What Are SEO Measures? Summary Of Key Points Needed To Rank Higher
To improve the ranking by natural search, we will take measures such as optimizing the page for the search engine, which is the mechanism of ranking.
This measure is called “ SEO measures ”, and it seems that those who manage the site take this measure every day to check the transition of the ranking to display it at the top.
However, there are more than 200 elements used for ranking in this search engine, and of course, the evaluation criteria are not disclosed, so many people verify based on various information gathering.・Are you repeating improvements?
In addition, these countermeasures range from important ones to small ones that have little effect on search rankings, and the effects are not reflected immediately, so it is important to continue to take countermeasures patiently.
In addition, SEO measures are surprisingly time-consuming, so it can be said that the point is to prioritize important elements and take measures efficiently.
So, this time, we would like to explain the basic and important points that can be said to be indispensable, especially among the SEO measures necessary to improve this search ranking.
What Is SEO?
First of all, “SEO measures” is an abbreviation of “ Search Engine Optimization ” and refers to the optimization of search engines.
There are three main types of attracting customers to a site, and “SEO measures” is one of the means of marketing that can be started free of charge, which corresponds to “search”.
- natural search
- SNS
- advertisement
And that search engine ranks content that provides an appropriate answer when searching by entering some keywords in the Google search of the browser and has improved user convenience through numerous updates.
Therefore, even if the page is optimized for search engines if the content is not accompanied by quality, the ranking will not rise as expected, and recently the following pages tend to be displayed at the top. That’s how it works.
” Pages That Rank High: Pages That Have The right content along with the right strategy for the search query “
How Does Search Ranking Work?
As we explained earlier, it is determined from more than 200 items based on Google’s official blog. increase. However, the specific ranking logic is unknown.
And the reason why the ranking repeatedly fluctuates is that the search ranking evaluates user experience (UX: how did you browse the page?) as one factor, so the number of users searching the reason is Google’s detailed update that repeats the improvement of search results every day.
In other words, search rankings are evaluated based on the influx of users, and when the traffic does not grow after launching the site, “fetch as google”, applies for crawling on the search console, Even if it is effective to use SNS and the ranking is changed, it is necessary to take measures such as checking the trend of competition and reviewing the contents.
About search keywords
To improve the search ranking, what kind of keywords do you want to be displayed first? It is necessary to select search keywords to be targeted.
This keyword selection is a very important factor in carrying out SEO measures, and with the following points in mind, select effective keywords that are in demand, have little competition and are relatively easy to display at the top.
- Do not duplicate content with the same keyword on your site
- Take measures with one keyword per page
- Consider countermeasures according to the strength of keywords
However, it is not impossible to display high even with a keyword with strong competition, and there is also a method to display high by creating a separate article with keywords related to the countermeasure keyword and creating a huge content group with internal links.
Therefore, SEO measures are not effective in a short period, so it is recommended to take measures over time.
About search volume
The above search keywords have the number of searches, that is, ” search volume “, which varies from keywords that change seasonally to keywords that are frequently searched throughout the year.
And of course, the higher the search volume, the stronger the competition, and the harder it is to rank high.
If the site does not attract customers, the effect cannot be expected. Therefore, it is important to carefully check the search volume and select keywords that can be displayed at the top, and gradually challenge strong keywords.
Google thought…
By reading this, we think you can see how Google puts the user first in providing search results.
Therefore, SEO measures should be considered from the user’s perspective, rather than mechanically optimizing by looking at the trends of the competition.
However, users do not determine search rankings, so strictly speaking, it is important to understand Google, which considers users, and optimizes for that Google search engine. Competitive research, which is evaluated by Google as a page that is appropriate for the keyword searched by the user, is also an indispensable element to display at the top.
Raise/Take Measures Against EAT
Also, recently, “EAT” (which stands for expertise, authority, and credibility) has become particularly important, and YMYL has been displayed at the top in genres that require specialized knowledge. It is a necessary concept for
This “EAT” literally means that the high level of expertise is recognized by the quality and quantity of the content, and how many users know the author. Are you an authoritative figure in the genre? Also, is the site trustworthy? It is also important in order not to convey misinformation to users who use Google search, and is now listed in the “Search Quality Evaluation Guidelines”.
