SEO is primarily a content game. Creating accurate, well-written content on a regular basis, and maintaining keyword-rich copy on your site, are priority #1 when it comes to earning more organic traffic.
But there are also important technical aspects that play into nailing the top slot in the SERPs. If you have clients who want to optimize for SEO, or if you’re looking to improve your own business site, there are a few things you can do on the back-end to give yourself the best shot at ranking #1 for your most coveted keywords.
Identify All Headers
Headers are one of the most valuable aspects of SEO. Clear headers that include your primary keywords send a strong signal to Google, Bing, and other search engines.
On the backend, H1-H6 headers should be identified and hard-coded into your site. This will make content easier to interpret with screen readers and is also great for SEO.
If you want to check this yourself, choose any page on your site and use the “Inspect” tool in your browser. Look for H1 or H2 tags in the code.
Include Alt Text
Google typically prioritize pages with images that enhance your site experience and make the copy easier to understand. But if you don’t have alt text associated with your images, then search engines have no way of interpreting what your images are about or why they’re there.
Make sure you write clear alt text for any images that add meaning to your page. Alt text should be under 140 characters for readability, and should describe all the pertinent aspects of the image. If the image relates to specific keywords you’re targeting, add those keywords into your alt text for an extra SEO punch.
Choose Follow & No-Follow Links Strategically
Using high-quality links in your content, as well as internally linking to your own high-converting pages, is great for SEO. To take it a step further, be careful about which links are follow, and which are identified as no-follow.
External links that you value, as well as internal links to other content within your site, should be “follow” links. This means those links will be picked up by search engines and may factor into your site authority.
But if there are any links that you paid for, or links that go to content you don’t entirely know or trust, then classify those on the back-end as “no-follow.” If those links are identified as no-follow, then there’s no risk of them hurting your own brand authority.
Better SEO Starts on the Back-End
SEO is incredibly important for most brands. More visibility in search results can mean more site traffic and converting customers.
So make sure you build a strong foundation for SEO on the back-end. Be sure that all the stellar content you create is put to good use, and implement best practices throughout your site.
If you have any questions about how you can evaluate or improve your site performance, contact Studio 12 to partner with an experienced developer.