ULTIMATE SEO - Strategies for climbing the SERP ranks

1. URLs (+)

Friendly meaningful keyword-driven URLs accurately indicate the content of a page.

Friendly URL Tips:

• Case sensitivity - lowercase is preferred and easier to read by humans
• Word delimiters - stick with hyphens (dash) rather than underscores
• Keep it short - search engines limit length and truncate long URLs

2. Content relevancy (+)

Actively deliver relevant content to your customers, and receive algorithmic points that when combined with other criteria will influence site ranking.

Make it fresh - search engines love new content - review and update often.

3. Unique words (+)

Knowing how users are searching for your products in order for them to find you. A website that as well SEO optimized speaks the same language as its users.

4. Usability (+)

The customer is hungry for information, as they are now turning to the web for most of the comparative research before they contact a company for purchase. Make sure your site provides the detail and value that the customer will appreciate - make it blatantly obvious with quality images, videos, and positive distinguishing benefits.

5. Original material (+)

Make your content original and unique. It is believed search engines somehow hunt down information that is expressed or organised differently than similar sites. Represents a differing perspective.

6. Outbound links (+)

Reputable outbound links to related pages and relevant organisations, websites and tools will help search engines focus in on and confirm page topics thus boosting site and page ranking. High bounce rates could indicate the content is poor quality or not relevant to the user's query.

7. Bounce rate (0)

Although bounce rate can sometimes be deceptive, there's clear evidence that suggests search engines evaluate the value of a search link with the time spent on the page or site after a click.

8. Up-to-date information (+)

Pages that sit without change for extended periods of time play a role of diminished relevance and tend to fade into the distance. A review and update of pages on a regular basis shows a commitment to stay current with the respective market. Older pages that are regularly updated should outperform new pages.

9. Dates (+/-)

a. Blogs
There are mixed opinions from SEOs specifically regarding post dates and blogs.

• Some believe older dates discourage clicks, making the pages less desirable, and contributing to a low page rank.
• Some believe dates should be left out completely ignoring the date issue in order to retain traffic.
• Others believe the date should be posted for users so they can evaluate the information relevant in the context of when it was posted.

b. News
News posts, on the other hand, should always include release dates.

c. General note
Search engines look at the last time a page was updated and execute their algorithms based on that - remember your website should always be about creating a valued user experience - do what's best for your users.

Rather than creating new posts on specific topics, try to update the post content on a regular basis.

10. Favicon (0)

A favicon does provide some increase in the usability of a website in that it can easily be found when bookmarked, however, most SEO experts believe that if SEO points are awarded for having on, it would be very minor.

11. Brand reviews (+)

Google My Business reviews, Yelp and HomeStars to name a few, are believed to play an important role in measuring the popularity of a site or company. Similar to the Social media factor.

1. Content priorities (+)

Put the most important information above the fold, in the browser visible area of the website. It is believed by many SEO experts that search engines reward web pages that have rich page topic-specific information at the top of the browser window.

Make sure the most important page message is at the top of the page and that important keywords are included, but not overdone.

2. Content quality (+)

• Match it up to your keywords - words that users are actually using.
• Think about possible query questions and answer them in your content.

3. Content uniqueness (+)

Is it the same as everyone else or is it different? Find new ways to present common information, use images, and video presentations. Whatever you do make it better than the competition. Not only with the search engine take notice, but your customers will too.

4. Content readability (+)

Make sure the fonts used on your website are legible.

5. Content length (+)

The length of the content is a purely speculative concept in the SEO world. Some sources suggest that 600-700 words per page, others suggest 300 words per page as a minimum.

An important consideration is that you only use what you need to use to make your page work. Make it easy to understand, include important and meaningful keywords and avoid fluff. Add value that you think might help explain the topic of the page.

6. Content aids (+)

Supplemental content that adds value to a page topic can add value, things like calculators or simulators all add to the user experience.

7. Content duplication (-)

Duplication suggests organizational issues with a website, a user does not want to see information that they have already seen. It can negatively affect website ranking.

8. URL canonicalization (+)

Duplication on a website devalues your content and confuses search engines. If content duplication is necessary, the conical tag tells the search engine to look at the preferred source.

