5 tips to optimize the SEO structure of a website
"The term colossus with feet of clay originates from a story in the book of Daniel in the Bible; it evokes a power that seems invulnerable, built on a fragile foundation."
Too many businesses invest a great deal of time, money, human resources, and thought into SEO strategies that simply do not work.
Why?
Some organizations and companies have not, for instance, prepared search engines for the correct interpretation of their content strategy. The goal of this article is to provide you with some simple tips on the fundamentals that can contribute to a healthy optimization of your website for search engines.
1 - Why improve the *technical* SEO structure of a website?
Having a beautiful website is nice, but what good is it if no one can see it..?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) helps you generate high-quality traffic to your website by placing your page at the top of Google’s organic results. To put it simply, it means being the first result when users search for your product or service.
Inbound marketing strategies are MUCH more effective than outbound marketing, as it’s the customer who is looking to connect with you, not the other way around.
They are searching for you, and you are there to assist them.. Just imagine the difference in the sales process compared to more invasive sales strategies (calls, emails, etc.), for example.
So how can you improve your SEO performance? In this article, you will find the 5 essential pillars to lay a solid foundation when building a website.
2 - What are the 3 main performance factors that impact my SEO?
I love saying this, but SEO is like baking. There is a recipe and ingredients. If you follow it step by step, you can't go wrong! Algorithms are constantly changing, but today there are three defined factors that are crucial when it comes to optimizing your SEO.
2.1 Loading speed of your website
People do not like to wait. This directly impacts your conversion rate. According to a Google x Deloitte study:
"Reducing load time by 0.1 second can lead to an 8% increase in conversion rates."
Just wow. The loading speed of your website is therefore essential, as you will understand.
It's a simple reasoning that applies to the loading time of your site. Search engines want to provide the best possible experience to their users, which means.. :
-> Your site's performance will improve -> thus offering a better user experience to your visitors -> thereby improving your SEO performance.
Pro tips: use high-quality web hosting servers (like AWS services) to quickly see improvements in load time without plugins.
2.2 Accessibility of your pages
Search engines like Google advocate for an inclusive web. No one should be excluded, and everyone should be able to benefit from the features the tool offers. What elements determine the accessibility of a web page?
-  Alt attribute of an image: alt="description of your image" allows search engines to read and thus understand the intent behind your image. This alt attribute of an image, for example, will help search engines represent what is being described, whether it’s for a blind person or someone on a slow connection where images take time to load.
- Contrast ratios (WCAG rating) According to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), standards organizations, and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), websites must ensure that all content can be read by everyone.
- Responsive design. According to recent statistics, mobile searches have now outpaced desktop searches. Your site must therefore be accessible and clear on all platforms to offer the best possible experience to users when using search engines. Mobile SEO can become a significant strategic action for technical traffic in 2021.
2.3 Strong technical foundations (Hn, title, schema.org)
The so-called "best Google practices." I notice that many sites put a lot of effort into their content marketing strategies, keywords, and more, but haven’t... started with the basics!
Search engine algorithms have a lot of work to do. The web is filled with an abundance of content, and their goal is to filter it, match it with user queries, and provide the right answers as efficiently as possible. Like any busy individual, search engines like Google spend most of their time processing, exploring, and indexing the pages that exist on the World Wide Web. You can assist them by applying some good practices.
3 - The 5 best practices on Google to optimize my site
Google has set the rules of the game. Follow them to be rewarded (by climbing up the search results).
3.1 Reducing image weight improves website loading speed (without plugins)
The heavier your images are, the longer it takes for the search engine to load them, slowing down your site's "first input delay." When you upload images like JPEGs, PNGs, etc., to your site, make sure to minimize their weight as much as possible. At Digidop, for example, we never upload images larger than 200Kb per image when developing sites using Webflow.
How to reduce the weight of your image?
Resize images (using Figma or ILOVEIMG)
Adapt the size of your file to the layout you wish to import it into.
There's no point in uploading a logo at 1200 x 1200 pixels if you want to display it as an icon of 32x32 pixels.
Compress images using free tools (ILOVEIMG)
We've adopted a foolproof, SEO-friendly technique from Digidop. Use the FREE tool ILOVEIMG to resize images without losing their aspect ratio, then compress the resized images (the steps should be quite simple to follow). On average, this can reduce the size of your image file by ten times.
Pro tips for Lazy Load configuration: "Lazy Loading" is a term used in computer programming to describe a type of resource fetching that defers loading the content until it’s needed. The content can include secondary resources or parts of the main resource that are not visible initially. Lazy loading your images on your website allows them to load at the moment of click or scroll. Lazy loading can be very useful for first-page load scenarios.
3.2 Adding structured data: schema.org
Structured data or schema.org is essential if you want your website to be search engine friendly. They provide a defined structure that search engines can read and analyze when they arrive at your site, allowing them to save time as it ensures how they interpret the content they find by visiting your site. To add this information to your site, follow the numerous tutorials and blogs that explain how to easily add structured data to any web page using simple HTML scripts that require just a few clicks!