Updates To Improve The Usability
As mentioned above, as a result of aiming for useful search results for users, Google has made numerous updates, including the Penguin Update and the Panda Update.
This is because pages that have taken the following SEO measures with only search rankings in mind are particularly affected, and as a result, pages that have taken SEO measures that always consider the content for users will be evaluated correctly. I think that such a trend can be understood by actually searching.
- Backlink measures with low value
- Keyword abuse
- Mass production of low-quality pages
Also, since these updates are constantly being made recently, it is a good idea to check not only the search ranking trends but also Google’s official blog regularly.
Future SEO Measure Must be Compatible with a Smartphone
Next, this “smartphone compatibility” is indispensable for future SEO measures.
This is because Google previously announced the introduction of mobile-first indexing, and content displayed on smartphones will be evaluated with greater importance than before.
You could even say it’s a must By the way, this “mobile-first index” means that until now the search ranking was based on the computer page, but from now on, the content of the mobile page will be evaluated, and the simple mobile page will be used. Publicly available websites can also affect search rankings.
Let’s Deal With Responsive Design
What Google recommends for the mobile support above is a “ responsive design ” that allows you to manage the URL with the same one.
This makes it possible to smartly support mobile devices without complicating management.
Many WordPress themes are mobile-compatible from the beginning, so it is easy to introduce, but in the case of other corporate sites or original CMS sites, it is necessary to introduce a separate responsive design.
Also, if the URL is different for PC and mobile, it is necessary to set the necessary tags (canonical tag and alternate tag) for each, so check in advance and take appropriate measures.
• Content Quality Matters
In recent SEO, in addition to internal and external measures, appropriate content for search queries is important, and it becomes difficult to improve rankings as if the content has deviated from search intent.
Therefore, what kind of content tends to be evaluated for the keyword you want to display at the top? Such research is also necessary, and it is very important to make content that satisfies users who search for that keyword and visit.
• About the number of characters
In expressing the content, the number of characters is also an important point.
There is still a tendency to evaluate those with a large number of characters, but of course, even if you increase the number of characters by including content that is not intended for search, it will not be content that users want to know or are satisfied with. (*The number of characters is not all.)
In such a case, the search ranking will probably not be added or will not increase, so it is important to have professionally dug content rather than being exhaustive.
In addition, articles written with only basic content that everyone knows probably cannot be differentiated from competitors.
Therefore, keep in mind to create content that shows various opinions and views without getting bored of search users so that they do not deviate from the search intent.
By doing so, the number of characters and words will naturally increase, and it seems that the content can be of higher quality than the competition.
• About Re-write
As mentioned above, the search ranking does not improve as if the content was out of search intent. What you need in such a case is a rewrite
based on research on the competition that is displayed at the top.
Rewriting can be done not only by appending but also by removing content that does not meet search needs.
There are quite a few cases where search rankings have improved significantly by removing some of them.
It is also important to check past articles regularly and review the content by rewriting as appropriate.
In this area, it would be a good idea to use the Search Console to check what keywords are inflowing.
If there is an inflow with a keyword that is not a countermeasure keyword, there is a possibility that the search intent and the content do not match.
• About The Number Of Articles
Next is the number of articles published on the site.
This used to be said that more is better, but in modern SEO it’s not just the number of articles that matters, it also depends on the quality of the articles and the keywords you set for each.
In other words, keyword sorting and article quality are emphasized, as mini-sites that are concise with a small number of articles are strong.
This is because each article is evaluated, and by setting up the correct internal links, it is judged that the entire site is highly specialized. If keyword batting or article quality is not accompanied, the number of articles is increased. It will fall into a phenomenon that the traffic will only go down.
• Set No Index for Pages that do not Need To Be Crawled
As mentioned above, if there is low-quality content on your site, it can hinder your overall ranking.
However, if the page is still necessary on the site, write “no index” in the head of the page as shown below to prevent it from being indexed by search engines.
• Canonical To Prevent Duplication
Also, if there is content on the site that uses the same keyword for countermeasures, the evaluation will be distributed as duplicate content, and you will not be able to expect an increase in ranking.
