All posts by : Ruth Adeyemi

“Customers are searching for the best products and services near them and want answers fast.” This is where local SEO gets its importance.

Remember the last time you checked for restaurants near you? Or when you needed to get to a nearby grocery store. Or when you recently moved and checked the hangout spots in your new location?

You will get results that point to these specific businesses within your location. You can even go as far as checking the estimated distance.

Local searches quickly became ‘the trend.’ 

As a business owner, you need to leverage visibility within your geographic region as much, if not more, than global visibility, mainly if you focus on sales because local searches result in more than 70% of sales for business owners.

People searching for restaurants near them are not looking for blog posts or social media pages; they need a place to eat. The same goes for most local searches as well.

In fact, according to BrightLocal’s most recent local consumer survey, 78% use the Internet to find information about local businesses in their area more than once a week, and 21% search locally every day. 

However, as much as local SEO seems essential to every business, the concept is still not comprehensive enough for business owners to understand. Hence, there is still the question of what business owners must do to leverage local search.

In this local SEO guide, I will show you how you can leverage local searches as a small business owner for increased visibility and sales, tools for local SEO, and how they work. 

I will answer your most urgent questions on local SEO and show you how to optimize your business, website, and content for local searches.

Let’s get right into it.

What Is Local SEO?

Local SEO is the process of enhancing your local businesses’ ability to be visible on search engines, appearing in local search results, and increasing sales. It is hugely beneficial for businesses with a physical location or, at best, that cater to people within a specific region.

Local SEO goes beyond having and optimizing your website; it includes practices like listing your business in a local directory, having and optimizing your Google Business Profile (GBP), and content marketing for your website and social media platforms.

Local SEO increases your business’s potential to appear in searches within your geographic region. So, if you own a hair salon and someone in your area searches for hair salons, your business can come up on the search result page for that exact search.

This gives you potential customers who might be ready to pay for that service instead of someone only searching for information.

Local SEO vs. Organic SEO

Local SEO and organic SEO are aspects of SEO that involve different but complementary strategies that help to enhance the online visibility of a business or brand. 

As complementary as these strategies are, they are different in their focus and objectives.

However, implementing them for your business will increase your rankings in search engine result pages (SERPs). 

Local SEO focuses on ranking a business for local searches using local keywords and directory listings. In contrast, organic SEO is focused on the global visibility of a business in online searches, establishing the trust, authority, and expertise of a business.

Local SEO also focuses on searchers within a specific region, which is usually the best and most effective option for small businesses because you avoid the competition for generic keywords and get traffic to your site through specific and streamlined keywords. In contrast, organic SEO targets users regardless of location. 

Local SEO vs. Organic SEO:

Factors	Local SEO	Organic SEO
Focus	Local search results	Organic search results
Target audience	People who are searching for businesses in a specific location	People who are searching for products or services, regardless of their location
Urgency	Active	Passive
Keyword	Local keywords, such as “coffee shops near me”	Broader keywords, such as “coffee shops”
Search intent	The search intent is usually transactional	The search intent varies based on the searcher.
Content	Content that is relevant to the local area	Content that is relevant to the products or services you offer
Backlinks	Backlinks from local websites and citations	Backlinks from high-quality websites
Goal	The goal is to get into local listing packs	The goal is to appear at the top of SERPs
Devices	Mostly from mobile devices	Mobile devices and Desktops
Conversion	Website clicks, phone calls, online purchases, and on-site purchases	Website clicks, online purchases
Conversion rate	As high as your visibility rate and proximity to the searcher.	High for only the top-ranking results

The best way to improve your website’s ranking in the SERPs is to combine local SEO and organic SEO. By optimizing your website for both local and organic search, you can reach a wider audience and attract more customers.

Types of Businesses that Need Local SEO

Here is a list of some businesses that need local SEO in their strategies:

• Restaurants and Cafés 
• Local Retail Stores
• Law Firms 
• Real Estate Agencies
• Medical and Dental Practices
• Local Gyms and Fitness Centers
• Florists and Flower Shops
• Home Cleaning Services
• Landscaping and Gardening Services
• Computer Repair and IT Services
• Physical Therapy Clinics
• Tutoring Services
• Bookstores and Libraries
• Music Instructors
• Catering Services and Event Planners
• Car Rental Agencies
• Bike Shops
• Bicycle Repair Services
• Jewelry Stores and Boutiques
• Photography Studios 
• Moving Companies
• Antique Shops and Vintage Stores
• Personal Trainers and Fitness Instructors
• Dry Cleaners and Laundry Services
• Coffee Shops and Cafeterias
• Pet Supply Stores
• Local Breweries
• Yoga Studios 
• Retail Stores
• Hotels 
• Salons
• Spas
• Auto Repair Shops 
• Daycare Centers
• Event and Wedding Planners
• Local Artisans and Craftsmen
• Computer Repair and IT Services
• Physical Therapy Clinics

If your business caters to a local audience (even if it is not on this list), you need local SEO. 

Benefits of Local SEO

Local SEO has several benefits, especially for product or service-based local businesses.

Here are some:

a. Boosts your online visibility 

Local SEO boosts visibility by helping your business appear in local search results when potential customers are looking for products or services in your area. With the right local SEO strategies, you can even get your business featured in the Google Map Pack and appear prominently on search results.

b. Enhances credibility and trust

Local SEO can lead to more online reviews and ratings, which will significantly impact the decisions of your potential customers. 

Positive reviews build trust and credibility, encouraging more people to choose your business over your competitors.

c. Attracts more targeted traffic

Your website/business page will receive more relevant and focused traffic if optimized for local terms and phrases. People who use local phrases are specifically and actively looking for what you have to offer, which increases the possibility that they will convert.

d. Cost-effectiveness

Local SEO is more cost-effective than traditional advertising and other digital marketing strategies. It targets a specific audience, reducing wasted marketing efforts and costs. 

Local SEO is also less technical, and although some aspects might require some technical knowledge, you can see meaningful results with just a few changes.

e. Measurable results 

Local SEO efforts can be tracked and analyzed using various tools and analytics platforms. This allows you to measure the effectiveness of your strategies and make data-driven decisions to improve your local search performance continually.

f. Improves conversion rates: 

Local searches have been known to have higher conversion rates than generic searches because most local searchers are active, and the search intent is usually transactional.

With local SEO, you increase the chances of conversion because you focus on active searchers. 

g. Reduces ad costs: 

Local business owners are always worried about getting enough visibility and sales. Because of this concern, they usually run ads on platforms like Google, Facebook, Instagram, etc.

However, with local SEO focused on local searches, results are swift, and there will be little to no need to create a budget for ads in your marketing campaign.

h. Increases localized backlinks

Local SEO strategies require targeting more localized keywords and increasing your relevance and prominence in your local community. This increases your chances of getting more localized backlinks, especially when you create blog content that targets these keywords.

Google’s Map Pack/Local Pack

I can’t talk about local SEO without mentioning Google Map Pack because this is the goal of local SEO.

What Is Google’s Map Pack?

The Google Map Pack, or the Google Local Pack, is a prominent feature in Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs) that shows local business listings and a map in response to location-based search queries. 

When a user performs a search with local intent, such as “restaurants near me” or “plumbers in [city],” Google will present the Local Map Pack, displaying the top three local businesses that match the search criteria.

The Map Pack usually appears near the top of the search engine results page. It is displayed alongside the Google Map, making it easy for the searcher to locate and engage with local businesses. 

The Map Pack is highly valuable for businesses targeting local customers because it provides an excellent opportunity for increased visibility and easy customer engagement. Being featured in the Map Pack can drive more foot traffic, phone calls, and website visits, which, when played right, can lead to increased conversions and revenue for your local business.

For businesses aiming to improve their presence in the Map Pack, optimizing your local SEO, having an accurate and well-maintained Google Business Profile, and receiving positive customer reviews are crucial strategies to improve your chances of being listed in this section of Google’s search results.

Features of Google Map Pack

Here are some of the most important features of Google’s Map Pack:

1. Local Business Listings

The Map Pack shows three local business listings that match the search query. These listings provide essential details like the business name, address, phone number, and website link.

2. Google Map

Right next to the listings, you’ll see a map with markers indicating the locations of the businesses. This is what a searcher uses to determine the distance of your business from their location.

3. Top-of-Page Placement

The Map Pack appears at the top of Google’s search results page. It’s one of the first things a searcher sees when they search for local keywords, local businesses, or local services.

4. Local Intent

The Map Pack shows up when you search with local intent, like “coffee shops near me” or “dentists in [your city].” The purpose of the Map Pack is to help searchers see what’s closest to them.

5. Customer Reviews

Each business listing often includes customer reviews and ratings. They help customers see what others think of your business. 

6. Quick Contact Options

Customers can easily contact businesses since their phone numbers are usually listed. You can even include a “call” button for one-tap dialing.

7. Business Photos

Many listings also feature photos of the business, which is advantageous and allows your customers to get a glimpse of what to expect from your business.

How Google Map Pack Works

Google Map Pack is the top result for local searches. Appearing in Google’s Map Pack is like appearing in the featured snippets for organic searches. 

How does this happen?

Google considers three crucial factors to rank a local business in the Map Pack:

• Relevance:

Relevance refers to how well a local business listing matches a user’s search query. 

Google assesses whether your products, services, or content are closely related to what the user is searching for.

To improve your business’s relevance for niche-specific keywords and local searches, you should use accurate and descriptive information in your Google Business Profile, formerly Google My Business (GMB), including relevant keywords in your business name, description, categories, and other attributes.

For example, if a user searches for “Italian restaurants,” Google will prioritize local restaurant listings identified as Italian restaurants in their GMB profiles.

• Prominence:

Prominence refers to the popularity, reputation, and visibility of a local business, both online and offline. It considers customer reviews, ratings, citations, backlinks, and online presence.

Businesses with positive reviews and high ratings are often seen as more prominent and trustworthy. The number of online mentions and links to a business also contributes to its prominence.

Google considers how well-known a business is in its local community and industry. Prominence helps Google determine how likely the business will provide a positive user experience.

For example, a local restaurant with numerous positive reviews, several local news articles mentioning it, and a solid social media presence is more likely to have high prominence and be among the top results for a local search.

• Proximity:

Proximity, also known as distance, refers to how close a business’s physical location is to the user performing the search. 

Google aims to show businesses that are closest to the user’s location.

When a user searches for a product or service, Google considers the distance between the user’s and the business’s locations to provide the most convenient options.

Users searching for “restaurants near me” or “gas stations nearby” will see results based on location.

For businesses targeting local customers, proximity is vital. Businesses in a specific area have a better chance of appearing in the Local Map Pack for relevant searches.

It means the search engine result for a local search with the same search phrase in the same country can vary based on the searcher’s city, town, or current location.

How to Optimize for Google Map Pack

Here are some tips for optimizing your business for Google Map Pack:

1. Claim and verify your Google My Business (GMB) listing:

Ensure you have a complete and accurate GMB profile. Claim your listing and verify it with Google to gain control over the information displayed for your business.

2. Choose the right business categories:

Select the most relevant categories for your business to improve your relevance for specific search queries. Avoid generic categories like restaurants and select particular categories like ‘Italian restaurants.’

3. Use accurate business information:

Ensure your business name, address, phone number (NAP), and other details are consistent across all online platforms representing your business.

4. Add local keywords to your GMB profile:

Incorporate local keywords in your GMB profile description to enhance your relevance for location-specific searches.

5. Add high-quality photos:

Include high-resolution photos that effectively highlight your business, products, and services. Photos are necessary to increase credibility, attract attention, and boost engagement.

6. Encourage positive reviews:

Provide excellent customer service and encourage your customers to leave positive reviews on your Google Business Profile.

7. Respond to reviews:

Respond professionally to positive and negative reviews to show your customers you value their feedback.

8. Build local citations:

Build citations (mentions of your business) on local directories and websites to increase local prominence.

9. Write localized content:

Create blog content that targets local keywords and addresses the needs of your local audience. This content can also display some of the products and services you offer.

10. Embed Google Maps on your website:

Embed a Google Map with your business’s location on your website to help with local SEO. It also increases your chances of making it to the Google Map Pack.

11. Create a mobile-friendly website:

Ensure your website is mobile-friendly since local searches are often performed on mobile devices. It increases your chances of ranking on local search engine result pages.

12. Include structured data markup on your website:

Implement structured data markup on your website to help search engines understand your business information better. It also allows your content to be displayed in an organized way, which can improve engagement.

13. Build local links:

Earn backlinks from local websites, businesses, and organizations to increase local authority and prominence.

14. Engage with your local community: 

Be active on local social media platforms and engage with your local community. Participate in local events or sponsor local activities to increase your local visibility.

15. Create location pages:

If you have multiple locations, create separate location pages on your website for each one.

16. Monitor your insights:

Monitor your GMB insights to understand how users engage with your listing.

