Latest Search Engine Optimization Tips & Strategies for 2021
SEO is also a reliable and inexpensive marketing strategy that helps drive traffic to your website and boost your conversion rates. As a popular search engine, Google processes over 6.5 billion searches per day. Thus, the higher a site is in the Google search results, the more traffic it gets.
However, search algorithms are constantly changing. They help you find the most relevant content for the best experience for each user.
- Page speed. The search engine takes into account the amount of time it takes to load a web page. A fast-loading page can improve your site’s ranking in search results. Monitor your site’s performance regularly. Use speed analysis tools like PageSpeed Insights and Pingdom Speed Test to understand how well your site is performing.
- Mobile optimization. An effective, responsive design automatically adjusts website elements to fit different screen sizes, providing an optimal user experience across other devices. Use the Google Mobile-Friendly Test to assess the usability of your site.
- Backlinks (backlinks). Also called inbound or external links, these are links to a site posted on other sites and serve as an indicator of authority. When a web page links to your site, it automatically marks you as a relevant source. Pages with quality backlinks from trusted sites can rank higher on search engine results pages.
- User experience. Google measures user experience using several signals, including bounce rate and time on site. If visitors land on a site and leave shortly after, Google will consider the area irrelevant. Hence, if visitors stay for a while, it signals that the site contains valuable information.
- Site security. Includes all actions to protect the site and its visitors from cyber attacks. Google prioritizes HTTPS-protected sites. All other areas are marked as unsafe. Since security is a priority for every web user, adding an SSL certificate to your site is essential.
How does Search Engine Optimization work?
Google and other search engines collect, organize and display information in response to user queries. They go through three main processes to deliver relevant information, including:
- Scanning. Search engines use search robots, also known as web spiders or bots, to find fresh content on the Internet. Search bots help discover and collect information needed to index a page. Bots go from page to page, link to link to crawl all the information.
- Indexing. The process by which search engines organize and store collected web pages. Once the crawlers find information on the site, when users search for specific information, the search engine selects the appropriate indexed site.
- Rating. Further, the ranking of the results will be formed depending on the relevance – the pages that, according to the search engine, are best suited for the search query will be shown first.
SEO improves your online presence by making your site more attractive to search engines. In other words, search engine optimization determines how successfully your site goes through the entire process, from crawling to ranking. The Best SEO Agency will help you in all kinds of SEO measures to improve your ranking.
For example, well-structured internal links on your pages make it easier for search engines to navigate from one page to another. This allows them to explore the resource in detail and index more content.
Internal search engine optimization also helps organize your page so that search robots can quickly analyze its content and index it for relevant search queries.
To help you, we’ve compiled some of the essential Search Engine Optimization tips and strategies:
- Site content. Google uses an algorithm for evaluating the content of pages and sites EAT (expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness), which considers the experience, authority, and reliability of the resource. The search engine gives preference to quality content from reliable authors and reputable sites. Thus, to rank higher in the search results, you must ensure that your page meets these criteria.
- Optimization of keywords. Placing keywords in the content helps the search algorithm determine what the content is about. Perform keyword searches using SEO tools like Ahrefs Keywords Explorer or Google Keyword Planner to pick your main keyword and build content around it. However, make sure your keywords are naturally distributed. This way, you can avoid being punished by Google for using too many keywords.
- Title tag. Also known as the page title. It is an interactive link that people see on search engine result pages. It determines whether the page matches the user’s search query. A well-written title can get more clicks and drive traffic to the page. Search engines like Google prefer a concise headline with keywords.
- Header tags. Dividing content into parts using heading tags makes it easier for users to perceive the content. When users enter their search terms, the search engine searches for relevant information using these tags. As such, headings increase the likelihood that your page will appear in search results.
- Alt text of the image. Alt-text is an attribute that describes an idea if the site cannot display it, also helpful for visually impaired users. Screen readers use this text to describe the image. It also informs the search engine that the image represents valuable content on your page. This provides additional page ranking opportunities as images can also appear in Google search results.
- Meta description. This is a short description of the pages. It can be seen along with the page title and its URL in search results. Meta descriptions should contain keywords and accurately describe the information the page is providing.