→ How I see SEO!

‍Update:

There are a couple of things that are happening to SEO at the moment. We see a tendency of Google trying to be the Category page of the whole products and services. So they are extracting data from every website and pouring in Google SERP. Google Shopping is one example. Google is going further doing the same thing with content as well and using in Google Overview. Google currently is testing two modes in SERPs. AI Mode and Traditional SERP. AI Mode is useful to ask questions like "Is it possible to change a flat tire without a jack?" whereas Traditional SEPR is more useful on queries asking for "car repair services boston" (Reference)

Another addition that I have notices that is gaining attraction is Information gain. Information gain forces brands to have opinions. You can't be anymore politically correct. However in the end Page Rank is the cornerstone of SEO. Ranking is not anymore a KPI. In a world with personalised searches this is not anymore useful.

‍

Definition:

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is about making your website both attractive to search engines and people. The main aim of SEO is to boost your website's rankings in search results, like Google. However, just ranking higher isn't enough; it means you might get more visitors. But, what's essential is getting the right kind of visitors – those who are interested in what you offer. Even if you attract the right visitors, your website needs to be designed to turn them into customers. SEO is not just Google. Diversify.

‍

Ranking Signals:

PageRank is an algorithm developed by Google to rank web pages based on their importance. It evaluates both the number and quality of links to a page, assuming that important pages attract more links. Each link acts as a vote, but links from high-ranking pages carry more weight. PageRank is also crucial for internal linking, as well-structured internal links help distribute authority across a website. Additionally, anchor text plays a key role by providing context about the linked page, helping search engines understand its relevance. This algorithm contributes to how pages appear in search results.

Navboost: Navboost is a Google ranking system that enhances search results based on user navigation and engagement signals. It analyses click-through rates, dwell time, and other user interactions to determine which pages are most useful for specific queries. Essentially, if many users click on a result and spend time on it, Google may rank it higher for similar searches. It plays a crucial role in personalising search results and improving the relevance of top-ranked pages. (Reference) However this doesn't mean that having either low or high dwell time is a ranking factor. The main point here is to make the website experience effective so that the user doesn't have to go back to SERP. Another good metric to check is retention of user. Or even better returning users.

‍

SEO Strategy:

A strong SEO strategy starts with a solid foundation, focusing on backlinks, interlinking, and anchor text. Rather than overcomplicating things, the goal is to create an enjoyable yet effective experience. One key approach is building topical clusters, where related pages link to each other to reinforce their relevance. Contextual internal links should be placed naturally within content, using keyword-rich anchor text to guide both users and search engines. Strategic PageRank flow ensures that high-authority pages pass value to supporting pages within the same topic, boosting their visibility. This structure also improves crawling and indexing, helping search engines prioritise key pages. Finally, focusing on information gain—providing unique insights beyond what competitors offer—can set your content apart, making it more valuable to both users and search engines.

What to keep in mind?

1. Understand the Business: Get to know the company really well, like its goals, what it's trying to achieve, what customers think, and how it handles money. This helps you figure out if SEO is needed and where it fits in. But crucially what is our unique selling proposition. Why us?
2. Check Resources: Take a look at the tools and people you have for web stuff, content, data, and management. See what SEO work was done before, like fixing web pages, getting links, and tech stuff. Learn from past SEO advice and get to know the client better. Yeah, I know small things.
3. Make SEO Plans: Create plans for the three SEO areas. This means deciding what content to use, making sure web pages are set up right, and getting links from other places.
4. Keep an Eye on Progress: Set up a schedule to watch and measure how well your SEO is doing. Change your plans if needed, based on how much time and resources you have and what the company wants to achieve.

‍

How LLMs can help?

soon...

‍

List of Checks:

We can do complete or partial audits. As mentioned earlier, we shouldn't assume an old car is as good as new. Here's what we should investigate:

• Examine past link building work. Were any risky or shady tactics used? Did any specific link-building strategies work effectively?
• Search for previous versions of the website using the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. Note the changes and when they happened.
• Be on the lookout for sneaky or unethical SEO practices.
• Identify important technical SEO problems related to servers, hosting, bandwidth limits, gated content, temporary URL redirects, and mobile-friendliness.
• Schema Markup - Tell what Google wants.

Crawl the website using tools like Screaming Frog or SEMrush.

• Incorrect or missing canonical tags. Use Screaming Frog.
• Broken Internal links. Use Screaming Frog
• Broken External links. Use Screaming Frog
• Bad 301 redirects
• Suboptimal anchor text
• Content on your site that is too many clicks away from the home page

Google Search Console

• Pages on your site that are not being indexed by Google.
• The top-performing queries sending traffic to your site.
• JavaScript not rendering properly, causing content or links to be invisible to Google
• See a snapshot of some of the external links pointing to your site. This list is not comprehensive but can still be useful.

Analytics

• Overall traffic trends over time
• Which pages/sections of your site are getting traffic
• Pages that have seen sudden traffic drops

Backlink

• Weak backlink profile compared to your competitors.
• Backlink profile gaps. Type of backlinks that your are lacking.

Human Examination

• Poorly structured site navigation
• Opportunities for interlinking
• Poor-quality content
• Content created without sufficient expertise
• Content created primarily for search engines

Reviewing the SERPs. I would suggest start from here.

• Make a list of the most important search queries to your site based on which ones deliver the most organic search traffic to your site.
• Make a list of the most important target search queries that don’t currently deliver the amount of search traffic that you would like to be receiving.
• Changes in search results page layout. Changes in the SERPs, including the addition or removal of search features, can have a large impact on the amount of search traffic you can receive. Review how these may have impacted your organic search traffic
• The titles and meta descriptions that Google uses for your search listings. For those queries where one or more of your pages rank, review what Google is using for your page title and meta description. Are they the same as the title tag and the meta description that you wrote for the page? If not, consider why Google may have chosen to write something different.

Content

• Separate your content into two groups: a. Informational content targeted at the middle and the top of the funnel b. Commercial and transactional content targeted at driving conversions
• The first step is to ensure that your content has been created, or at least reviewed, by subject matter experts. It’s not possible to build authority on a topic with content created by copywriters who are not knowledgeable about that topic.
• Does the title tag include the main keyword related to the topic of the content? Does the content naturally use related keywords and synonyms that indicate it has thoroughly covered the topic? Does the content link to other related contenton your site or other sites? Are you linking to/citing sources that supportyour claims?
• For information: Breadth If your coverage of the information people are looking for is too narrow—for example, if you only create content for the highest-volume searchterms (a.k.a. head terms), then most users will not be fully satisfied bythe content they find on your site. DepthAs with breadth, depth also helps you satisfy a larger percentage of thevisitors to your site. The deeper you go on a topic, the easier it is foryou to be seen as authoritative.
• For commercial: You can also consider adding content to the page that assists users in theirexperience with your commercial pages. Informational content aboutproduct/service options that is integrated with the page experience can helpwith conversion. Don’t fall into the trap of sticking text content blocks atthe bottom of your page where no one will ever read it, but instead findways to integrate it into the overall experience of the page. Another issue that is common on ecommerce sites occurs when they resellproducts from third parties and use descriptive copy from the manufacturer.The problem arises because the manufacturer will provide that samedescriptive copy to anyone who sells their product. As a result, there isnothing unique about it, and it is essentially duplicate content. If you can,write your own copy for the products; if there are too many of them, findways to add value (for example, user reviews or other value-add content),or at least create your own content for the most important products

‍

References:

The Art of SEO: Mastering Search Engine Optimization - Eric Enge, Stephan Spencer, Jessie Stricchiola

David Quaid