Expert SEO Nice Best Practices for Website Success

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To achieve website success, it's essential to follow expert SEO best practices. A well-structured website architecture is crucial, with clear hierarchy and organization of content.

A website should have a clear and concise homepage that effectively communicates its purpose and value proposition. This is achieved by using a prominent and descriptive headline.

Keyword research is vital in understanding what your target audience is searching for. Conducting thorough keyword research will help you identify relevant and high-traffic keywords.

A website's loading speed is a critical ranking factor, with Google recommending a loading speed of less than 3 seconds.

Intriguing read: Niche Keyword Research

What is SEO?

An SEO expert is someone who optimizes websites to achieve higher search engine rankings. They know how to get more traffic from search engines.

To become an SEO expert, you need to master the basics, which include HTML, how search engines work, and important Google ranking factors in 2024.

These basics are essential for anyone who wants to be a legit SEO expert.

A Brief History

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SEO has a rich and fascinating history that spans over two decades, emerging in the mid-1990s with the launch of the first search engines.

These early search engines used simple algorithms to rank websites based on their content and relevance, marking the beginning of SEO as we know it.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, SEO became a popular marketing strategy as businesses realized the importance of having a strong online presence.

SEO techniques were relatively straightforward back then, focusing on keyword stuffing, meta tags, and link building.

Google introduced its Panda algorithm in 2005, targeting low-quality content and keyword stuffing, marking a new era in SEO that emphasized high-quality, relevant content.

The Penguin algorithm was introduced in 2011, targeting link spam and manipulative link-building tactics, reinforcing the importance of earning natural links through valuable content.

For more insights, see: High Quality Link Building

What Is an?

What Is an SEO Expert?

An SEO expert is someone that optimizes websites in order to achieve higher search engine rankings. They know exactly how to make a website more visible to search engines like Google.

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An SEO expert is someone that knows how to get more traffic from search engines. This is typically done through various techniques and strategies that improve a website's search engine ranking.

SEO experts use their knowledge to make websites more appealing to search engines, which in turn drives more traffic to the site. By doing so, they help businesses and individuals reach their target audience more effectively.

Understand the Basics

To truly understand SEO, you need to know the basics. An SEO expert is someone who optimizes websites to achieve higher search engine rankings.

Understanding the basics of SEO is essential for anyone who wants to master advanced topics like link building and mobile optimization. You'll learn the essentials that ANY legit SEO expert needs to know.

HTML is a fundamental part of SEO, as Google looks at your site's code instead of how humans see it. You don't need to be a coding ninja, but knowing the basics of HTML makes optimizing your site much easier.

Knowing the basics of HTML will help you avoid technical SEO problems and make optimizing your site a lot easier.

Why Is Important?

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Expert SEO is crucial for businesses to reach their target audience effectively. It helps them stand out in a crowded online space.

A well-optimized website can increase search engine rankings, driving more traffic and potential customers to a business. This can lead to increased sales and revenue.

SEO best practices, such as keyword research and content optimization, can improve website visibility and credibility. A business with a strong online presence is more likely to gain customer trust.

By appearing higher in search engine results, a business can increase its online visibility and reach a wider audience. This can help to establish brand awareness and build a loyal customer base.

A good SEO strategy can also help a business stay ahead of the competition, as it allows them to adapt quickly to changes in search engine algorithms and user behavior.

Types of SEO

Types of SEO are crucial for any online presence. There are three main types: technical optimization, content optimization, and off-site optimization.

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Technical optimization is like building a strong defense, making sure your website is secure and easy to navigate. It involves optimizing the technical aspects of a website, like its structure and code.

Content optimization is where the magic happens, it's like launching a successful offense. On-site SEO optimizes the content on a website for users and search engines.

Off-site optimization is a bit more unpredictable, but still essential. It's about creating brand assets and doing things that enhance brand awareness and recognition.

