In our previous post, we discussed SEO and its Classification. Now it’s the turn to introduce you about the methods or strategies of performing SEO for a blog or website step by step and also the process of measuring SEO performance of your site.

Methods/Procedures/Techniques/Process of Performing SEO

You can increase a website’s visibility and rating on search engine results pages (SERPs) by Search Engine Optimization (SEO). You have to use several methods of SEO to achieve this goal. On-page SEO involves optimizing the content, title tags, and meta descriptions of a website to make it more appealing to search engines. Off-page SEO involves building high-quality backlinks to a website from other reputable sources. Technical SEO entails making a website’s code and structure more accessible and crawlable for search engines. Other methods of SEO include keyword research, content marketing, and social media optimization. A successful SEO strategy often involves a combination of these techniques to achieve the best results.

A) Methods of Organic SEO:

There are two main methods of Organic SEO:

1. Methods of On-page SEO:

On-page SEO refers to the total SEO process which is applied within the website. It is the method of optimizing elements of web pages. It is used to gain more relevant traffic to websites. Niche based Keyword research (Here ‘Niche’ means a particular category or topic based on which a website is created, and ‘Keyword’ means some specific words or titles chosen based on the niche) is the most important task in case of On-page SEO. It keeps a great impact on the total ranking process of a website. You need to find out the best keywords for your site which must have high search volume but low competition.

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To perform On-page SEO following elements are necessary:

a) Schema:

Schema or Schema markup is a micro data that you can add to your website to give an enhanced description to users on SERP.

Ratings and reviews, Image thumbnail, Product availability, Price with a currency symbol, Site links are some examples of Schema.

b) Title Tag:

The title tag is the title of a web page that appears on SERP. This tag summarizes the website’s content. So it’s important to have a relevant title tag that describes what your website is about.

The primary keyword, secondary keyword, and brand name can be mentioned there. The first 50-60 Title Tag characters are shown on Google.

c) Meta Description:

Meta description is a brief overview that sums up your web page’s content. So it is important to have a unique description for every page on your website.

It appears underneath the URL on SERP. This description should be written within a limit of 50-300 characters.

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d) Header Tag:

Header tag is used to define your web page headings and subheadings. The header tag hierarchy is from H1-H6. H1 is the main heading of a web page whereas H2-H6 is the optional subheadings.

e) URL Structure:

A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) consists of a Protocol, Domain, and Subdirectories (specific folders or subfolders). A well-structured URL provides both users and Search Engines clear information on what the web page is about.

https://smritycomputer.com/basic-ideas-on-seo-for-the-beginners-seo-and-its-classification is an example of URL where https is the Protocol, smritycomputer.com is the Domain and basic-ideas-on-seo-for-the-beginners-seo-and-its-classification is a Subdirectories.

Optimal format for a URL is-

http://www.xyz.com/category-keyword/subcategory-keyword /primary-keyword.html

URLs must be shorter than 2,083 characters. You should include some keywords in URL and instead of underscores prefer hyphens to give space between the words.

According to Backlinko analysis, short URLs tend to rank better than long URLs.

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f) Image alt text:

Image alternative text is also called as ‘Alt tags or Text tags’. When an image cannot be loaded to a user screen, it is displayed on the web page. Search Engines also use it to determine the meanings of the images.

You can use this kind of Image alt text as follows-

<img src=“SEO methods.png” alt=“The methods of performing SEO”>

g) Internal Link:

An Internal link is a type of hyperlink which goes from one page of the domain to another page on the same domain. It improves the indexing of a website. It helps in spreading link juice.

h) Sitemap:

Sitemap is a hierarchy list of web pages (or of a website) that is accessed by Search Engine spiders. This allows users to enhance the search and helps crawlers for indexing purposes.

There are two types of sitemaps-

I. HTML Sitemap- It is written in ‘Hypertext Markup Language’. It is designed for users. It assists navigating a webpage conveniently.

II. XML Sitemap- It is written in ‘Extensible Markup Language’. It is designed for Search Engines. XML Sitemaps are used for fast indexing of a website. Because it helps Search Engines to easily understand the structure of a website.

Go to https://valleyfig.com//sitemap.xml to get an idea about the URLs in this sitemap.

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i) Page Speed:

Page speed refers to the time needed for loading the content of a web page. A website having a fast Page speed ranks high on Search Engines. Slow page speed may result in a high bounce rate and low average time spent on the web page.

j) Featured Snippet:

Featured snippet is the search result that is shown on top of Search Engine’s organic results.

Some of the common Featured snippets are- paragraph, table, and list. The most popular featured snippet is Paragraph snippet.

2. Methods of Off-page SEO:

In Off-page SEO, the total SEO procedure is done outside the website. Here the most important tasks are – Link Building, Directory Submission, and Social Bookmarking. Off-page SEO improves the credibility of a website, increases domain authority and referral traffic that improves page rank.

To perform Off-page SEO following tasks have to be done :

a) Link Building:

Link building is the most effective method of Off-page SEO. This is the procedure of link navigation to your site from other websites. External link building can help you to achieve an organic ranking on Search Engines.

