SEO (SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION)

Predicting the exact landscape of SEO in the future is almost impossible, but it’s reasonable to assume that it will see major changes in the next several years because so much has changed already. Homespun Websites is now offering SEO and Marketing services that are consistently updated to meet the ever-evolving practices and standards necessary to get the most from your sites!

Here, we will break down the most important elements that determine how you rank in the search engines. There are four main items to keep in mind that need to be addressed when serious about converting more business or attention through your site: usability, security, content, and speed. These benchmarks should inform your strategy, any marketing you do afterwards will be significantly more effective.

TOP 10 Ranking Factors:

A ranking factor is the criteria Google utilizes to assess web pages and search queries. The search engine uses these signals to assign page rankings in search result pages (SERP). Google’s algorithms use over 200 ranking factors while other competing engines (such as Bing and Yahoo) follow suit.

There are billions of web pages and content in Google’s Search index, so only the most diligent sites will float to the top. In order to compete, your site must be relevant in all the following categories:

  • Mobile Compatibility
  • High Quality Content
  • On-Page Experience
  • Off-Page Backlinks
  • Search Intent & Content Relevancy
  • Website Loading Speed
  • Keyword Optimization
  • Website Structure
  • Website Security

Mobile Responsive Design

63% of Google’s US organic search traffic is conducted on mobile devices. Google not only recommends responsive web design, but they highly prioritize it when ranking sites; In 2015, Google updated their search engine algorithm to favor mobile-optimized websites over non-responsive sites, this has only become more important since and is now an absolute necessity.

This means websites that are mobile-friendly are ranked higher in search results and websites not optimized will experience a decline in their search engine rankings.

Your website absolutely needs to be responsive to create a desirable and intuitive user-experience AND increase visibility on search engines. If you have a dated, non-responsive site, it is essentially handicapped.

High Quality Content

Does your site convey your products or services concisely? Does it flow in such a way that entices the user to contact you immediately? Is that content optimized and properly implemented? There are rules to follow in making sure each of your webpages leads potential customers to the most desirable conclusion, and every page should be built to serve this goal.

On-Page Experience

Whether your products and services serve a specific demographic or are meant to appeal to a broad swath of people from all walks of life, it is important that the user can get the information they seek without minimal obstruction. The usability of a site depends on peak form and function; visually, the user should know where to go, what to click, and how to acquire what you are selling. This depends on the perfect marriage of design elements and informational content to make the site as accessible as possible to the desired target audience.

Off-Page Backlinks

Backlinks may be the most difficult SEO asset to attain, but they are still the most worthwhile. Backlinks greatly improve your rankings because search engines view the quality and quantity of the links as authoritative indicators of confidence from other established sources online. Without question, the more backlinks your website has, the higher it can rank for search terms. It is also great practice to submit your site and business to various directories, and HomeSpun can help you seek out these valuable resources and secure precious links.

Search Intent & Content Relevancy

Content type, content format, and content angle are referred to as the “3 C’s of search intent” that you can use to determine the search intent and optimize your content accordingly. Not every site will use the same visual approach to conveying their product or services, and so every single image, graphic, or element should work in unison to draw users to your site when they are searching specifically for what you offer. Do not post any material that strays from the central purpose of your business or organization, this only confuses the algorithm and users alike.

Website Loading Speed

Speed is a major factor lost on my business owners who opt for flashy or feature-packed sites. Yes, you can stack all sorts of elements that are perhaps visually impressive on their own, but you’ll find that the more you add to each page, the more data there is for a PC or mobile device to process. This directly affects page loading speed, and while many – or even most – users have high-speed internet service and the most current technology at their disposal, not everyone does. The search engines prioritize sites that load quickly, so think twice about using too many large files, such as hi-res images and animated elements (especially those using javascript) on any given page. Luckily, our designers are masters at CSS, which can be used to implement certain advanced design features while minimizing the impact on page speed.

Core Web Vitals

In 2020, Google announced a conversion in their ranking algorithms which would employ new metrics for measuring user experience known as Core Web Vitals. These metrics are meant to show different aspects of how a page loads and how that impacts user experience:

  • Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) measures loading performance. Essentially, this is how long it takes for the largest content element of the webpage to become visible, making the site appear fully loaded. To provide a valuable user experience, LCP should occur within 2.5 seconds of when the page first starts loading.
  • First Input Delay (FID) measures interactivity. This means how long it takes for the browser to respond when a user clicks on a button (or any other interactive element such as a calculator). For example, if a user is on your homepage and they click on “Checking Products” how long does it take for the link to show that it’s been clicked (I.e., a link changing color to indicate it’s been clicked)? That’s FID. To provide a beneficial user experience, pages should have an FID of less than 100 milliseconds.
  • Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) measures visual stability. For example, if you’re scrolling down a page and all of a sudden, an unexpected image loads and causes the text to jump around, that would be distracting and frustrating right? CLS measures the ability of a site to maintain structure so that no element loads “unexpectedly” but rather that all spaces are maintained, and the user can browse and click without the page jumping. To provide an adequate user experience, pages should maintain a CLS of less than 0.1.

Keyword Optimization

Keywords have always been a principal factor for ranking websites, but in the past several years Google and its competitors have moved away from referencing meta-tags. Meta-tags are keywords cited in the background code of each page to inform the engines of that page’s primary context. Due to an abusive practice called “keyword stuffing”, the bots that crawl and assess websites no longer prioritize this information, rather they assess the forward-facing content on a website and determine relevance based on how that information is arranged and conveyed. In short, the information on the page that everyone can see is what is referenced during the indexing process.

Website Structure

A website structure is the way a website’s content and pages are organized and interconnected. It involves the hierarchical arrangement of web pages and their relationships to one another. Website structure helps visitors and search engines navigate and understand the website’s content. This is something to be refined and established before the creation of a site, because once a site-map is created, altering it can potentially disrupt any momentum a site has in terms of SEO. If too much of the structure or content is changed, this may trigger a “reset response” from the search engines and they will presume it is a new site with new information, therefore requiring a complete re-evaluation. This results in the loss of previously achieved ranking!

Website Security – Secure Sockets Layer (SSL):

In 2014, Google announced that HTTPS is a ranking signal and they have since then been giving preference to websites that use HTTPS. HTTPS provides a more secure and encrypted connection between the user and the website, which is becoming increasingly important for user privacy and data protection.

  • Keeps data secure. SSL certificates protect customer data, including names, addresses, email addresses, and credit card information, from cybercriminals who can use this information to steal identities.
  • Enhances trust between customers; users expect your website to be secure and protect their data. If you don’t have an SSL certificate and they get a pop-up warning suggesting your website isn’t safe, they’ll likely move on to a site that is certified as secure.
  • Meets PCI/DSS requirements: PCI/DSS is mandated by the Payment Card Industry Security Standard council and set up by the major credit card companies and banks for companies that accept, store, and process cardholder data. If you don’t have an SSL certificate, you may not be able to work with a payment processor to sell products online. Even if you don’t engage in sales, you still benefit from reassuring users that they can browse your site securely.
  • Authenticates your identity: Encryption can boost your brand reputation because it authenticates and validates your business.
  • Improves ranking on search engines: Google rewards websites with SSL certificates by helping them rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) because it offers their users the reassurance of security.