7 Often Overlooked Components Key To SEO

It has been said that there is no better place in the world to hide a dead body than the second page of Google’s search results. In fact, research into people’s surfing habits shows that they will only visit the top three or four of the results that turn up when they put in a Keyword. It is this simple reason that makes everyone want to do all the SEO heavy-lifting and get better ranks, and most of the times, it makes people forget the basics. The fact that Google keeps updating their algorithm makes it even harder to keep abreast with the best SEO tactics. But, there are a few of the components of SEO that people overlook, and ones that can take your ranking to the top is well-implemented.

Anchor Text

Anchor text is what Google will use to try and figure out what your page is talking about. You should strive to have descriptive and very relevant anchor text when you are building links within your site and also when soliciting for external links. The biggest mistake that people make when they are creating anchor text is that they use phrases such as ‘click here,’ and ‘follow to see more,’ which basically tell the search engines nothing about your page. Make the anchor text longer and let the crawlers know what is being linked to.

Google reviews

When customers visit or interact with your business, they are left with an impression. There is no better way to tell other customers about this impression than the Google review. Customer reviews on Google influence SEO because Google uses them to determine the trustworthiness of your website and product or service. Having high-quality Google reviews will ultimately boost your rankings. Then, once customers find you in an online search, they can read up on all of your positive customer feedback—furthering web traffic and sales even more.

The Meta description

When people get the search results of a query, they first look at the page title, and then, they scan the meta description to see whether the site contains what they want and whether to click through. When you are creating the web copy, take time and created a detailed and well-thought meta description. It could be the reason visitors keep choosing a visitor’s page over yours. After adding the meta description, make sure that you have a relevant copy to go with it.

Page Titles

When everyone hears about SEO, they are thinking about link-building, paid directories, blogging, and all the other heavy stuff, but do not realize that sometimes it boils down to a basic component such as the page title. If the page title is lack crucial information about your business, your customers will not know if your site is right for them or not. Research shows that actually, people do not automatically click on the top page result, they scan the first results, and the most compelling one takes the day. This means that besides your page title helping crawlers see what the page is about, creating a compelling title draws in more visitors.

Excellent quality page content

Everyone keeps reiterating that in SEO, content is king. However, not many people clearly understand what this concept means and sometimes, everyone just steals content from other sites and rehashes it over and over. If you want your page to stand out, you have to understand that fresh is best and get unique content which cannot be grabbed somewhere else on the web. When planning your blog posts, brainstorm ideas on new and fresh ways to look into stories and make sure you give the search engines something new and interesting every time.

Because backlinks contribute to your search rankings, it’s important to ensure that your website is worth linking to. In order to ensure that your site is worth linking to, you have to optimize the number of linkable assets on your site. As SEOJet.com explains, “Coming up with the right linkable asset is something almost all SEOs and marketers struggle with, but if you do it right, it can create an influx of natural backlinks that can do wonders to build your backlink profile.” Natural backlinks are most valuable for businesses to have, so work toward creating more linkable assets. These may include: blog content, infographics, or a useful online tool. You can then get creative with your backlinking strategy while also creating natural links.

Tags and URL strings

Not many people think about the importance of HTML tags when they are creating the web copy for their pages. The header tags, title tags, alt image tags, and even URL strings all have a very important role to play in boosting SEO. You should, therefore, make sure that if there are elements you are not well conversant with, you get someone who can help you do this part of the optimization better.

User-friendly site architecture

Research also shows that visitors take an average of 3 seconds to decide whether they want to stay on a page or backup and look for another one. This means that the SEO journey does not end when you get them to click on your link in the SERPs. You have to invest in a site architecture that makes the site user-friendly and also helps with structured content, which is the new thing in SEO. One simple thing that people forget to optimize is the speed of their site. Needless to say, if a page takes more than 20 seconds to load, nobody is going to wait for that long. Take time and have a lite version created so that as soon as the link is clicked, the page is open. This step will keep visitors on your page, which means that they have the opportunity to interact with your brand, products, and services. 

These simple strategies will get you started on the right path to SEO success. Want to learn more about SEO marketing? Check out two of our recent articles, 7 Strategies to Take Your SEO Campaign to the Next Level and Ranking Elements to Include in an Effective SEO Campaign!