9. Blogs (+)

A blog is an excellent way to communicate new ideas, upcoming events and market news. It's a great outlet to answer customer questions and discuss topics in great detail.

1. Viewport (+)

Viewport addresses the display of web content on multiple devices. If unspecified, the content will not show properly on mobile devices.

Avoid minimum-scale, maximum-scale, and user-scalable, these options impact accessibility in a negative way.

2. Adaptability (desktop, tablet, mobile) (+)

Responsive websites adapt to the needs of the user and the devices they're using. Search engines give SEO points to websites that are responsive. The media query technique is the recommended basis for responsive website design.

1. Website engagement (+)

It appears that traffic correlates to the higher ranking of web pages and it is believed that search engines use the following visitor information in their algorithms:

• Search visits
• Direct visits
• Page views
• Time on site
• Length between clicks
• Bounce rate

By providing quality usable information your users are more likely to find what they are looking for and stay on the website longer.

2. Reputation (+)

Great reviews from reputable sources like Yelp, Google+, GoogleMyBusiness, Homestars and The Better Business Bureau, should encourage traffic to a website and influence website rank.

3. Trust (+)

Authoritative websites become trusted websites, especially if the content is better (more informative and helpful) than the competition. Many SEOs believe it is factored into the search rank equation.

4. Brand authority (+)

It is believed that search engines, specifically Google measure (releases, news, blog association memberships... links) and mentions of brand names on the internet and the measurement goes into the search algorithm.

5. Clickstream data (+)

Search terms that stand on their own and branded search terms can indicate popularity that may be measured by search engine algorithms i.e. running shoes vs Nike running shoes. Although there's not much that can be done from an SEO perspective, it has been suggested that branding may become a part of SEO.

Google is on the record as saying page loading speed is an important ranking factor. There are quite a few relatively easy steps you can take to increase page loading efficiency.

1. Site load speed (+)

Your page loading speed should be under 5 seconds.

2. Plugins (-)

Most mobile devices do not support plugins, a leading cause of crashes, hangs, and security issues. Many browsers have begun to restrict plugins as native web technologies now take care of audio, video and graphics.

3. Site up-time (+)

Slow or failing servers affect performance and ranking.

4. Server location (0)

The further away a server is from its customer target areas, the more potential for network failure. If you are in a local market, use a server in that market.

5. Enable compression for dynamic sites (+)

Most content-managed websites contain settings for compression which allow the pages to load quicker.

6. Limit page objects (+)

Page objects include CSS resource files, scripts, images and flash files.

1. Adding interest (+)

Images add interest and express ideas more easily, as such they can help engage the user and lower the bounce rate. Images and videos send search engines important relevancy signals.

2. Speed and efficiency (+)

Optimise image size and compression so that they load quickly. Test for quality - poor quality highly compressed images make a poor impression even with quick website loading.

3. Alt tag (+)

Make sure to use descriptive image Alt Tags that contain relevant information about the image and contain main page keywords.

4. Captions (+)

Meaningful keyword-based captions offer another opportunity to bolster content. They should also contain relevant information about the image and contain main page keywords.

5. Image expires header (+)

Speeds up your site for returning visitors - tells users' browsers to cache the image until the specified date.

1. URL naming (+)

Google prefers a URL structure using a dash such as "all-great-things" rather than underscores such as "all_great_things".

2. Meta title (+)

Still, an important SEO element, a title is the title for a URL that appears above the URL in most browsers. It should contain important keywords and be relevant to the content on the page. Each page title should be unique to the entire site and its length should not be 71 characters.

3. Keywords (+)

Keyword Search Engine ranking is an essential necessity for every website. Research and analysis of the market's keyword demand will help determine the most powerful keyword phrases and influence the way the content is written. Be careful not to overstack keywords, and remember to include your keywords in the following areas:

• Page URL (keyword at the front)
• Meta description (keyword at the front)
• Page title (keyword at the front)
• H1 title
• Image alt tags
• In the first paragraph & lightly throughout the page

4. Meta keyword (0)

The keyword meta-tag has been eliminated as a ranking factor in search engine algorithms.

