7. Content audit:-

Content Audit refers to the process of determining how well the Website is performing. It should be done once every four months. Users can then determine which content can be retained, removed, or improved. Tools such as Google Analytics provides an in-depth analysis of the Website. It answers all the data-related questions. Some of the questions can be:

• What is the trend of new users this month?
• How many users were there from mobile last week?
• What is the age group of the users visiting the site?
  
  

In case, a user does not want to see reports in Analytics, questions in plain English can be asked.

8. Include Sitemaps:-

Sitemaps are usually required when a Website is very large and includes a lot of rich media content, such as videos. A sitemap helps search engines crawl a site efficiently by providing information about the pages such as the last page update. It indicates the preferred URLs to be shown in the search result. Note that a sitemap does not guarantee that the search engine will crawl and index the Web pages. It just improves the crawling. For example, if there is a sitemap for videos and images, search engines can refer to the sitemap for search. A small and simple Website that includes comprehensive internal links could avoid a sitemap. There are many sitemap formats. The following shows certain sitemap formats that Google supports:

• XML
• RSS, mRSS, and Atom
• Text
  

XML information is machine-readable and has a structured format. It communicates with search engine crawlers. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. Both RSS and Atom are XML-based sitemaps that inform Google of all updates on the site. This helps keep fresh content in its index.

Media RSS (mRSS) format provides Google details about video content on the site. Text format is a text file that contains one URL per line. This is used when a sitemap has only Web page URLs. Following is an example of a text sitemap: While XML sitemaps are for search engine crawlers, HTML sitemaps are designed for visitors. An HTML sitemap guides them to navigate the pages on the Website. It is a simple file with links to each page and uses page titles as anchor text. HTML sitemap can be found at the footer of a Website.

A sitemap can be generated manually and automatically. It is recommended to use the automatically generated sitemap. Usually, most Content Management Systems (CMSS) can generate sitemaps automatically. A user can submit the sitemap to Google by either adding it to the robots.txt file or submitting it to the Search Console.

9. Allow Comments on Blog Posts:-

Allow Comments on Blog Posts Allowing visitors to comment on blog posts can boost SEO. It helps in the semantic indexing (LSI) of keywords. Search engines perform LSI using an algorithm to determine the semantic relevance of the search terms. For example, using LSI, search engines can identify the search term 'green apple' as fruit and will direct it to appropriate sites. They can also recognize the search term 'Apple iPhone as the Apple company's product and will be directed to the relevant sites. Comments in the blogs can help search engines identify LSI keywords, which in turn can help rank the page higher in search results.

10. Understand Search Intent:-

Search intent is also known as user intent. It describes the purpose of the online search, such as searching to know more about a certain topic and searching to buy certain items online. Note that Google constantly improves its algorithm to determine the search intent accurately and ranks the pages that best match the search term. It is important to understand the search intent and analyze how it affects the keywords. For example, someone might search for, Healing back pain through exercise. Appropriate keywords must be used to display the information. Here, the search intent is to look for information on exercises that would provide relief for back pain.

What are Keywords and their Importance?

Keywords are the words or phrases that people search for using search engines. They are the ideas that define the content. High-quality keywords help reach the maximum number of customers for the Website. Following are certain guidelines for keywords:

• Select keywords wisely. Use those terms or phrases that the customers would use to describe the products or services.
• Use keywords with two or three words.
• Group keywords into themes. For example, if the Website is about Exercise, 'sitting exercise', 'standing exercise', and 'wall exercise' are certain groups of keywords that can be used.
  
  

Driving organic traffic to the site is another prime goal of a Website owner besides providing rich content. The selection of the right keyword determines this traffic. For example, if the Website is about exercises to remove certain illnesses, appropriate keywords should be used, such as exercises for arthritis, so that the audience who are looking for such information can reach the site. Users can use the following methods for keyword research:

• Actively participate in forums and community groups.
• Talk to customers.
  
  
  

Keyword Research and its Process

From the SEO point of view, keyword research becomes crucial. In keyword research, a user analyzes search terms that the target audience would enter into search engines. A user does so to understand the visibility of the Website in the search results. Following are certain important steps to ensure thorough keyword research for:

• Ensure good knowledge about the industry.
• Make a list of important topics related to the Website.
• Rank the topics based on their importance.
• Make a list of keywords for these topics.
• Ensure the Web content matches the search intent of the audience.
• Check out related searches at the bottom of the Google search result page to consider more keywords.
• Use keyword research tools, such as Google's Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, and SEMrush for help on keywords. Using a keyword tool can answer a lot of questions about search results and organic traffic. Some of these questions are as follows:
  
  a: What is the estimated number of searches for the keyword every month?
  b: Are there new keywords that can be used for the content?
  c: What is the relevant term in the local area?
  
