In the dynamic world of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), keeping up with the latest tactics can feel like chasing a moving target. Algorithm updates, new features, and ever-evolving search behaviours constantly reshape the landscape. But amidst all the noise and advice (note the irony that this is essentially another piece of advice), I ask myself, Do SEO fundamentals still hold weight?
The answer is a definite yes. While the SEO landscape may shift, the core principles that govern how search engines crawl, index, and rank websites remain remarkably stable. Mastering these fundamentals continues to be the foundation of a successful SEO strategy.
Essential SEO Tactics
So, let's take a quick look at the essential SEO tactics that continue to hold significant power and adopted by most digital marketing teams today.
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Content is Still King (and Queen) of SEO
This cornerstone principle reigns large, with the focus on high-quality, informative, and valuable content. Search engines love websites that provide users with relevant and trustworthy information that match their search queries.
- In-Depth Content is King: Go beyond surface-level information. Craft well-researched, comprehensive content that establishes your expertise and provides users with actionable insights or clearly defined next steps and the benefits of taking action.
- Target Relevant Keywords: Conduct thorough keyword research to identify terms your target audience is actively searching for. Integrate these keywords naturally throughout your content, but avoid keyword stuffing as that will be seen as over-optimisation and will just end up being unreadable drivel.
- Optimise for User Experience: Ensure your content is well-structured, easy to read, and visually appealing. Break up long text blocks with compelling images, infographics, and videos. Mobile-friendliness is crucial in today's mobile-first world.
Impact: High-quality content not only improves user engagement but also attracts backlinks, a crucial ranking factor. Informative content positions your website as a trusted source, leading to increased organic traffic and brand authority.
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Keyword Research
Keyword research acts as the foundation for understanding user intent and crafting content that resonates with your target audience. By identifying relevant keywords with high search volume and low competition, you tailor your content to attract the right users.
- Utilise Keyword Research Tools: Leverage tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, or SEMrush to identify relevant keywords and search trends. These tools can provide valuable insights into search volume, keyword difficulty, and related search terms.
- Consider Long-Tail Keywords: Don't just chase high-volume, head keywords. Long-tail keywords, which are more specific search phrases, can drive targeted traffic and potentially offer lower competition.
- Understand Search Intent: Analyse the intent behind user searches. Are they looking for information, a comparison, or a specific product? Tailor your content to fulfil that intent and provide the information users seek.
Impact: Effective keyword research ensures your content aligns with what users are actively searching for. This increases the likelihood of your website appearing in relevant search results and attracting qualified traffic that converts.
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Technical SEO
Technical SEO focuses on the backend aspects of your website that make it search engine friendly. A well-optimized website structure and technical foundation allow search engines to crawl, index, and understand your content effectively.
- Website Structure Matters: Ensure your website has a clear and logical hierarchy with well-defined URLs, internal linking strategies, and a clean sitemap.
- Mobile-First Indexing: In today's mobile-dominant world, a mobile-optimised website is no longer optional. Prioritise mobile-friendliness to ensure a seamless user experience and optimal search engine crawlability.
- Fast Loading Speeds are Essential: A slow website frustrates users and can negatively impact search rankings. Optimise your website for speed and ensure efficient page loading times.
- Structured Data Markup Enhances Visibility: Implement structured data markup to provide search engines with additional information about your content, potentially leading to richer search results and improved click-through rates.
Impact: A strong technical foundation ensures your website is accessible to search engines and users alike. This improves crawlability, indexability, and ultimately, your website's visibility in search results.
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Backlinks
Backlinks are essentially links from other websites pointing back to your website. (Not reciprocal links – Linking back negates the link juice) Search engines consider backlinks as a vote of confidence, indicating the quality and trustworthiness of your content.
- Focus on Earning Backlinks Naturally: Create high-quality content that deserves to be linked to. Guest blogging, broken link building, and industry awards can be valuable strategies for acquiring backlinks.