5. Meta description (+)

• The meta description has diminished in value over the years, but should not be ignored. Its actual intent is to provide a concise explanation of the contents of a web page.
• These descriptions are commonly, but not always used by search engine result pages (SERPs) as a preview of the content on a page.
• Include keywords and phrases and ensure that each page description is unique.
• The meta description of your page has a length of 155 characters.

6. H1, H2, H3, H4 tags (+/-)

Although it sounds like a good idea to include keywords, these tags are reserved for sub-content which typically might not have keywords associated with them, it's better to use keywords in the copy.

7. Microdata (+)

Also known as structured data, microdata allows search engines to not only crawl your site but to understand it by providing labels for individual content chunks. Microdata helps crawlers identify, classify, and index your information as well as create rich snippets on search results. It is believed that microdata helps improve page ranking.

Visit Scheme.com for more information

8. Duplication (-)

Duplicated text and meta information will diminish the value of pages, as it could potentially be deemed as a form of keyword stacking.

9. Exact match keyword query (+)

Exact match data queries are highly specific search queries where the user's input precisely aligns with the targeted keywords or phrases by a website or advertiser. These queries play a crucial role in both SEO and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, as they indicate users seeking very precise information. Advertisers and website owners value exact match queries for their precision, enabling them to have more control over
when their content or ads appear. However, there are challenges, as the focus on exact matches may limit the capture of broader or related searches, potentially reducing overall reach. Adapting strategies to balance exact matches with broader match types is essential for comprehensive coverage in search campaigns. Understanding user intent becomes paramount in optimizing content and ads for exact match queries, ensuring that the information provided directly addresses the user's specific needs. Regular monitoring and analysis of exact match data are crucial for refining SEO and advertising strategies over time, leveraging the advantages of higher relevance for potentially improved conversion rates.

1. Domain age (0)

• Historically, SEOs perceived the age of a domain as a significant SEO factor.
• The current consensus views the importance of domain age as a myth in contemporary SEO practices.

2. Domain commitment (0)

• Some SEO experts believe that committing to a domain name for an extended period has no impact on search engine ranking.
• The notion that long-term domain commitment influences ranking is considered by many to be unsubstantiated.

3. Domain redirects (-)

• Common Practice: Redirecting from one URL to another is a prevalent practice in website management. It is often employed for reasons such as rebranding, restructuring, or updating content locations.
• SEO Implications: However, the act of redirection carries inherent risks for SEO if not executed with caution. Search engines interpret redirects as signals of content movement, and if mishandled, it can lead to confusion and potentially negative consequences for the website's search ranking.
• Best Practices Importance: Adhering to SEO best practices is critical during URL redirection. This involves ensuring that the process is seamless and that the new destination maintains or enhances the user experience. A well-implemented redirection strategy considers factors such as preserving link equity, updating internal links, and minimizing potential disruptions in search engine rankings.
• Mitigating Risks: By observing best practices, website owners can mitigate risks associated with domain redirects. This includes employing proper HTTP status codes (e.g., 301 or 302), updating sitemaps and internal links, and providing clear signals to search engines about the intentional and well-considered nature of the redirection.

In summary, while domain redirects are a valuable tool for website management, implementing them without careful consideration of SEO best practices can lead to undesired outcomes. A strategic and well-executed approach ensures a smooth transition for both users and search engines, minimizing any negative impact on the website's SEO performance.

4. Subdomains (-)

• Definition: Subdomains are essentially extensions of a primary domain. They precede the main domain in a URL, forming a structure like "subdomain.yourwebsite.com."
• SEO Impact: The use of subdomains can have implications for SEO. Historically, search engines treated subdomains as separate entities, each with its own authority and ranking signals.
• Recent Trends: However, search engine algorithms have evolved, and the trend now favours subdirectories over subdomains for several reasons.
• Consolidation of Authority: Subdirectories, which follow the main domain in the URL structure ("yourwebsite.com/subdirectory"), are typically considered part of the main domain. This means they contribute to the overall domain authority and share ranking signals with the main domain.
• Unified SEO Benefits: Using subdirectories helps consolidate SEO efforts. Content within subdirectories benefits from the accumulated authority of the main domain, providing a more unified and streamlined SEO strategy.
• User Trust and Consistency: From a user perspective, a consistent and straightforward URL structure is often preferred. Subdirectories contribute to a sense of coherence and trust, as users understand that they are navigating within the same website.
• Technical Maintenance: Managing subdirectories is often more straightforward than dealing with multiple subdomains. It simplifies tasks such as website maintenance, analytics tracking, and SSL certificate management.

