Ranking problems are experienced not only by young sites, but also by large commercial resources with many years of experience. Despite similar indexing principles, successful search engine optimization in Yandex does not mean the same success in Google. So how do you improve your search engine rankings on all fronts?
This article details the nuances of development and technical optimization that affect the indexing of a resource.
Site analysis
Let’s pretend we own a website “Okna-nizkie-tseny.ru” (no need to google, I came up with it), representing a company for the installation of window structures. First, the current position of the resource is determined. We analyze the following indicators:
- domain age;
- content updatability;
- traffic type;
- attendance statistics;
- statistics of pages that display a customer for a purchase;
- current ranking for keywords.
Now for each item separately. Domain age strongly affects search results. If the site is young, it is more difficult for it to get to the top, since search engines do not like newbies. Sufficient domain age – from one year. Let’s say the domain “Okna-nizkie-tseny.ru” five years.
Updatability of content Is a key way to boost your rankings. Most clients go to the resource not for a specific product, but for information (in our case, requests such as “which windows are better to choose” or “how to insulate a balcony” are possible). No matter how beautiful, fast and SEO friendly a site is, without new content it will inevitably slide into the search footer. Let’s say on the site “Okna-nizkie-tseny.ru” there is a news blog.
If the main site traffic – advertisingthen it is worth considering SEO. As with the young domain, search engines do not value “purchased” visitors. Ads should complement traffic, not be the main engine; its goal is to catch up with customers who will perform useful actions. But the best way is to attract users from search results. “Okna-nizkie-tseny.ru” likes to drive ads from Direct, but the resource’s organic traffic is low.
Now it’s time for basic statistics, in which the “insides” of the site will appear. We will only touch on technical issues, not content quality issues (more on that later). Imagine that “Okna-nizkie-tseny.ru” suffers from the following diseases:
- Some visitors go in for a few seconds and immediately close the tab.
- Few people go from news and blog pages to sales pages.
- Users interrupt transactions at the stage of registration of the application.
Even if you haven’t done SEO, keywords generated automatically. For example, on the site “Okna-nizkie-tseny.ru” the phrase “low prices for windows” will certainly be there. We will use it to check the current ranking. The result is like this:
- in Yandex, the resource took 14th place in the search results (at least we stayed on the first page);
- in Google the situation is worse: 23rd place.
Need to do something! We memorize the results and begin to delve into the problems of the site. First, let’s pump over the technical component.
Improvement of technical elements
Using the services Test My Site or Google PageSpeed Insights, it is easy to determine the site load speed and possible problems. When “Okna-nizkie-tseny.ru” the score was low due to the overload of the site with unoptimized images and animated inserts. This does not mean a complete redesign of the design – it is enough to reduce the file resolution. In each case, the services will tell you in which direction to move.
It is critical to have a responsive mobile version; Looking at the traffic statistics, you may be surprised by the amount of traffic coming from smartphones and tablets. Mobile adaptation is the primary goal even at the stage of website creation.
But even a customized site can have problems. To do this, you need to test in Yandex.Webmaster and Google Search Console. These services will detail root errors. Remember to test your content after updating it so that your visitors don’t experience rejection due to design bugs.
The more pages on the site, the more traffic. However, here’s the bad luck: out of 200 pages “Okna-nizkie-tseny.ru” indexed only 120. Where did the rest go? The most common “under-indexing” problems:
- Broken links and junk pages. The user should not encounter a 404 error, as well as blank pages and unfinished content. Otherwise, search engines will perceive a part of the site (including the honest one) as unworthy of indexing.
- Protocols HTTP/HTTPS… Commercial sites are protected by SSL, which means they work on HTTPS. So why does the administrator indicate links with HTTP in the structure of the site “okna-nizkie-tseny.ru”?
- Spamming with redirects. Search engines are cold about redirects. Provide links to the target resource whenever possible.
- Incomplete XML-site `s map. Check if all pages are listed in the sitemap, as it is easier for search engines to work with ready-made “content” paths.
- Empty robots.txt… In this file, you can hide unnecessary elements and specific pages; this will make the work of the search robot easier.
- Non-unique articles. Always try to post new information. Even if some articles fit into several categories, do not copy the text cleanly! This makes indexing worse.
Additional methods include connecting turbo pages, as well as the correct design of 404 pages.
Working with content
Increasing the relevance of pages is accompanied by quality SEO… There is no need to write articles according to the outdated scheme, everywhere inserting soulless phrases like “buy a window Moscow” or “order an inexpensive window”. Modern search engines aim at appealing submissions for a specific query. The content is presented not as a set of keywords, but as an interesting and useful text with an emphasis on selling a service or product.
Don’t be lazy to create unique pages with a different structure. For example, a company description is best done with design blocks and relevant images, rather than a solid strip of text.
Work with meta tags… Search engines love tagged information. Also pay attention to the design: if it is overloaded with elements, distracts attention and simply interferes with reading the text, urgently change the design. Do not be afraid to experiment: even a banal increase in the spacing between elements will improve the perception of content.
Pay attention to the “hype”… The pages with the highest ranking can be accompanied by native elements: for example, enable auto-dialogue in a connected online consultant or insert links to the sales funnel.
Speaking of links. Keep track of which third-party resources you provide. Unprotected, slow, or banned sites spoil your reputation in the eyes of search engines. The principle is the same in providing links on third-party sites: never order advertising or buy links from questionable resources.
Additional ways to attract quality traffic
Runet is dominated by Yandex, so use all of its services. These include both specialized (Yandex.Realty, Yandex.Auto) and universal (Yandex.Collections, Yandex.Qu, Yandex.Zen). The latter can greatly increase brand awareness through quality articles.
Conclusion
Strengthening the ranking for commercial queries is a multi-step process that requires increased attention to both general elements and small details. Of course, it is impossible to fit all the tips for attracting traffic in one article, but even these steps are enough to improve the position of the resource.