17. Encourage check-ins:

Encourage customers to “check in” on social media platforms, drop reviews, and even create short videos of their experiences when they visit your business.

Local SEO Algorithm: How It Works

The local SEO Algorithm leverages location, making it different from normal or generic searches. 

When someone does a local search, the local SEO algorithm will use the user’s IP address, GPS details, or location settings on their phone to determine the searcher’s location.

When the location is determined, Google will then rank businesses that are relevant to that search based on factors such as

• Proximity to the searcher: This has to do with how close the business is to the searcher’s exact location.
• How popular the business is: This factor shows the prominence of that business in its niche.
• The relevance of that business to the search: If the business offers the same service as what the searcher is looking for.
• The GBP business listing shows if the business has a Google Business Profile (GBP) listing.
• Reviews from customers: Google focuses more on positive reviews and the quality of the reviews to ensure they are not spam.
• And several other factors (Read to the end to see the ranking signals for local SEO).

Local SEO Statistics that Matter

Here are some mind-blowing statistics about Local SEO you should know:

1. In Google’s blog about “Mobile’s Growing Role in a Shopper’s Purchase Decision,” it was discovered that 76% of people who conduct a local search on their mobile devices visit the store within 24 hours. A whopping 28% of these searches result in a purchase.
2. Google also states that 30% of all its searches are related to location.
3. According to Backlinko’s search engine ranking study of 11.8 million Google search results, it was discovered that 86% of searchers depend on Google Maps to find the location of a business.
4. In a 2022 local survey by RioSEO, 83% of the respondents search for local keywords daily, compared to 76% the previous year. This shows a 7% increase in local searches from the prior year.
5. RioSEO says nearly 74% of searchers use Google Search/Map to find local businesses.
6. According to FreshChalk, Yelp appears in the top five search results for 92% of Google searches about a local business.
7. RioSEO and Forsta researched over 64,000 US retail business locations and discovered a 25% increase in GBP listing views and searches in the second quarter of 2022.
8. Here are some other important local SEO statistics from RioSEO’s 2022 Local Search Consumer Behavior Survey:
   • 66% of local consumers want to travel ten miles or less for a product or service.
   • The average person reads six reviews before visiting a business.
   • 63% of consumers said first-party reviews (reviews on a brand’s website) influenced their purchasing decisions.
   • 77% of local consumers expect a response within 48 hours when they reach out to a brand through a business listing or website.
   • 65% of searchers are looking for addresses and directions to a business location, 56% are looking for local reviews, and 54% are looking for the current hours of operation.
   • The top three local searches were retailers (25%), service providers (18%), and restaurants (15%).

Local Search Ranking Signals

Here are some of the known ranking signals for local SEO:

i. GBP Listing

Google Business Profile (GBP), previously known as Google My Business, is a free tool by Google that allows businesses to manage their online presence across Google Search and Maps. 

To appear in local searches on Google, you must be listed on the platform because Google Search and Google Maps use your GBP details to present results to searchers.

If your business isn’t listed, it will not appear in local searches, even if they are in your vicinity.

Listing your business on Google gives it the element of trust it needs to attract new customers and increase its visibility.

ii. GBP Categories

Your business category is the primary keyword for your business and will go a long way in helping your business rank for relevant searches. 

The Google Business Profile category is part of your profile that shows your business type. It is an important ranking factor because it reflects your niche and determines the exact search your business will appear in.

There are over 4,000 business categories in GBP as of 2023.

To select your GBP category, you can choose more than one category. For example, if your category is ‘restaurant’ and you focus primarily on vegan food, you might want to select a secondary category that reflects this.

This is advantageous because the competition for ‘restaurants near me’ will be higher than for ‘vegan restaurants near me.’

iii. GBP Images 

Adding images to your Google Business Profile visually represents your business. It shows your potential customers the visual details of your business and will improve its visibility in search rankings.

• Tips to consider when choosing your GBP images

1. The images should be high-quality and clear.
2. The images should be relevant to your business.
3. The logo should be consistent with your business across different platforms.
4. The images should be of an appropriate size and dimension.

iv. Bing Places for Business 

Bing Places for Business is just like the Google Business Profile, with the significant difference being that they are available on different platforms. GBP is on Google, while Bing Places is on Bing.

It is a platform developed by Microsoft that allows local business owners to create and manage their businesses’ listings on the Bing search engine. The platform aims to enhance their businesses’ online visibility in local search results.

Listing your business on Bing is free, and you can complete your listing in just three steps:

1. Claim your listing:

Bing believes it already has a listing for your business, so it gives you the option of claiming an existing listing or creating a new one.

Using the bulk upload tool, you can also create a listing for all your business locations (if you have more than one).

2. Complete your listing profile:

All you need to do to complete your listing profile is fill in the necessary and accurate information about your business. You can include high-quality pictures of your business, your business logo, and any other pictures that are relevant to your niche.

You should also include your services, hours of operation, and how customers can reach your business (phone number, address, website, social media).

3. Verify your listing:

Verifying your listing is crucial for you to be able to protect it from unverified changes. 

You will receive a PIN to verify your listing at your business address, email, or phone number. You must also input a valid address if you list your business on Bing Places for Business. And you can choose to hide your address from search results.

v. Online Directories

Online directories are online platforms that list/showcase businesses, organizations, and individuals. For example, you can have an online directory that lists ‘Lawyers in a City’ or ‘Local Restaurants.’ You can also find listings of charity organizations, NGOs, etc.

These directories are used to find businesses or professionals and contact information, such as addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses. 

You can also use them to find websites, product information, and reviews.

Note: Most directories list businesses or professionals in a specific niche. So, you need to find the widely used directories in your niche.

Why online directories are important for local SEO

Online directories might not impact your local SEO in such a big way, but here are some benefits of listing your business in online directories.

• Gets Links

You can get backlinks from websites that write blog posts about your services. Suppose a blogger is compiling a list of the ‘best restaurants in San Francisco’ and your restaurant is listed in the local restaurant directories. In that case, seeing your business and adding it to their list will be easy.

• Increases Awareness

Listing your business in major niche directories will increase your brand’s awareness. If someone who uses these directories sees your business in more than one directory, it will stick to them, and they’ll easily contact you when they need your services.

• Drives Traffic

You can get significant traffic from online directories, either from backlinks or from customers who are active in these directories.

• Increases Trust

Listing your business in major online directories can help increase your customers’ trust. They will transfer the trust they have in these directories to your business.

• Types of online directories to list your business

There are different online directories where you can list your business. However, you need to list your business in well-known and relevant directories to your niche.

Niche-specific directories are more beneficial than generic directories because customers using a niche-specific directory are more likely to pay for your service.

Nevertheless, widely known and used directories also offer similar benefits.

Here are some online directories to list your business:

1. Apple Maps

Apple Maps is a map service by Apple, first released in 2012 as a replacement for the previous Maps app. 

At first, it had inaccurate maps and poor navigation, but it has since been improved and offers new features such as street view, transit directions, and flyover modes.

And now, with Apple Business Connect, you can also add your business to Apple Maps, which allows Apple users to find your business on Maps, Apple Wallet, Siri, etc. 

Apple Business Connect supports both small businesses and large enterprises. It also has showcases and actions that can help you deliver timely information, share offers, and encourage customer engagement by ordering food, getting tickets, or booking reservations.

You can also use the Business Chat feature to communicate with your customers directly on Apple Maps.

Here are some benefits of using Apple Maps:

• It is integrated with other Apple services, such as Siri and CarPlay.
• It is constantly being updated with new features and improvements.

The Apple Business Connect User Guide is a detailed guide showing you how to create a listing for your business using the Apple Business Connect Platform.

Apple Business Connect User Guide showing best practices for uploading an image.

Apple Business Connect User Guide showing how to create an enterprise account.

2. The Real Yellow Pages 

The Real Yellow Pages is a widely known business directory that lists businesses and organizations by category. Currently, Yellow Pages has over 250 different subcategories, with categories such as

• Home Services
• Medical Services
• Auto Services
• Legal Services
• Pet Services
• Insurance
• Restaurants and Catering
• Beauty and Personal Care
• Arts and Entertainment
• Travel and Recreation
• Financial Services
• Clothing and Accessories
• Shopping
• Community and Government

Listed businesses on the Yellow Pages have their name, phone number, address, operating hours, business photo, website link, and ratings displayed during searches.

You can also add your years of experience and a concise business bio, which will be displayed alongside your business in the result pages.

People can search for businesses based on category, location, and the exact services offered, making it an excellent choice of online directory listing for any business owner.

To list your business on the Real Yellow Pages, get started via this link: Claim Your Yellow Pages Business Listing

3. Foursquare

Foursquare is a popular tool/social media site that uses the user’s geographic location to discover places of interest closest to the user.

The selling point of this platform could be its ability to give personalized recommendations based on the user’s browsing and check-in history.

You can list your business on the Foursquare City Guide platform and allow yourself to be found by over one million users.

When a user searches for a business on Foursquare, it shows a large map view, the rankings of each business, and basic information about the business.

vi. Listings on Review Sites

According to this Harvard Business Review study by Michael Luca, it was discovered that “a one-star increase in Yelp rating leads to a 5-9 percent increase in revenue for independent restaurants.”

This study also found that customers respond more positively when the ratings contain more information than just the stars. 

This study reflects the benefits of listing your business on review sites. Beyond listing your business, you should work on giving quality to your customers because, according to the Harvard study, customers are more responsive to visible changes.

Here are some review sites you can use for your local business:

• Yelp

Yelp is a free site; however, businesses can pay for advertising, which can help increase their visibility and attract more customers.

According to the Comscore Media Metrix for March 2022, more than 80 million people visit Yelp monthly to find restaurants, home services, and more. Also, according to a Yelp survey, 57% of users contacted a business they found on Yelp within the same day.

This is an insightful statistic because it shows the number of audiences you can reach by listing your business on Yelp. Having several positive reviews will also help you dominate search results.

To list your business on Yelp, you only need to create a listing for your business and add accurate information. Another important tip when using Yelp is to respond to reviews and messages as soon as possible.

You can and should include pictures that reflect your business. For example, you can upload pictures of your dishes if you own a restaurant, upload pictures of your customers (with consent), upload pictures of your office, etc.

Ensure the pictures are high quality, have the proper captions, and are relevant to your business.

If you want to register for Yelp Ads, you can do so for as little as $5/day, and you also get to customize and track your ads.

• Angi (formerly Angie’s List)

Angi is an online service that allows customers to research, hire, and review local service providers. It offers a paid membership plan priced at $29.99 a year, but, you can create and manage your listings for free on the site.

It is available as an online platform and an app (for Android and iOS). However, there are several limitations to using Angi, including availability issues. 

Angi is available in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Angi operates in all 50 states of the United States and the District of Columbia, but in Canada, it only operates in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, and Quebec.

To know if Angi is available in your area, visit the website and enter your zip code. The website will show you a list of all the local contractors in your area listed on Angi.

To list your business on Angi, visit the website and click on Join our Pro Network. You will see the option to ‘List my Business,’ and then you will fill in the accurate information that best describes your business. 

After this, add your location’s zip code and click ‘Get started.’

vii. Number of Positive Reviews

The number of positive reviews across different platforms, primarily from GBP, is an important ranking signal for Google for local searches.

Google believes that having many positive reviews reflects how good your business is and its relevance to customers in that niche. 

This means if you have 500 positive reviews on your profile, Google will likely rank you above someone with only 100 positive reviews.

viii. Quality of Positive Reviews

As reflected in the Harvard Business Study, customers respond strongly to reviews that contain more information, and so does Google.

Google considers the fact that it’s easy to buy reviews by paying someone or using several accounts to drop reviews on a profile. The countermeasure to this type of spammy review is to evaluate the quality of your reviews.

Here are some factors Google uses to determine if your reviews are of high quality:

• Niche keywords in your review: If you offer SEO services, your reviews should have keywords relevant to that service, e.g., SEO, marketing, etc.
• The authenticity of the review: Are the words AI-generated, or do they reflect emotions? 
• Name of city in reviews: The location matters because we are talking about local SEO. 

ix. Response to Reviews

You need to respond to all your positive and negative reviews because it reflects an excellent work ethic and professionalism.

It is also important to respond to these reviews as soon as possible.

You can set review alerts to be notified when someone drops a new review on your profile so you can respond to it immediately. Also, you can employ freelancers to help you respond to reviews if it’s a lot.

When replying to negative reviews, you should resolve any complaint or, at least, respond professionally and understandingly. Encourage your customers to leave reviews of your services, and you can even share the positive reviews on your social media platforms so more people can engage with your business.

x. Social Listings

Your social media platform is the freest and most fully customized listing platform ever. 

Optimizing your social media profiles to reflect your business is one of the best ways to increase your visibility and optimize your business for local searches.