Here are the three types of SEO in a nutshell:

  • Technical SEO: Optimizing the technical aspects of a website.
  • On-site SEO: Optimizing the content on a website for users and search engines.
  • Off-site SEO: Creating brand assets and doing things that enhance brand awareness and recognition.

SEO Planning and Implementation

SEO planning is like creating a roadmap for your website's success. Your SEO strategy should include setting clear goals, such as OKRs or SMART goals, and defining meaningful KPIs and metrics to measure progress.

A good SEO plan should also include setting expectations, like timelines and milestones, and deciding how projects will be created and implemented, whether internally or externally. Coordinating and communicating with key stakeholders is also crucial.

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To create and implement your SEO plan, you'll need to create new content, recommend or implement changes to existing pages, and remove old, outdated, or low-quality content. This will help you optimize your website for search engines.

You should also consider hiring, training, and structuring a team to help with your SEO efforts. Setting a budget and measuring and reporting on results are also essential parts of the process.

Here's a breakdown of the key elements of an SEO plan:

  • Setting goals (e.g., OKRs, SMART)
  • Setting expectations (i.e., timelines/milestones)
  • Defining and aligning meaningful KPIs and metrics
  • Deciding how projects will be created and implemented
  • Coordinating and communicating with key stakeholders
  • Choosing and implementing tools/technology
  • Hiring, training, and structuring a team
  • Setting a budget
  • Measuring and reporting on results
  • Documenting the strategy and process

Remember, a good SEO plan is like a roadmap – it will evolve over time, but the destination should remain clear and unchanged.

SEO Techniques

SEO Techniques are crucial for any website looking to improve its online presence. To start, you need to optimize the technical elements of your website, including URL structure, navigation, and internal linking.

Make sure your website is crawlable by search engines, as Gary Illyes, Google's trends analyst, once advised: "MAKE THAT DAMN SITE CRAWLABLE." This involves creating a website that can be easily indexed by search engines.

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Key technical elements also include Core Web Vitals, mobile-friendliness, and usability, which impact page experience and loading speed. Additionally, HTTPS and avoiding intrusive interstitials are essential for technical SEO.

Here are some key SEO techniques to keep in mind:

  • Optimize URL structure for easy crawling
  • Improve navigation and internal linking
  • Enhance page experience with Core Web Vitals and mobile-friendliness
  • Use HTTPS and avoid intrusive interstitials

The 5 Keys

The 5 Keys of SEO are the foundation of any successful search engine optimization strategy. To become an SEO expert, you need to master these 5 core topics.

Master Key #1: Keyword Research and Intent

Keyword research is crucial to understanding what your audience is searching for. By anticipating the search terms your readers might use, you can create content that matches their intent.

Master Key #2: On-page and Technical SEO

For search engines to feature and reward your content, your website needs to be intelligible to their crawlers. This is achieved through on-page SEO, which involves optimizing specific elements of a website page, and technical SEO, which involves managing the technical backend of your website.

See what others are reading: Organic Keyword Research

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Master Key #3: User Behavior and Experience

User behavior and experience are essential ranking factors. By understanding how users interact with your website, you can improve your SEO strategy. Tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console can help you track user behavior and make data-driven decisions.

Master Key #4: Link Building and Authority

Link building is a crucial off-site SEO activity that involves acquiring links from authoritative websites. The quality of links beats the quantity, and a diverse number of links from relevant sources can significantly improve your SEO.

Master Key #5: Measuring and Reporting Performance

To improve your SEO, you need to measure and report on your performance regularly. This involves using tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console to collect performance data and create reports that tell a story and compare to previous periods.

By mastering these 5 Keys of SEO, you can improve your website's visibility, drive more traffic, and increase conversions.

Expand your knowledge: How to Improve Organic Seo

Technical

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Technical SEO is a crucial aspect of search engine optimization, and it's not just about throwing keywords around. Gary Illyes, Google's trends analyst, once said, "MAKE THAT DAMN SITE CRAWLABLE." This means creating a website that's easy for search engines to discover and access all of its content.

