Anyone who has ever received a penalty from Google knows very well how hard it is to both identify the issue and recover from it. If you’ve been fortunate thus far and haven’t been penalised, surely you’d like to know how to avoid the threat so you’re not affected down the road with an unnatural link penalty.

What You Can Do

With so many unnatural, bad links out there, we’re going to cover the basics to help you avoid getting yourself into some hot water with Google. Here are some tips that will help you get the natural links you need to be in full compliance with Google’s rules. Even though it will take you a bit more time to acquire these links, natural links are what Google expects to see, plus they’re the types of links that boost your page rank.

                                                Link Requests

The most direct way to get a natural link is to ask. The best case scenario in this situation would be to find someone you know such as a family member, friend, or co-worker with a blog to mention you and link to your business. This method is A-OK by with Google because you found someone who is willing to both vouch for and link to your website. 

                                            Directory Submissions

There are many directories to choose from ranging from general to niche-based and local. Some let you create your listing at no cost while others charge a nominal fee. Directory submissions can put your site on the fast track to receiving new links. Just spend a bit of time deciding what directories to submit to. It will pay off to search for some niche directories you fit into. For instance, if you’re an entertainer, look for a local directory that tells people where to find entertainers. This type of link would be great to have plus it may drive new customers to you, which is also great!

                                             Guest Blogging 

There are loads of very successful entrepreneurs who are using guest blogging to build links. Moz even conducted a survey, asking businesses and freelancers if they’re still taking part in guest blogging, with the majority saying yes. When looking for a guest blogging opportunity, find a blog worth posting on like one with a domain authority of 50+, a large social following, high site traffic, high monthly page views, and one that shares a targeted audience that’s similar to yours.

                                             Use Infographics

Today, many successful businesses are using infographics to both drive traffic and gain links. Infographics are popular because they’re visual and easy to understand & share. To create a nice infographic, you’ll probably have to pay a $100 or more, but that’s small change when you consider how you’ll benefit in the long run. Once you have an infographic up on your site, be sure to submit it to some infographic directories for distribution.

Link building is an important part of SEO but it’s changed a bit from days gone by. We’re living in a time when Google cracks down hard on low quality links that are meant to manipulate the search giant’s rankings. The key to being successful is to work at getting natural links using the methods above. When generating links, focus on how you can make yourself a trusted authority in your industry.

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Since a title tag appears at the top of a searcher’s web browser acting as a placeholder, it should be optimised to tell/remind that searcher what’s on the page. Your title tag is also there to help the search engines understand what your page is about and how to rank it, making optimisation even more important.

Google typically displays the first 50-60 characters of a title tag. Therefore it’s good practice to keep them under 60 characters otherwise, they’ll be cut off. Here are a few ways to create a title tag that draws attention and prompts searchers to click through to your page to find out more.

Put a Primary Keyword in the First Position

It’s best to place a primary keyword you used on the page at the beginning of your title tag. This will help searchers and Google, know right away what the page’s topic is. After your primary keyword, leave a space and then place a vertical bar, followed by a space and a secondary keyword. Then use a third keyword or your brand name (if it’s recognizable) in the third position. For example, the proper structure is:

Primary Keyword | Secondary Keyword | Your Brand Name

Don’t Overdo It with SEO Keywords

Nobody, including Google likes to see a title tag that looks like this:

Buy Dog Food | Best Dog Food | Cheap Dog Food. Just don’t come up with a title tag that repeats variations of the keyword over and over again. Think of what’s on your page and find a way to tell searchers about the information using descriptive words. Don’t write title tags for Google; write them for the people conducting the online searches.

Assign a Unique Title Tag to Each Page

To help Google understand that your content is unique and valuable and to encourage people to read your content, make sure each page has a unique title tag. If you think that’s not possible to do because you simply have too many pages, you can use a CMS or code-based template to create data-driven, unique titles for all your most important pages.

Avoid getting into the habit of using default title pages like Home Page or New Page. Why? Because they signal to Google that you have duplicate content across your site and even content that matches up to other websites. Plus, people don’t tend to click on these spammy looking title pages, to reduce your CTRs.

Mention Your Brand

If your brand is well-known, you can add it to your title tags to boost your CTRs. Just don’t place your brand name at the beginning of your title tag because it belongs at the end after you’ve entered your keywords. If your brand isn’t strong and well-known, it won’t do you any good to add it to your title tags so don’t bother.

Create Tags for People First

Even though title tags have to be optimised for Google in order to rank, you should always create your tags for people first. Remember that you’re working on getting your targeted audience to click through to your site. Every time someone sees your title tag, they should get a very positive and accurate message about what is on your page.

Once you have taken care of the onpage optimisation, you will need to start looking at building high-quality links to your site to establish your brand as an authority online. This is most often best done through working with a link building SEO agency so as to avoid over-optimisation and securing low-quality links both of which could result in a penalty.

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Mobile Users Want Speed

The speed of your mobile website definitely has an effect on the experience of your site visitors. If your site is taking more than 3 seconds to load, you need to speed things up. Studies have found that over half of mobile users report leaving sites that load slowly.

In 2018, Google released the Speed Update that made mobile page speed a direct ranking factor. Previous to the update, page speed was only a ranking factor for desktop searches.

When someone on a mobile device is looking for answers, they want the information quickly, without delay. If you are unsure if your mobile page speed is fast enough to satisfy users and Google, you can check it using Google’s site speed checker. If you find that your mobile site’s page speed isn’t up to snuff, here are a few ways to optimise it.

Get Rid of Unwanted Redirects

A redirect is an instruction that automatically takes a website visitor from one page to another. When a redirect happens, it takes milliseconds, which slows down page load. Because mobile devices depend on less reliable networks than desktop devices, redirects are problematic.

A good way to check if you’re redirected is to visit your pages from Google search results with your smartphone. To get rid of unwanted mobile redirects, you can remove any third-party scripts or elements you don’t control from the redirecting pages, one by one. Then check your site on a mobile device between each script or element removal to see if the redirection stops.

Speed Up Server Response Time

Server response time is how long it takes your server to respond to browser requests. Google says that your server response time shouldn’t exceed 200 milliseconds. You can speed up your server response time by improving the software and configuration of your server.

Trim Down Your Site’s Weight

The weight of a webpage and the quality of the user’s internet connection can greatly reduce a page’s loading time. If you have a page with lots of information on it, try to remove some information to reduce that page’s weight.

Once you reduce the weight of your pages, even users with poor internet connections will be able to visit your mobile site without any speed problems. They’ll also find it easier to scroll through your pages, which is great for keeping them on your site. Your site should be able to tell if a visitor has a weak internet connection wherein it will only load the information that’s absolutely necessary.

Optimise Your Plugins

If you’re using a lot of plugins, the loading speed of your pages may be slower than they should be. While some plugins are necessary like social share plugins, some aren’t. So check what plugins you’re using and ditch those you don’t need. Another option is to see if you can find an alternative to a plugin you like, such as a CMS that has the function/feature you need.

Remember that both users and Google dislike slow loading mobile websites. Therefore you should regularly evaluate the speed of your mobile site. If your pages load slowly, take action to improve your site’s performance so you can retain site visitors and your search engine rankings.

The post Why Mobile Page Speed Matters & How to Improve It appeared first on Gospel-Culture.