Google Ranking Factors 2022

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Do you need to get your site to the highest point of Google’s search lists? You can make it happen — assuming you can comprehend the strategies to rank in 2022. Google sometimes likes to stay mute on how it runs its algorithms; getting your site to rank high on Google isn’t too secure as it might appear to be. We have been able to detect and unveil the code and have a lot of SEO contextual cases to demonstrate it.

At Hawaii SEO Web design, we are web index criminal investigators, sleuthing out every one of the conceivable positioning elements Google utilizes. In any case, we don’t do it single-handedly! We gather lots of information and use industry-driving SEO tools and our exclusive information stage to assist with disentangling the extraordinary secret of the computerized age that is Google’s calculation for positioning elements.

Graphic presentation of organic clicks. Hawaii SEO.

 

An incredible 97 percent of individuals DON’T click past the first page of results.

Instead, not break it to you, yet on the off chance that you’re not on the top page of Google, you’re losing deals to your rivals. Try as much as possible to remember the last time you did this; I bet you wouldn’t.

Justifiably, most businesses aspire to get their business to rank higher on Google, preferably in the initial three listings. To do this, you must genuinely comprehend the Google positioning signs and streamline your pages for the most apparent opportunity to be shown to likely clients.

What are the Factors that Determine Google Ranking Searches?

After much research and findings, SEO experts have discovered some essential tools used by Google algorithms to make sites rank high on search engines. Google knows what the mechanics are to produce high rankings take effect, but thanks to the SEO specialists, they have been able to make this happen.

Over 200 factors that Google uses to make this happen, but let me point out a few.

They are;

Quality content creation

Image represents adding blogs can increase ranking chances of website.

Content is king! And the importance of content in structuring our SEO can’t be overemphasized. You need quality content when routing for SEO in other to make your page rank on Google search. The more unique and quality your content is, the more your content is likely to rank. Creating content isn’t just about putting out anything for views. A lot goes into content writing, which is why understanding structure is essential before concentrating so much effort on content.

Keyword usage

The importance of keyword usage is to improve user experience. Keyword usage helps detect and filter multiple usages of words that mean the same thing. A pure understanding of keyword usage will help you understand SEO better.

Content length

Notwithstanding, content length is also a parameter for making your site rank on Google search. At least the most petite length for your content should be 1000 words and above.

Image represents average content length of top 10 results.

 

Optimized pages

Photo structure and compositions are fundamental when ensuring that your site ranks, even when working with graphical representations. When shooting for SEO rankings on Google, you should always set your pictures appropriately.

Quality backlinks

Backlinks are always known to influence your rankings for SEO. Promoting backlinks are also vital for SEO rankings. You can always share backlinks from social media pages or get backlinks from other blog articles on the web.

Mobile friendly 

Mobile friendly website is also one of the ranking factor in SEO.The versatile first list implies Google will start putting together rankings based on how it fits in with a mobile version instead of just desktop access. Google is yet to perfect this testing, but when it launches, it will shake the SEO world as website admins and SEO specialists race to adjust their substance to a versatile crowd.Local SEO expert Hawaii

Google revealed that 40 percent of mobile searches have local intent, making it an essential area of opportunity for businesses in the home services industry! Resisting the change to prioritize your site’s mobile version will hurt your business in the long run.

 

Voice and digital assets

One more enormous thing to adjust your SEO systems for is voice search and advanced resources such as digital assets. 1 out of 5 searches on Google comes from voice questions, and we’re anticipating a more significant shift toward that before long.

Page speed

If you want to have a massive direction for your site to rank high, you must work on the speed of your site. It improves performance levels and optimization for your site. And also, the ability for your site to rank high in SEO.Fast loading website decreases the bounce back rates.

Encryption 

Site security is essential. If your site isn’t protected enough, the ability for such a site to rank is below average. If it is not well secured, Google will flag such sites as not being attached – to protect you, the user. You can find the encryption on the top left side of the site.

Domain age 

Although, it takes a lot of time to grow a new website. But with age and time, your domain can always grow and start attracting the leads and traffic it deserves, and this is what is meant by domain age – as it is a different setting when as the days grow, maturity takes place with your site to make it more accessible.

Schema markup

Schema markup is organized information added to sites that make it simpler for web search tools to decipher content. Exhausting, correct? Well, pay attention to this: collected information can further develop an active visitor clicking percentage (CTR) by 30%! Adding pattern markup with the assistance of websites can assist with the leads coming in.

Every business wants to rank on the first page of Google, but it requires skill and patience to make it work. You don’t want to lose out when you know you have just what the customers want. SEO is the key to making this happen and is the future of traffic generators for every business that wants to push for maximum and exponential growth.

How to Use SEO to Grow your Business

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The marketing and advertising field has seen a paradigm shift in just one-fifth of the 21st century. From the advent of the internet to the mass adoption of smartphones, the world of marketers and consumers has grown by leaps and bounds in these past two decades.

Since the internet became a thing, SEO became a thing, thanks to a particular search engine giant that has revolutionized how we search for information online. SEO has also been a major benefactor for businesses, powering their marketing platforms and tools to promote their products in the digital world.

Now, a business isn’t just confined to a local crowd; it can target billions of prospects online with a sound SEO campaign. Now would be a great time if you haven’t yet started to invest in improving your organic rankings.

With a robust SEO strategy and dedicated efforts, you can make your business visible to anyone who searches for keywords related to your niche. When a great SEO campaign comes together, it ensures more brand awareness, web traffic, conversions, and ultimately revenue.

It’s also needless to point out the effects of being anywhere other than Google’s first result page. As a matter of fact, even the second result page sees less than a 1% click-through rate for all online searches.

So if you’re wondering how you can leverage SEO to help grow your business, read this blog to clarify SEO basics.

Hawaii SEO. Hawaii seo company

Growing your Business with SEO

When your SEO campaign starts yielding results, you’ll see improved rankings and organic traffic to your site, which is always the best sustainable solution for any business. While pay-per-click (PPC) advertising can get you instant results, it’s only a short-term fix.

