Advanced SEO Guide: What Is Mobile SEO?
A website’s rankings on the Search Engine Results Page depends upon a number of factors. Advanced SEO techniques are applied to accommodate the demands of the search engine and provide users with a streamlined experience.
While advanced SEO considers various elements, such as website optimization, indexing, content and backlinking, the ensuing guide elaborates on the various elements of website optimization to improve rankings.
This advanced SEO guide will cover:
- Speed
- SSL Encryption
- Mobile SEO
- Featured Snippets
- Structured Data
- Voice Search
Speed
From 2018 onwards, the load time of a website became a significant factor for search results ranking. This is because, statistically, users are more likely to leave the website, if the load time exceeds a three second mark. Therefore, Google now prefers websites that come with optimized speeds.
Websites that load quicker tend to rank higher on Google, as it provides users with a refined experience. Considering this, checking the website for speed optimization is one of the factors you need to keep in mind while creating an SEO strategy.
In addition to causing the user’s inconvenience, a website with a slow loading speed can also increase the bounce rate, which can ultimately lead to a drop in rankings.
How to increase a website’s speed
SEO experts employ a few techniques to improve the website loading time, such as the following:
- One of the major causes of slow loading speed is the addition of larger files. For this purpose, compression of elements, such as large images and videos, can improve the speed. By taking this approach, you can minimize the size of the file without causing any damage to its quality.
- Another way to improve speed is by switching to a faster web host. A web host applies limits to the bandwidth, which can be influential for your website’s speed.
- You can also host the files on the external network instead of embedding them. This would enable you to feature the visual elements without suffering from a slow speed.
It is further recommended to use accelerated mobile pages that reduce mobile page loading time to a fraction of a second.
To improve the speed, you can also use a simple and clean template that includes minimal code.
SSL Encryption
Following the speed, the next thing that you need to consider is website security. While there is no official requirement to obtain SSL certificate from Google, this certificate is still recommended, as it can provide a better experience for the users.
SSL encryption, or Secure Sockets Layer, extends a refined level of security and safety for the users. With this feature, all the information that interacts with your website cannot be tracked or stolen by external parties. The SSL encryption safeguards the data from corruption while it is being transferred.
To identify the SSL-encryption in your website, you can look at the URL bar. If there is an SSL certificate, the URL would include a padlock and it would begin with HTTPS, instead of HTTP.
While the SSL encryption is not a major ranking factor, it does play a role in the overall search results ranking. Additionally, the process of acquiring the SSL certification is quite easy. You can acquire it from the certificate authority, which are available as paid and free versions. Your SSL certificate can be installed as soon as your website is verified.
Mobile SEO
Another factor that determines how your website ranks on the Search Engine Results Page is mobile optimization. If a mobile SEO strategy is not employed, you would not only lose leads and conversions, but there would be a significant drop in rankings as well.
Essentially, mobile SEO improves user experience, which makes it a crucial factor for search engine optimization. If you want to make your website mobile-friendly, the following features should be integrated:
- The website should be understood by search engines.
- The website’s loading speed is ideal for mobile devices.
- The website’s design and navigation is optimized for mobile devices.
- The content size is adequate to be viewed on a mobile screen.
- The website offers value to users.
Featured Snippets
If there is anything better than ranking first on Google, it is securing rank zero. Rank zero refers to the spot on the SERP that lies above the first listing. This portion is typically called the featured snippet.
The featured snippet is a chunk of information that provides a direct response to the user’s query. This information can be featured in the form of a paragraph, list or a table.
As of now, only 12.9% of searches display a featured snippet, however, this section tends to get more clicks due to its simple content.
With that said, getting a featured snippet is easier said than done. In order to increase your likelihood of getting a featured snippet, you would be required to create short snippets of information.
Majority of the content featured on the snippets includes precise answers. For instance, the question, “What is SSL” and its answer would be featured. Typically, content ranging from 40 to 60 words is included.
Therefore, it is recommended to write short, precise and clearly-written paragraphs in your blog or website content.
Voice Search Optimization
Voice SEO is a relatively new field in search engine optimization. This means that you are required to formulate the SEO strategy to cater to the voice commands and voice searches. According to statistics, voice searches contribute to twenty per cent of all queries made on Android devices.
- With this, users can simply voice out the query to seek the relevant answers. The common features of voice SEO are:
- Voice searches are extracted from the top three results featured on SERPs.
- These searches are typically made in the form of a question. For instance, a user can ask, “What is the difference between tacos and burritos?”
- Voice searches include both questions and answers.
Considering the aforementioned, voice SEO typically focuses on including a FAQ section in the website’s content.
Schema Markup
Advanced SEO techniques also employ the use of schema markups. Posts that integrate the schema markup code tend to have four times higher ranking on the results page, in contrast to posts without this feature. Additionally, including this code further increases your chances of getting a featured snippet and scoring rank zero.
What is schema markup?
Schema markup is a code that is placed on the website to assist search engines to discover helpful results for their users. With schema markup, the search engine discovers the meaning and the type of information. As a result, Google is able to provide users with results that match the search queries of the users.
SEO professionals can add schema markup on your website’s post to increase its chances of ranking higher.
The aforementioned strategies can help you lift your rankings on the Search Engine Results Page. Take assistance from SEOHUB to increase the online visibility of your website!