The preference for subdirectories over subdomains aligns with contemporary SEO practices, emphasizing consolidated authority, user experience, and streamlined technical management. While there may be specific cases where subdomains are appropriate, the general recommendation leans toward using subdirectories for a more cohesive and SEO-friendly website structure.

1. Page redirects (-)

Page redirects involve forwarding users from one URL to another. While redirects serve legitimate purposes, such as handling broken links or website restructuring, their improper use can have negative implications.

a. Confusion and lack of planning

• Page redirects, if implemented without a clear strategy, can lead to confusion for both users and search engines.
• Lack of planning may result in a disjointed user experience, with visitors landing on unexpected pages.
• A haphazard approach to redirects may signal to search engines that the website lacks a coherent structure and planning.

b. Impact on content delivery

• Excessive redirects can contribute to slower page loading times. Each redirect introduces an additional HTTP request, potentially increasing the time it takes for content to reach the user's browser.
• Slow-loading pages can negatively impact user experience and may be considered a factor in search engine ranking algorithms.

c. SEO implications

• Search engines prefer straightforward, easily navigable websites. Unnecessary redirects may be viewed as obstacles to seamless navigation.
• If search engine bots encounter a chain of redirects, it might affect their ability to efficiently crawl and index content.
• Best practices for SEO involve minimizing the use of redirects and ensuring that they are implemented strategically.

d. Best practices for page redirects

• 301 Redirects: When permanently moving a page, use a 301 redirect. This informs search engines that the move is permanent and transfers the original page's authority to the new location.
• Avoid Chains: Limit the use of redirect chains, where one redirect leads to another. Chains can complicate the crawling process and potentially affect page ranking.
• Regular Audits: Periodically audit and update redirects to ensure they align with the website's structure and user expectations.
• Consider User Experience: Implement redirects with the user experience in mind, ensuring that visitors are directed to relevant and meaningful content.

In summary, while page redirects serve essential purposes, their indiscriminate use can lead to confusion, impact content delivery, and have SEO implications. Adhering to best practices and regularly auditing redirects contributes to a more streamlined and user-friendly website experience.

2. Redirects (-)

While redirects are typically not advisable, one redirect may be acceptable.

• URL is redirecting from a non-www version to its www version
• URL is redirecting form http to https

3. Use a sitemap (+)

A sitemap will allow a user to quickly find what they are looking for. A sitemap.xml will help the search engine understand what pages should be indexed and a robot.txt file will tell the robot what files, pages, and directories not to index. All of these go toward the suggestion that the site is well thought out, with the user in mind.

4. Use a robots.txt (+)

Disallow the search engines access to some parts of your website. You are advised to check carefully if the access to these resources or pages must be blocked.

5. No index (-)

The webpage does not use the no-index meta tag. This means that your webpage will be read and indexed by search engines.

6. No follow (-)

Your webpage does not use the no-follow meta tag. This means that search engines will crawl all links from your webpage.

1. Secure your website (+)

Early in 2017 Google announced that websites that are not secure or are using poor quality SSL certifications would start to receive lower SEO ranking scores starting October 2017.

2. Server signature (+)

A server signature is the public identity of your web server. It contains sensitive information that could be used to exploit any known server vulnerability. Turning the server signature off is considered a good security practice. It avoids disclosure of software information.

3. Directory browsing (+)

For security reasons, directory browsing should always be disabled unless there is a specific reason to enable it.

4. Safe browsing (+)

Take steps to ensure there is no malware or phishing activity on your website.

5. User privacy statements (+)

Having a privacy statement or policy tells your customers that you take their privacy seriously and that you take measures to protect your users and their personal information.

6. Email protection (+)

Protect e-mail addresses that are in your website contact forms. If you are using plain text, it is easy for spammers to capture email addresses and use them for phishing messages that look like they came from trustworthy sources. Google, in particular, is on a mission to wipe out hacking, spoofing and spamming.

1. Poor quality code (-)

Good coding in itself will help improve page processing by removing potential server hick-ups that slow down site performance. Run your HTML & CSS pages through the W3C, or utilise developer versions of browsers to help optimise your pages.

