What distinguishes one website from another in terms of SEO success? Is it the amount of links on a certain page? Is it the amount of new, original content?
There is no single correct answer. Fortunately, success leaves a trail of evidence. That is why we would like to investigate the SEO success criteria for your website.
Different types of SEO success factors
We’d like to discuss three different types of SEO success criteria today:
- SEO on the page
- Off-page SEO (search engine optimization)
- Violations
1. On page SEO
Let’s begin with on-page SEO variables, which give a solid basis for your search success.
A decent sitemap is the first thing that drives quality search traffic to your website. It aids readers in understanding the flow of material on your site, and it allows Google to index your site.
Expertise, authority, and trustworthiness – this is not a specific step you take; the concept here is that the combination of work you perform on your website contributes to increased search traffic.
Responsive design — mobile devices now account for 60% of all search traffic. You will never receive search traffic if you do not have a mobile strategy. As a result, regardless of the size of your internet page, employ a responsive website that works on mobile.
Design and layout – a responsive website layout makes it easier for users to traverse your website. A sitemap serves as a general reference to where they should go, and your designs should make it aesthetically pleasant for users to navigate the site.
Google looks for sites that provide value and have unique, fresh information. The most effective way to give value is through material that your customers will love. That means your website requires a new look in order to stand out from the crowd in your sector.
Do you know what your website’s speed is? Is it clogged up with too much coding, such as JavaScript and other code that makes it difficult for your site to load quickly?
Optimize images and videos – do you use alt-text when adding fresh photos to your website? What about adding meta descriptions to your movies so Google can learn more about the subject?
Optimizing your website’s media is just as vital as optimising the content.
Structured data — Over the last two years, as more individuals utilise voice technology to speak with search engines, it has become critical to employ structured data to assist Google in identifying relevant material for readers.
If you look at the Hummingbird update over the last two years, you’ll notice that the ability to use voice search is a critical component of good search engine optimization.
Click through rate — how frequently do people click through from Google to your website? Your click-through rate is heavily influenced by the quality of your title tags and meta descriptions on each page. How many people then navigate to other pages on your website, such as your blog?
Your click-through rate will decrease if your bounce rate is too high. That tells Google that you don’t have a high-quality website.
Hreflang – Is it necessary for your website to communicate in multiple languages? If this is the case, you must include a hreflang tag so that Google knows what language you employ on each website page.
We figured we’d save the best for last: keywords. Experienced search engine marketers understand the importance of having quality keywords on each page. Keywords, on the other hand, are not the same as they were five or ten years ago. They must now blend in with the text and appear natural. Otherwise, Google will punish websites that over-optimize their keywords.
2. Off page SEO
Link building – we could write an entire post about the various SEO aspects that go into link building. While much has changed in recent years, the key to excellent link building is to provide relevant links from third-party websites that indicate your sector authority. It is a quality game, not a numbers game.
Not every link is the same. A variety of factors, like the age of the domain, the quality of the material on the third-party website, and others, may influence which links help you the most.
Links ending in.edu and.gov, for example, are more valuable. This is due to the fact that not everyone can own these types of websites. To have these hyperlinks, you must be either an educational institution or a government agency.
In most circumstances, having a link from an educational institution or government organization praising your site is far more powerful than having a link from a company blog.
While most social networks do not offer do-follow backlinks, social sharing is an indirect indicator of search engine optimization.
For example, suppose your social media post goes viral. This may result in more individuals reading your post, spending more time on your website, lowering your bounce rate, and generating more backlinks.
As more people read your piece, there will be more opportunities for other bloggers to find it and link to it while creating their own material.
Violations
You’d like to stay on Google’s good side. Avoid the black hat methods that many search engine marketers used in the past.
You must also ensure that your website is safe. Google prioritizes redirecting users to secure websites.
Is your website secure? Is it HTTPS? What does this imply? Do you utilize SSL certificates to ensure that your site’s users and customers can use them safely? If you don’t, Google will lower your search ranks based on updates from the previous year.
Comment spam is still a problem in the industry. It is not as common as it formerly was. You must still defend your site from comment spammers that post malicious links in your comments section. These links have the potential to degrade the quality of your search traffic.
Over-optimization — we discussed how to utilize keywords sparingly. Google will penalize you for over-optimization if you use keywords excessively throughout your website pages.
Maintain a keyword density of 1 to 3% of the overall content on each page.
Are you using black hat strategies to hide keywords? One of the oldest black hat tactics was to use white text for keywords on a white backdrop in order to avoid detection by Google. That worked for a few years until the sites lost all of their search traffic.
The same is true for concealing links.
DMCA notices/piracy – are you plagiarising content from other websites? Do you have authorization? If you do not, you may receive a DMCA notice in the United States.
What exactly is a DMCA notice?
That is a procedure in which the lawful owner of the content can contact your hosting company and request that they remove your website from the Internet until you remove the pirated content from their site.
Do not replicate other websites’ content unless you have permission. Keep in mind that Google prefers original, up-to-date material. If you want long-term search traffic, it is essential to create your own content rather than imitating others.
Explicit content — While some explicit content is still displayed on Google, depending on your website, it may lower your search ranks.
For example, if you run a kid-friendly website and your ads contain explicit content, Google may be reluctant to direct traffic to your site.
Be extremely cautious and keep an eye on any sexual information on your website.
Final thoughts
Your website may not require all of the strategies outlined above to be successful. You can, however, utilize the information provided above as a guideline to increase the quality of your search engine traffic.
If you have any more questions regarding the SEO success criteria you need to bring more focused traffic to your business, contact today for a free consultation.
Need help with getting your business found online? Stridec is a top SEO agency in Singapore that can help you achieve your objectives with a structured and effective SEO programme that will get your more customers and sales. Contact us for a discussion now.