To achieve this, you need to optimize your website's technical elements, such as URL structure, navigation, and internal linking. This will help search engines understand your content and enhance your appearance in search results.

Here are some key technical elements to focus on:

  • URL structure: A clear and consistent URL structure will help search engines understand your website's hierarchy and content organization.
  • Navigation: Make sure your website's navigation is intuitive and easy to use, both for humans and search engines.
  • Internal linking: Use internal linking to help search engines understand your website's content relationships and structure.

Additionally, you should also focus on user experience, as search engines stress the importance of pages that load quickly and provide a good page experience. This includes:

  • Core Web Vitals: Ensure your website meets the recommended Core Web Vitals scores to provide a smooth user experience.
  • Mobile-friendliness: Make sure your website is optimized for mobile devices, as Google now runs on a mobile-first index.
  • HTTPS: Ensure your website is secured with HTTPS to provide a safe and trustworthy experience for users.
  • Page load speed: Optimize your website's page load speed to provide a fast and seamless user experience.

By focusing on these technical elements, you'll be able to create a website that's crawlable, user-friendly, and optimized for search engines.

Use Descriptive URLs

Using descriptive URLs is a simple yet effective way to improve your website's search engine optimization (SEO). A descriptive URL includes words that may be useful for users, making it easier for them to understand whether a result will be useful for them.

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Google learns breadcrumbs automatically based on the words in the URL, but you can also influence them with structured data if you like a technical challenge. Try to include words in the URL that may be useful for users, such as the name of a category or a specific topic.

For example, a URL like https://www.example.com/pets/cats.html is more helpful for users than a URL like https://www.example.com/2/6772756D707920636174, which only contains random identifiers.

Descriptive URLs can also be used to display breadcrumbs in search results, making it easier for users to navigate your website. By including relevant words in your URLs, you can help users quickly understand the structure of your website and find what they're looking for.

Expand your knowledge: Seo Expert Rapid Url Indexer

Linking to other sites can be a great way to provide more context on a topic, but you need to be careful about the resources you're linking to. Make sure you trust the content, or add a nofollow annotation to avoid search engines associating your site with the linked site.

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If you're accepting user-generated content on your site, such as forum posts or comments, it's a good idea to automatically add a nofollow annotation to every link posted by users. This helps prevent your site from being blindly associated with the sites users are linking to.

Adding a nofollow annotation is especially important if you can't trust the content of the linked site. This can help avoid potential negative consequences in your rankings in Google Search.

You should also use nofollow annotations for links to content on other sites that you don't control, unless you're absolutely sure of the content's quality. This is a good practice to follow to maintain a clean and trustworthy online presence.

Optimize Your Videos

Optimize your videos by creating high-quality content and embedding it on a standalone page near relevant text. This will help people discover your site through video results in Google Search.

To make your videos more discoverable, write descriptive text in the titles and description fields. This is just like writing a title for a blog post, so you can apply the same best practices.

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High-quality video content is essential for optimizing your videos. It's like taking a beautiful photo - you want it to be visually appealing and engaging.

Create a standalone page for each video, and include relevant text nearby. This will help search engines understand what your video is about and improve its visibility in search results.

Here are some best practices to keep in mind:

  • Create high-quality video content and embed it on a standalone page near relevant text.
  • Write descriptive text in the titles and description fields of a video.

If your site is particularly video-focused, there's more you can do to optimize your videos for search engines.

Link building is a huge part of SEO, and it's not going to change anytime soon. You need to be good at building backlinks to succeed in search engine optimization.

Link building involves acquiring links to a website from relevant, authoritative, and trusted sources. This can be achieved through various methods, including content marketing, guest posting, and social media marketing.

According to Calin Yablonski, a successful SEO consultant, scaling link building without being spammy is key. He recommends personalizing each email that goes out and involving clients in the process to find untapped link opportunities.

