The era of digitization has taken the world by storm. Every day there is something new to imbibe.
The same thing goes for with the SEO best practices also. Changes in SEO practices have become a dime a dozen to fulfil the needs in the best way.
As time changes, the requirement of SEO is also growing fiercely.
“It has been observed that, in one day, Google receives around 63000 searches per second”.
With these stats, you can conclude how tough the competition is and how important the website SEO has become to secure a good ranking in the SERPs.
Hence, in order to ensure that SEO works amazingly, certain practices are followed.
The practices which were working well in the past will work the same way in the present- Not necessary!
But Yes there are certain seo strategies which have proven their significance till now.
Not only this, but they have also become the MUST-HAVES for the effectiveness of the SEO.
Top SEO best practices checklist
Practice 1# Keyword research is the must
Every digital marketing technique needs a strong foundation to grow well.
And this foundation is provided by the keywords.
Keywords research is not just an important aspect of SEO.
In fact, this is the basic practice without which the existence of digital marketing techniques is incomplete.
Do you know why is it so?
This is because keyword research is the sole practice to bring relevant traffic on the website.
It is a million-dollar question that every marketer asks himself- how to bring the relevant traffic and maximize sales in business?
The one-stop solution to this concern is keyword research to get the right keywords.
Before deciding whether the keyword is right for your business or not?
Focus on some important aspects.
Keywords research done in a right manner helps to find out which are the relevant
keywords and can bring quality traffic to the website.
Ultimately ending up with more sales and ROI for the business.
Related Reading: How To Do Google Keyword Research: Tips and Tools for Maximum Traffic
Practice 2# Emphasize on title tags
Title tags- Yes you read it right…
Another aspect which is of great importance in SEO is title tags.
But many times people are not familiar with it, and this is the component that makes their SEO results weak.
Even the components like title tag hold the power to enhance the effectiveness of SEO.
This is the sole reason why the Title tag is listed in the SEO best practices.
Do you know what are title tags?
If not, then have a look…
It is a clickable headline of the webpage.
that appears against on the SERP
Whenever someone makes a search on Google, there are many results against the searches.
So, the clickable headline of the webpage against the searches that appears in blue colour is the title tag.
A title must not only be attractive enough to catch the attention of the visitors.
Instead, it should also meet the SEO standards to bring up the ranking of the website.
Title tags are the best way to describe in short-what the whole content is all about?
If we talk about On-page SEO optimization, title tags are one of the most important elements.
Better user experience is an advantage that can be expected with the use of title tags.
Visitors can easily recognize in no time what the content of the article is.
Few tips to optimize the title tag
Most importantly, add your focus keyword in the title tag.Also, adding it at the beginning of the title will make it more SEO compatible.
Keep the title tag under 70 characters. Else, in lieu of complete title, it will be displayed with three dots at the end in the search results.
For example:
Keep the title unique and catchy for every web page.
Add power and emotional words in the title tag to grab more attention.
Practice 3# The meta description is of vital importance
There is an important question to think upon.
There are thousands of search results appear against a search query within the fraction of seconds.
This makes really difficult for the visitors to decide which one they should click.
Here comes the role of the meta description.
What is meta description?
The meta description is the information provided under the title.
It gives a brief summary of the whole content.
After reading this, visitors can conclude which result is the most relevant to their search query.
Preventing the users, to click on each result and find out which result contains the relevant information.
Optimization of the meta description is another on-page SEO Best practices.
Some tips to optimize the meta description
Keep the length between 155 to 165 characters so that it is displayed completely in the search results without any truncation.
Add Call-to-action to convince the visitors in no time.
Most importantly, add your focus keyword in the meta description.
Create a unique copy that clearly tells the user what a page is all about.
Related Reading:
How to create the right meta description
How to write meta descriptions for SEO (with good and bad examples)
Practice 4# Do not forget to add Alt tags
If the SEO results are not that much effective as envisaged then probably Alt tags are missing.
Yes, you read it right…
Alt tags do have their own importance in SEO.
What is Alt tag?
An alt tag or alt attribute is an HTML attribute applied to image tags to provide a text alternative for search engines. This is format to write Alt tag: <img src=“image.png” alt=“image description” >
examples:
Ok Example: <img src=”cookies.png” alt=”cookies”>
Good Example: <img src=”cookies.png” alt=”cookies in a plate”>
Better Example: <img src=”cookies.png” alt=”cookies in white plate”>
A major role is played by the alt tags to enhance the effectiveness of the SEO.
Let’s understand this…
Why do people add images?
The obvious answer is to enhance the value of the page, to make it more interactive, to strengthen the message you want to convey etc.
All these qualities are good to enhance the user’s experience.
And user experience somewhere affects the SEO results as well.
But what if the existence of the images is questionable.
Google cannot read the images, so the best way to mark the presence of the images is Alt tags or alternate text.
When Google crawls the web pages, instead of reading images it reads the alt tags.