As you get more organic traffic, you get more qualified leads with higher chances of conversions. This results in higher sales and profits for your business with an outstanding ROI; SEO is the most cost-affordable marketing solution out there.

If you’re new to SEO and want to get started on your own, here’s what you need to focus on:

  • Targeting the Right Keywords

You know keywords as phrases a user searches for online, but what do we mean by the ‘right keywords’?

Keywords are the foundational pillars of SEO, phrases that your prospective customers are searching for online and which can be used to bring those prospects to your business. Research the phrases your target audience uses to search for products or services similar to yours. Ideally, they should be a mix of your focus keywords and long-tail keywords.

However, the catch here is that you have to go for keywords that are most searched online, or ‘high traffic keywords,’ but with low competition, which means that your competitors do not target them. With the right keywords with high search volume but low competition, you can pave an SEO roadmap that’ll help you improve your rankings in the long haul.

Several online keyword-finding tools help you find keywords by volume, difficulty overview, and the number of backlinks, along with alternate phrases that you can use in your SEO campaign.

As a beginner, you’ll have your work cut out with a powerful tool that makes keyword research easier for you. Using these tools is also very beneficial for start-ups and lead-generation campaigns.

  • Creating High-Quality Content

Content is another prime element that dramatically affects your rankings. Creating high-quality content is necessary to provide your readers with useful, relevant, and informative content. Along with establishing trust with your users, it also improves your rankings.

The key to creating high-quality content is understanding the user’s search intent. The answer to ‘what your customers want is the key to engaging them with relevant and informative content that satisfies their needs and queries.

As a matter of fact, Google, in its first update, outlined that high-quality content overshadows keyword volume. If you’re creating valuable content for users, you’re already doing a chunk of your SEO right.

  • Mobile Responsiveness

A key revolution in technology came as smartphones became a common feature globally. It connected more and more people to the internet anywhere, anytime, with access to worldwide information at their fingertips.

And almost half a decade ago, mobile searches rose past desktop searches, prompting Google to update its algorithm to favor mobile-friendly sites. So, the crux here is that if your website is not responsive on mobile devices, i.e., page load issues, bad alignment, oversized texts, or anything else that alters the smartphone view from its desktop version, Google won’t put you on top of its SERP.

Optimizing your website for mobile devices means making it respond to universal browsers and display size. The user should be able to read all content and access your site features without any glitches on their smartphone.

SEO writers Hawaii. Hawaii SEO.

  • Don’t Forget Meta Descriptions.

Meta titles and descriptions are minute aspects of SEO; they are equally important. Meta title refers to the main title that shows up on Google SERP, while meta description is the short description that follows the title.

Now meta descriptions are important because that’s what a user will see before clicking your web page link. It’s not rocket science, just a small explanation of what the user should expect when they enter the specific web page.

You’d want to be informative with your meta description so that the user understands the context without being too elaborate. A meta description is limited to 150 characters, so you need to contain the description within this limit. Remember to include your focus keyword in the description.

But, while including keywords and all is very good, remember that both the title and description should adequately inform the user what the web page is about.

  • Building High-Quality Links

Backlinks are basically links between two websites. Backlinks are crucial to your SEO effort, as the number of backlinks on your site will signify trust and confidence in your content. In other words, when you have many inbound links to your site, it tells search engines like Google that your site offers great content that others rely on, thus improving your rankings.

Getting backlinks isn’t the trick; the trick is to earn links from popular and trustworthy sites offering relevant content which is related to your niche. If your website’s link is included in a highly authoritative site, it will boost your rankings and online visibility.

Understand that not all backlinks are valuable. If your linking strategy includes simply earning several links without regard to expertise, it won’t work! Google only prefers backlinks earned from trustworthy sources.

The Importance of SEO for your Business

The significance of SEO in building a brand and driving awareness is unparalleled. SEO has leveled the playing field for every business out there, big or small, local or multinational.

Start-ups can target low-competition keywords to enhance their visibility and grow their consumer base. They can also reach out to authoritative and trustworthy sites for guest posting, which’ll earn them quality backlinks and also position them as credible sources of information. High-quality backlinks mean more traffic to your site, which means you also gain the favor of search engine bots when ranking.

And, of course, the top websites on SERP enjoy much higher conversions through organic channels than those situated down below. This helps you to generate better-qualified leads and nurture them to convert into your customers.

In addition, a great SEO campaign also means that your customers are more familiar with your brand, further influencing their purchasing decision.

Lastly, it’s very affordable. You simply need to hire an experienced agency in SEO strategy and results. There’s no other cost associated here; you can enhance your online visibility and reap long-term benefits at just a fraction of the price that other forms of marketing require.

SEO Boosts Your Business Growth

Google uses over 200 algorithms as its ranking factors. While optimizing for all of them is impossible, you must get the basics right. The algorithm keeps updating, so it’s a constant endeavor to get your site ranked on Google’s first page and maintain the top spot.

By focusing on the basics alone, you’ll see a gradual improvement in your organic rankings that’ll ultimately bring surplus traffic to your site, which means you can engage more prospects on your site and increase your customer base. If you get the keywords, content, links, and mobile responsiveness right, you’re already doing more than thousands of your competitors.

As you keep getting better at SEO, you can move further and learn to optimize the advanced features that Google has in its guidelines. You can also avail the surfeit of tools available online to get help with keyword research, link building, and other ranking signals that determine your web positioning. But just remember, the basics are the pillars of your SEO campaign; any inaccuracy there and nothing else will matter.

This was our blog piece on how SEO can help your business grow. We hope you liked the article.

For more articles like this, visit our blog section and get all industry insights and news.

Get Ahead Of The Curve With The Top SEO Services

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Regardless of your industry, it’s nearly impossible to survive in the modern world without an online presence. Over 80% of people use search engines to find products and services they need on a regular basis, and that percentage continues to climb every year. So it’s safe to say that getting ahead of the curve when it comes to SEO is essential for success – if you’re not at the top of the SERPs, people won’t be able to find you at all.

How Good is Your Site?

Search engines get more sophisticated every day. If you’re not continually updating your site and monitoring its performance, your audience may be outgrowing you. Choose an SEO company Honolulu that’s up-to-date on the latest developments in search engine optimization. If they aren’t using new methods, there’s a good chance their clients won’t either.

