Factors considered by Search Engines
The main task of every search engines is referring links to various websites that possibly contain the most relevant content for information a searcher is looking for. In order to do this, a search engines takes into consideration the following factors which ultimately determine the approach for SEO:
- Content
- Performance
- Testimony
- User Experience
Content
It is rightly said “Content is King” because if your content is not good, no amount of optimization will help your website to score a high rank in search result. A search engines validates the content of a website on the basis of following:
- Basic theme of the website
- Originality of the content
- Text appearing on every web page of that site
- Various heading and titles
- Summary description
Performance
A smooth functioning website will always have an edge over other websites. Any search engine generally determines the rank of a website based on its speed of performance as well as correct functioning. It is important that you make website that LIVE for access by people only after each and every functionality on it works fine. A website with non-working functions (or pages) and any errors will not appear in the good books of search engine.
Testimony
It is important that every website has some links pointing to itself form other popular websites based on that theme. This link building gives the impression that the other known websites are providing a testimony for your website. A website getting linked to genuinely reputed websites will always be regarded highly by any search engine. The reason for linking could be reference to any information contained on your website. The very fact that any website considers your site’s information as genuine and hence uses it for reference on their own web pages will help you to convince the search engines about the relevance of your site’s content.
User Experience
This is a last factor, but a very important one considered by search engines. They are always on the lookout for websites that have a good look and feel about themselves. They prefer websites whose interface enables user-friendly navigation to every web page. A website needs to be engaging enough to interest first-time visitors which shall ensure that the bounce rate is as low as possible. Bounce rate refers to the percentage of site visitors who come to particular website and leave it soon without checking out the various web pages of that site (which would indicate that the visitors didn’t find the website interesting). The search engines also give preference to websites that appear safe user’s perspective.
SEO success formula
Often people wonder if there is any secret formula to achieve SEO success?
Well, there is no secret formula because almost every website owner is aware of the basic SEO formula which is listed below:
SEO = keywords + links + unique content
If you consider the factors discussed in previous paragraphs, the above formula seems a derivation from those factors. Thus, managing consistence Search Engine optimization is about having the appropriate mix of the above three components i.e. proportional usage of keywords, building outgoing as well as incoming links and ensuring uniqueness of content presented on your website.
Optimizing for Google
By now you would have realized the importance your website or blog ranking higher in Google search results. Due to the complex algorithms, only most relevant content that is absolutely original will manage to appear in the good books of Google search engine i.e. at the top of search results pages. Just keep the content as relevant to the topic / theme of your website as possible.
There is no rocket science involved and a website with unique and relevant content that is promoted well to Google will easily appear at the top. For promoting and tracking the website, one can use several free tools provided by Google.
Additionally, the site should be represented correctly using appropriate headings and descriptive titles.
Never overdo usage of keywords and utilize only relevant keywords to score a high rank.
Another key thing is having enough links pointing to your blog or website from similar websites that are popular with Google. Having genuine links point to your website shall considerably increase chances of your website appearing in top Google search results.
For webmasters, it is important to have a basic understanding of the source code of their websites. This can help identify some of the basic errors done while coding which will be easily by Google. So, it is preferable that such errors are avoided at a very early stage. One can view the code by selecting “view” option from the toolbar followed by the “Source” option.
Appearing in Google Search Results
A website owner can choose to appear in Google Search Results either naturally or by paying for it i.e. there are two ways of appearing as indicated below:
- Natural Search Listing
- Sponsored Listing (Pay Per Click)
For appearing in Google’s natural search results one simply has to optimize the website using all possible ways and target coming in the 2 top search results pages of Google (as most people who search generally get the information from links shared in the first two search pages itself). Additionally, it is completely free to appear in the natural search as compared to the sponsored search listing.
The easier option to appear in search results is via the sponsored listing method i.e. pay per click ads shown on all Google search results pages. This option is expensive and there are less chances of searchers clicking on websites listed via this method in comparison to websites listed via natural search. In other words, Google search users consider websites appearing through natural method as more relevant. So, it is necessary that every webmaster aims to get the website listed through natural search and increase the chances of getting targeted traffic. The paid option can be used as an additional way of search listing and should never be the only listing method used.
Organic SEO
It relates to the process of optimizing a website to make it capable for appearing in the top search results pages through natural listing. It is the best advertising method as it is totally free and relies completely on your ability to make your website perfect in as many ways as possible so that it gets regarded highly by the search engines.
For a webmaster, the basic purpose of having a website or blog is to reach out to people. This is possible only if your website is promoted well and if it gets found by various search engines for search queries relevant to the content presented in your website. Organic Search Engine Optimization improves the chances of your website getting naturally found by search engines on the basis of certain relevant keywords. Thus, it is one of the most cost-effective ways of achieving optimization and fulfilling the basic purpose of a website / blog.
Components to be optimized
SEO involves optimizing a big list of components with regards to any website. To optimize the website as a whole, it is important to break down the optimization task for different components. Some of the critical components that need to be optimized for better SEO of the website are mentioned below:
- Content
- Keywords
- Header tags
- Meta tags
- Alt tags
- Inward links
- Internal links
- Website theme
- Website source code
- Website structure
I’m a freelance Web Designer and SEO Expert I have been working as a web designer and Search Engine Optimiser for over 8 years, and have done lots of work over that time. My skills cover many aspects of graphic design, web design, illustration, search engine optimisation (SEO), Social media optimization (SMO) & Search engine marketing (SEM) and other technical knowledge.
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