Social listings have to do with your profiles on your social media platforms that display your business information. It is important to have your social media links in your GBP; however, Google sometimes automatically adds your social media information to your profile if the details are consistent with what you have on your profile, and it also helps if your social media accounts are verified on the platform.

There are different social media platforms, each with pros and cons. Hence, you must create a buyer persona and determine what social media platforms are saturated with your target audience.

When you discover the best social media platform that applies to your target audience, the next thing is to create an account, optimize it, and include your business’s NAP and other crucial details relevant to your business, like achievements, mentions, collaborations, partnerships, etc.

After this, create content that aligns with your audience and engage them with giveaways, Q&A sessions, sales, etc. 

You can also create an in-app store to sell your products. For example, Facebook has Facebook Marketplace, and Instagram has Instagram Shopping.

xi. Proximity

This is not a factor you can easily control and is, unfortunately, one of the most vital ranking factors for local searches.

It concerns how close you or your business is to the searcher. Except you can open business locations in every location of the world, you cannot control the proximity to the searcher.

However, if you offer online services, location doesn’t matter, but Google will still rank you lower if you are not in the same geographic location as your searcher.

Here’s a tip for you if you run a virtual service:

Include your zip code, state, and country in your business information. 

If you notice in specific searches when a limited number of businesses are available in a particular location, Google will show you businesses in the same state or country.

So, instead of leaving your address as ‘X, Jacksonville,’ make sure to include ‘Florida, United States.’

And even if you run a physical business, it’s also crucial that you indicate your state and country in your location details.

xii. Consistent NAP

As you utilize several local SEO strategies, it is important you maintain consistent business information across all platforms.

Having different NAPs (name, address, and phone number) for your business on other platforms is similar to having duplicate content. The problem is that you will compete with yourself for a position in search results because Google might see your businesses as different.

You can add multiple locations for your business on GBP and manage them all from one place. However, you must select your primary business location before opening other locations.

xiii. Quality of Inbound Links to Associated Websites

Inbound links are another name for backlinks, which are links from another website to your website.

It is best for your local SEO strategy if your inbound links are from high-quality sites that Google has established as a trusted domain. 

The problem with getting backlinks from high-authority websites is that it is always hard because, as a local business, your relevance might still be within your local area. Also, it is challenging to develop content relevant to big, authoritative websites due to budget or the lack of experience needed to create such types of content.

However, there are ways you can build the quality of your inbound links to establish your local authority and increase your rankings. Regarding local link building, some factors are not as important as if you are doing generic link building.

For example, in local link building, a backlink from a small local website can do you much better than a big, well-known website just because it is irrelevant to your location or specific to your business category.

Here are some tips when you are doing link-building for your business:

• Diverse links

Do not get all your inbound links from a single website because it is well-known and has a high domain authority. Instead, gather relevant and organic backlinks from authoritative local websites.

• Links from local sites

Focus on getting links from authoritative websites in your geographic area, like local news blogs, local bloggers, local event pages, or community websites. 

This doesn’t mean you ignore high-DA websites. Instead, you concentrate more on getting local links because they increase the local relevance of your business.

It indirectly tells Google you are validated by people in your community who might have had direct access to you and your business.

• Anchor words with local keyword

In Search Engine Journal’s Local SEO ebook, it was written that getting an inbound link from a highly authoritative website that contains the name of your city or neighborhood and the main keyword of your business is the “holy grail” of links.

• Link back to a relevant page

As you focus on getting backlinks from local and known websites, it is crucial to ensure the backlinks are correctly linked back to the relevant pages like your location page or your landing page.

You also have to ensure there’s a CTA on the linked page.

xiv. Keywords in Listing Title

Keywords are also an important ranking signal for local searches, especially if the search term matches your listing title perfectly.

Hence, it is important for you to thoroughly think out your listing title instead of just putting in a random title.

A way to develop a good listing title is to create a buyer persona to know who your ideal customer is based on the products/services you offer and carry out keyword research to find out what keywords your ideal customer is sure to search for.

xv. Mobile Responsiveness

The mobile responsiveness of a website is crucial when it comes to SEO because more than half of what is done online is done via mobile devices. 

According to a 2014 Search Engine Watch Study, it was discovered that customers use mobile devices for immediate, on-the-go searches, and 4 out of 5 of these searches result in a purchase.

While those statistics might experience changes, they still strongly emphasize the importance of a mobile-friendly website to support your local SEO strategy.

You can use this mobile-friendly test to check the mobile responsiveness of your site.

xvi. Structured Data Markup

Google has stated that when a searcher searches for a business on Google Maps or Google Search, it can display a knowledge panel that showcases specific details about the business, like the business hours, different departments, reviews, and more.

If you are wondering what structured data is, it is simply a code that categorizes your content.

Using structured data markup in your local SEO strategy will not directly affect search rankings. However, it can increase the clickthrough rate (CTR) because Google could use your structured data markup to create a rich result.

An increase in your CTR has been shown to increase your ranking over time potentially.

There are different properties or schema categories from which you can select. It is best to choose the schema category that is most relevant to businesses.

To avoid complicated coding concerning your structured data, you can use Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper by selecting the data type (articles, local businesses, events, movies, job products, postings, movies, restaurants, etc.) and enter the URL or the HTML source code of the page you want to markup and select ‘start tagging’ button.

It will take you to the page, and you can start tagging the elements you want to markup; when you are done, it will automatically create your markup code.

xvii. Local Content

Consistently create local content that is relevant to your business. This is important to establish your local authority and also as a way to create opportunities for backlinks.

As you create localized content, include your main keyword and location organically.

You can write content on local events and tag the businesses involved to build links. You can also join local volunteers, get featured in local posts, write on topics relevant to your local community, or create a page on your website that references other businesses in the community.

xviii. Keyword Optimization

As you write localized content, it is also important to consider your choice of keywords. You want to get an exact or almost exact keyword your ideal/target audience uses to search for similar businesses in your area.

Several keyword optimization tools, like SEMrush, Keyword Tool, Ahrefs, Ubersuggest, etc., can generate closely matched keywords for your content and audience.

BONUS: How to set up your GBP (with pictures)

A Google Business Profile is essential to any local SEO strategy. Here is how you can create your GBP page step-by-step:

1. Go to https://business.google.com and click on ‘manage.’

2. Insert your business name and continue.

3. Choose your business type.

Here are the different business types:

• Online Retail: Customers can purchase products through your website.
• Local Store: Customers can visit your business in person.
• Service Business: Your business makes visits to customers.

4.  Choose your business category.

NB: 

1. This is where you input your business category.
2. This shows how to return to your previous pages if you need to change something.

There are several business categories on Google Business Profile, and you get suggestions as soon as you start typing, like the picture below.

5. Enter your business address.

NB: This is not a place to add multiple locations that can be done after setting up the account. For this part of the process, insert your primary location.

6. Add your contact details and website link (optional).

7. You’ve created your GBP, and Google will verify it. After that, simply optimize your business information, add images, and go live!

Optimizing Your Website for Local SEO

Here are some things you need to do for your website to optimize it for local searches:

Include local SEO schema.

A significant way to optimize your business for local SEO is to add a local SEO schema to your business website. Local SEO schema, or local business schema, is a structured markup code available on schema.org that helps optimize your business website.

You can use the Structured Data Markup Helper from Google to automatically create your schema code if you are unfamiliar with schema coding.

Implement technical SEO optimization.

Technical SEO has no direct impact on your local SEO. However, some aspects of technical SEO potentially help to increase your local rankings:

Core Web Vitals

Core Web Vitals are the new metrics that measure your web pages’ loading, interactivity, and visual stability. 

Here are the three Core Web Vitals metrics:

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): This measures the time it takes for the largest image on your page to become visible.
• First Input Delay (FID): This is when a user interacts with a page after it has loaded.
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): This is the amount of visual movement that occurs as a page loads (visual stability).

These three metrics show how customer-friendly your website is and directly affect user experience on your site.

If your website has a good user experience, it becomes easier to rank in SERPs.

Mobile Responsiveness

In local SEO, mobile responsiveness is essential because of the usage of mobile devices by users to access the Internet on search engines. Search engines prioritize mobile-friendly websites to provide an efficient user experience for mobile users. 

To optimize your website for mobile responsiveness, here are some tips:

1. Use a responsive design.
2. Optimize your page speed.
3. Implement structured data.
4. Reduce image size.
5. Minify your JavaScript.
6. Reduce CSS files.

Optimize Your URL Structure

One advantage of optimizing your URL is to be searchable on Google. Finding your business won’t be easy if your URL is not descriptive and readable.

To optimize your URL:

1. Your URL must be readable.
2. Your URL should contain hyphens and not underscores.
3. Incorporate relevant keywords.
4. Avoid using capital letters.
5. Avoid using stop words such as “the,” “of,” etc.
6. Create a URL sitemap.

Include Your NAP in Your HTML

In local SEO, NAP consistency is essential across different online platforms because it ensures consistency and accuracy and increases trust.

Including your NAP in your HTML code makes it easier for search engines to identify your business information and readily display it for users.

Here are some places on your website where you should include your NAP:

• Your website’s homepage
• Your website’s contact page
• Your website’s footer

Optimize for Voice Search

Local searches can also be voice searches. Hence, optimizing your website for voice searches is important because it will indirectly impact your local voice search rankings.

READ MORE: A COMPREHENSIVE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO VOICE SEARCH

Optimize for Local Keywords

Local keywords are search terms used by customers entered on search engines like Google to find your products, services, or information. Implementing local keywords in your website is essential because it will help you connect with potential customers in your area.

For instance, if you own a fashion business in Lagos, your main local keyword should be “best fashion business in Lagos.” This is so you are more specific on the location.

There are several types of local keywords, namely:

1. Location-based keywords
2. Product/Service-based keywords
3. Branded keywords
4. Long tail keywords
5. Industry-specific keywords

Long tail keywords are more specific and less competitive; they are known to be much more effective in local SEO. For instance, they consist of three or more words: “best SEO coach near me.” 

Long tail keywords are essential in local SEO because they can help rank your business higher in organic search results with less competition and help your target audience find you when needed.

On-Page Optimization

All aspects of SEO are important to rank for local SEO. For instance, you cannot ignore on-page optimization.

Here are some actionable on-page optimization steps that will help to increase your local rankings:

• Creating localized landing pages: These pages are tailored to a particular geographic region. The goal is to rank for local searches within those areas while also showing the local customers your products and services that are accessible to them.
• Adding NAP info to the website: You should include your NAP in the header and footer of your website. You should also include them in your HTML to easily access them.
• Creating localized content: Local content with local terminologies and slang is best to capture your target audience. You can use inside jokes that a local can easily understand to engage them.
• Strong call-to-actions: Include strong CTAs in your landing pages and brand messages. This helps the user know what actions to take.

Off-Page Optimization

Off-page optimization is another part of SEO essential for your local SEO strategy. 

Here are some off-page things to do to optimize your website for local SEO:

• Building local citations and directory listings:

Local citations are any online mention of your business. They are important to make people discover your business and rank higher in local searches.

• Platforms for Local Citation building
  • Yext
  • Moz Local
  • BrightLocal
  • Whitespark

• Acquiring high-quality backlinks from local sources:

When acquiring backlinks, you need to focus on quality rather than quantity. Here are some places you can get quality local backlinks:

• Local newspapers or other local media outlets
• Local bloggers for your niche
• Local event/tourism pages
• Other local businesses
• Local charities with volunteer pages

• Managing online reviews and ratings:

Your online reviews and ratings are an important part of your local SEO as they fall under ‘Prominence,’ one of the three pillars of local SEO.

Here are some tips to note when managing your online reviews:

• Send review requests to customers.
• Set review alerts.
• Respond to all reviews (positive and negative).
• Promote positive reviews on social media.
• Join industry review sites.

Local SEO Tools

There are different uses for local SEO tools, ranging from tracking your performance, conducting competitor research, finding local keywords that you can use for your content, and automating your rank tracking.

Here are some tools that are great to have for your local SEO strategy:

Ahrefs

Ahrefs is an all-in-one SEO toolset that offers a range of features to help you with your on-page, off-page, and technical SEO strategies.

When it comes to local SEO, Ahrefs’ Site Explorer helps you analyze your local competitors’ websites and see what keywords they are ranking for, which can help you identify new keywords you can target.

You can also use Ahrefs to discover keywords based on location, which is excellent for localized keywords. You can track online brand mentions or niche-specific topics on which you can create content.

Ahrefs has four (4) different pricing options: 

• Lite: $99/month.
• Standard: $199/month.
• Advanced: $399/month.
• Enterprise: $999/month.

If you pay annually, you get two free months, and a paid version of Ahrefs gets you access to their core tools, including:

• SEO Dashboard
• Site Explorer
• Keywords Explorer
• SERP Comparison
• Site Audit
• Rank Tracker
• Alerts

BuzzStream

BuzzStream is a link-building and outreach tool, which is excellent if you want to build the quality and quantity of your inbound links.