Considering the images formatted with the alt tags, the ranking of the website and the way it will be indexed is decided.
Alt tags also help those visitors who are viewing the web page on screen readers or the browsers that cannot display images.
Therefore, the addition of alt tags is one of the effective SEO best practices.
Tips to optimize Alt tag
Keep it short so that it is easily indexed by Google.
Do not go for keyword stuffing in the alt tags
Related Reading: What is alt text?
Practice 5# Internal linking is important in blogs
Interlinking in blogs is also a part of SEO best practices followed by the SEO experts.
With interlinking, you can make the visitors familiar with other important sources of information on your website.
Interlinking is all about pointing from one page to another web page of the same website.
Strengthening the keywords for the web page through interlinking is unquestionable.
Links that are linking the web pages internally tells the Search engines that the page is relevant for that specific keywords.
Also, it makes the website authoritative.
On the other hand, links make the visitors explore more on the website and prevents them to push the back button.
High authority websites are more likely to experience a boost in ranking.
Tip for internal linking
Use good anchor text that can persuade the visitors immediately.
For example:- We cater to every need of “digital marketing services” rather than “click here” for our services.
Practice 6# Outbound links are equally important
As the interlinks carry importance, similarly outbound links are equally important.
Search engines should know that your web pages are not designed just with a purpose of rank improvement.
Instead, you are also connected with the digital world and strives for users benefit.
Add outbound links in your web pages pointing toward authoritative websites.
Helping the customers to get useful information from different sources, surely adds value to the users.
Informative and relevant outbound links on your website help search engines to understand your niche and verify its importance.
Another good way to increase the trust of the website.
The more trustworthy a website is, the better it will be from the SEO point of view.
Practice 7# Eliminate broken links to make the SEO more effective
Broken links play a vital role in bringing the website ranking up and down.
Links are termed as the broken links when they do not work or generate an error rather than redirecting to the expected page.
Such links are not at all good for the health of the SEO.
404 is the most common error that usually occurs due to broken links.
Such links instigate the users to press the back button and leave the website.
In the end, leading to the loss of potential customers and conversions
These links really work as a hindrance in the way of SEO or we can say, in the way of improving the website ranking.
This is the reason why it is essential to eliminate the broken links from the website.
Broken links do have a negative effect on SEO.
When Google crawls your website, the links lying on your website are also considered.
Dead links make a bad impact and stop the search engine to crawl the website further.
Practice 8# Make use of keyword phrase in your H1
Headings are the first thing that catches the immediate attention of the visitors.
Optimize your headings using the keywords or key phrase in the H1.
H1 is basically the headline of the blog posts.
So, if the content is produced to target the visitors it must be laser-focused.
Use of targeted keyword in the H1 make the visitors more comfortable to understand the context of the content.
For example:
If the targeted key phrase is “landing page optimization”
Additionally, even search engines also easily identify the content with the use of targeted keywords.
Just stuffing the keywords in the H1 is the practice we are talking about.
It is all about optimizing the heading well.
In this optimization journey, keyword stuffing, relevancy to the content written, compelling and catchy headline are the aspects that need to be taken care of.
Practice 9# Pay attention to the URL structure
URLs also hold great importance in SEO, therefore there are certain SEO best practices for URLs.
Pay attention to the URL structure also
Yes of course…
URL of the web page must also be taken into consideration while making the website SEO friendly.
Keep the Url easy to read, short, understandable and most importantly enriched with the focus keyword.
The Url appears right below the headlines, hence if a visitor is looking the URL he must be able to figure out what a web page is all about.
Complex URLs not only create confusions but also make it taxing for the visitors for the people to understand it.
So, any aspect that is bugging the visitors is not good from the SEO perspective.
This is the reason why the optimization of the URL structure is listed in the SEO best practices.
Tips to optimize URL
Keep the length of the URL under 100 characters.
Do not forget to add targeted key phrase.
Practice 10# Focus on mobile-friendly designs
Mobile-friendliness of any website has become the foremost demand of the digital era.
The number of mobile users is growing like anything.
Avoiding the segment of mobile phone users is not less than a blunder mistake.
The situation will end up losing large chunks of potential customers.
Losing customers means losing many conversion opportunities.
“50% of the total e-commerce revenue is generated from the mobile”
SEO works to collect a large crowd of traffic on the website.
Thus, we cannot ignore the existence of mobile users.
“72% of the customers crave for mobile-friendly websites.”
Always focus on the mobile-friendly designs to serve every kind of users.
Such web designs fit all type of screens, thus enhancing the user experience.
And the best part is, user experience plays a crucial role in SEO.
[click_to_tweet tweet=”If a website is delivering high user experience then automatically it becomes SEO compatible.” quote=”If a website is delivering high user experience then automatically it becomes SEO compatible.” theme=”style5″]
This is one of the best SEO practices opted to make SEO more effective.
Related Reading: How to Make a Website More Engaging and Responsive?