Our preferred markup at Digidop? FAQ pages, without a doubt. By adding structured data to your FAQs, you might have the privilege of seeing your questions and answers displayed at the very top of search engines! See attached photos.
Need a tool to help you write your rich data? Check out our article on the 10 best tools for SEO.
3.3 Adhere to the Hn structure hierarchy
Like an outline for an essay, headings, subheadings, and sub-subheadings do not just go anywhere and in any order on the web! It is important to optimize their organization. Yes, it’s Google’s optimization guidelines!
So what constitutes a good <!-- fs-richtext-ignore --><Hn> structure?
âś… Only 1 H1 tag per page: the most important
âś… No skipping of <!-- fs-richtext-ignore --><Hn>: H2>H3>H4 followed by H3>H2>H3>H4>H5
âś… The H1 tag at the very top of your HTML code
❌ H2>H5>H1>H3
3.4 ALT attribute for images on every image
Now that your images are optimized for speed (cropped, resized, and compressed), it's time to tag them! Indeed, search engines are not yet capable of seeing images; however, they can read code! They rely on the alt attributes or the text you insert in the code. It is therefore imperative to include descriptions for your images so that they can first understand what is being presented and then describe it to your users with disabilities such as blindness, etc.
Important: Do not use this tag to stuff your keywords. A little reminder of Google’s best practices: provide the best user experience... So be as sincere and precise in your visual description of the image in question.
Not sure which images on your site do not have ALT attributes defined? Quick tutorial that explains, in 1 minute, how to identify all untagged image files.
3.5 Optimized length of <!-- fs-richtext-ignore --><titles> and <meta> descriptions
You have already read a few articles on the subject, so I won’t cover the basics again. Well, no, I'll still make a quick reminder.
Step 0: Make sure that every page on your site has a title tag and a meta description. This is the essential first step to increase your CTR in search engine results pages (SERP) by using an optimal title for each page of your website or blog article. Make it catchy, but simply indicate the subject of the article. It is important to include keywords that are relevant to that specific article, as writing something brief conveys more than writing something overly lengthy without saying anything useful to the reader.
Now let’s move on to the next level.
To optimize this resource and always stay user-centered. (Here are some reminders about Google’s objectives: The main goal of Google is... *Let's all say it together* To provide users with the best possible experience on their browsers!) To do this, Google suggests using pa....
Bam. Frustration. The sentence got cut off.
Because yes, when your title or meta description exceeds a certain number of characters, it appears cut off or ends with '...', which is obviously not optimal for enhancing your click-through rate and consequently your SEO, your conversion of new clients, and your inbound strategy, etc., etc., you get the logic.
It is therefore essential to be cautious about adhering to specific guidelines:
âś… Title tag: 45 to 55 characters
âś… Meta tag: 145 to 155 characters
If you use Webflow, you can easily preview how your tags will display in the SERP. Otherwise, use a character counting tool to quickly test your tags.
Conclusion of the article
Rule number 1: When doing SEO, think logically and optimize for user journeys.
Rule number 2: Respect the 5 essential practices for a SEO-friendly construction base.
· Hn structure similar to a writing outline
· Title tag with optimized size: title max 55, meta max 155
· ALT attribute on all your images, and as precise as possible
· Resized and compressed images
· Responsive display (Mobile first?)
Bonus: Tools to use for auditing my site
Speed, tags, indexing issues, loading speed calculation by the second There are plenty of tools available! Lucky you! We’ll help a bit to sift through with Digidop's favorite SEO diagnostic toolbox (or link to the article on the 10 best tools to optimize your SEO)
· Loading speed:
· TestMySite: Think with Google
· ALT, Hn, Title, and meta:
Chrome extension Detailed SEO extension
· Schema.org
Schema markup generator by Merkle
Want to go further in optimization and speed up loading times?
Are you using WIX, WordPress, Ionos, or Drupal? Migrate to Webflow. Right now.
Something big is happening on the internet. The no-code movement is driving the internet to new heights. In our view, Webflow perfectly exemplifies this with a response to market demand: the end of slow sites and plugins (Oops, WordPress ⚰️).
The quality of CSS code, caching, and the performance of hosting servers make it so that we no longer need to introduce Webflow regarding one of its specialties: the loading speed of its pages. Absolutely fantastic. The Ferrari of CMS and the best alternative to WordPress for your site/blog/SEO needs.
We firmly believe that this no-code tool will revolutionize web development, and we encourage you to act quickly. Otherwise, you might find yourself on page 7 in the coming years...
So yes, as a certified Webflow expert in France, you might think that Digidop is biased... and yet. At Digidop, our number one value is to always provide the best no-code solution in response to business needs. So in terms of web, Webflow is currently the best solution compared to WordPress, and that’s why we got certified. If tomorrow that changes... we will recommend the new tool that is even faster.
And above all, we are here for you. So if you have any questions regarding integrations or transferring your old site to Webflow, feel free to contact us for free*. And if we had to summarize quickly, remember one thing:
The migration to Webflow is a SIMPLE 🙂 process that will quickly improve your SEO results.
*only the first minute of the call is free