Related reading: Seo Marketing Specialist

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Link quality beats link quantity, and a large quantity of quality links is the ultimate goal. To achieve this, you can use various website promotion methods that synergize with SEO efforts, such as brand building, PR, and social media marketing.

Here are some popular forms of content marketing that can help you get high-quality links:

  • Creating videos, ebooks, research studies, podcasts, or being a guest on other podcasts
  • Guest posting or guest blogging
  • Creating and sharing relevant content on social media

Remember, link building is not just about getting links, but also about building your brand and authority. By doing so, you can improve your online reputation, increase your website's visibility, and ultimately drive more traffic and sales.

Best Website Builders

If you're looking for a website builder that can help you optimize your site for search engines, there are several options to consider. Wix is our top pick for overall SEO website builders, offering a complete suite of free SEO tools, including customizable URLs and automatic creation of a mobile-friendly version of your site.

Wix also impressed us with its diverse range of template options, offering more variety than any of the other platforms we looked at, including Squarespace. This can be a major advantage if you're looking for a website builder that can help you stand out from the competition.

A unique perspective: Wix Seo Specialist

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Shopify is a great option for ecommerce businesses, offering the best SEO support for online stores. With Shopify, you can edit important SEO elements like meta titles, meta descriptions, and URLs with ease. Additionally, Shopify automatically creates sitemaps for you, which can help search engines understand your site's structure.

Squarespace is another popular website builder that offers excellent SEO help and support. With Squarespace, you can edit your site's SEO elements, including meta titles and descriptions, and connect your site with tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console.

Webflow is a website builder that's geared towards advanced users, offering complete control over SEO. With Webflow, you can edit and fine-tune everything, including 301 redirects, markups, and sitemaps. However, Webflow may not be the best choice for beginners, as it lacks SEO prompts in the editor.

IONOS is a great option if you're looking for affordable SEO tools. With IONOS, you can get cheap introductory plans and still access a range of SEO features, including website analytics and mobile-friendly designs.

Here are our top picks for SEO website builders:

Webflow Value for Money

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Webflow offers a free plan to get started, but we recommend upgrading to a premium plan as soon as possible to unlock advanced SEO tools like sitemap controls and structured search support.

Webflow's plans range from $14 to $212 per month, and you'll need to subscribe to at least the $29 per month Standard plan if you want to sell online.

If you have SEO experience, Webflow is a good choice since it lets you optimize your site manually. This means you can tweak your site to align with your SEO goals.

Webflow is ideal for designers who need advanced editing control, giving you complete creative freedom to tweak your site.

Here's a breakdown of Webflow's plans:

SEO Best Practices

To become an SEO specialist, you need to actually do SEO. This means putting your skills into practice, which can be done in three main ways. Running your own website is one option, which can help you learn SEO quickly, as seen in the case of Maaike who went from an SEO newbie to expert in record time.

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Link text, also known as anchor text, is crucial for SEO. This is the text part of a link that users and Google can see, and it tells them something about the page you're linking to.

A good title link can influence your search result and help users decide which result to click. A good title is unique to the page, clear, and concise, and accurately describes the contents of the page. For example, a title could include the name of your website or business, physical location, and what the page has to offer.

Writing good link text and titles is essential for SEO best practices. This helps users and search engines understand what your linked pages contain and what your page is about.

SEO Strategy and Growth

To become an SEO expert, you should learn about advanced SEO strategies, like the Hreflang tag, which is essential for International SEO.

Learning about these topics will take your SEO game to the next level.

SEO Advanced Topics

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To be considered an "SEO Expert", you should learn about advanced SEO strategies, such as International SEO.

If you want to take your SEO game to the next level, you should at least know what an Hreflang tag is.

In Chapter 6, you'll find a number of advanced SEO skills outlined, along with resources to learn more about them.

