.

For more, read:

• How a WordPress SEO Plugin Can Help You Optimize Your Content with Keywords

9. Image Optimization

Google wants to rank pages that have not only great text, but also great images. This represents more opportunities for more traffic.

Through the images on your webpage, people can find your site in a Google Images search, the traditional Google Search results, or Google Discover.

I recommend you read “How to Improve Google Image Search Ranking” for more details on 17 ways you can use images in your SEO, including:

1. Track your image-based traffic
2. Create high-quality, original content
3. Use relevant images
4. Have a proper file format
5. Optimize your images
6. Aways create alt text
7. Make use of the image title
8. Create an image caption
9. Use a descriptive file name
10. Implement structured data
11. Consider image placement on the page
12. Analyze the content around the image
13. Be careful with embedded text
14. Create page metadata
15. Ensure fast load time
16. Make sure images are accessible
17. Create an image sitemap

10. Video

A large percentage of Google searches produce YouTube videos in the search results.

Searches for information that fall under the categories of how-to, tutorials, and reviews often trigger YouTube video results in Google.

In addition, YouTube is a search engine itself, and represents another way for people to find your content and your business.

So including video in your SEO program in most cases means you will create and optimize videos in YouTube.

Here’s a few things to know:

• If you are targeting queries/keywords that often produce video results, make sure you have video for those queries as well.
• Employ various YouTube SEO tactics to rank well in YouTube and the Google Search results.

But you should also put video content on key webpages of your own site, and this can be an embedded video that you created somewhere else, for example, from YouTube.

This is because videos on your webpages can help:

• Further explain a concept to people who would rather watch than read
• Keep people engaged on a page longer
• Influence buying decisions

For more, read:

• A CMO’s Guide to YouTube SEO in Less Than 5 Minutes
• How to Optimize Images, Videos and Other Media Content for SEO

11. Alt Text

Alt text is a best practice, but it’s often overlooked and misunderstood. Google highlights the importance of alt text for the vision impaired, but it goes further than that.

The American with Disabilities Act says your site should be compliant for the visually impaired. And if you don’t have an accessible site, you could find yourself in court.

In 2021, a judge found Domino’s Pizza violated ADA, Title III, by having a website that was not usable by the plaintiff – a blind man.

Other organizations are pushing for web accessibility, too. The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) is working to develop guidelines and resources to help make the Web accessible to people with disabilities.

Does alt text influence rankings? This has been a debatable point. But regardless of what side you are on, being a good web citizen means making your site accessible – at least doing the bare minimum.

12. Schema

Structured data markup using Schema.org guidelines clarifies to the search engine what a page is about, and also enhances listings in the search results, which can lead to more clicks.

This can be a bit technical, so many website publishers opt out. However, for the less techy bunch, Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper can be of assistance.

For more, read:

• How to Use Schema Markup to Improve Your Website Visibility in Search

13. Other Structured Data

This category of on-page optimization is all about how you format the information on a page.

Content formatting can enhance the user experience and help search engines better understand the content. This includes things like:

• Table of contents at the top (especially with anchor links)
• TL;DR (“too long, didn’t read”) summary near the top of your article
• Headings that contain a key term or question, followed by the answer in body text
• Breadcrumb navigation
• HTML tables
• Bulleted lists
• Ordered lists

14. Links

When it comes to page links, you want to consider the following:

Make sure they are fully qualified. An absolute link is a link that contains the whole URL of the file you are linking to. A relative link is only part of a full URL. There are arguments for and against both. While absolute links may take more work upfront, they are easier to maintain in the long run.

Make sure they are optimized. Make sure URLs on the page are descriptive and contain keywords.

Make sure you are virtual siloing. SEO siloing is a way to organize your website content through links based on the way people search for your site’s topics and can make your content more relevant for a search. For more, check out: SEO Siloing: What, Why, How.

Make sure you mind your outbound links. Your outbound links impact user experience and SEO. On the user experience side, the sites you link to can provide value to your website visitors. On the SEO front, if you link to quality sites in your field, then search engines may deem your site higher quality by association (and the opposite can be true when linking to low-quality or spammy sites). For more, see: What Are Outbound Links? Why Are They Important? And How Do They Work?

15. SEO Insights

OK, so this one is technically not an on-page “factor.”

But without the right SEO tools to help you uncover how to optimize your pages to meet or exceed what the competition is doing, you’re largely shooting in the dark.

One tool I must recommend is our Single Page Analyzer from the SEOToolSet®. This tool allows you to analyze a webpage (your competitor’s or your own) to uncover key SEO data.

People use the tool to:

• Better the meta tags on a page
• Adjust the reading level of the content
• Improve keyword density
• Find optimization opportunities
• Further research the competition

For more, read:

• Free SEO Tool Alert! On-Page Content Analyzer

So there you have it: My list of 15 of the most impactful SEO factors when optimizing webpages. Do these right and you have a better chance of ranking on page one of the search results out of millions of results.

Our SEO experts can help you implement these on-page SEO factors to improve your website performance and win more traffic. Reach out to us for a free consultation.

FAQ: If you could only choose 15 on-page SEO tactics, which would you choose?

1. Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trust (E-E-A-T): Align your content with your expertise and showcase authority in your industry. Building trust with users and search engines is paramount for ranking success.
2. Quality Content: Create valuable, engaging, and original content that addresses users’ needs and queries better than your competitors. Incorporate relevant data and research to support your claims.
3. Content Freshness: While not all topics require constant updates, regularly refreshing your content shows search engines that your website is up-to-date and relevant.
4. Readability: Write in a clear and concise manner, catering to your target audience’s reading level. A user-friendly, easily digestible format enhances the user experience.
5. Page Experience: Prioritize user experience by focusing on Core Web Vitals, ensuring your pages load fast, and avoiding unexpected layout shifts.
6. Meta Tags: Craft compelling and accurate meta titles and descriptions that entice users to click through to your website from search results.
7. Heading Tags: Organize your content using proper heading tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.) to create a logical structure that search engines can understand.
8. Keyword Optimization: Integrate relevant keywords naturally throughout your content to improve relevancy for search queries.
9. Image Optimization: Optimize images with descriptive alt text and proper file names to improve accessibility and enhance the user experience.
10. Video: Utilize video content to engage users, provide valuable information, and potentially rank in both traditional search results and YouTube searches.
11. Schema: Implement structured data markup using Schema.org guidelines to provide context to search engines and enhance your listings in search results.
12. Other Structured Data: Use content formatting techniques like tables, TL;DR summaries, and breadcrumb navigation to improve user experience and content understanding.
13. Links: Optimize internal and external links for relevancy and descriptive anchor text. Virtual siloing can improve content organization and boost relevance for specific searches.
14. Alt Text: Provide informative alt text for images, not only for visually impaired users but also to enhance search engine understanding of your content.
15. SEO Insights: Use reliable SEO tools to gain valuable insights into your webpage’s performance and identify optimization opportunities for better search rankings.

