Crawling, site speed, gripping content, and strategically placed links are among the crucial SEO components that determine your website’s success. Getting one aspect wrong could have a negative impact on your site’s performance.
So, how do you know what to pay attention to?
Don’t worry; we have you covered! We’ve put together the most essential parts of SEO to help you on your way.
Of course, there’s a lot more to success than just five SEO resources, but we’re putting the spotlight on the most important ones.
So let’s get the ball rolling!
Key Takeaways
- SEO is a continuous process that helps to improve the visibility and organic traffic of a website in search engines.
- Creating high-quality, relevant content that serves a purpose for the audience is important for SEO success.
- Keyword research and targeting can help to identify what the audience is searching for and improve the chances of your content being seen.
- Establishing expertise, authority, and trustworthiness (E-A-T) through content can increase the credibility and authority of a website.
- Visual assets, including images and videos, can improve the user experience and engagement on a website.
Why does SEO matter?
Before we get to the nitty-gritty of the SEO components. Let’s take a closer look at SEO itself. What is it, and why does it matter?
First, allow us to point out that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a game that never ends. You won’t ever find that you’ve ticked all the boxes and can stop putting in the effort.
Don’t let this deter you, though. All the hard work put into your site pays off when it reaches the top of the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). After that, the grind begins to maintain that spot.
So what is SEO?
Simply put, it refers to boosting your website’s quality to increase web traffic and visibility for Google and other search engines. It’s a method of boosting organic search results through natural search results.
What is SEO important to your website’s success?
When used correctly, it helps to improve the chances of your site or specific content being seen by your target audience. It doesn’t help just to launch a website; SEO should be part of your site strategy to boost search visibility.
5 Essential SEO components
Now that we’ve explained what SEO is, let’s discuss how to use it for your website’s success.
As we’ve mentioned, when looking at SEO components, there’s a lot to cover. We’ve put them under what we consider the five main parts of SEO.
1. Creating content that matters
Website content plays a bigger role in your site performance than you’d think. Whatever your product or service, it creates a platform for you to showcase your industry expertise to potential clients.
These are the main SEO factors to focus on when adding content to your website.
Audience
The first step in your site strategy should be to understand your target audience and ensure that it’s relevant to your industry.
How does your planned content compare to your competitors? Do your competitors have a good SEO strategy? What kind of content is your audience looking for? Should your content be more relevant to your readers or search engines?
Asking these questions goes a long way to ensuring that your site traffic translates to sales.
Intent
What purpose should your content serve? Here, you should anticipate which stage your site visitors are in the buyers’ journey.
Implementing a plan like the 3H content strategy will help you to meet your clients where they are and guide them along to the next step.
Understanding the user intent also helps you identify what your audience is searching for and the relevant keywords to target. By meeting their intent, your content is more likely to show up in organic search results.
Target keywords
As you grow more familiar with your audience and competitors, you’ll find it easier to identify what is relevant. This is also where keyword research comes into the equation.
So what are the keys to keyword optimization?
By identifying what your audience is searching for, you’ll know which questions to answer. Tools like SEMRush, for example, can help you find keywords related to a particular term. It could even suggest related topics if you’re at a loss for new content ideas. Ultimately, this impacts the performance in search results.
E-A-T
One of the most essential SEO components is producing authoritative content. How do you do that? By using the Google E-A-T concept.
With these SEO tactics, you’ll establish yourself as a voice of Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-A-T).
The better E-A-T applies to your content, the more authority you’ll have in the eyes of your audience. This translates to more traffic and increased sales.
Visual assets
A crucial part of your site strategy should be the visual appeal. This means that you’re making use of images, infographics, and videos to support your content.
These visual SEO elements are handy when boosting the SERP visibility on your products or using infographics to summarize valuable information. Just be sure to optimize your alternate text whenever possible, as this also boosts SERP rankings.
You should also ensure that the visual file size is correct to prevent slow loading times and decreased site performance. Refer to the image below for the recommended image sizes for your website.
You should also remember to allow sharing on your visual assets to allow link building opportunities and boost your E-A-T.
When it comes to creating website content, it can be a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. If creation isn’t your forte, consider hiring professional SEO content writers like Grassroots Content to take on the challenge for you.
2. Using HTML correctly
The HyperText Markup Language (HTML) refers to a code used when structuring your site pages and the content. It “tells” browsers what to show, and how/where to show it. It also tells search engines what each web page is about. This ensures that web pages rank appropriately in the search results.
Here are the SEO components to pay close attention to.
Title tags and meta descriptions
On their own, the metas (title tag and meta description) won’t make a significant impact on your site performance. But when used as part of your site strategy, it’ll help build and demonstrate your site’s relevancy to the niche.
The tag (reflected in blue below) determines the success of the web page and whether your audience will click on the link or not.
A title tag that’ll encourage clicks:
- Is relevant to the page content
- Reflects the audience’s search intent (main contain the main keyword)
- Must be unique to the page
- Shouldn’t be spammy
The meta description is also crucial to your page’s SERP ranking. Consider them the helpful extra push when deciding whether or not to click the link. They help search engines identify what the page content is about, giving the audience a sneak preview of what to expect.
For a description that’ll help boost your page’s ranking, consider these recommendations:
- Keep it short yet detailed, close to but no longer than 155 characters.
- Ensure that it is relevant to the content on the page.
- Include the main keyword.