So don’t just look at what services they offer; make sure those services are relevant to your business. A good SEO Agency Hawaii will provide personalized attention and responsive support throughout your project. The best firms even offer service guarantees, so you can be confident that they’ll continue to monitor your website even after launch. For instance, if you run a hair braiding salon but need help optimizing your eCommerce site, it doesn’t really make sense to hire an SEO firm whose expertise is in automotive or healthcare.

You should also consider how long each agency has been around: Many new companies enter the field but don’t have surviving power. To ensure longevity, find an established firm with a proven track record. It’s actually better to pay more for quality than less for shoddy workmanship. In addition, ask about customer service.

The Importance of Search Engine Optimization

One of the most effective means you can use to get a return on your investment is by hiring an SEO company. The amount of time & effort needed for both marketing, and growing your online presence, can be very demanding. With so many advertising outlets available, it can be difficult for any one business to reach its target audience in a cost-effective manner.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is one way that businesses are able to effectively market themselves without having to spend thousands of dollars/per month on advertisements. SEO companies are able to help businesses achieve higher rankings in search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, Bing, etc., which will ultimately lead more people looking for products or services related to yours directly to your website. This translates into more traffic and potentially more sales for your business!

Things to Look For in a Top SEO Agency

When looking for a new job, you hope that your resume gets noticed by someone. But when you’re hiring an agency to do search engine optimization, it’s hard to know what to expect in terms of your relationship with them. A lot depends on how established they are and what they can offer you as a business owner or company seeking services. Here are some essential & vital things to keep in mind.

  1. They should have proven experience working with businesses like yours;
  2. They should be willing to provide references;
  3. The industry is competitive, so you want an agency that has a proven track record of success;
  4. There should be mutual trust between your business and its team;
  5. You need to feel comfortable working together. This is especially vital if you’re going to rely on them for ongoing advice, training, and support.
  6.  Make sure they understand your goals and challenges before signing any contract & make sure you understand theirs.
  7. Ask about their pricing structure, including whether there are any hidden fees or costs associated with additional services.

Can I do this Myself?

Many people are uncomfortable about letting a professional handle their website or search engine optimization. What if I can’t explain what I want? What if I don’t know what questions to ask? There is nothing to worry about, really. You see, an experienced online marketing company like ours can get you better results than you would have ever imagined for your business.

We understand how search engines(especially Google) work, & we use only advanced techniques that aren’t available to all businesses. With our help, you will be able to:

  • Rank higher in Google searches
  • Get more traffic from organic searches
  • Increase your conversion rate
  • Get more qualified leads from your site
  • Have more time & resources to focus on other aspects of your business
  • Reduce costs by outsourcing these services to professionals & much more!

The bottom line is that it pays off to hire a top-notch search engine optimization agency because they know exactly what they are doing.

Are Paid Ads Worth It?

Paid advertising is a major way that brands get their product or service in front of potential customers online. Depending on your objectives, you might also consider social media ads (like Facebook and Twitter) as part of your paid marketing mix. It can be very difficult to measure the return on investment (ROI) for digital ads.

But it’s important to have some kind of metric – even if it’s just whether or not people are engaging with your brand because they saw an ad. Ultimately, there are many factors to consider when determining whether or not paid ads make sense for your business. The real best thing you can do is to team up with a full-service SEO agency & test them out as well as see what works best!

Is Paid Advertising a Viable Alternative to SEO?

If you’re running a startup or even a small business, there’s a good chance you don’t have deep pockets. That means investing in Paid advertising can be out of reach – but it doesn’t really mean – you have to throw in the towel on search engine optimization (SEO). There are new practices and techniques emerging that cater to startups and small businesses with low budgets.

These are techniques that provide results for businesses without having to invest heavily in paid advertising. The best part is – these new methods will help your website gain traction and build traffic organically. This means you won’t need to continue spending money on advertising once your site gains momentum. Industry experts always emphasize good SEO practices & regard them very highly.

How Much Does it Cost And What Are They Worth?

If you’re looking for more traffic and sales, but don’t want to invest in advertising, a top-of-the-line SEO agency is a great place to start. They provide services including keyword research, data analysis, on-page & off-page optimization, link-building campaigns, social media advertising management & more – but at varying costs. Some companies will include all of these (and other) services in one flat rate; others may break them out into individual packages. Either way, it’s important to know what you get for your money.

The cost varies greatly from company to company, depending on their scale and experience. For example, new agencies might charge as little as $299 per month, while established players can charge $2,500 – $5,000 or more per month. A good rule – is if an agency quotes you prices that seem too good to be true, they probably are. Don’t be afraid to ask questions & compare rates before making a decision.

The Key Points to Remember When Working With an Agency

If you’re working with an agency, then there are a few things to keep in mind. First, be clear about what you genuinely want to accomplish. This way, if your expectations aren’t realistic or you don’t get along well with your team, it will be actually easier to tell them how you want to work and for them to suggest another option that may work better for both parties. Second, clearly define when projects begin & end.

Agencies have deadlines and workloads they need to meet as well, so it’s important to know where yours fits into their larger schedule. Finally, ask questions! Your agency should be able to answer any question you have about their services or processes; if they can’t, then either they don’t know themselves, or they aren’t willing to share information freely with you. In either case, that could spell trouble down the road.

Consult an Expert Today

No one can say how fast Google will update its algorithm and how long your site will be affected, but it’s a safe bet that having an expert evaluate your site and offer recommendations on new SEO practices can help minimize your exposure to risks. Industry experts recommend hiring a reputable agency or consultant. A good place to start is with a simple search for SEO consultants near me on Google. You can also ask friends, colleagues, and business associates for recommendations.

Be sure to check out their website before calling them in for a consultation. Also, if they are offering free consultations, take advantage of them! This is a great opportunity to get some feedback about what you should expect when working with them. If they seem like a good fit for your company, then schedule an appointment and go in prepared with questions about what services they provide and what results they have achieved for other clients in similar industries as yours.

