In a world full of SEO competition, where websites compete for top search results, it’s easy to focus on the latest trends and strategies. But what about the fundamental building blocks? Often, well-established SEO practices can be neglected. In this article, we will explore six frequently overlooked SEO tasks that can strengthen your business website’s foundation, improving organic traffic and user experience.
Optimize for Mobile
One crucial task that often gets pushed aside is optimizing your website for mobile devices. With most web traffic coming from smartphones and tablets, ensuring a seamless mobile experience is no longer a nicety, but a necessity.
Statista reported that half of the website traffic globally comes through mobile. The last quarter of 2023 witnessed nearly 58.67% of website traffic through mobiles only (excluding tabs). Smartphones and mobile phones are constantly increasing in number, and so is the website traffic coming from them.
Optimizing for mobile means ensuring fast loading times, clear and readable text, and easy-to-use navigation. This can involve using responsive design, compressing images, and prioritizing mobile-friendly content. By creating a mobile-friendly website, you’ll improve your search engine ranking and also keep visitors engaged and coming back for more.
How can businesses test and ensure their website is fully active on different devices?
Businesses can use online responsive testing tools to see how their website appears on various screen sizes, mimicking phones, tablets, and desktops. Testing across different browsers also ensures a consistent and optimal user experience.
Improve Page Speed- Overlooked SEO Tasks
Page speed is another SEO factor that can often fall by the wayside. Slow page loading can irritate users and cause them to leave your website even before watching your content. Search engines also prioritize faster websites.
According to Blogging Wizard, 82% of users reported that slow page speeds affect their buying decisions quickly. E-commerce websites having a loading page speed of 1 second have 3X conversion rates. Moreover, the average loading speed of Google’s first-page result is 1.65 seconds.
You can apply several techniques to improve the page loading speed of your website.
These include augmenting images, reducing the quantity of HTTP requests, minifying code, and leveraging browser caching. By implementing these policies, you’ll create a faster, more user-friendly site that ranks higher in search results.
Schema Markup Implementation- Overlooked SEO Tasks
Schema markup, though not a new concept, is often an underutilized SEO tool. It acts like clear labels for your website content, helping search engines understand the content of your pages. Implementing schema markup can lead to richer search results for your business, including star ratings for assessments, event particulars, or product info.
Almost 50 million websites are already using Schema to mark up their websites and email messages. This can significantly boost click-through rates as users are presented with a more informative and engaging search snippet.
What tools or resources are recommended for implementing and testing schema markup?
To implement schema markup, Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper is a great option. It offers a smooth interface to generate code for various content types. For testing, both Google’s Rich Results Test and the Schema.org Validator can be installed. The Rich Results Test shows how your markup translates to search results, while the Schema.org Validator ensures the code itself is error-free.
Address Orphan Pages- Overlooked SEO Tasks
According to Diffuse Digital Marketing, orphan pages are those pages within the website that have no internal links directed to them. These pages are isolated and are tough for search engines and users to locate.
Orphan pages, with no internal links directed to them, can be detrimental to your SEO efforts. Search engines often struggle to find and index these pages, leaving valuable content invisible.
Addressing orphan pages is a two-step process. First, identify them using website crawlers or analytics tools. Then, decide their fate. Relevant orphan pages can be integrated into your website’s navigation or linked to other content.
Alternatively, for outdated pages, consider a 301 redirect to a more suitable page, ensuring a smooth user experience and passing on link value.
Also Read: Top Structured Data Testing Tools for Your Website
How can businesses identify orphan pages on their website?
Businesses can hunt down orphan pages with website crawler tools like Screaming Frog or by analyzing their website’s internal linking structure within SEO platforms. Google Analytics can also be a helpful detective tool. Look for pages with zero sessions or traffic, indicating they might be hidden from users and search engines.
Utilize Local SEO Strategies
Don’t neglect the power of local SEO if you are operating your business in a specific geographic area.
According to Forbes, local SEO targets users in a particular region, city, or locality. Almost 46% of all Google searches are local. By implementing local SEO strategies, you can significantly increase your presence in local search results.
Ensure your Google Business Profile is claimed and optimized, and maintain consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone number) across online platforms. Create content that focuses on local keywords and targets your community’s needs. Local SEO strengthens your online presence and attracts customers searching for shops or services in their area.
Also Read: Best WordPress Schema Markup Plugins
Optimize Images for SEO- Overlooked SEO Tasks
Images are powerful website elements, but they can also hinder SEO if not optimized. To leverage their potential, focus on two key areas: technical aspects and content. Resizing and compressing images ensures quick loading times.
Fueled by website developers’ focus on image optimization, the image optimization market is experiencing steady growth. Data Mine Intelligence predicts a healthy CAGR of 5.7%, with the market reaching a projected value of $238.7 million by 2031.
Use evocative image names, captions, and alt text to communicate the image’s content to help search engines and visually impaired users. This improves image searchability and accessibility, making your website more user-friendly and SEO-friendly.
On an ending note, SEO isn’t just about chasing the latest trends. By revisiting these fundamental SEO tasks, you can solidify your website’s foundation, improve user experience, and climb the search engine rankings ladder. A strong SEO foundation is an investment that will pay off in the future, attracting organic traffic and keeping your business visible online.
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