This tool allows you to manage your email outreaches from one place and helps you automate many processes, saving you time and increasing your productivity.

It can automate processes such as:

• Researching prospects
• Discovering email addresses
• Sending follow-up emails
• Tracking your reply rates

BuzzStream has four pricing plans:

• Starter: $24/month.
• Group: $99/month.
• Professional: $299/month.
• Custom: $999/month.

The starter plan includes contact info discovery, email templates, email scheduling, automated follow-ups, Chrome extension, link monitoring, and email performance reports.

You can try out the first three plans for free and reach out to the company if you want a solution customized to your company’s needs.

Whitespark Local Citation Finder

Whitespark offers a way to build new and relevant citations by showing you relevant places by country.

It analyzes your competitors and helps you discover new opportunities based on the results. You can find and track all your online citations and identify new citation sites to submit your business.

There is a free version, and like all free versions, it has limited search results and offers only one campaign and three (3) searches per day.

The paid plans come with four different prices:

• Small Business: $33/month.
• Specialist: $41/month.
• Agency: $49/month.
• Enterprise: $124/month.

If you opt for a yearly plan, you can save up to 20%.

Birdeye

Birdeye is a platform that focuses on helping businesses reach their customers, optimize customer experience, and increase conversion rates.

With Birdeye, you can manage your listings in major directories from a single dashboard, send automated requests to customers to review your business, and use this to increase trust in your business.

Birdeye also allows you to create new listings on over 50+ platforms, determine the accuracy of existing business listings, and synchronize them across the platforms.

Birdeye pricing is based on the number of business locations and needs, and you can schedule a pricing appointment instead of going for the prices you get.

Here is the standard pricing for a single location:

• Standard is priced at $299/month and covers listings, reviews, and campaigns.
• Professional, priced at $399/month, has everything in standard plus interactions.
• Premium is a custom quote plan covering surveys, ticketing, insights, and benchmarking.

Moz Local Search Tool

Moz Local can check your citations across several platforms, including Google, Google Maps, Facebook, Bing, and other local search engines and directories. 

Moz alerts you when there is missing or inaccurate data so you can fix them.

Other cool features of Moz Local include syncing and managing your listings, profile optimization, automatic duplicate deletion, and alerts and notifications.

Moz Local Search Tool can help you with your local SEO strategy by helping you track your existing citations. All you need to do is enter your business’s name in the tool, and you will see a list of complete, incomplete, inconsistent, and duplicate mentions of your business online.

After this, you can proceed to fix these issues manually.

There are three pricing options for Moz Local:

• Lite: $14/month.
• Preferred: $20/month.
• Elite: $33/month.

However, Moz allows you to pay annually and save up to 25%.

How to Use AI for Local SEO

Leveraging AI is important in today’s digital market. 

Using AI for your local SEO is also an important part of your strategy because it helps you save time by automating several tasks. You can automate repetitive tasks, track performance, review responses, and even create chatbots for customers to enquire, get answers, and enhance customer experience easily.

You can use AI-powered tools such as Birdeye that automate responses to clients and allow you to send bulk messages. Several AI-powered SEO tools can be used to automate some SEO processes. 

Here are some ways to use AI for local SEO:

a. Content Creation

This is where artificial intelligence has made most of its mark. With tools like Google Bard and ChatGPT, content creation has become easier.

You need to optimize your prompts for maximum output because these intelligence tools work with the data fed to produce an output.

This means that, to a considerable extent, what you get from these tools is based on what you input.

You can use AI to create optimized content in a certain tone for your audience. You can create email templates for direct outreach, outlines for your blog posts, FAQs, and other content types.

READ MORE: UNDERSTANDING GOOGLE BARD AND ITS IMPACT ON SEO

b. Keyword Tracking

There are several AI-integrated tracking tools and software today. In fact, most SEO tools have some form of artificial intelligence integrated into them.

Tools like SE Ranking, Rank Tracker, SEMrush, and Ahrefs can help you track competitor keywords, keywords you want to rank for, and those you already have on your website. This allows you to know what keywords to include in your content campaign, the difficulty level of some keywords, and the average position of your keywords in SERPs, respectively.

c. Online Brand Mentions

You can use several SEO tools like Locobuzz, Brand24, Sprout Social, and BrandMentions to set up brand tracking. 

With any of these tools, you get alerted whenever your brand is mentioned online.

This allows you to manage how your brand appears on any platform. Suppose your brand is mentioned with a wrong name, incorrect NAP, or other irregularities. In that case, you will get an alert. You will simply message whoever uploaded the information to make the necessary corrections. 

You can also contact them if they posted an outdated link or if you have a better alternative for the offer, link, or brand product.

d. Predictive Analysis

You can use AI tools to predict search trends and customer behavior. For example, with Google Analytics 4, you can see predictive insights on your customer behavior that will show you their future preferences.

You can then create effective marketing campaigns based on these insights.

READ MORE: ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GOOGLE ANALYTICS 4 – SARMLife

Local SEO Checklist

In case this blog post seems too overwhelming for you, here is a checklist you can use to know the actionable steps you need to take to have your business optimized for local SEO:

• Identify your exact product/service category.
• Create and optimize your GBP profile.
• Maintain NAP consistency.
• Create localized landing pages.
• Add Google Maps to your Contact Us page.
• Create listings in other online directories.
• Create listings on review sites.
• Generate honest customer reviews.
• Respond to all reviews.
• Conduct a content audit for your website.
• Conduct competitor keyword research
• Do your keyword mapping.
• Identify localized keywords.
• Publish local content on the website.
• Conduct a detailed on-page SEO optimization.
• Create localized link-building strategies.
• Conduct an SEO analysis of your website.
• Add business address to website footer.
• Use local business schema markup
• Make your website mobile-friendly.

Local SEO FAQs

1. What is local SEO?

Local SEO is the process of optimizing a business’s website and online presence so that it ranks high in local search results.

2. What are the benefits of local SEO?

• Increased visibility in local search results
• Increased traffic to your website
• Increased leads and sales
• Enhanced brand reputation
• Improved customer satisfaction

3. What are the most critical factors for local SEO?

The most important factors for local SEO include:

• NAP information
• Proximity
• Local business listings
• Local keywords
• Inbound links
• Local content
• Reviews
• Localized landing pages
• Social media mentions

4. How can I improve my local SEO?

There are many things you can do to improve your local SEO, including:

• Claim and optimize your Google My Business listing.
• Create high-quality content relevant to your business and its target audience.
• Get backlinks from high-quality websites in your industry.
• Use local keywords and phrases in your website’s title tags, meta descriptions, and content.
• Optimize your website for mobile devices.
• Track your results.

FINAL THOUGHTS

To remain visible and searchable, you need a solid local SEO presence to connect with the right individuals.

Most importantly, it is cost-effective, enables you to reach customers ready to buy from you, and delivers targeted search results.

Are you ready to be the ace of local SEO?

READ ALSO: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GOOGLE ALGORITHM – SARMLife

Have you ever questioned why certain pages from specific websites consistently rank high on Google?

They understand the importance of implementing off-page and on-page SEO techniques.

These SEO experts acknowledge that creating appealing content is not all there is. The ability to match Google requirements and searcher’s query using specific on-page SEO techniques explodes the traffic of any website and increases its rank.

As a beginner, navigating the world of SEO (on-page and off-page) can be overwhelming, just like when I started in 2019. I’ve learned from industry experts, tried many things, and kept updated on SEO changes and updates.

In this blog post, I’ll walk you through a practical but simplified on-page SEO guide, organized into chapters, explaining the fundamentals and creating a build-up to the more technical aspects of on-page SEO.

What Is On-page SEO?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is perfecting your website and its content to improve its visibility and traffic through various activities such as keyword research, linking building, auditing, etc.

SEO includes steps taken to make your website appealing to users and search engines, such as Google. 

When search engine crawlers navigate your website, they audit it to determine if it matches user intent and accessibility. 

If your website appears perfect, they relay this information back to the server, and you stand a chance of increasing your rank on the search engine results pages (SERPs).

Therefore, it concerns all the activities to improve your website traffic and ranks.

There are three types of SEO. They are:

• On-page SEO 
• Off-page SEO 
• Technical SEO 

On-page SEO, or on-site SEO, refers to any activity you carry out on your webpage to help increase its rank and traffic.

Let us relate this to a typical life scenario for a better understanding.

Congratulations! You just purchased an apartment, but you noticed the decorations don’t suit your taste, and you need to make it appealing to those who might visit.

You will carry out certain activities, such as painting, curtain fixing, positioning of furniture, and so much more, to make your home beautiful and appealing to visitors, known as interior decoration.

With this analogy, I won’t be wrong in saying on-site SEO is the interior decoration of webpages. It is the activities performed to make your webpage more appealing to search bots and users, which in turn helps boost your rank.

Difference Between On-page SEO and Off-page SEO

Both SEO strategies focus on achieving the same objective, but their work is slightly different.

Their focus: 

On-page SEO focuses on researching and optimizing your content to rank for organic searches, focusing more on the web pages than the website.

Off-page SEO focuses on increasing the power of your website; it also focuses on how Google and viewers accept your content. This strategy is often not within your control; it is concerned with how powerful and famous your site is, and this is achieved by earning backlinks when appealing content is made.

 It determines how high you will rank on search results.

Their factors:

On-page SEO factors include:

• Title tags
• Meta description
• Header tags
• Alt text Image
• Page experience
• URL structures 
• Internal linking 
• Page load speed
• Quality of content
• Mobile-friendliness 

Off-page SEO factors include:

• Number of backlinks
• Quality of backlinks
• Link relevancy
• Social shares
• Reviews
• Brand mentions

Why Is On-page SEO Important?

The center of attention of on-page SEO is helping search engines (Google) and users to understand and relate to the content on your website better.

Therefore, it is crucial because it helps create a better understanding of your webpage. For example, the meta description and title tags—these tags are displayed on the browsers; it is the first text the user comes in contact with. When written well, it gives the users an idea of what your content is all about.

Here are some benefits of on-page SEO for your website:

1. Reduces clickbait

No one will want to visit a shop that doesn’t provide what they need. To make your customers stay, you will have to provide solutions to their problems. 

When certain factors, such as expertise and relevant content, are met, click baits will be reduced because you offer appropriate answers to your audience’s needs.

2. Increases searcher’s time spent on your content 

This importance is interrelated to the reduction of clickbait.

Users who see what they are looking for tend to stay and spend more time digesting your created content.

3. Increases relevance 

It helps improve the quality of your webpage by satisfying users and gaining users’ loyalty by providing a positive page experience. 

4. Assists search engines in determining what your page is about 

On-page SEO is not only concerned with improving user understanding but also with search engines. Factors such as HTML codes tell Google what your page is about. Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) enable Google to weigh the value of your content to prevent the spread of false information.

How to Perform On-page SEO

1. Optimization of E-E-A-T

What is E-E-A-T?

Google’s E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. It was coined to evaluate the quality of content displayed on websites.

The E-E-A-T concept is not a ranking factor but a vital quality evaluator factor.

In recent times, there has been an increase in the demand for validated information. Google uses this principle to probe every content upload to determine if they are from reliable sources.

Hence, website developers are expected to display relevant and reliable information that can be vouched for.

Experience

Google is keen on matching users’ intent precisely and expects each website to display a level of experience in content creation irrespective of their niche.

To create effective content, Google expects you to have exposure to events that improve your knowledge of that particular niche.

This factor is related to the expertise factor.

Expertise 

Continuous exposure to activities specific to a particular niche improves your knowledge, and through experience, you are informed about different problems and topics surrounding your niche.

Over time you become an expert in your field, having a high skill level and knowledge to solve those problems effectively.

For example, a brand known for SEO content creation will rank lower when they create health-related content because Google identifies that brand under the SEO expert niche and can’t trust their content to be one of value in comparison to various medical websites.

Authoritativeness 

The authoritative factor concerns your website’s fame, influence, and power. 

Your website should be famous for constantly providing truthful content that various websites in your niche attest to and link back to.

This factor helps in boosting backlinks which automatically increases ranks.

Trustworthiness 

Earning users’ trust can be difficult but possible; it is easier to gain the trust of someone physically, but in this field, there isn’t a familiar relationship between you and your viewers aside from the content you create to match their specific intent.

This is why Google emphasizes creating truthful content; it beckons users’ trust and keeps them loyal to you.

How to optimize for E-E-A-T

Showcase your authors in your bio to establish expertise.

It is no hidden secret that many individuals patronize brands with names. Adding your author’s name to a blog post ensures users trust you. 

Create a bio page stating your qualifications in the niche of your choice by writing about the duration of your service or your accomplishments and area of study in your bio.

A bio helps Google to be aware of your content creator and their expertise.

The factors below are essential for an impressive bio:

• Name
• A picture
• Credentials
• Position 
• Contact email or number

Work with trusted sources. 