A Few Last Words

Achieving success in SEO and content marketing requires many different pieces to fall into place, especially when you’re working within the ever-changing algorithm of Google and other search engines. For this reason, it’s important to hire a seasoned and reliable SEO agency that can provide the services you need.

The agency will help optimize your site properly, including keyword research, technical SEO, link building, content creation, reputation management & more. If you’re looking for a seasoned SEO agency that provides the full range of expertise and services you need to be successful with SEO, check out Hawaii SEO Web Design today!

Creating SEO-friendly URLs to Improve Rankings

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SEO isn’t just about revolving around data to improve your SERP rankings. Some optimization factors require you to focus on simplifying your web pages, structure, and content favored by Google’s ranking algorithms.

Now, if you’ve even a beginner’s experience with SEO, you know about the on-page and off-page factors that need optimization. One such onsite element is your web page’s URLs.

Optimizing your web page URLs isn’t rocket science, and anyone with a basic understanding of SEO should be able to do it. Nonetheless, it’s an important foundation of SEO that you shouldn’t overlook to get your site ranked. The practice requires you to create SEO-friendly URLs that help Google and users understand what your web page is about, which further helps to rank that page against the incorporated keyword.

What is a URL?

URLs are web addresses that are used to locate pages and sites across the internet. The acronym stands for ‘Uniform Resource Locator’ and is key for the visibility of your web page and seamless navigation within your site.

Although a URL doesn’t reveal the contents or topics within a page, it’s still a valuable on-page factor that must be optimized for SEO. However, SEO experts are increasingly adding the topic of the web page on the URL to help users and search engines understand the content inside better.

A URL consists of the following elements:

 

Domain Name The domain name includes the website’s name and the top-level domain. Top-level domains include .coms, .net, etc. In some instances, the URL may also contain a sub-domain.
Protocol Protocol refers to the scheme at the beginning of every URL, which guides the browser to request the resource. Standard URL protocols include HTTPS and HTTP.
Permalink Permalink is the URL component that helps locate a specific web page within a domain. This is where your page title and keywords should be incorporated.

 

Now that we know the main components that constitute a URL, you must be wondering how to make an SEO-friendly one?

An SEO-friendly URL means a well-structured website link that helps the user and search engines determine the contents inside that web page and helps your site rank against the targeted keywords.

With your page title clearly included in the URL, it’ll be easier for search engines and users to locate content on your page, thereby enhancing the user experience and guaranteeing surplus traffic to your site.

Tips to Create an SEO-friendly URL

While it’s important to optimize your URLs for the aforementioned reasons, you should also keep in mind that it doesn’t impact your SEO performance in the way content or links do. You simply need to ensure that you’re adhering to the best practice for an SEO-friendly URL structure.

Regardless of how much of a difference it makes, just look up the top results for any search phrase on Google; and you’ll see uniformity in the way they’ve structured their URL while also ensuring it has the informational value regarding the content within them. In addition, it doesn’t cost you any time, as other optimization factors do.

So let’s look into the basic tips that’ll help you to create a user and search engine-friendly URL that helps you to improve your organic rankings:

  • Incorporate Focus Keywords

Remember what we told you about informing users and search engines about your content; this is what your focus keywords would include. Including the primary keyword in your URL will allow Google to index your web page for that keyword and inform users what they should expect once they visit the specific page.

This is the fundamental rule in onsite optimization, which you can practically see across all top-ranking websites. A URL with focus keywords particularly benefits your product or service pages, which helps to differentiate them from other pages on your site. This way, your target audience can make better purchasing decisions.

The practice is commonplace across e-commerce websites that categorize their product pages with the primary keywords included in the URL.

  • Match URL with Page Title

The title of your web page should be relatable to your URL. Although they shouldn’t be identical, the reader should be able to connect the two. If your page title is long, skim it to use the necessary words in your URL so as to give your audience an idea of the content inside the web page by looking at the URL.

  • Keep it Catchy and Concise.

It goes without saying that keeping your URL length short and attractive can increase your click-through rates (CTR) and enhance your website’s overall user experience. In addition, Google and other search engines also prefer a short URL structure that gets straight to the point.

Google often considers long URLs as spammy, negatively affecting your rankings. Short URLs are almost self-explanatory and highly readable for search engines and your target audience. The shorter your URL, the easier it is for search engine bots and humans to understand what your content is about.

Shorter URLs are also more shareworthy on social media and other user-generated content platforms, making it easier for you to build backlinks. The shorter it is, the easier it is to read.

Having said that, you should still ensure that your URL isn’t too short with little informative value and inconvenient for building directories.

  • Ditch the Special Characters

Special characters and symbols aren’t SEO-friendly and may end up resulting in broken links. A typical example would be the ‘&,’ which isn’t recognized by Google. The search engine doesn’t pick up special characters like the hyper sand, @, #. Even uppercase letters can create problems with your URL, so it’s best not to experiment while creating an URL that is SEO-friendly and highly readable at the same time.

  • Don’t Use Stop Words.

Stop words include words that hold sentences together, such as ‘and,’ ‘the,’ ‘but,’ etc. Stop words are not just ignored by search engines like Google, but they also make your URL unnecessarily lengthy and, in some cases, even confusing.

For this reason, don’t simply adopt the auto-generated URL by a CMS; tweak the URL to make it more shareable and professional, which helps in improving your search engine rankings.

  • Skip the Date

Regardless of whether your web page consists of information relevant to a particular year, don’t add dates to your URL. While there’s nothing wrong with adding dates, you’ll find it really difficult for those topics to be relevant over time.

Content creators who create content based on a cluster of topics will have to constantly update the information so that it stays relevant. As you can see, adding dates means unnecessary complications that one can easily avoid.

Finding Keywords for an SEO-friendly URL

Finding the right set of keywords is the main mantra of an SEO-friendly URL. All the web pages of your site that you want to be ranked should contain the primary keyword, which helps search engine bots to categorize the page.

Selecting the focus keyword for your URL is the same as finding the correct phrases for creating the overall content. Three factors come into play here:

  • The phrase should be relevant to your niche or topic,
  • The term should have a high search volume, and
  • The phrase should have low competition

While the first point is entirely deductive, the second one, which refers to high search volume, means that people should be searching for that phrase online. With more competition, it’s more challenging to rank for those keywords. Similarly, low competition means how many of your competitors are targeting the said keyword.

