The world of digital marketing is multi-faceted and there are literally hundreds of different tactics to try; however, no matter how many SEO initiatives you adopt, you want to make sure that you never leave the SEO basics behind. Without the solid foundation that crawlers, site structure, and metadata bring, all of your other digital marketing tactics will lose validity. So while content is still king, if you don’t have the SEO basics covered, everything else will be for nothing.
Until your site is crawled and indexed, it is impossible to rank, no matter what other digital marketing strategies you use. As such, you need to let Google know you are live and ready to be found. Make sure you are employing the robots.txt file to guide the bots. This will let the crawlers know which pages you do not want indexed—such as login pages, directories, etc. Once you have created the robots.txt, it is time to upload your site map to the Google Search Console and submit it for indexation.
By making your site structure simple to navigate, you are improving your user experience while making it easier for the crawlers to understand your content. Neither the bot nor your visitors should have to dig to find what they are looking for. Creating a concise site structure is a complex process that requires careful planning, and you do not want to rush it. Aim for a logical hierarchy that has between two and seven main categories, or tabs, and then try to give each of those pages an equal amount of subcategories so your site remains balanced.
Finally, you will want to dedicate a decent amount of time to crafting solid metadata for every page on your site. A keyword-rich title tag will make it clear to Google what the page is about, and a catchy meta-description will get the user to actually click on your link on the SERPs. To write better title tags, be sure to mention the main topic of the page, make it relevant to the reader, stay under 70 characters, and make each one is unique. For the meta description, use action verbs, give the reader a teaser, and stay under 160 characters.
While there is an abundance of amazing Digital Marketing strategies that will improve your site’s rankings, you need to implement these SEO basics so that everything else is not for nothing. For help initiating crawler access, crafting a solid site structure, or writing compelling metadata, contact Zero Gravity Marketing today.