In such a case, it is necessary to take measures such as sorting and integrating themes by rewriting, but there are cases where some content is replaced and there are multiple existing, each of which is necessary for the site. (A common example is a product page with different colors on an EC site.)
In this case, it is necessary to tell the search engine which pages you want to be crawled with the highest priority by using tags such as “canonical”.
• The Basis Of Seo Measures Is the Long Tail
As you can see from the above, the quality of content is important. Sites that are liked by search engines are published in a high-quality state without duplication of content for search keywords within the site. increase.
This has something to do with the concept of “long tail SEO” based on compound keywords derived from the keyword to be countermeasures, and it is important to build internal links with the image of boosting the page you want to rank higher…
In other words, it is necessary to have appropriate content for high ranking, and it is necessary to deal with other related keywords on a separate page.
After selecting keywords such as one keyword per page, you should take measures against long tails without duplication.
This idea is evident in the strength of successful mini-sites, which in some cases can even rank higher than larger sites.
• External measures
When we say external measures, we mean backlinks that are installed from the outside, and it is an element that you cannot take measures on your own.
Of course, it is important to create content with this, but in order not to miss the opportunity to acquire links, be sure to install the minimum SNS button.
• About backlinks
“Backlinks” acquired through external measures have been effective for a long time, and it was possible to display them at the top by using a method called “black SEO” such as self-performed links, but in fact, it is still the same, effective measures regardless of nature or self-performed.
However, the quality of links is more important than before, and if you take measures against low-quality links such as links from pages with thin content or reciprocal links, you may be penalized by Google to delete the index in some cases.
This “backlink” is one of the countermeasures that can be expected to be so effective, and in fact, Google also evaluates it as one of the important elements in SEO countermeasures.
Therefore, if your ranking is dropping strangely, it is also necessary to check from the search console whether there are any low-quality links attached.
• About Page Title
First and foremost is the page title.
This is described as follows in the head of HTML, and it greatly affects the search ranking.
As a point, of course, by inserting the countermeasure keyword, it is important to describe it as far to the left as possible.
This is decided by actually searching for the keyword you want to be displayed at the top and looking at the trends of the competition.
Also, if the number of characters does not fit in about 35 characters, it will be abbreviated as “…” after that.
If the omitted part contains the countermeasure keyword, or if various keywords are included, the ranking cannot be expected to rise due to the following reasons.
- Search users can’t find the information they’re looking for
- It’s hard for search engines to understand what’s going on
For these reasons, it is important to keep page titles short.
• Headings (h1-6)
To express the content that answers the keywords in an easy-to-understand manner, the elements on the page are divided into blocks and each has a heading. It is important to describe
And this “headline” is also one of the important factors for the search ranking, h1 is the most important (once per page), and others are used like nesting as appropriate (up to h6) to build the page. To go.
“As an idea, it is suggested that it is beneficial to include keywords here as well. However, rather than just stuffing your content with keywords, consider what users are searching for. It is important to enter appropriate keywords by referring to related keywords and suggestions.”
• Page Speed
Next, it is about “ page speed ”, the time it takes to display a page when a user visits it.
As Google has officially announced that page loading speed such as “speed update” will be used for ranking, “UX (user experience)”, which means user experience, is also very important.
In other words, it is ideal to have content that allows users to complete their search on their page, and if they transition to another page at the time of their visit, search engines will perceive it as low quality. It means that there is a possibility that it will be lost.
Therefore, it is a good idea to check the loading speed of particularly important pages
• About Meta Descriptions
“Description”, which means a brief description of the page, is not considered to affect search rankings, but it is an important element displayed in search results.
Search users search by entering some keywords, finding the page with the desired information from the search results, and visiting it.
But what if the description contains keywords? It will be a candidate to click on imagining that it is the information you are looking for, right?
This is because the search user did not read the text carefully, ”.
As a result, the meta description does not directly affect search ranking, but it is an important factor that affects click-through rate.
Therefore, it is important to create a “meta description” of around 120 characters that convey the page concisely and attractively.
summary
This time, we explained the important points of “SEO measures”, which are efforts to improve search rankings and increase the number of customers to the site.
As mentioned above, there are various elements in SEO measures, and they are not immediately reflected in search results.
Therefore, it is necessary to take SEO measures carefully over time, and, naturally, it may go up or go down.