Various online tools can help you find the right set of keywords that are relevant to your industry and can be included in the URL. Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, and ahrefs are some popular keyword tracking tools that not only help you identify your focus keywords but also the related keywords.

SEO-Friendly URLs can Improve your Rankings.

SEO is all about making small efforts that together contribute towards its success. An SEO-friendly URL won’t guarantee any ranking improvement alone, but it’s a small part of achieving the best from your website and content that ultimately helps you dominate search results.

As a whole, your prime focus should be on building quality content, acquiring relevant backlinks, and ensuring seamless user experience to be favored by Google and other search engines. And while creating SEO-friendly URLs is a good practice, you shouldn’t spend too much time on it.

If you’re looking for SEO experts to help you with gaining visibility for your website, Hawaii SEO Web Design specialists can help. We’re the leading SEO and digital marketing experts in the IS with the proven expertise of bringing success to all our clients. Contact us today to discuss your SEO and digital marketing needs.

Top SEO Tips for your E-commerce Website

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The need for any e-commerce website to rank highly on Google SERP cannot be overstated enough. If you’re an e-commerce website, SEO is the only way (other than digital marketing techniques) to regularly bring in organic traffic to your site.

The continuity of any business depends on its online ranking. Without being visible to their target audience, it becomes nearly impossible for any e-commerce business to attract potential customers. But, thanks to SEO, there are a few simple steps that you can follow to ensure that your e-commerce website ranks high on the SERP and is visible to your target audience.

Below, we’ve compiled a few guidelines that will help you improve your organic rankings on SERPs. But first, let us look at what e-commerce SEO means?

What is E-commerce SEO?

E-commerce SEO simply means making an e-commerce site more search engine friendly so that it ranks high on the SERP and gets high visibility on SERP. Although the most globally popular search engine is Google, other browsers like Bing and Yahoo also play a significant role in your website’s visibility.

So, when we’re talking about e-commerce SEO, we mean optimizing the website as per these search engine’s guidelines for it to rank higher.

Sounds challenging?

It really isn’t. Many business owners are now managing SEO by themselves; all it takes is a little practice. However, with the number of e-commerce sites out there, it’s safe to say that the level of competition is relatively high. Improving your site performance for SEO includes:

  • Creating keyword-targeted content.
  • Improving key elements in it.
  • Ensuring user-friendliness of your site.

Here are a few essential tips for getting your e-commerce SEO on track.

Best SEO E-Commerce Practices

Knowing SEO basics isn’t just crucial for better ranking and higher conversions, but it also avoids any ranking penalty which Google could impose for practicing any black-hat SEO technique. So, without further adieu, below are the basic elements of SEO and how to optimize them for an e-commerce website:

  • Improve Page Load Speed

Page load speed is an elemental aspect of online user experience. Many studies have proven that users are most likely to leave a site if it takes more than 3-4 seconds to load. Needless to say, you need to ensure that your e-commerce site has the lowest possible page load time. With every extra second spent on loading your web page, there will be higher bounce rates on your site, which isn’t a good ranking indication to Google.

Four factors determine the page load speed of any website. They’re:

  1. i) Optimizing cache resources
  2. ii) Installing a CDN

iii) Optimizing visual elements (images, videos, graphics, etc.), and

  1. iv) Minimizing heavy resources

An experienced web designer or SEO specialist can take care of these things for you. If your e-commerce site is built on WordPress, you can simply install plugins to improve your page load speed.

  • Ensure Mobile-Responsiveness

Mobile search has already outnumbered desktop searches worldwide. Online purchases made from smartphones were valued at a whopping $359 billion in 2021, and the number is expected to double by 2025.

More and more people are now purchasing products online while on the go. Your e-commerce website needs to have a stellar user experience in order to target such shoppers. You need to ensure that your site is fully mobile-responsive with easy navigation and usability to ensure that buyers can easily find and buy what they want.

If your e-commerce site is powered by WordPress, you can create AMP (accelerated mobile pages) via plugins on the CMS. For your mobile site, you can use images with smaller sizes so that they don’t affect the page load speed.

  • Build Quality Backlinks

Backlinks are one of the foundational pillars of any successful SEO campaign. Regardless of how well you optimize your onsite elements, link building is still crucial to have your website ranked highly on SERP.

Backlinking is the method of building high-quality links that point the user to an external source or website with niche relevancy to your industry. Link building is vital because it establishes your site as a trustworthy source for users and search engines.

 

While backlinking is important, you should remember to only build links from sites with relevant and high-quality content related to your niche. Backlinking low-quality sites with no niche relevancy may cause your site to be penalized by Google.

  • Incorporate Keywords in your Content

Apart from backlinks, keywords are the most important ranking signal which informs Google and other search engines what your content is all about. Keywords are popular search phrases that people look up online. Whenever a user searches for a specific keyword, all websites targeting the keyword will be included in the SERP. Thus, it’s essential to have keywords strategically in your product category pages so that your web page ranks for that specific phrase.

If you’re not a well-established brand and find it difficult to rank for short keywords, you may want to give long-tail keywords a try. Long-tail keywords can help you to rank highly for phrases around your focus keywords.

Also, include your keywords in the meta titles and descriptions of all product and category pages on your e-commerce site. Meta title and description are an inherent part of SEO. They’re the first thing that a user notices before entering your site. Creating a catchy title and description with proper keywords will boost your organic rankings and also optimize your conversion rates. And, don’t forget to include your product category in the URL for higher visibility.

Remember to limit your title tag to 60-70 characters to be displayed completely on the SERP.

  • Add Visual Elements

Online shopping is all about compelling images and content that creates the desire to purchase your product in your prospect’s mind. While you’ll obviously add your product images, it’s equally helpful to add other visual elements like ad banners, infographics, etc.

Another good SEO practice would be to add alt texts to your images. Doing so will tell Google what your image depicts and help rank your site for relevant photos.