Mastering these 15 on-page SEO tactics will empower you to create a strong foundation for your website’s search engine visibility. By combining technical expertise with user-focused content, you can significantly improve your chances of ranking higher in search results and attracting valuable organic traffic.

The post 15 of the Most Important On-Page SEO Tactics appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

But how often do you need to update a website? First, let’s get clear on the types of website updates – each of which has different guidelines when it comes to how often to do them:

1. Website updates that impact the design and functionality of the site
2. Website updates that impact the content on the site
3. FAQ: How can I ensure my website stays optimized for search engines and offers an excellent user experience through regular updates?

Let’s look closer at those two types of website updates in more detail.

Design and Functionality Updates

If you want to win the SEO game, you need to make sure your website is easily crawlable and creates a good user experience.

This is accomplished by the design and the performance of the website.

For example, is there code bloat that stops the search engines from crawling efficiently? Does the site run fast or slow? Are there annoying pop-ups? Is it easy to navigate? Are people getting error messages?

Technical SEO is the practice of optimizing a website so it performs for both search engines and the people who visit it.

And when it comes to how often you should make updates here, the answer is: always.

At no point should you ever stop monitoring and fixing issues that hinder site performance? Any good SEO program will ensure technical SEO is just as important as on-page SEO.

Related: Technical SEO vs. On-Page SEO: The Differences

The other thing to consider is how often to update the look and feel of a website – its design. Generally, you want to review your design every three to five years.

That is because things change in the world of design. There may be new trends in conversion optimization, new layouts (like mobile vs. desktop), and new HTML standards for developing websites. It’s important to make sure that the aesthetic is modern and the UX is user-friendly.

Related: See our SEO Guide for more on mobile and UX optimization

Content Updates

Relevant content is one of the most important factors when it comes to how search engines decide which webpage should rank for a query.

So you want to make sure you are updating the content on your website appropriately. But how often is that?

Two things influence how often you should update the content on your website:

1. If you have YMYL topics on your website. Google describes “Your money or your life” (YMYL) topics in its Search Quality Rater Guidelines as “types of pages or topics that could potentially impact a person’s future happiness, health, financial stability, or safety.” In this case, you want to make sure that the information is well maintained on a regular basis to stay competitive in the search results. That is because Google states there is a high standard for accuracy among YMYL content.
2. If you have content that would fall under the “query deserves freshness” category. When a search requires the most up-to-date information on that topic, only the web pages that have up-to-date content should be able to rank. Think: The value of a stock, the current score in a sporting event, or some social or political current event. You can get a better idea of how “query deserves freshness” applies in this Google blog article.

Related: What Are Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) Webpages?

Remember: According to Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines, website maintenance is a quality indicator. But, maintenance is relative.

Freshness is generally less of a concern for Page Quality rating. “Stale” pages can have high Page Quality ratings. For example, some highly reputable news websites maintain “archival” content. However, unmaintained/abandoned “old” websites or unmaintained and inaccurate/misleading content is a reason for a low Page Quality rating.

-Search Quality Rater Guidelines

In other words, if you have a “stale” page that has not been updated for years on the American Civil War, it can still be considered a relevant and quality page because information about historical events rarely changes.

However, information on search engine optimization changes often, so you’d want to review the accuracy of it monthly, quarterly, and annually.

Related: See my article “Creating new content vs. optimizing old webpages: Which is better for SEO?” on Search Engine Land.

Set a Schedule for Website Updates

Set a schedule for how often you will update your website based on the best practices outlined in this article. Even though it can take time and resources, the payoff is worth it. Your website and brand remain relevant and often, you can see a boost in search visibility after.

Curious about how you can update your website with the latest SEO techniques and best practices to maximize its visibility and drive organic traffic? Join SEOTraining.com to gain access to exclusive training opportunities and improve your sales online.

FAQ: How can I ensure my website stays optimized for search engines and offers an excellent user experience through regular updates?

As part of your website optimization strategy, regular website updates are crucial in order to meet both SEO and user experience objectives. They help keep you ahead of the competition and engage your target audience — this whitepaper offers tips and insights that can assist with this goal.

To start, prioritize technical SEO. Regularly audit your website to identify and fix any crawlability or performance issues that might hinder search engines from indexing your content efficiently. Ensuring a fast-loading website, eliminating broken links, and improving mobile responsiveness are crucial factors that contribute to a positive user experience and higher search engine rankings.

Next, focus on content updates. Valuable and relevant content is the backbone of any successful website. To maintain SEO performance, review your content periodically, and refresh it when necessary. Updating evergreen content and staying abreast of the latest developments in your niche can demonstrate your expertise to both users and search engines.

Consider adopting a proactive approach to update your website’s design and functionality. Staying current with design trends and implementing user-friendly navigation enhances UX and keeps visitors coming back. Regularly reviewing your website’s aesthetics and usability every three to five years is a good practice to maintain a modern and engaging user interface.

Set a schedule for website updates that aligns with your business goals and content strategy. Whether it’s weekly, monthly, or quarterly, consistency is key to establishing trust with both users and search engines. Keep a record of your updates to monitor their impact on SEO performance and user engagement.

Lastly, leverage user feedback and analytics. User behavior and preferences evolve over time, so continuously gather feedback from your audience and analyze website analytics.

