Understanding Google and Other Website Search Tools
Let’s deepen our knowledge on the most popular search engine by Internet users: Google. SEO and SEA tips!
Hello,
Managing a business website has changed over the last decade. Communication platforms are multiplying and website management tools evolved. Marketers’ knowledge specialized so we can count on professional services to answer our needs.
Among these platforms, search tools, or search engines, are the telephone directories of the modern times. Google and friends are effective tools for businesses. It’s useful to understand how these tools work to better use them at our advantage.
Let’s go! SEO, referencing and company, here we are! Let’s understand the search tools.
This report invites us to deepen our knowledge of the most popular, the most used search tool, from Internet users: Google.
Learn about:
See how an optimized internal search tool can boost user experience and engagement.
Learn how to configure search features that make your content easier to find.
Keep visitors on your site longer with helpful, relevant search results.
MusicScore: I was signing this song as I began researching for this article. Here is Stronger by Kelly Clarkson. Hey, isn’t this a great song to listen to while reading an article about strengthening our virtual identity!
Listen to the MusicScores complete list on YouTube! Enjoy the Music at Work!
SEO is a major asset in the success of the first year of the marketing W+M e-Magazine. Here is a summary with tips.
SEO 101
This report is a follow up of these articles introducing website referencing: SEO - Search Engine Optimization and SEA - Search Engine Advertising.
Natural referencing, often called SEO for Search Engine Optimization, is used to improve the ranking of your site in the results of search tools, such as Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc. ; to increase traffic on a site.
Paid referencing, SEA for Search Engine Advertising, is intended to be a strategic advertising service prioritized in relevant search results.
7 SEO details to add to your site
Here are some examples to improve your site performance on the search engines:
Customizing the link of the page
Displaying titles with Feature 1, 2 and 3 Headers format
Use the most popular keywords in your titles and top page information
Set the page description in the administrative CRM settings and complete the SEO section
Use a description for each image and a corresponding file name or alternative text
Insertion of secondary keywords in the texts and slogans of the page
A minimum of 800 words in the content of your service and information pages, 1200 for articles and blog posts.
Programming for Successful SEO
Welcome to the technical section of the article. Whether our website has been programmed or is edited with a site management platform, the principle of the indexation by search engines is the same. Google, Bing, Yahoo and others study the content of our pages to refer them, or not, to their users.
The purpose of search tools is to display quality material to the user.
Search tools study factors on our content and their ranking concepts are constantly in evolution. It’s difficult to predict the factors, or algorithms, because, of course, each search instance doesn’t reveal its ranking notions. The goal of Google, Bing and the Family is to propel its recipe for the best content.
Basic SEO technicalities
Over time, there are technical aspects of a website that became the basic notions of SEO; meeting the important factors of all search tools.
Website publishing platform companies, like WordPress, Wix, Squarespace and others, have developed SEO recipes they now include in their rental packages. Custom sites also have several programs and plug-ins to facilitate the integration of SEO into their programming.
Winning conditions for a good understanding of our site
will be the same, regardless of a WordPress or a custom site:
1- The search tool studies all the names and file types of all technical aspects of a page with a link.
Explanation. When we look at an image on social media, a website or a virtual magazine, there is a link and instructions behind the programming of the image so our system display the image correctly, placed at a certain location on the page, with specified dimensions, etc. If the image changes its place on the server, the webmaster must adjust the web link in the back end of the web page. Otherwise we will all see a white square of unavailable file.
Solution. Always have active images and attribute links. Reference their filename before importing them to the website or server platform. So, before importing our logo into our website, we name our logo file marketing agency.png; then we import the visual into the image bank of our website or server. The result is all our file links will also include our keywords, besides being easily understood by the indexing search tools.