2. Deprecated tags (-)

Deprecated tags are tag elements that are still in use but will eventually become browser obsolete. Many of these tags have been replaced with new tags or can be treated with CSS.

3. Minification (+)

Wherever possible minify CSS, scripts, and HTML. This will help speed up the page delivery and contribute to in a positive way to ranking.

• Google Speed Test (Search Console)
• YUI Compressor
• Closure Compiler
• JSMin

4. Scripts below the fold (+)

Move scripts that don't require immediate loading but are not pertinent to initial page viewing to the end of your web page.

5. Inline CSS (+)

It is a good practice to put all the inline CSS rules into an external file to decrease the code-to-text ratio and make your page lighter.

6. Text/code ratio (0)

The code-to-text ratio of a page is used by believed to be used by search engines and spiders to calculate the relevancy of a webpage.

Some SEOs believe this really has no bearing on SERP ranking others for lack of a better word “want” it to. That said, if a page is very light on content, it will not rank well.

7. Javascript errors (-)

JavaScript errors pose a significant threat to a website's SEO performance. Beyond the obvious challenges of hindering proper content rendering and compromising user experience, these errors can have a detrimental impact on how search engines crawl and index pages. The functionality of interactive elements, which is often powered by JavaScript, can be compromised, leading to increased bounce rates and decreased user engagement. Moreover, the delays in indexing caused by JavaScript errors may affect how promptly new or updated content appears in search results. Mobile optimization, a critical aspect of modern SEO, is also at risk if JavaScript issues persist on mobile versions of the website. In the realm of technical SEO, addressing JavaScript errors becomes imperative to ensure that the site is not only user-friendly but also search engine-friendly. Regular monitoring and diligent debugging efforts are essential components of maintaining a healthy SEO profile in the face of potential JavaScript errors.

8. Flash (-)

Although Flash is readily used, it requires excessive loading time which some search engines believe diminishes the user experience. Flash content does not work well on mobile devices and is difficult for crawlers to interpret.

9. Nested tables (-)

Nested tables should be avoided, they require a longer load time, cause issues with screen readers and do not conform to flexible responsive design.

10. Framesets (-)

Framesets slow down page loading, they are very difficult to interpret by search bots, in fact, framesets will not get indexed.

11. HTML page size (+)

Faster-loading websites result in a better user experience, higher conversion rates, and better search engine rankings. Limit HTML Page size to 30kb.

12. HTML compression/GZIP (+)

This helps ensure a faster loading web page and improved user experience. MORE

13. Google analytics (0)

Google Analytics provides valuable data that can help marketers improve site rankings and although some SEO's believe there is a correlation to Google's ranking system, it is probably just a myth.

1. Domain link (+)

Similar to brand authority with the exception that a brand's website URL is mentioned. Metrics could include browser toolbars (bookmarks), press releases, news, blogs, associations...

2. Domain link authority (+)

Generally speaking, it is believed that search engines use a domain authority scale to measure the quality of a domain link.

3. Page link authority (+)

Whereas Domain Authority measures the predictive ranking strength of an entire domain, Page Authority measures the strength of individual pages that may be linked to by other websites.

4. Internal links (+)

Internal links are links within a website domain that provide more information about the subject matter, these links could be to definitions, rich media or blog topics.

5. External links (+)

External links are links that link to outside websites and may include related associations, partners, resources or rich media.

6. Anchor text (+)

Anchor text is the visible wording that a hyperlink displays in an internal or external link. Anchor text can provide both search engines and users with relevant contextual information about the content of the link's destination.

7. Link title (0)

A link title provides additional information on where a link will take you. Although link titles can provide visual and non-visual users with information about a link, they can cause duplication issues on screen readers.

The value of a link title appears to be diminishing.

8. Broken links (-)

Having broken links on a page may indicate a neglected or abandoned website. Make sure to test site links on a regular basis.

• Don't forget to post an updated sitemap to your server.

9. Backlinks (+/-)

Backlinks are off-site links that link to a website. They have always been a part of SEO, but in recent years have diminished in value.

The quality of backlinks is extremely important. Spammy backlinks will have a negative effect on ranking, while reputable high-quality sites may have a positive effect on rank.