Step-by-Step Procedure:

1. Perform a technical SEO Audit to identify any potential problems which could impede the crawlability and performance of your site.
2. Optimize your website’s loading speed by compressing images, leveraging browser caching, and utilizing a content delivery network (CDN).
3. Ensure all internal and external links are functional and lead to relevant pages.
4. Create an XML sitemap and submit it to search engines to aid in indexing your content.
5. Regularly review and update your website’s meta tags, titles, and descriptions to align with your target keywords.
6. Develop a content strategy that includes updating existing content and creating fresh, valuable material on a consistent basis.
7. Monitor industry trends and incorporate relevant topics into your content to showcase your expertise.
8. Use data from user behavior and search analytics to identify high-performing content and areas for improvement.
9. Conduct keyword research to identify new opportunities and refine your content strategy.
10. Implement user-friendly navigation and intuitive site architecture to enhance the user experience.
11. Adopt a responsive design that ensures your website displays optimally on various devices.
12. Regularly review the design of your website and update it to align with current trends and user preferences.
13. Test your website’s functionality and user interface regularly to identify and address any issues promptly.
14. Establish a content update schedule that aligns with your business goals and audience needs.
15. Monitor the impact of your updates on SEO performance and user engagement through analytics.
16. Encourage user feedback through surveys, reviews, and contact forms to understand their needs better.
17. Utilize A/B testing to compare the effectiveness of different design and content elements.
18. Stay informed about algorithm updates and search engine best practices to adapt your strategy accordingly.
19. Engage with your audience through social media and other platforms to build trust and credibility.
20. Continuously analyze the results of your website updates and make data-driven decisions to achieve sustained SEO success and exceptional user experiences.

The post How Often Should You Update a Website for SEO? appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

In this article, I’ll outline five technical SEO best practices you should follow (and how to get started with them) to ensure you website is primed for both users and search engines:

• Hosting
• Server errors
• Sitemaps
• Website speed
• Mobile friendliness
• FAQ: How can I optimize my website’s technical aspects for improved search engine rankings and user experience? 

1. Hosting

Sometimes website owners choose a shared hosting plan versus a dedicated hosting plan to save on the costs of hosting a website. When this happens, you share an IP address with other websites. This can present SEO problems as both a speed issue (more sites per shared server means each may be slower) and a neighborhood issue.

Say you share your hosting with other websites that happen to be spammy websites. If a site is caught performing spam tactics, the entire IP block and all the sites that share that IP address could be put on a block list, also called an IP blacklist or IP blocklist. That means you’re in a bad neighborhood, so to speak. This significantly impacts email, but it can cause conversion issues if your emails are blocked … and poor conversion is a marketing fail.

While this “bad neighborhood” problem used to be much more prominent, and Google has also indicated that it would be hard to be SEO tainted by surrounding bad neighbors, I still would not take any chances.

IMO we do not KNOW that there is no TRUST impact on a bad neighborhood. And Google can say what they like — for a little effort, why take the chance? Still, blocked emails kill sales.

Probably a more obvious issue is the performance of your website when you share hosting. Being on a shared hosting plan may mean that your servers are not as efficient. You’re often fighting other sites for resources that could impact load time and, indirectly, your organic search rankings, to say nothing of conversion.

There are a couple of things you can do here to look into these potential problems:

Bad Neighborhood Issues

• Get your IP address at WhatIsMyIPAddress.com.
• Go to Blacklist Check at the same website to evaluate if your IP is in a bad neighborhood.
• If it’s associated with other bad websites, call the hosting provider and ask for a new, clean IP.
• Run a check on the new IP if you get it.
• If your hosting provider won’t comply, consider dedicated hosting or finding another hosting provider altogether.

Performance Issues

• Go to WebPageTest.org.
• Run a test for your home page URL.
• Look at the first byte time — this is an indication of the responsiveness of a server.
• Run the same test on your competition (you could use our SEOToolSet for competitive research or check out our article on how to do competitor research for SEO).
• If your first byte time is not as good as your competition, you might want to switch hosting providers or get a dedicated IP

Here are my thoughts on whether you should use a shared hosting plan:

2. Server Errors

Your web server runs your website. When a webpage is requested, the server receives that request and responds with the content of that page. When you have server issues, it can impact the user experience and search engine rankings.

There is much to consider when evaluating a server, from its type to how well it performs. In this section, though, we’ll focus on server errors.

Server status codes are a response by the server in response to a client request. You can find a full list of server status codes at W3.org here. Sometimes servers produce errors when a visitor or search engine spider tries to access something on your website.

Because certain status codes could impact your rankings, so you want to check server response codes and know what is happening with your website.

In particular, here are the following status codes that you want to pay special attention to and fix right away:

• 302: A 302 is a temporary redirect and is generally not SEO-friendly as it does not always transfer a page’s historical link signals to the redirected page. Yes, Google has indicated that it is often treated like a 301 permanent redirect, but I would rather use a 301 and not be concerned with the crawl budget.
• 400: There is a syntax error in the request. It is denied.
• 401: The header in your request did not contain the correct authorization codes. You don’t get to see what you requested.
• 403: You are forbidden to see the document you requested. It can also mean that the server doesn’t have the ability to show you what you want to see or your IP is blocked by the server.
• 404: Document not found – your requested URL does not exist.
• 410: The page used to be there, but now it’s gone. This essentially tells the search engine to purge the indexed entry now instead of waiting for a few 404 errors to cause deletion.
• 500: The server experienced an internal error that prevents it from serving the request.

Common server errors include a 302 and 404. Here’s a video I did on 302s that you can check out:

What To Do: Server Errors

• Use our SEOToolSet’s free Check Server Page tool.
• Identify any potential errors and fix them.
• Here is some information on addressing common 302 and 404 errors: How to Do a 301 Redirect and Design a 404 Error Page to Save a Sale.

3. Sitemaps

Both HTML sitemaps and XML sitemaps are important technical SEO steps. These sitemaps help their users (website visitors and search engines) navigate the site and discover content.

An HTML sitemap is a webpage on your website containing links to key webpages (first and second-level navigation pages) so both humans and search spiders can navigate your site. Google has said that the HTML site map is useful to search engines as it flags what are the most important pages for users (and Google), so the HTML sitemap should focus on top important pages.

Originally, HTML sitemaps were made just for website visitors to navigate a website. However, because search engine spiders use links to navigate from one page to another, HTML sitemaps can be a useful shortcut for search engines to find and index content on a website.

So to recap: Having an HTML sitemap in the footer your website allows:

• A search engine spider can enter your site at any webpage and then quickly discover other webpages via the sitemap.
• A website visitor to view the HTML sitemap and use it to navigate your site.

An XML sitemap is a file that you put on your website to tell search engines about the webpages, images and videos that are on the site. An XML sitemap works like a content map, helping ensure search engines crawl and index more thoroughly.

A technical SEO best practice is to create an XML sitemap and ensure it’s always up to date so that search engines crawl and index all the important content on your site.

Google says that sites under 500 pages might not need an XML sitemap, so some people may think it’s not that important.