In carrying out your research, every data collected must be from a reputable source with high authorities. Avoid backlinking to websites that are known for spreading false information. Google can pick on tabs of such linking, which can respectfully hurt your website’s reputation.

Design beneficiary content.

The backbone of major ranking factors—every optimization strategy is null and void if the content is useless to users. Create a post that captures the users’ interest and provides a solution to their needs.

2. Title tags

a. What are title tags?

Title tags, or website page titles, are valuable factors you should consider; they are a HyperText Markup Language that describes the title of a webpage.

It is not visible on the website page but on the browser tabs and Google’s search result page. 

b. Why are title tags important? 

i. They promote understanding.

All optimization processes aim to achieve search engines’ and users’ understanding.

It is of vitality that your page and its content should be easy to grab fully and not in bits.

Title tags aid in achieving this by capturing the words that best describe your content briefly with your focus keyword inclusive. 

ii. They influence users’ clicks.

Because title tags are visible on the browser tab, they will likely be the first thing users see about your content.

They play a massive role in determining how users perceive your page. 

For example, when a title meets the exact query by capturing the relevant keywords and other related factors, the user is of the impression that your content is the perfect match to that specific query and will waste no time clicking.

iii. They improve page rank.

Click-through rates influence SERP ranking. 

Suppose eight results match a specific intent, and Google notices many users clicking on the fifth result and staying for a long time. This automatically tells Google that the page with more traffic matches the user intent better than the rest, and in a couple of minutes, that page ranks higher above the rest.

c. Tips to write a perfect title tag

i. Match search intent by including a question form.

Title tags in question form often get a higher click-through rate. For example, “What are SEO black hats?” This title notifies the user that your page provides the answer they seek.

ii. Write in sentence case or title case. 

Your titles should be written in a sentence case or a title case.

In a sentence case, only the first letter of the title is in the upper case, while the title case has the first letter of each word capitalized, except for the articles. 

Example of a title in a sentence case: “Where are the search engines?” 

Example of a title in a title case: “What Are Search Engines?”

iii. Keep the title between 40-50 characters.

It is ideal to keep the title within 40-50 characters. A shorter title may not provide room to add the relevant keyword, and a more extended title of 70-80 characters may not capture the user’s interest. Hence, it is advisable to keep the title at a moderate length.

iv. Include numbers or years.

People are attracted to unique title tags. Talking about uniqueness, adding a year or number to a title creates curiosity in the users to discover what your page offers. 

For example, this title, “11 Unique SEO Trends in the Year 2023,” tells users that my content is about recent SEO trends, and I have unveiled 11 new practices to boost their SEO strategies.

Educational titles also have a higher chance of getting clicks.

v. Include keywords.

Top-ranking pages, when analyzed, often rank for some keywords. You must include the relevant keywords that match the specific intent in your title. 

vi. Make use of power words.

Power words are words that increase the strength of your title. These words are capable of captivating the interest of internet users, and they can trigger emotional responses. 

Examples of power words are ultimate, monetize, effortless, etc.

The more powerful words you use that converge emotional response, the more clicks you get.

vii. Make sure they align with your content to prevent clickbait.

This tip is crucial; the amount of time a user spends on your page is analyzed by Google, which tells search engines that your content was beneficiary to the user.

It is useless to optimize your title tags when your content is different from the title. Google sees this as deceptive; every title tag should reflect your content. 

3. Meta descriptions

a. What are meta descriptions?

Meta descriptions are the sentences below the titles; they help to describe what your page is about.

Meta descriptions can influence your websites. Search engines often display these descriptions as a summary of your page. A well-detailed meta description can impact your click-through rates and increase website traffic.

Most times, web developers fail to add a meta description, and search engines automatically pick a sentence from their content and use it as a meta description. I highly advise against this, as the text search engines might choose may not be an accurate summary of your content.

b. Examples of meta descriptions

c. Features of a good meta description

i. Don’t make it too short. 

In 2017, Google displayed a total of 275 characters on SERP. This implies that a meta description should not be short.

Neil Patel said, “Meta description between 119-135 characters can get a 3.4% increase in click-through rate. 

A short description does not give room for a well-detailed explanation of your page’s content, and users might not know what to expect from such a page. I definitely will not click on a page that does not give me an insight into its content; it can be risky. 

ii. Make it appealing.

Your meta description should communicate the benefits of your content. Make it compelling by initiating emotional response through the insertion of content values. 

iii. Include keywords.

Keywords are a critical factor, and they cannot be overrated. Including the appropriate keywords in your meta description is vital. Emphasis should be made on keyword stuffing; avoid using numerous keywords that are not relevant to your description.

iv. Match search intent.

This factor is essential; your meta description should align with the user query. 

 v. Avoid using the same meta descriptions for different pages.

For each page, provide a different meta description; this will help tell search engines the uniqueness of each page and its content.

When you use the same descriptions, search engines assume your content pages provide solutions to the same query. 

4. Header tags 

a. What are header tags?

Header tags are also referred to as heading tags. These tags arrange content based on priority or importance and differentiate the various subheadings in content.

The header tags concept establishes informational ranks in your content creation, and HyperText Markup Language accepts up to six header tags in page structuring.

Here is a specification of header tags and their uses.

• H1 Tag

The H1 tag is the title tag; it captures the context of your content and is used to attract users’ attention. This tag describes the page’s primary purpose and is usually infused with the focus keyword.

• H2 Tag

The H2 tags are subheadings used to break the content into subsets of various sections. It is ideal for inserting your focus and secondary keywords in this header.

• H3 Tag

The H3 tags are a division of the H2 tags; they can be used to explain the H2 concept. The H3 tag describes in detail the concept of header tags.

• H4 Tag

The H4 tags are also subsets of H3 tags used to explain the listed points in an H3 tag. Most often, these tags are arranged in bullet points. 

• H5 Tag

They are used to broaden the points made in header 4.

• H6 Tag

They are also used to explain some micro points in header 5.

b. Importance of headers tags

• It helps search engines understand your content.
• Adding appropriate headers to your content makes it easier for readers to interact with your created content. It makes the journey smooth and easy, readers will easily digest your content, and the time spent on your page by your visitors increases.
•  Additionally, header tags influence the time spent on your page, decreasing the bounce rate. 

Users who find your webpage appealing and easy to understand will stay and absorb your content in a stretch. 

c. Optimizing your header tags

To optimize your header tags to increase your rank chance, you will have to do the following:

• Use one H1 title per page:

Using multiple header tags for a page will confuse search engines and reduce your rank drastically.

Google will not understand what your content is about and will not know what to rank you for.

• Make it unique:

Use keywords, questions, or power words to make every heading appealing to users.

• Reflect your content in it:

All header tags should correlate with the post title. Only write a subheading that captures the accurate picture of your content.

• Keep it short:

They should be kept brief, with 50-60 characters. Ensure at least one of your header tags from the H1 includes your focus keyword.

5. URLs and URL structure optimization 

a. What are URLs?

URLs means Uniform Resource Locator; it is a specific web page address that helps people locate you.

It is seen in the address bar at the top of a web browser. 

b. What are URL structures? 

URL structures are the various elements that make up a URL.

A URL structure can include the following:

• HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)
• www (subdomain)
• Domain name
• Path or page

c. How to create a perfect URL

• Keep it short and readable. 
• Add a keyword.
• Your domain name should be easy to spell and attractive.
• Domain main should be easy to pronounce.
• Name the page in a way that explains the content of the page.

6. Image alt texts

a. What are image alt texts?

Image alt texts are text descriptions of your images; they work by adding a text tag to the HTML codes of the image placed on your website. 

These texts are not visible to users, but search engines see them and use them to match your image to what users are searching for.

b. The usefulness of image alt texts

They are beneficial in SEO. When a user inputs a query of an image, a search engine crawler looks at the text on the back end of the website to select the best images that match such intent. When done right, it can help your image to rank above the others on Google.

c. Tips for writing a fantastic image alt text 

• Don’t stuff keywords:

Don’t add multiple keywords to your image text; it makes it difficult for Google to know how the image relates to your content.

• Don’t repeat yourself: 

Don’t use the same words or keywords for different images on your website.

• Don’t tag non-essential images:

Every text used should be an accurate description of the image.

• Be specific: 

Be detailed as possible, and avoid using irrelevant words to describe the image. Don’t write “a picture of” or “an image of” at the beginning of your descriptions.

7. Internal links

a. What are internal links?

These are links from a page on your website to another page on your website.

For example, here’s an internal link to another page on the SARMLife website.

READ MORE: HOW TO MAKE MONEY BLOGGING (Coming soon)

Internal links link a page to another page where their content is interrelated.

b. Why is internal linking important?

It helps increase page authority, boosting organic ranking. 

When a specific page on your website generates higher traffic than other pages, you can introduce an internal link to drive traffic from that page to the less-ranking pages.

c. Quick tips for internal linking

• Determine your page rank: 

Tools such as Ahrefs can help you track your page and determine the exact page that needs to be featured in an internal link.

• Add internal links from relevant pages: 

Every page you internally link to should be related to the content topic. 

• Always link a page that gives more insight into your topic.

8. External links

a. What are external links?

These are hyperlinks on a page that references an external domain; it means linking to a domain outside your site as a reference or additional source. 

b. Why are external links important?

Linking to other websites is a good SEO strategy, and Google states that linking to authoritative websites provides value for your users.

So, link to websites that follow the E-E-A-T principle, and it is also best to link to websites in your niche.

9. Use keywords 

a. What are keywords?

Keywords, as the name implies, are words and phrases internet users type in search engines to find results. 

They are vital as they link searchers’ queries and your content. 

b. Types of keywords by length 

i. Long-tail keywords: 

Long tail keywords are made by combining more than four words. 

A long tail keyword is usually longer than the other types of keywords. 

For example, “red apple shops in Manchester.”

These keywords are particular and leave you no doubt of what the searcher wants.

ii. Medium-tail keywords: 

They are less specific than long-tail keywords and less competitive than short-tailed ones. 

It usually consists of 3-4 words. 

For example: “red apple shops.”

This keyword shows what the user wants (looking for an apple shop) but does not specify the location.

iii. Short-tail keywords:

These keywords are very competitive, with 1-2 words. They are not specific, attract high search volumes irrespective of the niche, and don’t accurately describe your content.

For example, “apple” and “red apple” are short-tail keywords that contain only the subject matter.

c. How to use keywords

Specific rules are applied to keyword usage, and you must consider them to optimize your content.

i. Place keywords in the right place.

The proper placement of keywords is vital for SEO. 

There are specific places where your focus keyword must appear on your page. They are:

• Title tags
• Meta description
• Header tag(s)
• Alt image text
• Conclusion
• Body of your post

ii. Include long tail keywords.

Long tail keywords have a specification function and are best used to attract users to your site.

iii. Avoid keyword stuffing.

Avoid using the same keyword multiple times without a natural occurrence. 

10. Sitemaps

What are sitemaps?

Sitemaps are records of your website’s important pages or URLs. They assist search engines and users in finding your website’s different pages.

Importance of sitemaps

i. For easy website navigation:

Sitemaps make it easy for internet users to find their specific intent on your page in less time.

ii. Enables web spiders to understand your website: 

They help search engines understand your content and your page.

Types of sitemaps

There are two types of sitemaps:

• HTML sitemaps (for users)
• XML sitemaps (for search engines)

i. HTML sitemaps: 

The hypertext markup language sitemaps are solely for users, making it easy for users to find what they require on different pages on your website. 

HTML sitemaps reduce the time spent by users searching for answers on your website. 

ii. XML sitemaps:

The extensible markup language sitemaps are the most common.

They are created for search engines as they provide a hierarchy of your pages’ information to the search engines, which makes it easier for web crawlers to understand and reduce the time spent indexing your website.

This sitemap also tells the search engines the last time a page was updated.

11. Featured snippet optimization

a. What are featured snippets?

According to Google, featured snippets are special boxes where the format of a typical search result is reversed, showing the descriptive snippet first. 

They are short, brief answers to users’ questions at the top of SERPs and help answer them immediately.

b. Types of featured snippets

There are different types of featured snippets.

i. Paragraph: 

The paragraph snippet amounts to seventy percent of the total features, ranging from 40-42 words and 250 characters.

They mostly occur in question-form searches and have post titles that start with “How,” “What,” or “Why.” These suggest that they give educational and beneficiary information.

ii. List: 

It amounts to an average of 19% of total featured snippets. They consist of about 44 words.

iii. Tables: 

They are 6.3% of total featured snippets. They consist of 40 to 45 words.

c. How to get featured snippets position for your posts

• Identify the opportunities on Google using Ahrefs.
• Discover content ideas by using Answerthepublic.
• Carry out keyword research.
• Use a header when answering questions.
• Match user intent by providing valuable information.
• Add relevant graphics that match your content.
• Organize your content ideally and attractively.
• Validate your content by ensuring each piece of information is accurate and trustworthy.
• Analyze your competitors to know what they do better to get more featured snippets.
• Update your outline to fit recent trends and queries.