Algorithm Updates and Impact

Algorithm updates have a significant impact on website rankings and traffic. These updates can take several months to be fully reflected in search results, so it's essential to be patient and monitor your website's performance over time.

Some notable algorithm updates include Panda, which targeted low-quality content and keyword stuffing, and Penguin, which aimed at link spam and manipulative link-building tactics. Websites that didn't adapt to these changes saw a significant drop in rankings.

Algorithm updates like Hummingbird and RankBrain improved search results for long-tail keywords and natural language queries. These updates allowed Google to understand the context and intent behind queries better, benefiting websites with high-quality, relevant content.

For more insights, see: Seo Content Website

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Here are some of the most notable algorithm updates and their impact:

  • Panda (2011): Targeted low-quality content and keyword stuffing, causing websites with thin or duplicate content to see a significant drop in rankings.
  • Penguin (2011): Aimed at link spam and manipulative link-building tactics, leading to a substantial drop in rankings for websites with unnatural link profiles.
  • Hummingbird (2013): Improved search results for long-tail keywords and natural language queries, allowing Google to understand the context and intent behind queries better.
  • RankBrain (2015): Introduced machine learning to improve search results, rewarding websites with high-quality content and strong user engagement.
  • BERT (2018): Enhanced Google's understanding of natural language and context, improving search results for conversational queries.
  • Helpful Content Update (HCU) (2022): Aimed to reward websites that provide valuable and informative content to users, demoting sites with content primarily created for search engine rankings.

It's essential to stay informed about these changes and adapt your SEO strategy to maintain and improve your search engine rankings.

For Advanced Users: Webflow

Webflow is a website builder that offers advanced customization and power, making it ideal for designers who want complete control over their site's SEO. It has a host of SEO features, including responsive templates that automatically adjust to different views.

Webflow performed well in site speed and performance tests, surpassing Squarespace in both areas. This is crucial for search engines to look favorably upon your website. With Webflow, you get complete control over SEO, whether that's 301 redirects, markups, or sitemaps.

Unfortunately, Webflow isn't very beginner-friendly when it comes to SEO. There's a lack of SEO prompts when working in the editor, making it difficult to know what to complete or where to start when optimizing your site.

Here's an interesting read: Seo Webflow

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Here are some key SEO features of Webflow:

  • Responsive templates that automatically adjust to different views
  • Site speed and performance that surpasses Squarespace
  • Complete control over SEO, including 301 redirects, markups, and sitemaps
  • No keyword support available, so you'll need to do research yourself via a third-party platform

To get the most out of Webflow's SEO features, it's recommended to upgrade to a premium plan, which starts at $29 per month. This will give you access to advanced SEO tools, such as sitemap controls and structured search support.

Staying Current with SEO

Staying Current with SEO is crucial to success in the industry. The SEO industry is always changing, which means there's always something new to learn about.

To stay ahead of the curve, you need to be aware of the latest trends. Reading up on emerging SEO trends is a great way to do this.

Here are 5 emerging SEO trends to get you started: staying current with emerging trends is key to success in the SEO industry. The 5 emerging trends are not specified here, but reading up on them is recommended.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are SEO experts worth it?

Investing in SEO services can be a worthwhile investment for businesses looking to boost website traffic and conversions. With average monthly costs around $497, the benefits may outweigh the costs for those willing to invest in online growth.

Who is the world No 1 SEO expert?

The world No 1 SEO expert is Stephan Spencer, a renowned expert in SEO and internet entrepreneurship. He's a leading authority in search engine optimization.

How much do SEO experts charge?

SEO experts typically charge between $100-$250 per hour, or $2,500-$10,000 per month, depending on the agency and services provided

Claire Beier

Senior Writer

Claire Beier is a seasoned writer with a passion for creating informative and engaging content. With a keen eye for detail and a talent for simplifying complex concepts, Claire has established herself as a go-to expert in the field of web development. Her articles on HTML elements have been widely praised for their clarity and accessibility.

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