And while the search engines should be able to find all the content on your site by following links, most websites don’t have proper linking architecture. So it can be hard for search engines to discover the content.

What To Do: HTML Sitemaps

There are several important considerations when designing your HTML sitemap:

• All of the site’s important pages should be listed in the HTML sitemap(s) in a cohesive manner.
• Use keyword-rich anchor text when linking to the important internal pages, making sure it describes the page it is linking to (“the promise of the link”).
• Make sure the sitemap has a clear hierarchy for top landing pages, categories, subcategories and subpages.
• Pages, including the HTML sitemap(s), should include no more than 100 links.
• If there are over 100 links, the sitemap needs to be paginated or nested.
• The sitemap page design should match the overall site design.
• The sitemap should have fully qualified (or absolute) URLs, meaning http:// or https:// is used in the URL, and the entire URL is in the sitemap.

At one point, Google recommended having less than 100 links on each page (and then later dropped that recommendation). The numbers are arbitrary, just don’t be spammy.

I discuss how many links are too many for a page in this video:

What To Do: XML Sitemaps

Here’s what to keep in mind when you create your XML sitemap:

• Every site should have at least one XML sitemap.
• You can create it manually or use an XML sitemap generator.
• Create separate, special sitemaps for things like news, videos, and images.
• Large websites may need to break their list of URLs into many XML sitemaps.
• Once you have created the sitemap file, upload it to the root of your website (https://www.your-domain-name.com/sitemap.xml), then tell search engines to know about it using your robots.txt file.
• Some people prefer to submit the sitemaps manually due to timing; once you submit it, you can start the indexing process versus just waiting for the search engine to give you a turn.
  Submitting the sitemap can also help you identify errors through the Sitemaps report in Google Search Console.

For more, read: What Is an XML SItemap and How Do I Make One?

4. Website Speed

Search engines have a limited crawl budget for all sites. If a site is slow to load, the search engines cannot crawl all webpages within the crawl budget. This results in a site having fewer indexed pages, which decreases opportunities for rankings.

Page speed is a factor in search engine ranking algorithms. Fast performance is also a critical component of the user experience. If your website takes too long to load, users will abandon it in favor of a different website that does not take as long.

And with Google’s focus on Core Web Vitals and the emphasis on speed there, this is a critical factor for overall ranking. (For expert tips to improve your CWV, watch our on-demand webinar.)

Research has shown that faster performance results in improved KPIs for websites. For example, Pinterest reported that reducing wait time by 40% resulted in a 15% increase in SEO traffic and a 15% increase in conversion rate to sign up.

In 2021, Google rolled out the page experience algorithm update, which combines things like site speed and responsiveness when evaluating a website. So focusing on speed is more important than ever.

A site’s responsiveness and speed have a direct effect on a user’s willingness to use and return to a site.

What To Do: Website Speed

When you are assessing your page load speed, you want to be as fast or faster than your competition. In other words, your website does not need to be the fastest website in the world. The goal is to be least imperfect compared to your competitors.

That said, improving website speed can be time-consuming and expensive. When using tools to evaluate your webpage speed, make sure you have a professional review of the scores. You’ll want to make sure you focus on improving the right metrics. Improving certain metrics past a certain threshold may be difficult, and not worth the resources.

Here are some things that can slow webpage load time:

• Excessive HTML comments
• Excessive white space
• Failing to externalize Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
• Failing to externalize JavaScript
• Failing to specify image dimensions
• Landing page redirects
• No browser caching
• No compression
• No image optimization
• Render-blocking JavaScript
• Slow server response time

I talk more about some of these in one of our “Ask Us Anything” videos:

There are several tests you can run your webpages through. Here are a few:

• GTmetrix
• Google’s PageSpeed Insights
• WebPageTest.org

For more on website speed and page experience, check out the following resources:

• How Fast Should My Webpage Be and Why Should I Care?
• Documentation on PageSpeed Insights
• Google’s recommendations for fast load times
• Google’s Page Experience Update: A Complete Guide
• 3 Expert Tips to Improve Core Web Vitals [On-demand webinar]

5. Mobile Friendliness

The majority of web traffic today (about 55% as of Q1 2021) comes from a mobile device. A mobile-friendly website creates a good experience for people who visit a website from a smartphone or tablet. While that percentage certainly varies by industry and search mission, the fact is that being mobile-friendly is vital. Google indexes your content using a mobile version of the spider, so your designs must be friendly for mobile users.

A mobile-friendly website matters to your search engine rankings because Google wants websites on page one that offer great content through a good experience to mobile users.

In 2021, Google rolled out mobile-first indexing. Google’s announcement explains what that means:

Mobile-first indexing means Google predominantly uses the mobile version of the content for indexing and ranking. Historically, the index primarily used the desktop version of a page’s content when evaluating the relevance of a page to a user’s query. Since the majority of users now access Google Search with a mobile device, Googlebot primarily crawls and indexes pages with the smartphone agent going forward.

This was yet another signal from Google that mobile-friendliness is critical.

What To Do: Mobile Friendliness

In an earlier article I wrote on mobile friendliness, I outlined four steps you can take to get your website in tip-top shape for mobile users:

1. Test your current site: Check out Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test and the mobile usability report in Google Search Console.

2. Learn about mobile-friendly best practices. Check out Google’s guide here and our guide on mobile SEO and UX optimization, too.

3. Implement changes. Here, you may have to decide about things like website configuration (responsive is the current recommendation), website content, and website speed (covered in the last section of this article).

4. Watch for common mistakes. One major pitfall to avoid is sacrificing needed content for the sake of speed. I’ve written about that as well in: Why an Insanely Fast Site Is Your New Priority.

Technical SEO Is Never Done

This is just a sampling of the technical SEO best practices you can and should implement on your website. No aspect of SEO is “set it and forget it,” so there will always be more testing to do and more improvements to make.

The steps outlined in this article give a good starting point for a sound technical SEO foundation.

Our SEO experts can provide technical SEO services to ensure your website runs smoothly and outperforms your competition. Contact us today and let us know how we can help.

FAQ: How can I optimize my website’s technical aspects for improved search engine rankings and user experience?

Every website owner aspires to secure a prominent spot on search engine results pages while delivering a seamless experience to users. Achieving this delicate balance requires strategically optimizing your website’s technical aspects. Each element is crucial in determining your online success, from server performance to mobile responsiveness.