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There are two types of Links:

i. Do-follow Link : Do-follow link allows Search Engine crawlers to follow the link for a good boost over SERP and pass the link juice to the destination domain.

An example of a do-follow link:

<a href=“http://smritycomputer.com/”>smritycomputer</a>

By default, all the hyperlinks are do-follow unless they are specified as “rel=nofollow”.

ii. No-follow Link: No-follow link doesn’t allow Search Engine crawlers to follow the link. Also, it doesn’t pass on the link juice.

An example of no-follow link:

<a href=“http://smritycomputer.com/” rel=“nofollow”>smritycomputer</a>

Another two types of links are :

i. Inbound Links: Inbound links come from an external website to your own website. These are also called ‘backlinks’.

A web page with more backlinks ranks higher than a page with fewer backlinks.

ii. Outbound Links: Outbound links will direct a user from your website to an external website.

Some of the common ways to build links are:

I)   Guest blogging,

II) Listing of the website in reputable and trustworthy directories,

III) Testimonial link building,

IV) Content promotion on social media.

It’s crucial to get links from a trustworthy web page than several links from web pages of poor quality.

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b) Directory Submission:

This is also an integral part of Off-page optimization. Directory submission is the process of submitting a website URL and its details to a directory within a specific category on the web. This is a strategy to help you develop the link building of the website.

Directory Submission is a component of Off-page SEO that helps to optimize your website. You can submit your website to another website in this process.

You can submit your website under various categories. For example, if you have a Sports related blog, you can submit your blog in the Sports category to help you get backlinks from it. It develops links amazingly in one way. These directories are almost like the phone directories which have category-wise lists of websites.

Directory Submissions are of three types:

i) Paid or Featured Web Listing: In this type, the owner of the Directories website will charge you for submitting directories. He will approve your links there within 24 hours. This will enable you to get backlinks from the submission of this type. Some websites offer this plan yearly or for a lifetime.  

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ii) Free or Regular Web Listing: Directory Submission is free of charge here, no fees are charged for free or regular submission, although there is no guarantee that websites will be accepted by the admin. This takes a long time too. 

iii) Reciprocal Regular Web Listing: In this process, after activation of Directory Link, a reciprocal link must be submitted to your website, only then the Directory Administrator will approve your link.

Some tricks for submitting directories properly: 

I.  You should submit your website to the most relevant subcategory.

II. You shouldn’t submit your site to the wrong category for profitable listings.

III. You must avoid spamming a directory.   

IV. You have to provide the accurate physical address and blog details.

V. Try to avoid a website that wants a backlink or banners on your website. a connection back to your site, or banners. Getting badges and different backlinks to the directories can harm the SEO score of your website. So it’s better to be careful.

c) Social Bookmarking:

It is an online bookmarking service that allows users to add, compile, edit, and share Web content. Since 1996, a large number of services for online bookmarking management has started. Delicious developed in 2003, made social bookmarking and tagging popular to all. ‘Tagging’ is an important feature of social bookmarking systems, allowing users to manage their bookmarks and create basic terminology called folksonomies.

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Social bookmarking can be useful for individual users as a way to access an aggregated set of bookmarks from different computers, arrange large numbers of bookmarks and share bookmarks with contacts. Institutes such as businesses, libraries, and universities have used social bookmarking to increase the sharing of information amongst members. You can use social bookmarking also for developing web searches.

B) Methods of Paid SEO:

There are different techniques for paid SEO.  Paid searches can deliver almost immediate results, but it’s costly. Alternatively, organic SEO is fairly free from costs, but attempts to boost organic rankings can take a long time. Both of the SEO strategies are equally important based on your objectives and time.  In the past, people handled these individually. However, now more companies feel the importance of a single strategy. Back in 2011, when Google first restricted organic search query information for increasing privacy, they moved the industry in this direction.

As a result, merging the paid search and organic efforts into one became much more significant. Since paid search and SEO focus on keywords, it makes sense to look at these two disciplines through the same perspective.

Here are five ways using those your organization can begin to combine both SEO strategies:

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1. Keyword Research/Expansion:

To track what keywords are driving traffic to your website, you can use Google Analytics and Google Webmaster tools. If your paid search campaign doesn’t already have these keywords/queries, add them, and test them. To determine whether the traffic volume is worth the cost or not, use your Adword tools.

On the other side, take the highest payment conversion terms and seek to give preference to those you have an opportunity to rank organically.  Begin with top conversion terms and high-quality scores. Odds are that these keywords are appropriate for your organization and can also be converted organically. Start to build content for increasing your SERP rankings around the keywords.

2. Paid Links + Organic Links = Clicks:

Studies have shown that users have a higher tendency to click on your paid link seeing your organic link mentioned there. It may sound absurd, but the fact is that it’s much harder to achieve organic ranking within the top 3 positions compared to paid ranking. And if you are not on the first page, you won’t have much probability to gain the traffic you are looking for. A study by Google in 2012 says so. As Brightedge put it on the study focusing the interactions between organic and paid search results, ‘there have been 50 percent incremental clicks on paid ads for even sites with a No. 1 organic rating (meaning that half of the top site visits would not have happened without the use of paid advertisements)’.You might leave clicks on the table if you do not conduct paid research along with your top organic links.