12. Get a rich snippet with structured data

a. What are rich snippets?

Rich snippets are search results that draw your attention to structured data on web pages. 

They are used to provide relevant information to users immediately and provide solutions to urgent searches.

They are Google search results that provide additional information, add visual interest, and make it easier for users to digest content.

b. Types of rich snippets

i. Movie Markup

This markup displays information about a specific movie and shows the movie’s release date, cast, run time, and genre.

ii. Product Markup

This displays specific information about a product; such information includes price, availability, and product ratings.

iii. Music Markup

This markup gives relevant information about an artist’s music and displays album names and specific release dates.

iv. Reviews Markup

The reviews markup will show the star ratings below a description in the search results. 

v. Events Markup

Events markup provides information on specific events, such as where they occurred and the time and date of the event.

vi. Recipes Markup

The recipe markup allows you to show certain cooking elements such as ingredients, diets, and calorie contents of the meal. 

c. How to optimize for rich snippet 

i. Build up your data. 

Organize your data structure. Although structured data may not be a ranking factor, it assists Google in understanding your website and makes it more attractive.

ii. Examine your data.

Test your data structure using Google’s Rich Results Test tools. After this is done, work on the lapse detected by the tool.

On-page SEO Don’ts

There are rules to everything in life; in most areas, when rules are broken, inevitable consequences are faced. This is the same for Google.

Google has specified specific rules which have to be followed no matter what. Google needs you to follow such rules because it is more concerned with increasing a positive user and page experience.

We have uncovered how you can perform on-page optimization. Now we will look at the “don’ts of on-page SEO,” also known as the black hat SEO techniques.

You should avoid these when optimizing your webpage.

1. Keyword stuffing

What is keyword stuffing?

Keyword stuffing is inserting important keywords in written content, meta descriptions, and title tags. 

Keyword stuffing is a search engine optimization (SEO) technique once considered a ranking strategy used in previous times.

It is also known as spamdexing. Here, keywords are added to meta descriptions, content, and anchor text, aiming to increase the website’s ranking unfairly.

Keyword stuffing may result in a temporal or permanent website ban on search engines.

Why keyword stuffing doesn’t work?

There are various reasons keyword stuffing does not work.

I don’t want to read content that repeats the same word multiple times without a proper natural occurrence.

Multiple insertions of a particular word tend to disrupt a user’s journey. Because you are more concentrated on writing for search engines, you neglect the most crucial factor of the user experience.

When users search and don’t find what they need on your site, they will leave to search somewhere else. 

There will be a reduction in your website’s reputation.

In recent times, search engines are focused on relevant and helpful content. 

Hence, keyword stuffing won’t work. Major search engines use algorithms that can find and eliminate such unfair practices.

2. Hidden text

What is hidden text?

This old spamming technique focused on writing content exclusively for search engines. The writer inserts keywords in large amounts and colors the font to sort the color of the background, making the multiple occurrences of keywords invisible to users unless highlighted.

Why hidden text doesn’t work

Although you can use this technique to cover spoilers and conceal specific data from unenlightened users, search engines note it as a punishable crime.

These texts are not hidden from search engines. Google reads the hypertext markup language (HTML), a programming language webpages are written in.

HTML has color code instructions, which help search engines discover these texts. When found, your website can get penalized. 

3. Repetitive text

What is repetitive text?

In repetitive texting, certain words and sentences are usually used multiple times.

The writer inserts unnecessary links into these words, interrupting the understanding of the content, hoping to increase website rank.

Google’s algorithm has made it possible to recognize unnecessary linking and texts that are not naturally occurring.

4. Cloaking

What is cloaking?

Cloaking, as the word entails, means to hide, disguise, or mask up.

It is when content presented to search engines is entirely different from that presented to the human user.

This technique screams deception as the search engine and users are on different pages.

A user inputs a query, and search engines select the best pages based on the information presented to meet the user intent. If a user clicks on a page presented by a search engine and the content doesn’t fit in any way to this query, users can get frustrated.

Search engines prioritize the user experience above all ranking factors, and cloaking doesn’t comply with Google’s standards.

Getting caught by search engines will result in penalties.

On-page SEO Analyzers

What are on-page SEO analyzers?

These are software application tools that assist in search engine optimization. They are created with the sole aim of making the optimization process easy and faster.

Google constantly releases updates, and it can be challenging to keep up with all of Google’s changes. These automated tools use a certain level of artificial intelligence to reduce stress and help you rank.

How can on-page SEO analyzers increase your rank?

There are various ways these analyzers can help increase your rank; these are but a few.

Content idea guides

These analyzers are assistants that help make search engine optimization easy and less stressful. 

Tools like AnswerThePublic help you discover what users are searching for.

This tool gives you an idea of your niche, and you can map your content to fit users’ recent searches.

Website audit

With the discovery of these tools, it is now easy to run a site analysis any time, any day. Tools like Screaming Frog help identify missing pages, meta descriptions, and keywords.

It also discovers errors you may not have noticed in URLs and codes.

Keyword research

These tools help discover keywords relevant to the particular content you want to create. It provides proven words that will assist in optimizing your content better.

Track progress

SEO users track their progress based on their ranks. 

When content created doesn’t rank, we take it to mean we should improve our SEO strategies. 

It is often difficult to track your content’s performance, especially when they are numerous. These analyzers help you track your progress and notify you when ranks fluctuate.

Best on-page SEO analyzers

1. Ahrefs

Ahrefs is a fantastic advanced SEO tool with a vast database and a large crawler.

Although quite expensive, it is one of the best tools for keyword research, SEO analysis, and reports. 

The website audit by Ahref is effective and efficient; it also suggests solutions to lapses on your website. 

It checks the properties on your website and generates relevant keywords and links. 

It can explore the competition in your niche and run a competitive analysis on your competitor’s website to discover their SEO strategies.

Ahrefs helps monitor your ranking profiles and gives you updates on rank fluctuations. It assists you in giving your best and enables you to modify your SEO strategies to create better content.

Features of Ahrefs

• Site explorer
•  Content explorer
•  Keywords explorer
• Site audit
• Rank tracker

Pricing

• Trial period – $7 for 7 days
• Lite plan – $99/month.
• Standard plan – $199/month
• Advance plan – $399/month
• Entrepreneurs plan – $999/month

2. Google Analytics

Most individuals use Google Analytics and Google Search Console together, especially when using the free version.

It grants you free access to products to help you manage your website’s SEO.

It gives you an insight into customers’ behavior across different platforms to help you understand your customer’s journey and how they interact with your sites.

The access it grants you is expected to help you optimize your marketing ROI (return on investment).

Furthermore, Google Analytics generates a detailed explanation of your data analysis and manages your data efficiently.

Features of Google Analytics

• Built-in automation
• Reporting 
• Advertising workspace
• Exploration 
• Data collection and management
• Integration 

Pricing

• Free

3. AnswerThePublic

AnswerThePublic is a search discovery listener and keyword tool that listens to data from search engines like Google and provides you with a list of questions that people are searching for around your chosen keyword. 

It allows you to structure your content to appeal to your audience and increase traffic and conversions.

Features of answerthepublic

• Keyword research
• PAA (People also ask) insight
• Keyword visualization

Pricing

• Individual plan- $9/month 
• Pro plan-$99/month
• Expert plan- $199/month

4. Screaming Frog SEO Spider

Google’s famous site crawlers are not the only ones capable of crawling websites.

Screaming Frog SEO Spider is an excellent and powerful site crawler capable of crawling large and small websites.

The tool performs a wide range of activities. 

It can be used to find broken links and server errors; it discovers errors in URLs and fixes them. 

It can generate perfectly modified XML sitemaps and images, track your SEO success and identify lapses in your SEO strategies. 

Features of Screaming Frog

• Broken link finder
• Duplicate contact finder
• Title page and meta descriptions analyzers 
• XML sitemaps generator
• Integration
• Site audit
• Grammar checks

Pricing

• Free plan– comes with limited features.
• Paid version– $199 yearly.

5. SEOmator

SEOmator is an SEO audit software application and web crawler that grades different SEO factors on your website, such as internal and external links, page speed, and rank tracking.

It assists with on-page and technical SEO optimization and monitors and analyzes competitors’ metrics. It’s a fantastic tool for website optimization. 

Features of SEOmator

• Keyword research
• Rank tracker 
• Backlink checker
• Reporting
• YouTube rank tracker 

Pricing

• Lite – $49/month
• Standard – $99/month
• Advanced – $279/month

Google’s Ranking Factors

What are ranking factors?

Growing up, maintaining a specific grade and position in school was a great obsession of mine. 

Constantly getting my desired position came with a feeling of satisfaction, and when I missed it, I was furious with myself and determined to do whatever it took to regain it.

Ranking in SEO can be related to our schooling experience; it refers to the position of your content on the search engine results pages (SERPs).

The worst place to be is the second page of SERPs because people hardly go there.

I cannot remember the last time I looked at the second page. You and other internet users can probably relate to this experience.

A popular SEO joke suggests the second page as the best place to hide a dead body because the chance of finding it is low.

Ranking factors are the criteria and signals used by search engines to evaluate a web page to determine its rank.

Having a page that ranks first means when users insert their query, your page is the first webpage that pops up and matches their intent.

These factors determine how high and low you rank on a search engine. 

To be part of the first page of SERPs, you must meet these criteria.

Types of ranking factors

There are various ranking factors, and it is often difficult to know what area a factor falls under. 

With this in mind, I have differentiated various ranking factors into their specific types.

More so, this differentiation will help you identify the particular ranking factors you need to optimize.

There are four types of ranking factors:

1. On-page Google ranking factors:

This is also known as the on-page SEO checklist, the criteria that must be met on a website and are within the control of the web developer. 

On-page ranking factors list includes the following:

i. Relevant/High-quality content:

Beneficiary content is still a chief determiner of rank, and every content published should provide a positive user experience. 

ii. Optimization of keywords: 

Choose keywords that have a high traffic potential. The keyword chosen should blend naturally with search intent. 

2. Off-page Google ranking factors:

These external factors are not much within your control and can be challenging to manipulate.

Off-page ranking factors list includes:

i. Total backlinks:

Backlinks are chains between one webpage to another, creating a relationship between two or more websites. The number of backlinks you get can boost your rank.

ii. The number of relevant domains linking to you:

The website content linking to you is crucial; Google considers this factor and checks the website content to determine if they fall under your niche.

For example, as an SEO writer, linking to a hair growth website is irrelevant. It assumes my content is created for people in my niche, so an external link of such will be highly useless to my users.

iii. The number of unique domain linking: 

Getting a large number of backlinks seems good, but guess what! Getting backlinks from unique, trustworthy, efficient domains is top-notch. 

Google sees a backlink as a voucher, and when it comes from a page known for providing quality, helpful content, it increases your influence in your niche.

To get such quality links, you must create quality content that matches user intent perfectly.

iv. Total relevant anchor text:

Anchor text is a word where links to other websites are inserted in.

Google’s policy states that anchor texting should be done cautiously, and the words used should give the users and search engines an idea of the link. 

3. Technical ranking factors

This SEO strategy concerns a site’s technology regarding its content and structure.

You might have excellent content, but it will be challenging to rank if your site has technical issues.

Technical Google ranking factors list includes:

i. Page speed: 

This is the amount of time taken for your website to load.

Every aspect of SEO is essential. If you create content that fits user intent but has a slow website, you risk facing penalties from Google, and your content might not be visible on the first page of SERPs.

ii. Mobile-friendliness 

An increase in mobile users simultaneously led to the rise of internet users.

On April 21, Google updated its algorithm to increase the ranks of pages that are friendly to mobile users.

This algorithm is specific to mobile users and doesn’t consider the whole website but single web pages.

iii. Architecture of website

It can also be called a website blueprint, and it is the plan used in creating the website design, specifying different makeup and function of a website.

The structure of a website makes it easy for users to navigate and find helpful information. It also helps search engine crawlers better understand what your content is about.

Website architecture influences user experience.

iv. Site security

Site security refers to the protocols to prevent scams, hacking, and errors (cyber attacks). Google is adamant about users’ safety. 

Having a secure site is crucial. If your website is attacked, it can be blocklisted, resulting in traffic loss.

4. Performance and Behavior ranking factors

These factors relate to site exhibitions and users’ behavior when interacting with your site.

Performance and behavioral ranking factors include:

i. History and age of domain: 

The age of your domain can affect its rank. 

When search engines notice an old domain with a history of constantly delivering relevant content, it automatically ups your rank.

ii. User experience: 

This is an important ranking factor. 

Google monitors how users relate to your content by analyzing the time spent on your website. If the time is short, Google tags it as your content unable to satisfy users’ needs. Still, when users spend quality time on your web page and keep coming back to your content, Google suggests user satisfaction was achieved and increases the rank of your website.