While adding visual elements to your site is advisable, you should optimize each image to compress its size. This helps increase the page load speed of your site while maintaining the quality of the image.

  • Simplify Navigation

Another critical aspect of user experience, navigation, refers to the movement of traffic within your site; or how easily can your site visitors access all the web pages and move from one to the other. Although navigation is something your web designer should take care of when building your website, there may still be some elements that may require tweaking for SEO purposes.

You can use e-commerce breadcrumbs, which make navigation easy for your visitors. Another ideal practice would be to install a schema to your site, which Google will display on its result pages and your site.

  • Optimize On-Page Elements

On-page elements refer to the various aspects of your website that can be tweaked for an SEO boost. These include structuring your URL with keywords, using 301 redirects for unresponsive pages, and optimizing 404 pages by redirecting them to a product page.

Another key onsite factor includes building an XML sitemap, which helps Google to locate pages without a URL and index your website better.

Use internal links to connect your most popular pages. Just like external linking, internal linking also helps in improving your search engine rankings. Ensure to use informative anchor texts to link your pages internally; it helps the user go to another URL when they know what it is about.

Lastly, use canonical tags in pages with duplicate content and don’t need to rank on the SERP. Doing so will avoid any penalty from Google or other search engines.

  • Other Factors

There are many other practices that you can employ in your e-commerce site. Blogs can drive significant volumes of traffic to your site. Moreover, you can create informative content around your niche that helps educate your customers. Google prefers long content that comprehensively informs the user on their search for topics. Also, include your keywords at least five times for a 1,000-word blog post to give a boost to your organic rankings.

Another key feature of SEO is a compelling call-to-action for your site visitors to enhance your conversion rates. A standard CTA button is ‘buy now’ for e-commerce sites.

Now Google loves user-generated content. Remember to add reviews and comment sections on each product and category page, which will improve your rankings and help buyers make better, informed decisions.

And don’t forget to use analytical tools and software for your e-commerce site. It will reveal the most searched products, pages with the most traffic, and other insights, which will help you to further improve your site’s click-through rate.

Ready to Power your E-Commerce Business?

E-commerce has been on the rise in recent years, with skyrocketing sales forecasts in the coming years. If you’re looking to take your e-commerce business to the next level, Hawaii SEO Web Design agency can help. We’re the premier IT firm, specializing in web design and digital marketing for businesses in the US and Canada.

Book a free consultation session with us today and find out how we can boost your e-commerce website to hyper-visibility with surplus traffic and conversions.

What Type of Backlinks Should I Build for My Website?

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Backlinks are considered one of the building blocks of a sound SEO campaign. Along with content and user experience factors, backlinks determine the ranking ability of your site and web pages. Google’s ranking algorithm identifies backlinks, also called external links, to a site and favors the site in its result pages.

A good linking practice establishes you as a trustworthy source, and search engines like Google reward such sites with high rankings. Another reason why Google prefers external links is that its mission statement reads “to organize the world’s information and make it accessible and useful.” So when you focus on building high-quality backlinks which point to other trustworthy sources of information, you’re playing your part in helping Google achieve its mission statement.

Backlinks from high authority and relevant websites enhance your visibility, increases online traffic, and boosts brand awareness.

But backlinks are of various kinds, all having varying degrees of effect on your SEO performance. In this article, we’ll look into what kinds of backlinks you can build and how they affect your website rankings.

Backlinks: Good v/s Bad Practices

As mentioned above, there are various kinds of backlinks and tactics you can use for furthering your SEO performance². But not all of them will bring you positive results; there are some link-building tactics that are considered spam by Google and are hence penalized.

We’ll discuss each of these linking practices at length, but let’s look at the good and bad practices in a snapshot:

 

Good Backlinks Bad Backlinks
Guest Posting Paid Backlinks
Blog Comments Reciprocal Links
Social Bookmarking Directory Backlinks
Author Bio Backlinks Private Blog Network Links
Editorial Backlinks Auto-Generated Backlinks
Social Media Backlinks 301 Redirect Backlinks
Infographic Backlinks
Testimonial and Review Backlinks

 

 

Types of Backlinks and How They Affect SEO

There has been a paradigm shift in the modus operandi of acquiring backlinks to improve rankings. Merely a decade ago, the general practice was to acquire a whole bunch of backlinks with little or no regard to its relevance. SEO experts used to prefer quantity of backlinks over quality, and it was indeed improving their Google rankings.

But no more!

In 2012, Google’s Penguin update³ changed the way marketers and content creators created backlinks for their content. In sweeping changes made to its algorithms, Google started penalizing links acquired through purchases, farming, and other tactics for acquiring massive numbers of spammy links in order to manipulate search engine results.

 

Did You Know?

 

The top-ranked pages on Google SERP have 3.8 times more backlinks than sites ranked lower than the first page.

 

These updates introduced what we refer to as ‘ethical link building.’ These are the practices that every SEO specialist should follow to achieve long-term results.

Let us now look at the various kinds of links that you can build for your website and how they would affect your SEO rankings:

  1. Guest Posting

Guest posting or blogging means creating content as a guest author on another website that contains a link back to your own site. Guest posting is a popular way to acquire high-quality links relevant to your niche and provide useful information to readers.

How does it affect your SEO rankings?

Google favors guest blogging if the information provided therein is useful to readers. However, you shouldn’t go for a high volume of low-quality links, as it indicates link scheming to Google and directly goes against their guidelines.

The key to building high-quality backlinks through guest posts is to reach out to webmasters related to your niche and build relationships with them for backlinking.

  1. PaidBacklinks

Paid backlinks are the links acquired in exchange for money. Buying links is considered unethical by Google and goes against their webmaster guidelines.

How does it affect your SEO rankings?

Google does not consider buying links as an ethical practice and catalogs it under link scheming. Any link acquired in exchange for money or something valuable will incur a penalty by the search engine.

  1. BlogComments

Blog comment links were all the rage some two decades ago. The popular link-building method included leaving comments on a blog with keyword-rich anchor texts that redirected to another website. Soon enough, many automated services sprang up, which turned blog commenting into a spammy tactic for acquiring backlinks.

How does it affect your SEO rankings?