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3. Leverage Compelling Copy:

Take your best Click Through Rate (CTR) and Conversion Rate (CR) ads and try to add these headlines and ad copies into your Meta descriptions and Title tags. You can also take copies from top organic pages to see how they work with paid advertising.

4. Get Content Ideas:

Content is truly king for SEO purposes. Try to test it first with paid search, before you develop content around certain keywords, topics, etc. It will likely have a strong chance of working for SEO if translated well into a paid query. It may not be worth spending that much of your time if it doesn’t work on the paid side. With SEO, it takes time to create an impact, so the paid search is a good way to check ideas without waiting for results for a long time. 

5. Identify Competitors:

Reports on Pay Per Click (PPC) will recognize new competitors that you may not otherwise think of as competitors. When you look at a list of keywords, you can see how you pile yourself up against competitors. For example, we compete against CRM platforms for certain terms as VerticalResponse, an email marketing company although we do not consider it as a direct competitor. It’s a good idea to look like what you find would surprise you.

These five approaches will support both your paid search and SEO efforts to develop and gain insights into what works for both small and large organizations to save time and to concentrate on issues that will have the greatest effect quickly.

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C) Methods of Technical SEO:

Technical SEO is a method of optimizing a website’s technical structure and functionality to improve its visibility and ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs). This includes optimizing elements such as website speed, mobile responsiveness, URL structure, internal linking, and site architecture.

i. Website’s Loading Speed Optimization:

One important aspect of technical SEO is website speed optimization. A website’s loading speed has a significant impact on user experience, and can also affect search engine rankings. Technical SEO techniques such as compressing images, minifying code, and optimizing server response times can improve a website’s speed.

ii. improvement of Mobile Responsiveness:

Another important aspect of technical SEO is mobile responsiveness. As more and more users access websites on mobile devices, having a mobile-friendly website has become essential. Technical SEO techniques such as using responsive design, optimizing font sizes, and ensuring that content is easily readable on mobile devices can improve a website’s mobile responsiveness.

Overall, technical SEO is an important component of a successful SEO strategy. By optimizing a website’s technical structure and functionality, website owners and digital marketers can improve their website’s search engine rankings, user experience, and online visibility.

Methods of Measurement of the SEO Performance of a Website:

Let me demonstrate you some of the most significant SEO metrics to monitor properly:

a) Organic Traffic:

Monitoring your website’s organic traffic will help you understand how effective your SEO strategy is. You should check organic traffic monthly (users/session), organic traffic at a geographical level, ration of new visitors to be visitors returning to your website, conversion rate for organic traffic.

       You can track organic traffic using the Google Analytics tool.

b) Mobile Traffic:

In general, the majority (nearly 60%) of Google searches take place on mobile phones than desktops. The mobile ranking is different from desktop ranking. If you have more mobile traffic, it means that your website is dynamic and highly engaging. You should track your mobile visitors to monitor user behavior and measure the page speed.

        You can track mobile performance using AgencyAnalytics.

c) Keyword Ranking:

Tracking keywords gives you an understanding of where your web page ranks (on SERP) for a particular keyword. You should track keyword ranking for desktop and mobile access locations, the average position of keyword and pages weekly, average click-through rates, top-performing, gaining, and losing keywords.

       You can track keywords from GoogleSearchConsole.

d) Local Visibility:

This metric is important for people maintaining local SEO. It is necessary to track specific metrics to confirm that your traffic is coming from the right audience.

       You can track Local visibility using Google My Business.

e) Engagement Metric:

Engagement metric shows how users are engaging with your website. It plays an important role in determining rankings.

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Some of the engagement metrics are :

Bounce rate, Average session duration, Pages per visit.

You can track it using Google Analytics.

f) Backlinks:

The content having more backlinks from good domains will help you improve your SEO performance.

You should track-

i)   The domain authority (DA) of your website.

ii)  The number of inbound and outbound links to your site.

iii) The ratio of referring domains to backlinks.

iv)  The number of new backlinks you received from relevant and high-quality sources.

v)    Citation flow and trust flow.

vi)   The ratio of link distribution.

vii)  The number of do-follow and no-follow links.

You can monitor website backlinks using Ahrefs.

Conclusion

In conclusion, you can use several methods of SEO to improve a website’s visibility and ranking on search engine results pages. On-page SEO, off-page SEO, technical SEO, keyword research, content creation, and social media optimization are all important components of a successful SEO strategy. Each of these methods serves a unique purpose and can have a significant impact on a website’s search engine rankings. By implementing a combination of these techniques, website owners can perform digital marketing also to effectively optimize their websites to attract more organic traffic and improve their online presence. Ultimately, the key to successful SEO is to stay up to date with the latest best practices and algorithms and to continually adapt and refine strategies as needed.

Hope you’ve got an overall idea on methods of performing SEO in different ways for a website or blog from this article. If you are a little benefited from this, please share the post and contact us for any queries.

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