Google’s algorithm knows what to do to find your website and index it.
But do you know how you can facilitate this process and use the algorithm to benefit your business?
Below are 12 signs of a good Website to see if you’re on a good path when it comes to being found by the world’s biggest search engine.
The structure of the Website is a pyramid.
It is necessary to have a clear hierarchy. In other words, your visitors should see each theme with a main page, which gradually becomes more specialized as they browse your website further. This helps people and search engine crawlers navigate your website more efficiently and completely.
For example, a service-oriented company should showcase its core services on the main page. When a visitor clicks on one of these services, the page they arrive at should present a set of more specific pages, and so on…
It has a website sitemap.
A sitemap is an outline of your structure. It’s a good tool for your audience to get to the information they’re looking for. However, it serves a greater purpose in terms of SEO – allowing crawlers to find and index your pages in the search engine.
A crawler, or bot, is an algorithm that systematically scours the internet looking for new information to index. It is thanks to them that search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo find all the information on the internet.
Don’t overdo the links.
Google’s algorithm rules say to “keep links to a reasonable number”.
The maximum used to be 100 links per page. Now Google leaves the number open, as the number of links that each page has pointing to it, more or less, determines the limit number.
In any case, it is not recommended to use more than 100. More than that, the user experience starts to be negatively affected.
It has an abundance of useful information, conveyed clearly and precisely.
This is difficult to do. It takes time to build something truly valuable.
A “useful, information-rich website,” as Google calls it, is easy to understand, navigate and use. Most importantly, the content is original, meaning it was not copied from anywhere else on the internet.
It is rich in relevant keywords.
Your website is only as good as your content. The information in all of your content tells Google what your website is about, which in turn allows your potential customers to find it when they search the internet.
The content should be based on keywords that your target audience would type into the search bar to find information about your company’s products or services. To achieve the best results it is necessary to think like a potential customer and not as a company owner. This will help you appear in the most relevant searches.
It has quality titles and ALT tags.
A “title” is the first line of a search result, and must be page-specific (i.e. if your website is about gardening, the title page must have the word “gardening” in it). It’s like the headline of a news story – the first thing people see. A good one will bring an audience to you.
An “ALT tag” is what explains an image. As crawlers cannot decipher the subject of an image, they need an ALT tag for this purpose. This way they provide great SEO value. However, it’s not a good idea to overload ALT tags with keywords. “Stuffing” goes against Google’s rules, which is harmful for you.
It has no incorrect HTML or broken links.
Incorrect HTML affects a website in two different ways. In addition to causing slower loading times (which in turn creates a negative user experience), it also prevents crawlers from crawling and indexing your pages.
Broken links (something that can be quite frustrating) are hallmarks of a poorly maintained website. Check your website regularly to check that all links work correctly and lead to the right destination. Otherwise, your audience will become frustrated or, even worse, lose trust in you.
Supports If-Modified-Since.
This HTML header lets the crawler know if the page has changed since the last time it was indexed. It’s true, pages are indexed multiple times! This feature exists so that unchanged pages are not re-indexed. With billions of pages all over the internet, it would be an incredible waste of time and resources for search engines.
If-Modified-Since also saves bandwidth, which is important for fast indexing. And, by speeding up the crawlers process, this header allows your pages to appear in search results more quickly.
Utilizes robots.txt correctly.
The “robots.txt” file lets crawlers know which pages they can index, as well as what information they can collect. This functionality is important because search engines are not the only entities capable of crawling the internet. In fact, anyone with the right programming knowledge will be able to create a program that scours the Internet looking for data (like emails, phone numbers, etc…) that can be used for their own purposes.
By knowing where this information is on your website, you can use robots.txt to control what is collected. Be careful to do this correctly, as no one wants to accidentally block the entire website.
It only allows you to index valuable pages.
In the same way that we can avoid collecting certain data, we must also avoid tracking pages that do not add value.
Google’s objective is to organize the information on the Internet and provide it to the user in order from most to least valuable. Repeated or unoriginal content is something the algorithm doesn’t want. It only serves to make the final objective unfeasible. Being something that goes against the needs of the search engine, indexing these pages will have a negative impact on your website.
It displays correctly on all devices and browsers.
The Website must be compatible with any browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, among others). When this doesn’t happen, a large portion of your audience will have a negative experience and stop visiting you.
For the same reason, it is extremely important that the Website is displayed correctly on any device, after all, 80% of all traffic in the world is mobile.
Is fast.
Creating a website that loads each page in less than three seconds requires a very technical set of skills. You need to know how to limit CSS code, reduce DNS lookups, remove duplicate scripts, configure ETags, and many others…
If you don’t have technical knowledge, it’s best to consult a professional.
Speed is important, and it is one of the factors that will help you create an experience that your audience will enjoy. Of course, they also appreciate an informative and easy-to-navigate website.
In sum
A good website has to give the best possible to its customers, and search engines know that. It’s all about convenience. Give it to your potential customers and, in turn, they will trust and do business with you.
As you saw above, a website aimed at your customers is essential to achieve good results. Contact us to talk about your website, identify opportunities, and get ahead of your competition.