To begin, consider the hosting of your website. Shared hosting may seem cost-effective but can impact website speed and performance due to shared resources. Investing in dedicated hosting ensures a smoother user experience and minimizes downtime, contributing positively to both search rankings and user satisfaction.

Server errors can hinder the crawlability of your site, affecting its visibility on search engines. Regularly monitor server response codes to identify and rectify issues promptly. A well-maintained server enhances search engine indexing and ensures a seamless browsing experience for visitors.

Sitemaps, both HTML and XML, are powerful tools for aiding navigation and indexing. HTML sitemaps assist users in finding essential pages, while XML sitemaps guide search engine bots to relevant content. Regularly updating and optimizing these sitemaps provides clear paths for users and search engines to explore your website.

Website speed remains a critical factor for both search engines and users. Slow-loading pages can lead to high bounce rates and lower search rankings. Minimize image sizes, leverage browser caching, and optimize code to ensure swift page loading. Google’s Core Web Vitals emphasize the importance of fast-loading pages, making this optimization even more imperative.

Lastly, prioritize mobile friendliness. A responsive design is paramount with a significant portion of users accessing websites via mobile devices. Google’s mobile-first indexing underscores the importance of mobile compatibility for search rankings. Ensure your website displays seamlessly across various devices to provide a positive user experience.

Optimizing your website’s technical aspects is a multifaceted endeavor that directly impacts search engine rankings and user satisfaction. By focusing on hosting, server errors, sitemaps, website speed, and mobile friendliness, you can create a strong foundation for online success. Incorporating these insights and taking proactive steps will elevate your website’s performance and solidify your online presence.

Step-by-Step Procedure: How to Optimize Your Website’s Technical Aspects for Improved Search Engine Rankings and User Experience

1. Evaluate Your Hosting Options: Assess the pros and cons of shared vs. dedicated hosting, considering factors like speed and resource sharing.
2. Monitor Server Response Codes: Regularly check for server errors and address them promptly to ensure optimal crawlability.
3. Optimize Sitemaps: Update and maintain both HTML and XML sitemaps, ensuring they reflect your site’s structure and content.
4. Prioritize Website Speed: Optimize images, enable browser caching, and streamline code to enhance page loading times.
5. Embrace Mobile Friendliness: Adopt a responsive design that provides a seamless experience across various devices.
6. Implement Core Web Vitals: Familiarize yourself with Google’s Core Web Vitals and optimize your site accordingly.
7. Leverage PageSpeed Insights: Use Google’s tool to identify areas for improvement in your website’s speed performance.
8. Consider Content Delivery Networks (CDNs): Explore CDNs to distribute content and reduce server load for faster page loading.
9. Use GZIP Compression: Enable GZIP compression to reduce the size of files transmitted between your server and visitors’ browsers.
10. Optimize CSS and JavaScript: Minify CSS and JavaScript files to reduce their size and improve website loading speed.
11. Enable Browser Caching: Configure your server to enable browser caching, reducing load times for returning visitors.
12. Optimize Images: Compress images without compromising quality to decrease page load times.
13. Implement Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP): Consider using AMP to create lightweight and fast-loading versions of your webpages.
14. Monitor Mobile Usability: Regularly check Google Search Console for mobile usability issues and address them promptly.
15. Test Across Devices: Test your website’s appearance and functionality across various devices and screen sizes.
16. Ensure Clear Navigation: Simplify your website’s navigation to enhance user experience and search engine crawlability.
17. Regularly Audit and Update: Regularly audits your website’s technical aspects and make necessary updates.
18. Stay Updated on Industry Trends: Keep abreast of changes in search engine algorithms and best practices for technical SEO.
19. Utilize Professional Tools: Leverage SEO tools to analyze your website’s technical performance and identify areas for improvement.
20. Continuously Monitor and Refine: Technical optimization is ongoing; regularly monitor, analyze, and refine your strategies to maintain optimal performance.

By following these comprehensive steps, you can optimize your website’s technical aspects effectively, improving search engine rankings and a superior user experience.

The post 5 Unusual Technical SEO Best Practices appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

That is because for SEO to succeed, everyone in the company has to be on board, from the C-suite down to IT. That includes all decision-makers and everyone who touches a company website.

In this article, I’ll briefly explain the roles that can benefit from a search engine optimization training course and why.

• Business owners / C-suite
• Marketing managers
• Content strategists / Creators
• IT professionals
• Newbie SEOs
• Experienced SEOs
• FAQ: How can different roles within a company benefit from search engine optimization training? 

Business Owners / C-Suite

You are a decision-maker if you own a small business or are an executive at a mid to large-sized company. That means you set the priorities and, often, allocate the budgets.

If you do not understand the fundamentals of search engine optimization and how it can drive revenue for your business, you likely won’t:

• Prioritize SEO
• Make good decisions about SEO

Sure, you could rely on your team to make a case for SEO to get buy-in, or you could take an SEO training course at your own pace to really boost your digital marketing know-how. (Tip: We have a Free Executive Guide to SEO one-hour video course that gives you the basics. And for you SEOs out there, get your boss to take this … it will make your life much easier.)

Given that many C-suite positions do not require technical digital skills, a search engine optimization training course complements continuing education company goals.

Marketing Managers

Managers hire the right people with the right skills and often stay out of the details. But first, marketing managers need to understand what are the right SEO skills they need to hire.

And once they hire the right person or people, they need to be able to have intelligent conversations about the company’s SEO strategy and where it’s headed.

These conversations need to be tailored to both the teams working on SEO and the C-suite. Research shows that when CMOs are able to master marketing strategy, their budgets are more likely to be protected during a downturn, and they enjoy a 48% longer tenure.

Marketing managers and all of their staff and contributors should consider our SEOtraining.com membership site. No matter how senior you are, you will find that a quality program like ours that standardizes the training across your teams can change your life even more than you would expect.

Content Strategists / Creators

Getting the content piece right in your company’s SEO strategy is one of the most important steps you can take.

Eighty-six percent of B2B companies are already using their website and blog to distribute content as part of their content marketing plan, according to data from the Content Marketing Institute’s 11th Annual B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends report.

Yet the majority of respondents reported their content marketing strategy was only “moderately successful.” What’s more, 60% said the creation of new web content contributed to their success. But only 37% reported search engine rankings as a marker of their results.

So content strategists and creators need to be able to understand:

• The importance of content in SEO
• What types of content matter in SEO
• How to create quality content for SEO
• How to optimize content for SEO
• How to track content performance in SEO

Creating quality content that can compete in the search results is the No. 1 reason that content strategists and creators take a search engine optimization training course.

