SEO for Dummies • Part 2

We previously discussed the major functions and importance of SEO. But, fortunately for our website’s SEO, we’ve still got more to share. 

Site Mapping & Links

When we advise you to take every opportunity to incorporate keywords any time possible, we mean it. 

This includes every single word on the page: URL, backlinks, footer links, and the URLs within each one of these links. Help Google help you. 

An important aspect of a great site that you may not have taken note of (don’t worry, you definitely will now) is Site Mapping. A user on a website should never be able to get stuck on a page. There should be no dead end. Think of a website as a neverending labyrinth from one page to another. Except each link to another page should be relevant, and with the user’s intentions in mind. For example, if your site is an e-commerce one , your site mapping should go something like this: 

User clicks on the ‘Pants’ page, they then click on a pair they like. On that pair’s page should be ‘suggestions’ full with links to other pairs of paints they might enjoy, shoes that complement the pants, or links to the rest of the outfit shown on the model. There should never be a moment where there’s nothing left for the user to click on. So, include internal links wherever and whenever possible.

External Links 

Also sometimes referred to as backlinks, these are links to your site, located on other websites. For example, if your website sells cameras, and a site releases a list of the best sites to buy cameras from and decides to feature yours, that’s a free and automatic backlink. This tells Google that other people trust and are talking about your site, and it brings more users to your site, too. Cool!

The only thing to consider is to decide whether or not these sites that will feature yours are reputable and rank highly on search engines as well. 

If you’re featured on a site that Google doesn’t approve of, well, let’s not even go there. 

E-reputation 

When you are searching for something on Google, the first option that comes up is usually the one you click on first (unless you work in advertising, in which you probably search a bit further, past the promoted businesses). However, if a company’s Google My Business profile appears, they are #winning. But, it’s not a competition, right? (It is 😉) 

Simply having a Google My Business account that shows up first when something relative to your company is searched is an automatic ‘yes’ from Google. However, without a profile such as this one, you will have to work for the rank. And that’s okay, because hard work pays off just the same. 

Additionally, your company’s reputation is automatically enhanced when Google recognizes you first. The user conducting the search is more inclined and likely to click on your site if Google tells them to do so. 

So, make sure Google loves you. ❤️

Due Diligence

A little over ten years ago, Search Engine Land founders launched their site to help people better understand, utilize and execute SEO, among other things such as general digital marketing and advertising. They also invented and published an SEO periodic table to help agencies cover all grounds of SEO without leaving out anything. 

Prioritizing Context, HTML, Architecture, Links, Trust, Social, and Personal aspects, they have cultivated and constructed a periodic table of best practices for optimizing your site (2021). 

Studying and trying your best to master SEO in a particular manner so as to benefit your business especially is a tedious endeavor. However, when your site is flooding with users and your product is flying off of the wall (electronically, if you will), everything will have been worth it. 

If you decide to use the table to help guide you, do it at your own pace. You can pick and choose what you decide to use and which pieces of advice you choose to follow based on their recommendations. 

That being said, ‘quality’ should be your number one absolute priority. Ensuring all of your work is of high quality should be the first item to check off of every list. Doesn't matter what it is. 

Next, prioritize ‘intent’ and always perform with purity and kindness in whatever you do. 

Now, onto the sticky stuff. ‘Crawl’. Though it is often misunderstood or overlooked, the crawlability of a site is extremely important and crucial in it’s high ranking on search engines. Make sure your site is simple, clean (in terms of code), light (avoid long videos, animations and large photos) and easily navigable so that Google’s bots can swivel through your site easily. 

User Experience! Overall, everything we just mentioned is really for the user in the long run: UX is all about making it easy to find the site, to navigate the site, and actually experience using it. Make it easy and likeable. 

And again, you can pick and choose which of the aspects on the table you choose to utilize and implicate, but make sure you do what’s best for your company!

FAQ

In truth, the FAQ is an opportunity to really jam pack a page with as many keywords as possible. Why? Well, you essentially have the chance to discuss pretty much anything about your company that you feel is important to the clients. And the answers to the questions can be chock full of information scattered with keywords.

Your potential clients get the answers they want, and you move to page one on Google! Win-win! 

And don’t forget to add and remove relevant and irrelevant information as time goes on. Search engines recognize when content on a page changes, and it will boost you to the top once again. 

Citations: 

Brockbank, J. (2020, November 25). What are backlinks? How to get them. Semrush Blog.

The periodic table of seo factors. Search Engine Land. (2021, June 16). https://searchengineland.com/seotable.