To Avoid. An error of a missing image on a site for a few weeks isn’t a bad thing, especially if the site has 200 pages. However, you must avoid many errors on several pages. The most harmful are link errors in general portions of our site, such as the tops and bottoms of the page (header and footer). A menu tab at the top of the page that leads to a 404 page, coupled with a bottom-of-page link of a social icon that leads to nothing, will be harmful to your site’s reputation on search engines.
2- The search tool studies all content parameters.
Additions and descriptions help to understand the display of our pages, our articles and even our store items. From descriptive profile photo texts to alternative texts for blind readers, these additions also help understanding the programmation side of the content for search tools.
Let’s look at the descriptions and how to fill them in for the natural referencing of a website.
1- The URL. The hyperlink is editable when creating the page or article. Typically this link shows 3-6 words. Let’s use them correctly for the indexation. Like this: https://www.web-plus-marketing.com/the-blog/top5-summer-2024
2- Internal and external links programmed in the page. Let’s make sure they work and link to a reliable site if linked to an external site. Let’s open a new window when there is an external link, of course. For the visitors, I also mention the link displayed will lead to an external site.
3- Search tools like secure websites, having HTTPS:… on their domain. Also, SSL security will only add notoriety to your brand and this demonstrates compliance with the laws for visitors.
4- The meta description of your web page or your article. This description appears under the title of your page when the Internet user searches. An ideal display is a text of 150 to 160 characters (including spaces). Of course, your description can be shorter or longer.
5- Appropriate use of title characters and tags. Research tools are, like us, avid readers of information. They read the headlines and they like a classification of headlines, without exaggeration. A normal H1 tag title of three to eight words at the top of the page, section paragraphs titled with the H2 tag and paragraph titles with the H3 tag. Although importance is given according to the tag hierarchy, there is no point in overusing an H1 text tag for all your page titles.
6- The alternative text of images. Yes, besides ensuring that the volume of web images is low, less than 500 KB per image with an ideal of less than 250 KB, alt text is a great asset for indexing websites with search tools.
Install Your SEO Application
There are several free applications that allow us to install an SEO inspection routine directly from our website management system (CMS). Use these apps and the advice they provide. Also, several programmers have their YouTube channels to help us improve.
If you use a CMS, take the time to find a YouTube programmer specializing in your platform. The technical and precise advices for referencing a site on WordPress won’t be the same as a site on Wix or Squarespace.
On a WordPress site for example, I push images up to 500 KB or 600 KB without transfer speed problems for the user. On another platform, without naming it, because each system has its strengths and weaknesses, I don’t exceed 250 KB otherwise I see it immediately in the visitor page closing statistics, because the display time exceeds 2 seconds. For an article display medium, a non-instantaneous display time for the reader is serious, because there are now plenty of ways to find information. It’s not like an exclusive product company where the importance of the image and video will precede the extra second of transfer for the visitor.
Indexing Pages and Articles With Search Tools
Do you like to check the performance of your site? Do you want to index your new content published on Google? You need to know the Google Search Console.
The goal of checking statistics and wanting to optimize the speed and performance of searches from engines like Google is usually the next step after the natural referencing of a website. It’s necessary to check the effectiveness of the SEO techniques newly installed on the site on a basis of a few weeks.
Since SEO techniques help the search engine to analyze our content, sending our new link to the inspection tool makes it easier to highlight our content of the day faster. Note there is also a delay in the research tools study queue, it takes up to 2 days. Also, when we manually enter a link requesting to study, often the indexing will be done on other pages of the site.
Finally, it’s possible to ask Search Console to index several links in the same day, but there is also a maximum number of pages within 24 hours.
Finally, remember that it’s impossible to index content that isn’t in public view, or not yet posted online. We agree this is a request all search engine programmers are hoping to change!
Google, an Essential to Index Web Content
Do you like to check the performance of your site? Do you want to index your new content published on Google to increase your viewing? You need to know the search tool console, Google Search Console.
The goal of checking statistics and wishing to optimize the speed and performance of searches from engines like Google is usually the next step after the natural referencing of a website that we launch.