Read more: How B2Bs Can Make Their Content Marketing Perform Better

IT Professionals

This one might be the most surprising to you. But we find that the IT department often slows down SEO initiatives in many companies.

It is absolutely essential that IT folks understand why they are receiving requests from the SEO team to make updates to the company website.

IT people usually have a packed schedule filled with fixing bugs, putting out fires, and addressing people’s requests. If they do not understand the importance of making changes for the SEO team, those SEO requests can get put on the “lower priority” list.

I wrote about this issue in an earlier article here and highlighted data showing technical fixes can take up to a month or more to implement on a website.

So if you can swing it, ensure your IT people take a search engine optimization training course too.

Newbie SEOs

Professionals who want to add SEO to their skill set, new SEO hires at a company, or switching careers can benefit from a search optimization training course. In fact, SEO training is one of the best ways to get up to speed quickly on the fundamentals of SEO.

Experienced SEOs

Why would an experienced SEO take an SEO training course? As a refresher, of course. While the fundamentals rarely change, how we go about doing them does. Plus, search engines and the industry as a whole are fast-moving, so there is always something new to learn.

In fact, we’ve had SEOs with many years of experience under their belt come back to Bruce Clay Inc. for training once per year as part of their continuing education. It’s also why we continually update and expand our course materials.

Final Thoughts

Anyone who touches your company website should understand SEO. This is especially important when you have multiple departments and teams all making decisions about the website.

That means every decision should consider the question: How will this impact our SEO? The downside of not doing so is that one ill-fated change can ruin a company’s rankings and traffic, which can directly impact revenue.

See a demo and find out more about what’s included in our SEO training and membership program.

FAQ: How can different roles within a company benefit from search engine optimization training?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has emerged as a pivotal strategy for businesses aiming to enhance their online presence and drive organic traffic. While SEO is often associated with marketing teams, its impact extends far beyond this domain. From business owners to IT professionals, diverse roles within a company can reap significant benefits from comprehensive SEO training.

Business owners and C-suite executives play a critical role in setting the direction and priorities of a company. A solid understanding of SEO fundamentals empowers them to make informed decisions directly impacting revenue. Prioritizing SEO becomes seamless when decision-makers comprehend its potential to drive organic traffic and elevate the company’s digital footprint.

For marketing managers, SEO training translates into strategic prowess. Armed with the right SEO skills, they can intelligently guide their teams and engage in meaningful conversations with the C-suite. Research reveals that mastering marketing strategy correlates with budget protection during economic downturns, emphasizing the need for well-rounded SEO education.

Content strategists and creators, on the other hand, hold the key to crafting compelling narratives that align with SEO goals. Understanding the significance of content in SEO, and mastering optimization techniques, empowers them to create quality content that resonates with both search engines and target audiences. Tracking content performance and optimizing accordingly ensures the content’s visibility and impact.

Surprisingly, IT professionals also stand to gain from SEO training. Often tasked with website maintenance, IT departments can inadvertently hinder SEO initiatives due to a lack of understanding. Bridging this gap through SEO training ensures that technical fixes are prioritized, minimizing delays and streamlining website optimization efforts.

Finally, both newbies and experienced SEOs find value in continuous learning. SEO is an ever-evolving field, and staying updated is crucial for success. Newcomers benefit from rapid skill acquisition, while experienced practitioners gain refreshed perspectives and insights, ensuring their strategies remain effective in the dynamic digital landscape.

Search Engine Optimization Training transcends conventional boundaries, enriching various roles within a company. Whether through informed decision-making, strategic marketing, optimized content creation, or streamlined IT collaboration, the ripple effects of SEO training contribute to holistic business growth and success.

Step-by-Step Procedure: Unlocking Business Success with SEO Training

1. Identify Role-Specific Benefits: Determine how SEO training aligns with the responsibilities of different roles within your company.
2. Evaluate Training Providers: Research and select reputable SEO training providers that offer comprehensive courses tailored to diverse professional needs.
3. Engage Decision-Makers: Convince business owners and C-suite executives of the strategic advantages of SEO training for informed decision-making.
4. Empower Marketing Managers: Encourage marketing managers to acquire SEO skills to guide teams effectively and secure a budget allocation.
5. Optimize Content Creation: Train content strategists and creators on content optimization techniques, including keyword integration and performance tracking.
6. Bridge IT Knowledge Gap: Enlighten IT professionals on the importance of SEO-related technical fixes and streamlining website optimization processes.
7. Encourage Ongoing Learning: Motivate both novice and experienced SEOs to embrace continuous learning to stay current with industry trends.
8. Set Training Objectives: Define specific goals for each role undergoing SEO training, ensuring relevance and practical application.
9. Customize Training Modules: Tailor training modules to address the unique requirements of each role, enhancing engagement and learning outcomes.
10. Implement Knowledge Transfer: Facilitate sharing of newly acquired SEO knowledge across departments, fostering a collaborative approach.
11. Measure Training Impact: Establish metrics to gauge the impact of SEO training on decision-making, content performance, and website optimization.
12. Track Organic Traffic Growth: Monitor website traffic trends post-training to quantify the positive impact of SEO education.
13. Promote Cross-Role Learning: Organize knowledge-sharing sessions where different roles exchange insights gained from SEO training.
14. Foster Continuous Improvement: Encourage iterative optimization of SEO strategies based on insights gained from training.
15. Align SEO with Business Goals: Showcase how SEO training aligns with overall business objectives, enhancing its perceived value.
16. Celebrate Success Stories: Highlight instances where SEO training led to tangible positive outcomes, inspiring others to embrace the training.
17. Invest in Advanced Training: For experienced SEOs, consider advanced training programs that delve deeper into specialized areas of SEO.
18. Stay Updated: Regularly review and update SEO training materials to reflect the latest industry trends and algorithm updates.
19. Facilitate Peer Learning: Foster a culture of continuous learning by encouraging peer-to-peer knowledge sharing and collaboration.
20. Leverage SEO Insights: Integrate insights gained from SEO training into broader business strategies, maximizing its transformative potential.

The post Who Should Take a Search Engine Optimization Training Course? appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

The events of the last couple of years have catapulted more businesses into digital marketing. With people shifting to being at home more, businesses view digital marketing as essential because how we work, live, and connect with one another has changed.