On-page SEO Optimization Using AI

Ways AI can be used in on-page optimization

There are various ways AI can improve a website, and it is not specific to some functions but cuts across different SEO strategies and technical search engine optimization. 

They can be used to:

• Choose your topic.
• Get your topic analyzed.
• Run data analysis.
• Develop your content.
• Website audits.
• Competitors analysis.
• Broken link building.
• Keyword research.

Benefits of using AI for on-page SEO optimization

i. Performs site audit:

The principal aim of artificial intelligence is to perform cognitive tasks better and faster than humans.

AI is a brilliant tool for data analysis and discovering content gaps. 

On-page SEO optimization with AI can help mount your content by examining top-ranking content and discovering certain areas you need to improve on. 

ii. Speeds up the research process

A common issue writers face is creating relevant content on a subject they are not experts on. 

To overcome this issue, writers conduct intensive research and study to understand better and create beneficiary content. 

AI can help speed up the research process and overcome this issue by providing content topics and well-constructed content outlines.

iii. Provides a solution to writer’s block:

Some AI tools that help in content writing also solve writer’s block and make writing efficient, saving time and preventing you from overworking.

Cons of using AI for SEO

Artificial intelligence is considered an effective tool to improve SEO strategies but isn’t short of disadvantages.

They are dependent on data analysis. When used in writing content, there may be some disadvantages.

Here are the disadvantages of using AI for SEO.

i. Provides content that sounds robotic:

Content generated with artificial intelligence is often presented with this problem. 

Some applications can’t understand users’ feelings and how humans will react to written content, so it creates content based on data analyzed and the algorithm it uses. Hence, you will have to read and edit AI-generated content.

Technological advancement has created AI in SEO tools to understand human needs and interact with web pages like a human will.

ii. Plagiarism and lack of originality:

Most AI tools steal pieces of information from different websites and paraphrase them. AI-generated content may include parts of different content on a website; this technique is against Google’s already-set guidelines and can lead to penalties when discovered.

Because artificial intelligence relies on collecting data from available sources, it cannot generate its text, doesn’t understand human emotions, and cannot write a text to relate to the predicted feelings of the users who may visit the website.

iii. Contents are below the E-E-A-T protocol:

Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness is a principle Google uses to score and evaluate content.

Google tries to promote trustworthy websites that provide valuable content to users and reduce misinformation and the creation of harmful and useless content. 

Artificial intelligence does not have expertise in various aspects of life, so its delivery will be less accurate than that of a human expert in such a field. 

This reduces users’ trust in your website because the content made cannot provide needed solutions.

FAQs on On-page SEO

What is the difference between on-page SEO and technical SEO?

On-page SEO is concerned with your elements such as content, meta tags, title tags, image Alt text, and headers that are visible to the users.

Technical SEO mainly concerns search engine crawlers; they include page speed, website architecture, HTML, and more.

What does on-page SEO include?

It includes optimizing factors such as title tags, meta descriptions, featured snippets, image optimization, headers, and more.

How to rank on Google’s first page?

To rank on Google’s first page, you must optimize your content and website while focusing on user experience.

Conclusion

On-page SEO is one of the only things within your control in SEO, and it increases the chance of your page ranking higher on Google if all ranking factors are met. 

It is a flavoring technique that adds more taste to your content. 

To be an expert, you will need to take note of all optimization points listed in this practical guide, as being an expert requires constant practice.

How helpful was the practical guide to you? Let’s know by leaving a comment below.

READ ALSO: THE IMPACT OF AI IN SEO | THE FUTURE OF SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

Many web owners focus on writing optimized content but are not concerned about the images and videos they put out there.

Image SEO Optimization is an essential part of your SEO content writing process. Skipping this part when writing and uploading your blog posts will make your blog posts incomplete and your content strategy a flop.

If you need a reason to start optimizing your images, then take your pick:

• Image SEO optimization contributes to your on-page SEO score.
• 20-22% of searches are made via Google Images Search! Imagine ranking high for image searches.
• Image Search results now appear on regular SERPs, giving you a double opportunity to rank.

Many internet users’ attention spans are reducing daily, and Google knows this too. Hence, its search result pages focus on giving the most accurate and engaging result, which includes images and videos.

You’ve probably been told that alt texts are essential to image SEO optimization, but what happens when Google can identify your images without them? 

Don’t get me wrong; alt texts are still essential for image optimization. However, there are many other image SEO practices besides this.

I have eighteen (18) carefully explained ways—that’s not alt-text—to optimize your images for search engines.

What Is Image SEO Optimization?

Image SEO is the process of optimizing your images for search engines.

When your images are optimized, you increase the chances of ranking in Google Images Search results like this.

With image SEO optimization, you can describe your images to search engines so they can correctly display your content to users in the proper context, rank for image searches and increase traffic to your site.

Why Image Optimization Is Important 

There are several reasons why image optimization is an essential part of SEO, including:

a. Search results are evolving.

How Google presents search results nowadays has changed from how we knew it one or two years ago.

Now, Google often displays visual content with organic results and sometimes prioritizes web pages with images and videos more than those without.

b. The search pattern is changing.

22.6% of searchers are using Google Images Search to explore the internet. It means that for every 100 people searching the internet, 22 use Google Images Search.

Google Images Search is this part of the Google Search:

It means that when your images are optimized, you are allowing your content to rank among this 22.6% of Google Images searchers. 

c. Images are a part of on-page SEO.

On-page SEO best practices include image SEO because images can increase the user experience on your page.

Images help reduce the intensity and density of text-based posts and help the reader understand your content better.

Depending on your images’ engagement, they can keep readers on your page longer.

Original images in your posts can also increase external links to your site, especially when they are of high quality and value.

READ MORE: LATEST ON-PAGE SEO PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR BEGINNERS (Coming soon)

d. It increases rank chances.

When you optimize your images, you get more chances to rank for your posts. 

Search results are changing, but optimizing your images can increase page speed and website accessibility.

How to Do Image SEO Optimization

With Google’s Cloud API, the image content description accuracy is astounding. 

When you upload a picture on Google Cloud Vision API, it can describe the content of your image with almost a hundred percent accuracy.

This is without any previous image optimization process. So, do we need to go through the process of image SEO?

YES! Because the API can get confused between similar pictures—for example, cheese and butter, almond milk, and regular milk.

Google Cloud Vision API might get the content but miss its specificity and context altogether; in other words, they’re not PERFECT.

Hence, you need to learn how to do image SEO optimization for your content to help Google understand your images better!

Here are the ways to do image SEO optimization:

1. Rename your image files.

You should rename your image files after downloading or creating them to fit the context of your content. 

Google has also stated that a descriptive file name can help search engines to better understand your content by highlighting the subject matter.

For example, if you own a pet shop and have several pictures of cats, it will be inappropriate to name the images ‘Cat 1,’ ‘Cat 2,’ ‘Cat 3,’ and so on. Instead, you want to make sure the file names are descriptive and unique from each other. 

So, rather than having ‘IMG_20230305_145147_740.JPG’ as a file name, you have ‘white-Persian-cat,’ ‘orange-Abyssinian-cat,’ etc.

To write a proper file name, it must:

• Be descriptive: The file name should accurately describe the image content or the blog post topic.
• Be straightforward: Avoid beating around the bush and adding unnecessary detail to the file name.
• Be short: Your file name should be at most 30-40 characters; anything aside from this is excessive.
• Have relevant keywords: Your file name should have at least one keyword; it can be the primary keyword for the post or the other keywords.
• Use hyphens to separate words: Google recommends using hyphens instead of underscores.

Always check for the file names of all your images before uploading them on the internet. Also, ensure the file names are translated if your website is in other languages. 

2. Use optimized alt texts.

This rule is probably one of the first golden image optimization rules!

What are alt texts?

Search Engine Journal describes alt texts as “text alternative to images when a browser can’t properly render them.”

Like the file names, alt texts are texts used to describe the content of your images but usually in a more descriptive and specific way.

Alt texts show on the top left corner of a broken image so that the reader can still know what the image is all about from the alt text.

When you use alt texts, it is not only visible to a reader, but it is also visible in the cached version of your page. Optimizing your alt texts will increase your chances of ranking in the top result page for Google Images searches because Google gets enough information about the image from your alt text, including the important keyword.

People with sight disabilities also need alt texts to hear instead of see the images, and because these texts are visible in the cached version of a page, users and search engines can access them.

Also, when you have to link to an external site, you can use the alt texts as the anchor text for the image.

How to write optimized alt texts with examples

• Precise and straightforward
• Descriptive not spammy
• Keyword rich

Here are examples of alt texts:

• Bad Alt text:
  • <img src=“cat-1.jpg” alt=“Cat”/>
  • <img src=“IMG_20230305_740.jpg” alt=“White cat”/>
  • <img src=“white-persian-cat.jpg” alt=“White persian cat”/>

• Good Alt text:
  • <img src=“white-persian-cat.jpg” alt=“White persian cat with a blue yarn”/>

• Better Alt text:
  • <img src=“white-persian-cat.jpg” alt=“White persian cat, holding a blue yarn with its front paws”/>

• Perfect Alt text:
  • <img src=“cat-1.jpg” alt=“White persian cat holding a blue yarn with its paws and sitting on a green, round persian rug”/>

If you have difficulty writing good alt texts, you can use the Image SEO Plugin by WordPress to develop the perfect alt text for your images.

This plugin uses artificial intelligence to create alt texts for bulk images automatically.

READ MORE: THE IMPACT OF AI IN SEO | THE FUTURE OF SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

3. Include image captions.

Image captions are important image SEO optimization factors; they are small texts that appear below an image and describe what the image is all about.

Google uses your page content, including captions and titles, to determine the image’s subject matter.

Hence, ensure your images are placed near relevant sentences or words in your post.

Also, captions are great for providing additional background stories to your images, allowing a reader to see the image’s importance while skimming through your page.

4. Use the best file format.

Before uploading any image on your website, you must ensure it appears in the correct format. The most common format for a web page is usually PNG or JPEG.

Here are examples of standard image formats:

• JPEG: These are the most popular and acceptable image formats. They have adjustable quality, can be compressed to small sizes, and are best for photographs.
• PNG: These are high-quality images but are usually large. They are helpful when using a transparent background or for line drawings and texts.
• WebP: This is the only image format that supports images and animated images without compromising on animated frames and color depth. They are helpful if you need higher compressions than PNG and JPEGs but are not supported by older browsers.
• GIFs: These are the best formats for animating images.
• SVG: These file formats are mainly used for icons and logos but are unsuitable for photos.

5. Know your website’s width.

If your site’s maximum display dimension or width is 720 pixels (px), no matter the image’s pixel, your website won’t display images wider than 720px for any device.

The image will be resized to fit your site’s width if you have a responsive website. However, the downside is that the browser must load the entire image in its full size before adjusting and displaying it in the required size.

This process increases the time it takes for the page to load, affecting user experience and increasing the bounce rate.

It means you need to know the maximum width of your website so you can resize images within that range.

6. Define your image dimensions.

What are the width and height of your images? 

You need to define the dimensions of your images because not only does it aid user experience, but also enables the browser to size the images before they are loaded on the CSS. 

When browsers size your images before loading them, they know beforehand the amount of resource space needed to load the entire page, preventing page jumping or content shifting, which affects your CLS scores.

You need to indicate the height and width of your images and videos to prevent Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) issues affecting your Core Web Vitals.

7. Compress your images.

Another unspoken rule of image optimization is to ensure all your images are compressed. According to a page weight report by HTTP archive, images take up to 21% of an entire web page’s weight on average.

Uploading big-size images to preserve the quality can lead to low page speed, affecting your page’s bounce rates.

You can use Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool to check how your images affect your site speed.

There are two types of compression:

• Lossless: Reduced image size without losing quality
• Lossy: Reduced image size and reduced quality

You can use different apps and software to compress your images before posting them. 

Here are some tools or plugins you can use to compress images:

• Smush
• Resize Image After Upload
• ImageOptim
• Imagify
• ShortPixel Image Optimizer
• JPEGmini
• TinyPNG
• Optimole
• Optimizilla

Whatever software you use to compress your images, make sure to compress externally before putting the images on your site instead of having to compress the images while the page is loading to reduce the load on your site.

You can also use an image CDN to detect the user’s device and optimize the images before they are shown.

8. Disable attachment pages.

Attachment pages or media pages are automatically generated by WordPress, which stores only the uploaded media attachments.

They are thin content pages that are unfortunately accessible under their URL because WordPress stores them in your database as posts. As you might already know, thin content pages harm your SEO.

Also, attachment pages can take attention away from your main post. For example, when you upload a blog post with five images, WordPress automatically generates six URLs—five URLs for the images and one URL for the original post. 

What happens if Google directs traffic to one of the attachment pages instead of the original post?