- Quality Over Quantity: Earning backlinks from high-authority websites in your niche is more valuable than having a large number of low-quality backlinks. Building genuine relationships and creating link-worthy content is key.
Impact: It’s hard work and a long game but paramount in obtaining good search engine result positions (SERPs).
Maintaining Your Edge
While many digital marketing teams are busy implementing the essentials they can often take their eye off the ball when it comes to some of the more subtle, yet equally fundamental SEO tactics. Here’s where the more diligent among us can maintain an edge by crossing the I’s and dotting the T’s.
These days we are blessed with tools such as MOZ and SEMRush that provide site audits that flag fundamental SEO issues.
At Caple Consulting this forms a key part of our Digital Marketing Review service. Finding issues, investigating and fixing them will have a positive impact on ranking across the whole website.
Here’s a really long list of potential issues, or as I like to refer to them, optimisation opportunities:
- pages returned a 4XX status code
- pages returned 5XX status code
- pages don't have title tags
- issues with duplicate title tags
- pages have duplicate content issues
- internal links are broken
- pages couldn't be crawled
- pages couldn't be crawled (DNS resolution issues)
- pages couldn't be crawled (incorrect URL formats)
- internal images are broken
- pages have duplicate meta descriptions
- txt file has format errors
- xml files have format errors
- incorrect pages found in sitemap.xml
- pages have a WWW resolve issue
- pages have no viewport tag
- pages have too large HTML size
- AMP pages have no canonical tag
- issues with hreflang values
- hreflang conflicts within page source code
- issues with incorrect hreflang links
- non-secure pages
- issues with expiring or expired certificate
- issues with old security protocol
- issues with incorrect certificate name
- issues with mixed content
- No redirect or canonical to HTTPS homepage from HTTP version
- redirect chains and loops
- pages with a broken canonical link
- pages have multiple canonical URLs
- pages have a meta refresh tag
- issues with broken internal JavaScript and CSS files
- subdomains don’t support secure encryption algorithms
- xml files are too large
- links couldn't be crawled (incorrect URL formats)
- structured data items are invalid
- pages are missing the viewport width value
- pages have slow load speed
- issues with unminified JavaScript and CSS files
- pages don't have meta descriptions
- pages have low text-HTML ratio
- pages don't have an h heading
- outgoing internal links contain nofollow attribute
- pages have too much text within the title tags
- pages have a low word count
- external link is broken
- xml not found
- external images are broken
- links on HTTPS pages lead to HTTP page
- pages don't have enough text within the title tags
- pages have duplicate H and title tags
- pages have too many on-page links
- URLs with a temporary redirect
- images don't have alt attributes
- pages have too many parameters in their URLs
- pages have no hreflang and lang attributes
- pages don't have character encoding declared
- pages don't have doctype declared
- pages have incompatible plugin content
- pages contain frames
- pages have underscores in the URL
- xml not indicated in robots.txt
- Homepage does not use HTTPS encryption
- HTTP URLs in sitemap.xml for HTTPS site
- uncompressed pages
- issues with blocked internal resources in robots.txt
- issues with uncompressed JavaScript and CSS files
- issues with uncached JavaScript and CSS files
- pages have a JavaScript and CSS total size that is too large
- pages use too many JavaScript and CSS files
- link URLs are too long
- URLs with a permanent redirect
- pages have only one incoming internal link
- pages need more than 3 clicks to be reached
- links have no anchor text
- subdomains don't support HSTS
- page is blocked from crawling
- link has non-descriptive anchor text
- link to external page or resource returns a 43 HTTP status code
- pages have more than one H tag
- outgoing external links contain nofollow attributes
- txt not found
- pages have hreflang language mismatch issues
- orphaned pages in sitemaps
- pages blocked by X-Robots-Tag: noindex HTTP header
- issues with blocked external resources in robots.txt
- issues with broken external JavaScript and CSS files
Well done for getting to the bottom, happy optimising!
If you don't have a tool to check these for you, give me a shout.
Steve.
Steve on LinkedIn