In fact, Gartner’s Annual CMO Spend Survey 2020-2021 showed that digital channels now make up the bulk of marketing spend. And the survey found SEO to be among the top five priorities for CMOs. That makes sense — CMOs understand how critical search engines are for business.

• How to use SEO to advance your business
• FAQ: How can I leverage effective digital marketing strategies to enhance my business’s competitive advantage?

People conduct almost 4 billion searches on Google per day. And that’s just Google. Now, a question: Out of those 4 billion searches, what’s the likelihood people are searching for what you have to offer? The answer, of course, is that certainly some are, often thousands of them. Some much more.

Except there’s a problem. Every single search produces millions of pages of search results. And you need to be on Page 1 for it even to matter.

Search engines are complicated, and the game of search is complex. Making it even more complex is the fact that Google makes frequent changes to search — as many as 4,500 changes to search in the last year alone.

So how do you compete? The answer is search engine optimization.

SEO effectively gets your business in front of your audience in one of the most important — if not the most important — arenas today: organic search results even when the odds are stacked against you. Even when you have to contend with millions of pages of competitors.

Is it easy? No. Nothing worth getting is ever easy. But it is attainable with the right strategies and a resolve to stick with it.

How to Use SEO to Advance Your Business

Now that you have some context on why SEO is critical right now, I’ll discuss how to use SEO as a weapon to compete in the battlefield of search results.

First, a good SEO expert stays current on the latest search changes. They research, and they test. They work to understand how to apply changes to a website for maximum results. This is a full-time job that any business owner or busy marketing team does not have time for on their own.

Next, SEO helps you uncover your competitors in the search results and understand their ranking strategies. Your competitors may not be who you think they are. By analyzing them, you will find out how to meet or exceed their SEO strategies, giving you a chance to compete for their position on Page 1. (Related: Who’s My SEO Competition?)

Finally, with the right professional or SEO agency, you’ll get the big picture view of how your website may be harming your chances of success in the search results. And they should direct you in strategies you should be following.

They should look at everything from the technical and on-page optimization of your website to your link profile to the content you create. They can look at the search results holistically and come up with a whole-SERP strategy for not just ranking in the “10 blue links” but everywhere else on the search results page.

As I’ve written about here, if you hesitate for a moment on your SEO strategy this year, your competition will pull ahead. And, by delaying the process, it may be very hard to catch up with them.

This year, think about how to use SEO to support your business goals. And if those goals include driving traffic to your website, converting leads, and generating revenue, then SEO can help.

Do you want a free consultation and quote for SEO services customized to meet your needs? Contact us here.

FAQ: How can I leverage effective digital marketing strategies to enhance my business’s competitive advantage?

Digital marketing is essential to business success in today’s ever-evolving environment, providing businesses with unparalleled opportunities to reach audiences, generate leads, and foster growth. Strategically deploying these digital marketing strategies is imperative to enhance your business’s competitive advantage.

Understanding the Essence of Digital Marketing Strategies

Digital marketing strategies combine various techniques, such as search engine optimization, content marketing, social networking engagement, and email campaigns, to increase brand exposure and make it more appealing to target audiences. They can help position your company as the go-to solution in its industry by aligning itself with business goals.

The Power of Personalization and Engagement

Personalization is at the core of digital marketing success. Tailoring messages and content specifically to each of your target audiences will increase engagement while driving conversions. Analyze data insights to understand consumer behavior, allowing you to deliver relevant content that resonates deeply.

Optimizing for Search Engines and User Experience

SEO plays a pivotal role in driving organic traffic to your website. By optimizing your online presence for search engines, you ensure that your brand is discoverable by those seeking the solutions you offer. Focusing on user experience is also of vital importance. A website featuring an appealing, mobile-friendly design with engaging, relevant content will keep users engaged and encourage further exploration.

Measuring and Adapting for Continuous Improvement

In the realm of digital marketing, measurement is crucial. Utilize analytics tools to track the performance of your strategies, from website traffic to conversion rates. These insights help you identify what’s working and where adjustments are needed. Flexibility and adaptability are key; digital marketing strategies should evolve based on the changing preferences of your audience and shifts in the industry.

Harnessing the Competitive Edge

To harness the competitive advantage through effective digital marketing strategies, remember that consistency and persistence are key. The digital landscape is dynamic, and success often requires time. Stay committed to refining your strategies, embracing innovation, and staying updated with the latest trends in the digital marketing arena.

Step-by-Step Procedure: Enhancing Business Competitiveness with Digital Marketing Strategies

1. Define Business Objectives: Clearly outline your business goals to align digital marketing efforts effectively.
2. Audience Segmentation: Identify and understand your target audience’s demographics, preferences, and pain points.
3. Keyword Research: Conduct thorough keyword research to optimize your content for search engines.
4. Develop engaging content that meets your target audience’s needs.
5. Engage with your target audience on social media for an active, interactive presence.
6. Email Marketing: Build and maintain an email list for targeted communication and nurturing leads.
7. Website Optimization: Ensure your website is user-friendly, fast, and mobile-responsive.
8. SEO Implementation: Optimize your website’s structure, meta tags, and content for search engines.
9. Personalization Strategy: Tailor your content to provide personalized experiences for your audience.
10. Analytics Integration: Set up analytics tools to monitor the performance of your strategies.
11. Data Analysis: Regularly analyze data to understand which strategies yield the best results.
12. Adaptation and Experimentation: Consider tweaking strategies based on data insights and industry changes.
13. Continuous Learning: Stay updated with the latest trends and advancements in digital marketing.
14. Competitor Analysis: Study your competitors’ strategies to identify opportunities for differentiation.
15. Partner Up With Experts. Make use of digital marketers as partners and tap their knowledge.
16. Experiment with new content forms such as infographics, videos, and webinars.
17. Social Proof: Build trust among your audience by using customer testimonials and reviews as social proof.
18. Conversion Optimization: Continuously optimize your conversion funnel for higher conversions.
19. Mobile Strategy: Ensure your strategies cater to mobile users for a seamless experience.
20. Long-Term Vision: Maintain a long-term perspective, adapting your strategies for sustained growth.

The post How to Use SEO to Your Advantage in 2022 appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

Today, I’ll give a brief overview of internal links — what they are, why they are important to SEO, and how to do it.

• What are internal website links? 
• Why are internal links important to SEO?
• How do you do internal linking for SEO?
• Internal linking from day one and beyond
• FAQ: How can I optimize my website’s SEO using internal linking?