• Do not use link farms or other black-hat tactics.
• Avoid paying for backlinks but be wary of free listing.
• Use links that legitimize your business.

It is believed that links to content on social networks help search engines understand the credibility of a website relating to a site's keyword phrases.

Having a social media presence has the potential to increase the popularity of your website, but don't just do it, not all social media networks will be appropriate to your business and if you cannot allocate resources to manage them, you may be completely wasting time and money.

1. Social network relevance (+)

Make sure there is relevance in the posts and don't forget, to be a success in social networks, you need to be followed, follow, like and share.

2. Social network profiles (+)

Social Network Profiles seem to get good rank for most brands. Probably because these profiles are usually up-to-date and loaded with friendly information about a company.

3. Building a following (+)

It would appear that the number of followers and connections your social media profiles contain can influence ranking.

Social media is a great way to build your web presence and quickly build an audience.

4. Keep it alive (+)

If search engines like social media, then they are bound to like new, high-quality content on the social media networks. Keep the posts coming and make sure there is a relevant purpose to them.

Capture events and post pictures

5. Sharing (+)

Likes, shared links, shared posts, favourites, replies, and retweets all seem to count toward increased authority, but not all social networks appear to be treated equally. Stick with Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Linkedin and YouTube.

6. Social media pages (+)

Social media pages are subject to the same SEO rules as most websites and tend to rank higher than many company home pages. Use these pages to try drive website users back to your website. This will increase website activity to your website and increase associated ranking factors.

7. Open graph protocol (+)

Originally introduced (a series of meta tags) by Facebook several years ago. It promotes the integration between Facebook and other websites by allowing them to become rich "graph" objects with the same functionality as other Facebook objects. And now today other social media sites are taking advantage of these social media tags ( Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+, recognize Open Graph tags ) - Twitter has actually created a set of their own.

Although Google and other search engines don't share their secret criteria for their algorithms, the whole philosophy behind Open Graph Protocol sounds pretty good. It's very probable that if implemented on a site, SEO Points will be rewarded.

1. Text alternatives (Alt Text)

Provide descriptive alternative text for non-text content such as images, graphics, and multimedia elements. This is crucial for users who rely on screen readers.

2. Semantic HTML

Use proper HTML markup to ensure that the structure and elements of your content are semantically meaningful. This helps screen readers and other assistive technologies understand the content.

3. Keyboard accessibility

Ensure that all functionality is accessible via a keyboard. Some users may not be able to use a mouse, and keyboard navigation is essential for them.

4. Focus indication

Clearly indicate the focus state for interactive elements. This helps users who navigate through a site using a keyboard or other non-mouse input devices.

5. Colour contrast

Ensure there is sufficient colour contrast between text and background colours. This benefits users with visual impairments or colour blindness.

6. Resizable text

Allow users to adjust the text size without affecting the overall website layout. This is important for users with low vision.

7. Readable fonts

Use legible fonts and font sizes. Some users may have difficulty reading small or fancy fonts.

8. Captions and transcripts

Provide captions for audio and video content, and transcripts for multimedia. This benefits users with hearing impairments or those who prefer written content.

9. Logical content structure

Organize content in a logical and consistent manner using proper heading tags (h1, h2, etc.). This aids in navigation and comprehension.

10. Forms and input assistance

Ensure that forms are accessible, with proper labels, error messages, and helpful hints. Users with disabilities should be able to complete and submit forms easily.

11. Adaptive technologies compatibility

Test your website with various assistive technologies, including screen readers, to ensure compatibility and a seamless user experience.

12. Skip navigation links

Include "skip to content" links at the beginning of the page to allow users to bypass repetitive navigation and go directly to the main content.

13. Accessible tables

If using tables, ensure they are coded properly for accessibility. Include header cells and use the scope attribute to associate data cells with header cells.

14. Audio descriptions

For video content, provide audio descriptions of visual information to assist users with visual impairments.

15. Accessible navigation

Implement accessible navigation menus that can be easily navigated using a keyboard or assistive devices.

By incorporating these features into your website, you can create a more inclusive and accessible online experience for a diverse range of users. Web accessibility is not only a legal and ethical consideration but also enhances the overall usability and reach of your website.