Besides allowing the platform to study your page, an inspection function offers adjustments before the indexing request. Once indexed, with SEO techniques, our content greatly increases its chances of being found.
Editing of the Day, Indexing of the Day
Sending our edited content link also makes it easier to highlight our changes. Note there is a delay in the queue for studying research tools. It takes a few days.
Additionally, when we manually enter a link requesting an analysis, often the indexing will be done on other sections of the site.
Finally, it’s possible to ask Search Console to index several links in the same day, but there is also a maximum number of pages within 24 hours.
Conclusion
There are many virtual communication platforms for businesses. From social networks to subscriber emails, we’re increasing the number of ways to approach customers to make our products and services known.
SEO seems to have a certain value in business recognition on the virtual market. Search tools allow disclosure of our products and services at the local level, nearby businesses, while displaying on a large scale or even in paid promotion.
Many companies, freelancers and professional services, only opt for SEO as an annual business promotion. Other entrepreneurs who aren’t at their best writing skills opt for posting on Google and social media using video or audio only.
One thing is certain, SEO is now part of the administrative tasks on the schedules of successful businesses on the web. Such as legal adjustment to a new law, there must be a person in each company who checks and adjusts the technical aspects of our websites and even the settings and descriptions of social media and clip channels.
Thank you for reading, see you on the Blog!
Jeff
Source: Squarespace: SEO Essentials | Squarespace 7.1.
Production: W+M Services
Read the Associated Monthly Ticket about Search Tools
Here is the editorial explaining the effect of SEO on the W+M site and e-Mag.
Publishing articles, writing a blog and a column is an excellent way of referencing a website according to Google search criteria and others.
W+M is a sharing of over 25 years of experience in digital marketing
W+M publishes the Monthly Ticket. The e-magazine is available at the beginning of the month. The blog also publishes weekly articles on digital tools intended for the sale and representation of products and services for businesses team and professionals.
This nice two-sentence company summary involves much more than a description of the company. There is a story, a concept and concrete actions that define it much more than two lines of text to fill out.
Here is the initial idea of W+M, because its origin is directly linked to the subject of this edition of the Monthly: referencing and research tools. More powerful than I thought!
Concept of the W+M E-Mag
Working to coordinate marketing and publishing in the media sector since 2020, the creation of the virtual monthly is an immediate response to Google’s October 2023 boycott of the distribution of news content in Canada. Having immediately noticed the rise in views and statistics of articles of more than 1200 characters from editorial staff not listed as members of the media by Google. This was the case for my personal site, jeffmaheux.com and for my freelance writer friends.
Yes, my personal site, my portfolio, with barely 100 reads per year since 2019, had 12,000 reads of my articles on marketing lasting more than 3 minutes on average, in November and December 2023. The decision to launch an e-Mag was taken in December 2023, and everything put online on January 24.
W+M, the First Year
Transferred since March 2024 to the new domain Web-Plus-Marketing.com, it was on August 27, 2024, that the 10,000th page read of the blog section was reached. Looking at the average reading time for each article, it’s now up to 4 minutes and 21 seconds.
According to data from readers who wanted to share their information, 1,669 visitors read more than 8 pages of the site with 868 returning in the first 6 months, from March to August 2024.
Read the complete article!
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Websites - creation, management and design
I edit the content of existing sites via CMS in addition to creating sites with WordPress and Squarespace. I have been producing website content as a webmaster since 1998.
I help companies get their first website up and I improve the performance of existing sites.
Yes, I’m Mr. Analytics and my reaction time to new digital marketing is daily, which allows my clients to have optional and trend-cutting tools.
Follow the content of the marketing blog and participate in the articles by commenting, with respect, on the content of the site, intended for Quebec companies operating in the digital market.
This report deepen our knowledge of the search tools. Let’s focus on the most popular and most used engine by Internet users: Google. SEO and SEA tips!