What Are Internal Website Links?

An internal website link is a link that points from one webpage on a website to another webpage on the same website.

Some examples of common internal links include:

• The main navigation at the top of a website
• The footer links at the bottom of a website
• Any contextual links embedded within the content on a webpage
• Those related-content links that suggest other content on the website
• Those links within a webpage (aka “fragment” or anchor links)

Why Are Internal Links Important to SEO?

There are several reasons why internal links are important to a website’s SEO strategy. Here are a handful:

• Satisfy users: Internal links help your website visitors discover content while they are on your website. Besides providing related information that may be helpful, keeping visitors on your website longer is one goal of SEO.
• Reinforce relevance: Internal links help search engines figure out what your website is about. The way you organize your website’s content through its internal links can make you more relevant to show up on page one of the search results.
• Help search engines: Internal links help search engines discover more of your content. As search engine spiders crawl your website, links help them get from page to page to discover and index more pages.
• Distribute PageRank: Internal links can boost the authority of any given webpage. When one high-authority webpage links to another page on the same site, it passes some of its authority to the page it is linking to.
• Strengthen ranking pages: Internal links, especially breadcrumbs, pass PageRank upwards and define a clear expertise hierarchy (silo identification).

How Do You Do Internal Linking for SEO?

One of the best strategies for internal links is SEO siloing. SEO siloing is a concept we invented in the year 2000.

The goal of SEO siloing is to organize your website content through internal links so that:

• It is easy for website visitors to find and access your content, and
• It is easy for search engines to crawl and understand what your website is about.

This creates a better user experience. At the same time, siloing makes your website more relevant for certain search queries (aka the target keywords you are after).

SEO siloing involves two main activities:

1. 1. Create an internal site structure through the physical directory. Physical siloing is the practice of organizing webpages by the URL structure, using a hierarchical website directory. For example, one URL directory structure might look like this:
      1. herdingcats.com
         herdingcats.com/how-to-herd-cats
         herdingcats.com/how-to-herd-cats/equipment-needed
         herdingcats.com/how-to-herd-cats/pitfalls-to-avoid
   2. Create an internal link structure through a virtual directory. Virtual siloing is the practice of interlinking your similar-theme pages through contextual links. For example, using anchor text to link from one blog article to another blog article on the same website.

Depending on the website, changing the directory structure to implement physical siloing may not be possible. However, virtual siloing is more important and should be sufficient if you establish clear themes via links.

To learn more about how to do internal linking, see:

• A Jam-Packed Guide on Internal Linking for SEO
• SEO Siloing: How to build a website silo architecture

Internal Linking from Day One and Beyond

Internal linking for SEO takes a lot of thought, planning, and implementation. It’s best to build this strategy into every new website, and then take it into consideration every time you add a new webpage to the site.

Review your content, internal links, and silos on a regular basis. Ensure that the silos are organized well and that you take advantage of any internal link opportunities in your content. And check out our New Link Building Manifesto for more on how to tackle your linking strategy.

How can we help you with your SEO needs? If you’d like a free quote and consultation, contact us today.

FAQ: How can I optimize my website’s SEO using internal linking?

Optimizing your website’s SEO requires a multifaceted approach, and one crucial aspect often overlooked is internal linking. When done strategically, internal linking can significantly impact your website’s performance in search engine results pages. Let’s delve into the world of internal linking and discover how to harness its potential for optimal SEO outcomes.

The Power of Internal Links

Internal links are the navigational pathways that connect different pages within your website. They serve as signposts, guiding visitors through your content while aiding search engines in understanding your site’s structure. These links facilitate a seamless user experience, ensuring that users can easily explore related content that matters to them. From a search engine perspective, well-placed internal links highlight the hierarchy and relevance of your pages, which can boost your chances of ranking higher.

Crafting a Strategic Approach

To maximize the impact of internal linking on your website’s SEO, it’s essential to approach it strategically. Start by identifying cornerstone content—those core pages encompassing your site’s main topics. Embed links to these pages within your other articles or blog posts. Additionally, consider using descriptive anchor texts that provide context about the linked content. This not only helps users but also assists search engines in understanding the linked page’s relevance.

Establishing Content Silos

Content siloing, a powerful internal linking strategy, involves grouping related content under overarching themes or categories. Create a web by connecting articles of similar categories. This will demonstrate your expertise on a subject matter, helping users search for further details while sending an important signal about your knowledge base to search engines. Implementing this strategy fosters a clear content hierarchy that can enhance your website’s visibility for relevant search queries.

Balancing Quantity and Quality

While internal linking is valuable, overdoing it can lead to clarity and better user experience. The key is to balance the quantity and quality of internal links. Prioritize linking to content that genuinely enhances the reader’s understanding or provides additional value. As you create new content, incorporate links to existing relevant pages. This enriches the reader’s experience and ensures valuable pages receive the attention they deserve.

Transition smoothly between these paragraphs to offer a comprehensive view of optimizing website SEO through internal linking. Each section contributes a unique perspective, culminating in a holistic understanding of the topic.

Step-by-Step Procedure for Optimizing Website SEO through Internal Linking:

1. Identify cornerstone content to establish a foundation for internal linking.
2. Prioritize user experience by embedding relevant internal links within your content.
3. Choose anchor texts with clear context and relevance to linked pages.
4. Implement content silos to group related content under overarching themes.
5. Strategically interlink articles within the same silo to create a comprehensive web of knowledge.
6. Focus on content quality, linking to pages that genuinely enhance the reader’s understanding.
7. Avoid overloading content with excessive internal links that could confuse readers.
8. Create a balance between the quantity and quality of internal links for optimal results.
9. Incorporate internal links naturally within the flow of your content.
10. Regularly review and update your internal linking strategy as your content evolves.
11. Use descriptive anchor texts that give users a clear idea of the linked content’s purpose.
12. Monitor user behavior and engagement with internal links to gauge effectiveness.
13. Establish a clear content hierarchy that aids users and search engines.
14. Leverage internal links to guide users to valuable resources on your website.
15. Link to cornerstone content from relevant blog posts or articles.
16. Consider using breadcrumb navigation to enhance user experience further.
17. Analyze the performance of different internal linking approaches and adapt accordingly.
18. Experiment with variations of anchor texts to see which ones yield the best results.
19. Optimize internal links for mobile users to ensure a consistent experience across devices.
20. Stay informed about the latest SEO trends and best practices for internal linking.

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