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Quick SEO Fixes for Better Rankings for Any Site (Free Tools)

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Yorke Comm
Quick SEO Fixes for Better Rankings for Any Site (Free Tools)

Search engine optimization (SEO) experts recommend weekly health checkups to prevent issues like improper recording of data by Google Analytics (GA), faulty connections of Google Webmaster Tools (GWT), malfunctioning plugins and sudden changes in Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs), among others.Here are some free and quick fixes you can use to ensure optimum visibility on search engines-

These files are used to specify which parts of a website search engines can crawl, i.e., fetch.

Mistakes with these usually happen because the creators forget about its case-sensitive nature.

This problem would be interpreted by search engines as web pages being poorly optimized for mobiles.

Files can also be blocked and unblocked manually using the ‘allow’ and ‘disallow’ parameters.

In the above example, the Googlebot is granted permission to fetch the JS and the CSS files.

Regular health checkups are important not just for you, but also for your website to ensure smooth functioning along with a wider reach. Search engine optimization (SEO) experts recommend weekly health checkups to prevent issues like improper recording of data by Google Analytics (GA), faulty connections of Google Webmaster Tools (GWT), malfunctioning plugins and sudden changes in Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs), among others.Here are some free and quick fixes you can use to ensure optimum visibility on search engines-

Checkpoint 1: Technical SEO
Checkpoint 2: On-page SEO
Checkpoint 3: Off-page SEO

Checkpoint 1: Technical SEO

  • Robots.txt file:

These files are used to specify which parts of a website search engines can crawl, i.e., fetch. Mistakes with these usually happen because the creators forget about its case-sensitive nature.

For example www.amazon.in/rubber-ball.html is not the same as www.amazon.in/RUBBER-BALL.html

Additionally, when the site’s JavaScript (JS) and responsive designs get blocked by search engines’ bots, finding and loading your Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) becomes hard, making your website difficult to load on mobile devices. This problem would be interpreted by search engines as web pages being poorly optimized for mobiles. Files can also be blocked and unblocked manually using the ‘allow’ and ‘disallow’ parameters.

User-Agent: Googlebot
Allow: .js
Allow: .css

In the above example, the Googlebot is granted permission to fetch the JS and the CSS files.

Disallow: /cart
Disallow: /CART

Disallow implies that the Googlebots cannot fetch that particular file, in this case, the cart. Search engine bots will adhere to the closest matching user-agent block in a robots.txt file and other user-agent blocks will be ignored.

In this example, the single rule specifically stated for Googlebots will be ignored by the bots of other search engines.

User-agent: *
Disallow: /ethnic-wear.html
Disallow: /Furniture.html
User-agent: Googlebot
Disallow: /sarees.html

  • Sitemap.xml:

Sitemaps are protocols that help crawling bots find and inform a search engine about the pages on your website. Sitemaps also give information about when the web page was last updated, how often it changes and how important it is in relation to other URLs on the website.

An example of a sitemap ishttp://yorkecommunications.com/sitemap.xml

XML Sitemaps being the most important element in technical SEO, the first thing that needs to be checked is whether these files are properly installed. This helps the bots find the most important web pages before the others. Errors or warnings in your sitemaps can be checked by following this path:
Goto → GWT → Sitemap

In wordpress, use Yoast SEO plugin for XML sitemap generation, then add in GWT for authentication and faster indexing.CLICK TO TWEET

It is important to ensure that sitemaps are updated whenever new content is added to a website. Googlebots can process 50,000 links at a time, so it helps to have short URLs to ensure that important pages are indexed first then add in GWT for authentication and faster indexing.

  • Test and improve page speed

Page load is one of the most important ranking signals for desktop and mobile Therefore the lighter the site,better the engagement, improved UX and lesser bounce rate. The ideal load speed for websites is approximately 3 seconds for desktops and 2 seconds for mobiles. You can use GTMetrix and Alexa (speed test sites) to check the load time, and with the improvement suggestions you can actually decrease the time taken to load.

Alexa:
Alexa

Checkpoint 2: On-page SEO

  • SEO audit for on-page errors

Tools like Zadro and Woorank give you areas for improvement based on low, medium and high priority according to your website audit. It is always better to prioritize depending on your website’s need rather than just blindly following a tool.

This is how Zadro and Woorank look:
Woorank:
woorank

  • Optimize meta titles and descriptions for increased CTR (Click-through Rate)

The simplest way to increase CTR is to optimize meta title and description by including relevant keywords and showing unique traits of the website in the description with contact details and required call-to-action (CTA).

        • Identify low CTR content and fix
        • Yoast SEO editor can be used for bulk meta title & desc editor
        • Include dates in your snippets for time sensitive articles
        • Add rich snippets & AMP pages
        • Get “Jump to links” with a TOC and structured content

The image below is an example of all of this:
richsnippets

Example: How To Create A Table Of Contents With Anchored Subheadings using HTML:

table of contents

  • Check for Duplicate Content

Duplicate content may lead to penalty from search engines, so it is better to use best practices and have unique content on sites. The SEOMATOR tool is the best way to check for duplicate content in the early stages of SEO audit.

duplicate content
duplicate content
If two pages have similar content, you can use ‘page level 301 redirect’ with the code “rel=canonical” to avoid duplication and consequent penaltyCLICK TO TWEET

  • Link opportunity in rich snippets (other than 10 links) on SERP:

Other than text, Google searches for visual and informational contentlike fads, images, tweets, videos and informational boxes. Rich snippets are normal Google searches with additional information such as reviews, ratings, etc. Users are attracted to these since they are appealing and take less time in providing the desired result. Often the 10 blue links without rich snippets are left behind, especially if you are in the B2C industry.

Example:
Rank Tracker can be used to check already used Rich Snippets.

Checkpoint 3:Off-page SEO

  • Check for devalued, penalty-prone or irrelevant backlinks

You can check the quality of links on your site and manually check the PA/DA (Page Authority/Domain Authority) for the same using tools like GWT. After that, remove the irrelevant and lesser DA links (either the entire domain or link alone) to avoid devaluing of your website. Google Search Console is one of the ways to check for these links
Another way is to use SEO SpyGlass.

  • Try link building by Alerts

Using Google Alerts to create alerts for your brand name will help you see mentions of your site online in seconds. You can also write back to them and ask for a link-back.


Cool, right? Go through these quick SEO fixes and see the difference in your search rankings. While there always are longer processes to optimize your Search Engine Optimization techniques, these quick fixes might help save your site from penalty and increase your visibility in SERP, resulting in higher CTR and more traffic. SEO is a surefire way to increase website traffic and build trust and credibility.

Got any more quick fixes to share with us? We’d love to hear from you in the comments section below.

Originally posted on Yorke Communications

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