  
  

Role of Content in On-page Optimization

Search engines are always on the lookout for rich and quality content. It can be in any format, such as text, images, and videos. When content is visited often, this means that the page is well On-page optimized. It meets all the criteria that On-page Optimization demands, such as good meta tags, optimized robots.txt file, and a good navigational structure. This also ensures that keywords are strategically used. When a Web page is well-received by search engines, this brings other key benefits:

• Backlinks: Good content is always shareable. Getting links from high-authority Websites indicates authority, credibility, and trust. High-quality backlinks ensure a higher ranking in Google.
  
  
• High Click-Through Rate (CTR): CTR is the number of clicks that a page receives divided by the number of times the page is shown. It is used to analyze how well keywords and pages are performing. A high CTR indicates that users find the Website helpful and relevant.
  
  
  

Site Structure and Website Navigation

The way content is organized in a Website for the readers defines the site structure. This helps determine the scope of which page will rank higher in search results. Search engines will also understand the important pages of the site. Tools such as breadcrumbs, tags, and internal links help in structuring a site. Breadcrumbs are links on the Web page that allow users to track where they are on a Website. They are either at the top of a Website or under the navigation bar. The following explains the importance of a site structure:

• It acts as a guide for search engines. It informs them about the most important content on the site. This helps crawlers crawl efficiently and index important Web pages.
  
  
• Remember that a Website might have several pages with information. Without a site structure, search engines will be confused to identify the important page to be indexed.
  
  
• Once the system is ready, giving navigational links to the users also becomes easy. This way, users will be able to find the information they are looking for. Consider if a user is unable to find the Buy link for a product on a site. This means the site owner is missing on the sales. This highlights the importance of a great user experience as well.
  
  
  

1. Improving Site Structure:-

Consider the following points to improve site structure:

• Ensure the site structure is constantly updated. Remove the information that is no longer in use. If there are optimized links for such pages, the URL can be redirected.
  
  
• All the categories of the site should have balanced information. This means the user must ensure that information for all categories is updated at regular intervals. Otherwise, too many content updates will occur in one category and it will be difficult to rank the information.
  
  

2. Website Navigation:-

Ensure a proper internal linking structure is maintained/followed so that both the search engines and users can see the important content on the site. An internal link connects one page to another page on a Website. Both users and search engines use links to navigate the Website. If there are no links, pages will not be found. Tools for Website navigation include menus (usually present at the top of a site), and side. bar menu (present at left or right of a Web page), footer links, breadcrumbs, and contextual links. A contextual link is a clickable text on a Web page. Clicking this text points the user to another page.

Importance of robots.txt and sitemap.xml Files:

A robots.txt file tells the search engine crawlers about URLs that they can access from the site. It is a plain text file that includes rules. Each rule blocks or allows a given crawler access to a specified file path of the Website. No block rule means all files are allowed for crawling. Every Website should have a robots.txt file as it also avoids overloading the site with requests. Following are other essential pointers for the file:

• A site can have only one robots.txt file.
• The instructions in the robots.txt file do not control the behavior of the search engines. In case, a Web page should be kept out of sight of search engines, it is recommended to block indexing or password-protect the page.
• Use proper syntax to address different Web crawlers. Different crawlers interpret syntax in different ways.
• A robots.txt file resides at the root of the site.
  
  

1. Guidelines for Creating robots.txt File:-

The following steps should be performed to create robots.txt:

• Create a file named robots.txt using any text editor, such as Notepad and TextEdit. Save the file with UTF-8 encoding if prompted. This encoding includes ASCII Google might ignore characters that are not part of the UTF-8 range. will then make robots.txt rules invalid.
  
  
• Add instructions (rules) for crawlers about the parts of the site that can be crawled.
  
  
• Upload the file to the root of the site. Contact the Web hosting service provider in case any help is required.
  
  
• Test the file in a browser by navigating to the location of the robots.txt file. If the content is visible, the robots.txt markup should be tested.
  Google provides the robots.txt Tester tool in the Search Console to do so.
  
  
• Submit the file to the search engine.