- Use a short, compelling CTA as a final “push.”
When done correctly, the meta description should provide the reader with a clear understanding of what to expect.
Geotags for local searches
A significant number of searches for services or products done online are for a particular local business. By implementing this SEO component, you’ll make connecting with your neighborhood easier.
If you’re focusing on local search traffic, use these simple tips:
- Include “near me” as well as your location in the keywords used in your content. Many potential clients use these terms in their internet searches, so including them in your keywords will help boost visibility.
- Ensure that your business listings and Google My Business profile are complete with all relevant information. This should include:
- Physical address
- Contact number
- Website address
- Email address(es)
- Detailed business description
- Customer reviews
- Link building opportunities with other websites of local businesses and organizations. Inbound links from reputable sites improves your site authority too.
This site strategy may take a bit of research, but it’ll draw those local clients in before you know it.
3. Technical SEO
When we talk about technical page SEO, we refer to the SEO components required for search engine crawlers to gather data and index your site. This area doesn’t necessarily impact your SERP ranking, but it gets your hat in the ring (so to speak).
Consider these aspects when working on the technical page SEO side of your website.
Linking
Believe it or not, links are one of the most significant SERP ranking factors. The trick, though, is to ensure that your links aren’t “spammy”—yes, there’s such a thing as too many links.
To make link building a valuable SEO component, they should be high-quality (from a site with a high domain authority) and relevant to the topic at hand.
Find a good balance between the internal links and external links used in your content. The best approach is to use them to back up the claims you’re making. This adds authority to your content.
The same concept applies when building links with other trustworthy sites in your niche.
Crawling and indexing
This process refers to “search engine spiders” that explore your site to determine if your content is relevant to your niche. It’ll also identify any errors that may need your attention.
Crawling is also essential when it comes to indexing your site pages. Not having indexed pages on your site is like burying a treasure, but hiding the map. No one will ever find it.
Do we need to point out how bad this is for your website’s ranking performance? It’s very, very bad!
4. User experience is everything
While page SEO components are all about improving your website’s SERP ranking, the user experience is vitally important too. At the end of the day, the amount of time a user spends on your page, as well as increased traffic, all impact the site’s search engine performance as well.
You can improve the user experience through:
Mobile optimization
Just as the internet has made it possible to find anything, anywhere, any time, mobile devices have done the same. So, it’s no wonder that most website traffic is from mobile devices.
For this reason, mobile optimization is an essential part of SEO for any website. This is not to say that desktop web searches aren’t important, it’s just not as big anymore.
Google’s mobile-first index caters to the masses and so should you!
Ensure that your site is optimized for mobile viewing and that everything displays and performs as it should. Believe it or not, you’ll lose potential customers if you don’t.
Page speed
Did you know that approximately 53% of mobile users abandon their searches if the pages take longer than 3 minutes to load? When it comes to site speed, it should ideally take 1–2 seconds to load or it’ll frustrate and drive away visitors.
To ensure that you don’t miss out on this page SEO component, try out these simple tips:
- Ensure that images are optimized
- Enable visual asset compressions
- Leverage browser caches
- Reduce the amount of redirects
5. Audits and reports reveal a lot
Now, let’s get to what is possibly the most important of the page SEO components—the audits and reports.
Accurate reporting allows you to determine progress and if you need to adjust or improve any SEO elements. After all, how can you fix something if you don’t know it’s broken?
For example, understanding content analytics allows you to identify keywords that aren’t performing well and amend them accordingly.
Effective reporting also provides insights into industry trends, so you can redirect your digital marketing strategy as required.
Take action to get ranking
Now that you have a clearer understanding of the most vital page SEO components, it’s time to create a plan and put it into action.
Just remember that the journey doesn’t end when your site ranks well on the SERPs. It’s an ongoing adventure to stay at the top.
Are you feeling a bit uncertain about your ability to carry out a strong SEO strategy? Why not contact us to find out how Grassroots Content can help you? Our team of experts is ready to assess your needs and develop a comprehensive package for you!
Renicia Broodryk is a dynamic writer and editor hailing from South Africa and currently residing in the breathtaking landscapes of Namibia. She is a powerhouse when it comes to SEO-driven content writing and marketing strategy.
With a passion for crafting persuasive narratives that drive results, she seamlessly blends her sales expertise with an engaging writing style that leaves readers craving more. Her words are carefully curated to not only captivate audiences but also to strategically optimize content for search engine rankings, ensuring maximum visibility and organic traffic.
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When it comes to SEO and content marketing, Renicia’s portfolio speaks volumes. Her expertise lies in seamlessly integrating targeted keywords, strategic meta tags, and captivating headlines into her content, amplifying the online presence of businesses across various industries. Her innate understanding of search engine algorithms ensures that her clients’ websites soar in search rankings, attracting the right audience and generating substantial organic traffic.
Renicia’s remarkable talent for striking the perfect balance between sales-driven content and engaging storytelling sets her apart in the realm of SEO and content marketing. Her masterful ability to entwine search optimization techniques with compelling narratives creates a harmonious synergy that captures readers’ attention while delivering impressive conversion rates.
If you’re looking for an author who possesses the SEO finesse to skyrocket your online visibility and the creative prowess to engage your target audience, look no further than Renicia Broodryk. Her words will not only boost your search rankings but also leave a lasting impression on readers, paving the way for increased brand recognition, customer loyalty, and business success.