Blog comments do not directly violate Google’s ranking guidelines and can be used limitedly. Leaving organic and useful comments on blogs is completely acceptable, but blog comments shouldn’t be exploited for the sole purpose of attaining links.

  1. ReciprocalLinks

Reciprocal links or exchanged links is the process of linking two websites with a mutual agreement between the webmasters. In this strategy, the owner of two websites may enter into an agreement to link back to each other’s sites.

How does it affect your SEO rankings?

Exchanged links are considered a black hat SEO technique and shouldn’t be a part of your backlinking strategy.

  1. SocialBookmarking

Social bookmarking involves saving or bookmarking a web page link with networks or private domains and with tag categorization. Social bookmarking is useful if you want to provide users with genuine and relevant information on forums and fan sites.

How does it affect your SEO rankings?

Social bookmarking has become an obsolete practice in SEO. Google places little to no value on social bookmarking links but doesn’t consider them a vital factor influencing your website rankings.

  1. DirectoryBacklinks

Online web directories or catalogs are a digital list of websites or businesses. These directories were once used for link-building purposes, though the process has become rather an old-school method for backlinking.

How does it affect your SEO rankings?

Simply put, directory backlinks have no authority when it comes to rankings. You should only use factually correct information if you want your site listed in online directories. Regardless, it would be wise not to use directories for mass link-building purposes to avoid being penalized by Google.

  1. AuthorBio Backlinks

Most articles published online consist of the profile or bio of the author. A few years ago, SEO experts began adding anchor texts for links in author bios. These links direct the user to the author’s website, social media page, online store, etc.

 

In a Google Webmaster Hangout session, John Mueller said that bio pages had more to do with site linking and user experience than ranking websites.

 

How does it affect your SEO rankings?

If you want to include links on author bios, only do so on trustworthy sites. Otherwise, they may be categorized under spammy tactics and may end up being penalized by Google.

  1. PrivateBlog Network Links

Private blog networks, as the name suggests, are groups of sites created for the sole purpose of linking back to a money site. These sites or networks are private and cannot be traced back to their source.

How do they affect your SEO rankings?

Private blog networks are considered deceitful measures as Google and other search engines once upon a time had no way to detect where these links were coming from. However, that’s not the case today, and Google can easily figure out any PBN links pointing to your site. In such a case, your website will be deindexed and possibly penalized.

  1. EditorialBacklinks

Editorial links are the best backlinking practice that Google acknowledges. They act as a reference point for users to grab more information on the topic discussed. That’s because editorial backlinks aren’t purchased or traded for; they’re acquired organically by providing high-quality content.

How do they affect your SEO rankings?

Editorial links are great examples of healthy and high-quality backlinks. Google wants you to use editorial links organically for ranking your site high on the SERPs.

  1. Auto-GeneratedBacklinks

Auto-generated backlinks are links posted by automated tools on online posts and forums with keyword-rich anchor text for websites. These links were all the rage a few years ago when the emphasis was on quality rather than quantity.

How do they affect your SEO rankings?

Automated backlinks can provide short-term gains to your rankings, but once Google figures out that you’re using automated tools for backlinking, your website will be in direct violation of Google’s guidelines. It falls under link scheming and is considered a spammy tactic to acquire links.

  1. SocialMedia Backlinks

Popular social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, etc., allow users to include a link to their website or blog on their social profiles.

 

In 2014, Google stated that it considered social media like any other web page that’s being searched by users and didn’t attribute social media backlinks as a major ranking factor.

 

 

How does it affect your SEO rankings?

Since social media platforms have user-generated content, you must attribute social media links as no-follow links. Social media links should be used to increase your online visibility and attract additional traffic volumes to your site, but they have no influence as a ranking criterion whatsoever.

  1. 301 Redirect Backlinks

301 redirect is a common way of transferring the user and search engine to a new URL of an old site. These redirects act as a bridge for passing authority between domains. Soon enough, marketers started purchasing old domains with multiple links just to provide their present site with the so-called ‘link juice.’

How do they affect your SEO rankings?

If you’re considering using 301 redirects just to further your SEO rankings, then think again because Google takes 301 redirects as a spammy and black-hat technique for link building.

  1. InfographicBacklinks

Infographics are information or data that is presented in a visual context. From explaining a process to showcasing trends, infographics have become popular graphic designs to dissipate useful information. Whenever an infographic is shared, Google attributes its creator, which is akin to a backlink to your website.

How do they affect SEO rankings?

Infographic backlinks can be a great tactic to acquire links for your site, but however, there are some elements that you must bear in mind. Ensure that the infographic has a good design, contains accurate and relevant information, and is pointing towards the right source.

  1. Testimonial And Reviews Backlink

Testimonial backlinks refer to leaving a review on another website with a link that directs back to your website. On the other hand, review backlinks are those which are left by users for your products and services on a third party with a link back to your site.

How do they affect SEO rankings?

Reviews and testimonials are considered organic and natural linking building processes and therefore shouldn’t be penalized by Google. However, ensure that review and testimonial links aren’t pursued or bought, as they would be tantamount to link scheming.

Conclusion

These were the common backlinking techniques applied by marketers and content creators in their quest to reach the top of SERPs. Some of these are considered as ethical while others are penalized by Google for being too spammy.

With regular updates, Google changed the way links were built. The bottom line here is that you have to focus on building high-quality links that are relevant to your niche and provide usefulness to your target audience. With a sound backlink profile for your website, you’ll be able to improve your rankings gradually in the SERPs

High-Quality Backlinking Tips in 2022

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Linking has been an inherent part of the overall SEO strategy in boosting traffic to a website. Linking is an off-page element of SEO, and it involves incorporating inbound links from external sources. With this increased traffic from other websites, you can ultimately improve your ranking on Google Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs).

However, building quality links to the issue here. Such White Hat link-building techniques mean creating relevant, valuable, and organic links related to your niche and satisfies the user by giving them the information they’re looking for. Without incorporating relevant and quality links in your site, you may end up being penalized by Google instead of being rewarded for it.

