Search Engine Optimisation or SEO is an activity that can ensure people reach out to your website with the help of search engines. The search results that appear in a search engine can show the links to relevant pages that can be authoritative and trustworthy. Website authority can be measured by analysing other web pages that may mention a link to your webpage due to various factors.
In simple words, the web pages have the potential to rank in search engines if the website is considered trustworthy and if there is relevant content in a search query. Many agencies offer Affordable SEO packages United Kingdom, so don’t hesitate to get in touch. They can help your brand to handle SEO easily, due to their experience and expertise in the field.
How Search Engines Work
Search engines perform different activities before delivering the search results based on the keyword entered by the user. Some of the activities are:
- Crawling: It is the process of fetching the web pages that are linked to a website. The task can be performed by software called spider or crawler that is linked to the search engine.
- Indexing: This method can be used to create an index for all the fetched webpages and store them in a giant database from where it can be retrieved later, if required. The process of indexing means to identify the expressions and words that would describe the page and to assign the web page to particular keywords.
- Processing: The search engine processes a search request when it is initiated by a user. It makes use of a search string to compare it with the search request with indexed pages in the database.
- Calculating Relevancy: In most cases, more than one page contains the search string. In such cases, the search engine starts calculating the relevancy of each of the pages in its index to the search string.
- Retrieval of Results: This is the last step when it comes to search engine activities. This is nothing more than displaying the search results in the browser.
Most of the search engines keep updating their relevancy algorithm many times a month. When the changes in rankings are visible, it can be, in most cases, due to algorithmic shifts. The basic principle of all search engines is the same. There may be minor differences in search algorithms and it can also lead to major changes in the relevancy of the results.
Ways to Improve a Website’s SEO Ranking
Publish Relevant Content
High quality content can be a highlight that can help in driving search engine rankings. There cannot be a substitute for great content! High quality content designed for specific users can increase website traffic which improves the website’s relevance and authority. Aim at fine tuning online writing skills. When it comes to keywords, identify and target specific keyword phrases for all pages, one by one, on the website.
Being natural and search engine-friendly can help in improving search engine rankings. While publishing content on the webpage, repeat the keyword phrases throughout the content for better keyword visibility. However, the content should read naturally. SEO should not affect the quality of content provided on the website.
Update the Content Regularly
Content that gets updated on a regular basis could be one of the best indicators that the website is relevant. Hence, make sure that you keep the content fresh. Schedule an audit for the content and update or make changes if it is required. A website that stays up-to-date can be loved by search engines as well as visitors.
Metadata
Each page has a space where metadata or specific information regarding the contents of a page needs to be entered. The metadata needs to be reviewed and updated as the website would get changed overtime.
- Title Metadata: Title metadata is responsible for the page titles that get displayed at the top of the window on a browser as the headline in search results. It is one of the most important metadata on the website. When it comes to a CMS website, there can be an automated system that creates meta titles for each web page based on the page title. This highlights the importance of page titles that consist of rich keyword phrases.
- Description Metadata: It is a description with text, which a browser can use in page search in return. It can be an appealing and concise description that encourages people to open a website. Good metadata contains two full sentences. Search engines may or may not use the meta description but it’s always a good idea for a website to provide one, just in case the search engines requires it.
- Keyword Metadata: It is rarely used to calculate search engine rankings. However, your brand should be always aware of the keyword phrases so that it won’t be difficult to add it to the metadata. Include a variety of phrases. Try to include six to seven phrases with each phrase of around four words.
Own a Website that is Link-worthy
Create relevant links within the text. Such links will be rich in keywords and can improve search engine rankings as well as the page ranking that is getting linked. Make use of descriptive links by linking keywords. This can help in improving search engine optimisation and adds value to readers who may even have reading disabilities.
Make Use of Alt tags
Utilise alt tags or alternative text descriptions to provide a better description of visual or media aids provided on the website. This helps the search engines to locate the website. This can be a crucial aspect for people who use text-only browsers or screen readers. Making use of such methods can help in improving search engine ranking. Know more
Most search engines keep altering the way search algorithms work. Popular search engines are well-developed and they offer artificial intelligence (AI), voice search, image search and machine learning rather than just being a usual search engine. AI tools can help in spotting anomalies in search results and can help in collecting insights. Most search engines aim to evolve around three factors such as predictive recommendations, mobile search and voice-activated queries. Such facilities can be utilised with the help of smart home devices and virtual assistants.
For SERPs, it is not uncommon nowadays to see around seven organic search results below a featured snippet or a quick answer box for a related question. Search engines do not rely on page rank algorithms for a specific keyword. Instead, it relies on algorithms or knowledge graphs that can trigger a quick answer or even pull up a description in the form of a snippet at the top of SERP.
SEO platforms are leaning towards this shift by providing more importance to mobile-specific analytics. The desktop and mobile shows different search results for the same keyword or query.
Mobile results would be based on mobile-optimised rich cards while a desktop would show snippets. Again, this would depend on the search engines. Some search engines may not provide accurate results and would need more specific keywords while other search engines would pull up more accurate search results!