Practice 11# Grab links from high-authority websites
Links that are coming from the low-quality or spammy websites have an adverse effect on SEO.
On the contrary, if the links are of high quality and are coming from the authoritative websites it will help to improve the website ranking.
Ultimately, leading towards fulfilling the sole purpose of the SEO.
A website having a good number of backlinks apparently shows its popularity and authority.
External links from high authority websites are enough to influence the Search engines.
Backlinks are a good source to make the website notable in the search engine results.
So, try to grab as many backlinks as possible.
While determining the ranking of a website there are multiple factors taken into the account.
Backlinks are one of them.
Make sure that the links are qualitative, else bad quality links will be of no use.
So how will you assess the quality of the links? Use the best search engine optimization tools to know which link will add credit to your website and which not.
Quality can be ensured only if the links are relevant.
The websites that giving backlinks must be relevant to the content on your website.
Practice 12# The role of content in SEO is unquestionable.
So to increase the efficacy there are certain SEO best practices for content followed.
Have a look at them:
Optimize your content
Content is a very important element of SEO.
It plays a major role in influencing the website visitors.
What all the visitors are grabbing, how much useful and valuable it is- this all depends on the quality of content.
Hence, optimization of content is must for the SEO compatibility.
Firstly, while optimizing you need to stuff relevant keywords related to the content and business.
Because when people search using the keywords Google collects the information related to those keywords and after that presents the most relevant ones.
[click_to_tweet tweet=”Only quality content reaps the benefits of SEO. ” quote=”Only quality content reaps the benefits of SEO. ” theme=”style5″]
Good content not only adds to the website ranking but also add value to the users.
Provide correct and relevant information that can fulfil the search intent of the users.
Due to a huge role of content in SEO, it’s optimization has become an essential of SEO best practices.
Tips to optimize your content
Maintain relevancy by sticking to the topic.
Produce unique content
Address the pain points of the people and give an effective remedy
Avoid duplicate or copied content
Never let the grammatical and spelling errors ruin your content.
Practice 13# Enhance the readability of content
What is the use of good and researched content if it is not easily readable?
A webpage that is a mess in itself hardly appeals the visitors.
Thus, enhancing the readability of the content is a must from the SEO perspective.
Good content is good only when it is easily understood by the people for whom it is created.
Make it more sorted and attractive as it can be.
Add various headings to differentiate the different sections.
Addition of bullet points to highlight the valuable and important points will also work great.
This will help to draw the attention of the visitors to the important part of the content.
Do not scare your readers with the long paragraphs.
They will run away
Also, it will make the content boring and dull.
Breaking the content into lines will surely help to make it sorted
Write short, simple and easy to understand lines.
Visitors will have a better experience.
Ultimately, SEO results will be more effective that’s why it is among the SEO best practices.
Practice 14# Be consistent in updating the fresh content
Content publishing is not something to be done as per the wish and convenience.
People always quest for valuable content to resolve their queries.
Once they get satisfactory answers to their queries they are more likely to come again on your website.
But inconsistent publishing of content will shift the visitors to some other website.
Then what next?
Probably you will lose many potential customers of your business.
This is not the approach to drive the conversions even after the SEO.
SEO demands consistent publishing of fresh and unique content.
Frequent publishing of content keeps the visitors’ interest intact.
Also, gives a reason for the users to come back again and consume some valuable content.
More content means more organic and repeats traffic ending up with more conversions.
This is one of the most fruitful ways to capture leads and increase interaction with the audience.
Practice 15# loading speed of the page is also considered in SEO
“Two seconds delay in the loading time of a web page increases the bounce rate by 103%”.
“Every extra second, taken by the website to load leads to a fall in conversion rate by 12%”.
“A website taking more than 3 seconds to load is vulnerable to lose 40% of the visitors”.
The above statistics clearly say, how important loading speed is and what impact it can have on your business.
Loading speed is the prime component that upgrades or degrade the users’ experience.
And user experience directly affects SEO.
Everything revolves around the customers, a website that is making the customers happy and satisfied will be rewarded with a higher ranking.
This is the very basic of SEO.
Hence, it is really mandatory to optimize the loading speed and make it load as faster as possible.
Fast loading websites have always marked their importance, that why the optimization of the loading speed is enrolled as one of the strategies to use among various factors that come under SEO in 2020.
Conclusion:
What makes the SEO result different?
The practices and SEO strategies adopted by the businesses.
This is the reason why results are not the same for every business website.
Similarly, the practices followed for SEO can make or break the effectiveness.
But only the best will survive…
There are many components of SEO which need to be worked upon.
Every element of SEO work in its own way to increase the efficacy of the SEO.
Here we have compiled the list of SEO best practices that are still marking their worth in strengthening the SEO and fetching enormous conversions.
Not only this, but you can also learn how every component matter in SEO to bring effective results.
Infuse these tried and tested SEO best practices into your SEO process and surpass the SEO results of your competitors.
These practices will surely help to make the best and unprecedented results for the business and make it grow.