To avoid Google doing this, redirect attachment pages or disable them altogether because of the danger to your SEO.

9. Create original images.

As much as there are millions of stock images to choose from, it doesn’t beat the originality of creating your images from scratch. 

Optimizing stock images will work, and you might rank high for it. Still, if you want uniqueness, create original, high-quality images.

Most stock images have a generic look, and to stand out from the thousands of websites in your niche with the same stock images, you need to up your game.

Some bloggers outsource graphic designers to help them design images, charts, and infographics. While this is very effective, you might be unable to afford a graphic designer.

There are design apps you can use to create stunning designs. You can create designs from scratch or use the available templates.

Here are some ways you can create original images for your website:

a. Canva: 

You can use Canva to design anything; it has ready-to-use templates, and you only need to insert relevant information. You can get templates for infographics, graphs, invoices, blog graphics, blog banners, etc.

b. Pixellab: 

PIXELLAB is a design app that is available for mobile and desktop devices. It started as an image editing tool but has been used for more original and breathtaking designs. 

If you want to use PIXELLAB to create original images, you need to be good at designing from scratch without any form of template.

c. Screenshots:

You can take screenshots on your mobile or desktop to add to your post. When using Mac or Windows, specific applications allow you to export screenshots in multiple formats. These are:

• Skitch – Exclusive to Mac
• Monosnap – Mac + Windows
• Lightshot – Mac + Windows

Here is a shortcut to take screenshots on your desktop devices:

Windows + shift + S 

After taking the screenshots, you can export them to other software or access them on your clipboard.

Original images are also great for backlinks, especially when they are pictorial summations of niche-relevant topics—for example, a chart that explains industry statistics, a comparison table of two different hot-topic terms in your niche, or a graphical representation of your bullet points.

These are linkable designs, and you can get other sites to link back to you whenever they use your graphic on their site.

10. Enable browser caching.

Browser caching allows page elements to be reloaded faster than the initial visit by storing the visitor’s information on the browser. It increases the page load speed and gives users a more satisfying experience on your page.

a. What is browser caching?

Browser caching enables a browser to store page elements like JavaScript, CSS files, images, and HTML so page assets can load faster for return visits.

For example, if a visitor comes to your page for the first time, all the assets on your page get downloaded, including images and other media files. 

With browser caching, the browser can store these files locally and identifies the visitor when they access your page the second time. 

This process allows the pages and all their assets to load faster.

b. How browser caching works

Page elements are downloaded from the server at the initial visit and then displayed to the user. Separate requests are made to the server to access individual files. The more files available on the page, the longer it takes to load.

Without caching, this process is repeated in subsequent visits.

However, when you enable browser caching, instead of the browser having to download page elements from the server, these elements are already stored for the user on the browser. They are displayed faster and reduce the data the visitor uses.

Browser caching marks certain parts of your page that are unlikely to change or change at specific intervals. It then tells the server to store these elements and download them afresh at particular times.

For example, you can tell a browser to cache your logo for a week. So, no matter how often the visitor returns to that page within a week, there is no need for the logo to be downloaded from the server. However, after a week, the elements will need to be downloaded from the server.

c. How to enable browser caching

You can use plugins like the W3 Total Cache to enable browser caching on your WordPress or manually add the code to your .htaccess file.

11. Use responsive images.

Responsive images are essential to device optimization, particularly mobile devices.

Mobile optimization is a crucial ranking factor for Google Search, and not only should your website design be mobile-friendly, but your blog post images should also be.

It might be challenging to select the type of images you can optimize for all devices; the key to this is using responsive images.

a. What are responsive images?

These images work well on devices with different screen sizes, resolutions, and other distinct features. They automatically adjust to the size of the device.

b. How responsive images work

You can make responsive designs or images through resolution switching and art direction. 

(i) Resolution switching

There are two major ways to switch resolutions:

• Same size, different resolution

It means you want to display the same image size but at different resolutions. To do this, you only need the srcset attribute. The browser will determine the device’s resolution display and loads the most appropriate srcset option.

• Different sizes

Here, you want to display the same image but with different sizes. To do this, you need two attributes—srcset and sizes—to provide the browser with additional source images and allow it to pick the one that best fits the device.

WordPress 4.4 and above adds srcset automatically. It adds these image versions automatically:

• Thumbnails
• Medium
• Medium Large
• Large
• Full

(ii) Art direction

This issue occurs when you need to show cropped images for narrow screens without compromising quality. For example, a landscape image for a desktop layout with the main subject in the middle will need to be zoomed in for the subject to be visible on a mobile layout.

This can be solved using the <picture> element. It allows your browser to display the most suitable image for the screen.

Mozilla has a detailed guide to creating responsive images.

12. Use WebP images.

This is a modern image format that is useful for responsive designs. They can maintain a low file size and high-quality image simultaneously.

WebP can comfortably replace PNGs, JPEGs, and GIF images, offering both lossy and lossless compression.

Read more about WebP images and how to convert your images to WebP.

13. Use image CDNs.

Content Delivery Network (CDN) is essential for your content, including media, to load faster.

a. What are image CDNs?

CDNs are a group of servers located at specific locations worldwide, allowing for easier data distribution from one location to another—for example, using a content delivery network with servers in different places. 

When a USA user wants to view the content of your webpage, the data is transmitted from the CDN server closest to him.

This is faster than multiple users trying to get data from a single server located in Australia or Asia.

CDN servers get information from the origin server.

b. Types of image CDNs

Image CDNs help automate the entire image SEO optimization process, which is great for big websites because manually optimizing all your images might become more complex the larger your website.

Google recommends these two CDNs. 

• Cloudinary
• Imgix

c. How to set up your CDN

If your website is hosted on WordPress, you can easily set up a CDN using plugins like W3 Total Cache, WP Rocket, or CDN Enabler to enable your registered CDN.

If you are setting up a CDN from other sources, you should follow the integration guide the provider will give.

14. Enable lazy loading.

To increase site speed, enable lazy loading regardless of the number of images on your page. This allows the user to load your web page at record speed and save data by not loading the images until they are viewed.

a. What is lazy loading?

Lazy loading is an optimization technique that postpones the loading of ‘non-critical’ media until they are needed or brought to a viewpoint.

You can improve your site’s user experience by increasing site speed with lazy loading. When you enable lazy loading for your web pages, the text content of the web page loads first while the browser waits to load images until they are needed.

Lazy loading is not just relevant for media in your posts; it can also be used when loading JavaScript.

So, instead of waiting for all the images to be loaded before displaying the web page, the browser loads the page quicker and won’t load the images until the searcher has scrolled down to that point. This means that images load as the user moves through your content.

If a user does not reach the end of your posts, the images at the end won’t load.

If you use WordPress version 5.4 and above, it lazy loads your images by default, so you don’t have to install a lazy load plugin.

However, if you need to install a lazy load plugin for your images, the a3 Lazy Load plugin and WP Rocket are plugins you can use for lazy loading on your website. 

There are other different ways to implement lazy loading. However, you should consider your supported browser before deciding how to implement lazy loading on your website. 

Read more on how to use lazy loading for images.

15. Add schema markups.

Schema markup, called structured data, helps Google understand your pages’ content more clearly. They are also essential to rank for featured snippets.

If you have been updated on the changes in Google Search results, you will understand that images are not just part of search result pages but also being shown as rich results or featured snippets.

For example, here is a search result page for ‘chicken noodle soup.’

This result page indicates that the first result shows sites that used the recipe schema. Google included additional data like the title, website, ratings, ingredients, and the time for searchers.

In the Google Images Search result page, these websites are also ranking high.

Google Images supports the following types of schema:

• Products
• Recipes
• Videos

Using structured data can enhance your image search ranking when you upload a blog post on your website. For example, if you are uploading a product review post, you should show that the image on your post is that of a product by using a product schema.

16. Add Open Graphs and Twitter Cards

This image SEO optimization tip is to control the way your social media preview appears. It means that when you want to share your blog post on social media, you get to control the image that appears, the title, and other elements.

Open Graphs are used mainly for Facebook and Pinterest, while Twitter Cards are used for Twitter.

Here are the codes to use for Open Graphs and Twitter Cards:

Open Graph image tag:

<meta property=“og:image” content=“https://site.com/image-link.jpg”/>

Twitter Card image tag:

<meta name=“twitter:card” content=“summary”></meta>

17. Have an excellent on-page SEO structure.

Google’s support page has indicated that having good on-page SEO practices might help your images rank higher and have a high CTR.

Google Images automatically generates the title and snippet underneath an image result to best explain the image and how it relates to the searcher’s query.

This will help a searcher determine whether they want to see the image.

According to Google, they use several sources to automatically generate this information, including your title and meta description, which are part of your on-page SEO.

It is safe to assume that all the on-page SEO factors, like your structured data, user experience, header tags, and others, will directly or indirectly affect how Google ranks your images.

18. Include images in your sitemap.

Google has clearly stated in its image optimization guideline that the file path and file names are important ranking factors for image searches. 

This means you can only put some of your media files in a single folder on your website; you need to categorize them and show search engines. 

You can do this by adding images to your sitemap or creating a new one for your images. 

It is essential because it makes it easier for search engines to crawl and index your images leading to increased image traffic.

Image sitemaps are similar to regular XML sitemaps, except they only contain image URLs. 

According to Google, the image sitemaps are still sitemaps, so the best practices for general sitemaps also apply to images.

WordPress, RankMath, and Yoast automatically add image sitemaps via their plugins, although you can manually create them.

When creating an image sitemap, it is crucial to show the correct file path, including the blog post that it is related to.

Check out Google’s image sitemap example.

To make sure that Google can use your sitemaps, you must include these elements:

• <image:image>

This shows all the information about a single image.

Each <url> tag can contain up to 1,000 <image:image> tags.

• <image:loc>

This is the URL of the images. Google allows the hosting of images on third-party sites, but you must ensure that these sites are verified in Search Console.

Google depreciated some tags previously used to provide additional information for search engines, including:

• Caption
• Geolocation
• Title 
• License

These sitemaps extension tags were previously used as optional tags. 

What Are The Best Practices for Image SEO Optimization?

According to Google’s official guidelines, here are the best practices for Google Images:

• Provide good context by adding images to relevant parts of your content.
• Place images near relevant texts.
• Do not embed your images with texts, especially if they are essential.
• Create high-value content with good on-page SEO.
• Make sure your website is mobile-friendly.
• Create an optimized URL for your images.
• Have a good URL structure with clear file paths.
• Add structured data to your posts.
• Optimize your web pages for speed.
• Use good-quality images.
• Use descriptive alt texts.
• Opt out of Google Images inline linking.
• Make sure your alt texts are accessible.
• Use semantic HTML markups for easier crawling.
• Include an image sitemap.
• Use image formats that are supported.
• Use responsive images on your web pages.
• Optimize your website for SafeSearch when needed.
• Keep updated on new updates by Google.

Bonus: Tools to Check Your Site Speed after Image Optimization

When you are done optimizing your images for SEO, you can check how your pages are performing using these tools:

• Google’s PageSpeed Insights
• Lighthouse
• Pingdom
• WebpageTest.org

FAQs ON Image SEO Optimization

These are commonly asked questions regarding image SEO optimization:

What does image optimization mean?

Image optimization is the process of making your images easy for Google so that users can see and understand them. It also allows your images to rank on Google for image searches.

Does an image name affect SEO?

Yes. Google uses details like the file name, the title of your post, metadata, and caption to understand the context of your images and determine which page to rank for a searcher’s query.

How do you optimize images for SEO?

Here are 20 steps to optimize your images for SEO:

• Rename your image files.
• Use optimized alt texts.
• Include image captions.
• Use appropriate file formats.
• Know your website’s width.
• Compress your images.
• Disable attachment pages.
• Create original images.
• Enable browser caching.
• Use responsive images.
• Use image CDNs.
• Enable lazy loading.
• Add schema to your images.
• Define your image dimensions.
• Practice good on-page SEO. 
• Add Open Graphs and Twitter Cards.
• Add image sitemaps.
• Use WebP images.
• Enable SafeSearch.
• Be careful with image placement.

Why image SEO is important

Image SEO is essential because it improves page speed, increases user experience, can make you rank for image searches, and increases your on-page SEO score.

Where should you place images in a post?

You should place your images close to the relevant text.

For example, if you write a list post, the image you use for a point should be relevant. Don’t talk of cars, then place a cat image next to it. 

What is the best image format for SEO?

WebP is currently the best image format for SEO because it can maintain a small size and high quality simultaneously. 

If you cannot use WebP images, you can use SVG for logos or PNG/JPEGs for photos.

INSERT A RELATED IMAGE

Final Thoughts

Image SEO optimization is more than just uploading high-quality and engaging pictures on your site. 

When done right, it can be the winning element against your competitors.

How do you usually optimize your images for SEO?

READ ALSO: A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO GOOGLE WEB STORIES