5 Search Engine Optimization Tips for any Website

Tuesday, July 5, 2022

Optimization is defined as the action of making the best or most effective use of a situation or resource. When it comes to website optimization, it’s a combination of technical optimization and human engagement, which when done correctly, can dramatically increase the rank of your site to your desired keywords. Search engines are constantly working to make the results more real and relevant, so staying up-to-date on optimizations standards can keep your online identity shining.

In the good ol’ days, ranking factors were countable on your hands to determine the search results. A lot has changed since then.

Today, we have new ranking factors announced every other month. It can get a bit challenging to keep track of every one of them to rank your website.

Instead of getting overwhelmed, what you can do is focus constantly on a few evergreen and important ranking factors. Some web strategies weigh more than others. Working primarily on the ones that weigh more will provide efficient ranking results.

In this blog, we will discuss web standards that are crucial to optimizing your website.

5 Web Standard-Specific Strategies to Optimize a Website

Use Relevant and Optimized Content

Quality content is still the priority. Research your target audience and include content following the searcher's intent as the ultimate goal of Google is to understand the context. For this, research and selection of advanced-level keywords are necessary.

If you are a beginner, some keywords and queries will be impossible to rank. The relevancy of the context of your keyword must align with the search query you want to rank for. You can also analyze the websites that are ranking for your intended keyword.

Optimize for Mobile Experience

Google officially announced the mobile-first index in March 2018. Ever since then, the mobile-first approach has been in continuous development. It doesn't mean shifting from desktop to mobile but focusing equally on both.

Here’s what you should keep in mind -

Make sure your website is adaptive to mobile, tablet, and desktop.
Use shorter meta titles that are easy to read on mobile devices too.
Avoid using pop-ups that hide your content and distract visitors from your website.
Less is more on mobile devices. It is a mobile-first world, and lengthy content may not be suitable for getting more traffic and ranking.
Don't make mobile an excuse for cloaking. Visitors and search engines also expect to see the same content.

Measure Core Web Vitals

Google initiated Core Web Vitals as a search ranking factor to let SEO marketers quantify the metrics essential for a healthy website. Optimizing them defines your site’s usability, impacting your SEO.

They represent three essential metrics that affect the load time, visual stability, and interactivity of a page -

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) - Time taken for the largest content element to appear on the site.
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) - How much do unexpected layout shifts (ads, pop-ups, etc.) affect a page’s visual stability.
First Input Delay (FID) - Time taken to begin processing the first user interaction on a page.

Technical SEO

Gone are the days when technical SEO was a daunting task. With so many easy-to-use SEO tools, technical SEO is doable with even ground-level expertise. You only need to understand how to interpret the obtained data and use them in optimizing your website.

If you are a newbie, look for the following:

Make sure your site is mobile-friendly.
Check for error codes.
Remove duplicate title tags and meta data.
Perform an audit of your website content. Improve the underperforming content by analyzing your traffic stats through Google Analytics.
Fix the broken links on your site.

Improve Page Speed

In this fast and competitive world, no one wants to wait for your website to load. According to Google’s Search Advocate John Muller, one should keep the page load time less than 2 to 3 seconds for a better user experience.

The longer the loading time, the higher the bounce rate. Minimizing the load time of your website is the first step to improving the user experience. It is a Google ranking factor that directly impacts your SEO.

If you follow these website optimization strategies religiously, your search rankings will more than likely improve.

You can also ask the SEO experts at Walibu for personalized website optimization insights. Reach out to us at (916) 358-3950, and witness exponential SEO growth.