Throughout its history, Google has been rolling out updates on its algorithms, which affects how websites rank on SERPs. In its first popular Florida updates back in 2003, the search engine penalized Black Hat Techniques of link building like spamming. Since then, link building has become a time-consuming and complex part of SEO, but it’s essential nonetheless.

 

What is Backlinking?

Backlinking refers to a reference made on one website which directs users to another website. Backlinks are inbound links that cause traffic to be directed to your site from an external one. Backlinks are among the most important ranking factors for search engines like Google and Bing.

Many studies have stressed the importance of building backlinks and great content for a successful ranking strategy.

But a major mistake made by SEO experts and marketers is that they go for several links rather than the quality. That’s a big mistake. A few quality links are much better than hundreds of irrelevant backlinks.

But how do you factor in quality when incorporating backlinks?

All links are not the same. Moreover, the quality of links may vary from industry to industry and depends on the language, country, and keywords in question.

 

Benefits of Link Building

You need to proceed with caution when building links for your site. Backlinking validates your site’s content and helps users associate with it and get more information on the topic they’re looking for.

Quality links are favored by Google, and in turn, the search engine rewards your site with higher rankings. And good links are all about relevancy, quality, and user focus.

Here is why you should focus on quality backlinking for your business:

  • Links are one of the top factors for ranking on Google SERPs.
  • Relevant links can point the user toward great content.
  • Backlinking confers trust in your brand.
  • It links to the web.
  • Google uses links to discover your website and content before it ranks it.
  • Many experts and Google have proclaimed it unnatural to have websites without backlinks.

 Tips to Build Quality Links

If you’re starting as an SEO professional, it may not be easy to incorporate relevant links on your website. The idea is to follow white-hat techniques in link building which allows you to start instantaneously and without any expense.

Below are some ways to go about backlinking for your website:

  • Build Online Relationships

Building good relationships with authoritative websites and content creators is one of the most common ways to approach link building.

Try to build relationships with websites, forums, social groups, and online content creators that are related to your niche. Don’t let an opportunity to build new contacts go by.

Wondering how to do it?

You can start by making relevant comments on external blogs, groups, or posts with interesting and valuable content related to the topic of discussion. The idea is for users to derive useful information from those comments. Such active participation in online communities related to your niche allows you to build healthy relationships, get some quality backlinks, connect with your target audience organically, and keep up-to-date on the latest trends and news.

 

  • Reach Out for Links

If you’re a newbie in the SEO field, asking for links is a good start. Start tapping into your contacts and ask for backlinks from any friend, relative, or peer with a blog site or website.

The only rule here is to ensure that the link source should come from a site that is relevant to your industry. Thus, keyword selection is of prime importance here.

However, asking for links is the second step, the first step is creating useful content that your users will be directed to from those links. With great and useful content, others will start reaching out to you for links.

It’s also imperative that you ask them for links in content rather than on the footer or sidebar. In-content links will have a greater impact on your website rankings.

 

  • Start Blogging

Adding blog posts goes a long way in helping your content and website to rank high on SERPs. Creating a single blog post with a single link won’t do any good here; you must keep blogging regularly to achieve the desired result.

Be regular with your blogs and write on topics that circle your niche and your target audience’s needs. With consistent blog posts which consist of relevant, useful, and well-formatted content, your site starts gaining authority from Google.

The right keyword selection and regular blogging will start reaping the rewards for you soon enough, with more and more people looking to link your content in due time.

 

  • Write Guest Posts

There are many online forums and sites which will allow you to write blogs as a guest on their platform. But you also need to be sure that the website or blog is relevant to your industry.

Include content that gives information on your industry as a whole, rather than just writing about your business or its products. Focus on the quality of your writing with professional and interesting content for your target audience.

The key here is to get links that aid in your website rankings. Irrelevant or poor-quality links can adversely affect your website rankings. There are various online tools like ahrefs and Moz Link Explorer that help you to find relevant and high-quality links to publish your posts.

Guest blogging helps to establish a mutually beneficial relationship between the guest blogger and the site they publish their content.

 

  • Testimonial Link Building

Testimonials are user reviews of a product or service enlisted by businesses on their websites. They also offer the opportunity to write about your experience with their product.

Testimonial linking is a mutually beneficial arrangement for both parties; it gives you the chance to get high-quality links while businesses can enjoy greater trust in their brand. Writing testimonials has emerged as a useful strategy to attract traffic from a site with higher approval ratings than your website.

It’s a win-win situation where the business can get more testimonials for their site while you can build a quality and authoritative backlink for your website.

 

  • Research Competitors

Competitor research is yet another way of identifying relevant backlinks for your site. When you analyze the backlinks that your competitors have incorporated, you may notice some links that you’ve not targeted yet.

Numerous online tools help you to analyze your competitor’s backlinks along with the source of those links and their techniques. If you notice a high-quality backlink incorporated by your competitor that you haven’t used yet, it’s time to acquire similar links for your website as well.

 

  • Influencer Marketing

Influencers are freelancers who create highly engaging content to compel their audience to take action. They’ve become an essential component in online marketing with product shoutouts, sponsorships, and trials. This is a benefitting arrangement for both the business and consumers.

When you partner with influencers, they add links to their posts and stories on social media platforms. Search engines like Google emphasize content or links provided by authority figures with high levels of engagement.

They compel users to try out a new brand while it confers extra reach, more quality links, and higher rankings for your website.

 

  • Build Links on Social Media Platforms

Insert your links on all social media platforms where you have a presence. Google values social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Quora, owing to the user-generated content on these platforms.

You can add your links on profile and description pages and shared content. Retweets are particularly effective in this regard.

Lastly, ensure that your links are well included in your YouTube profile and video descriptions if you have your channel. YouTube is a great medium to connect with a large chunk of the audience and showcase your content to them.

 

Link Building is Central to your SEO Strategy

There’s no shortcut or alternate way to do it when it comes to building links. Getting inbound links for your site greatly increases rankings.

With these link-building tips mentioned above, you can plan your linking strategy and follow it up consistently for the desired result. You can get help from online tools to find high-quality, relevant, and organic links for your site to improve your website ranking considerably.

Creating excellent content and inbound links will pave the way for success in your SEO campaigns and build goodwill for your brand.