So, what is important to remember before starting to build a website?
Blocking vs robots.txt or Staging / work enviornment
Even if you don’t tell anyone that you are in the process of building a website, it might already be indexed by Google if it was previously a parking page or if your hosting company links to it. Regardless of the reason, if your site is under construction, there’s no reason for Google to display it in its index. We absolutely do not want to show the world something that is incomplete.
To prevent your site from being indexed by Google, you need to block search engines from accessing it. You can do this by building the site in a closed work environment and/or blocking access to bots using what is known as the robots.txt file.
The robots.txt file is a protocol used to hide pages and parts of a site from search engines. This is done by adding a simple word “Disallow” followed by the page or directory you want to block. To block the entire site, write the following two lines in the file:
Disallow: /
What these lines say is: “No entry” for bots of any search engine. In other words: go look for another site. This site is not ready to be indexed yet.
Important Note!
Don’t forget to remove this line as soon as you launch the site. 🙂
Yoast It Up
Yoast is the most popular plugin for SEO in WordPress. It is practically the first thing to install after setting up a WordPress site, as it allows for easy optimization of meta tags, addition of structured data, XML sitemap, and the aforementioned robots.txt file.
To install it, simply go to “Plugins” in WordPress and search for the word Yoast. Following the previous point, note that Yoast settings include an option to block search engines from indexing the site.
Images Under 100KB
Are you a design freak and love high-quality images in a myriad of colors? That’s lovely and exciting but can significantly harm your site’s performance in terms of loading speed and search engine rankings.
Therefore, it is recommended to upload images weighing less than 100KB and ensure that you do not upload excessively large images. For example, if you are using an image with a resolution of 240×240, there is no reason to use an image with a resolution of 1480×1480.
Less is More
When it comes to developing an ultimate search engine optimized website, less is more. This means that the less you use scripts, image slides, JavaScript files, and various widgets, including WordPress plugins (if using WordPress), the higher your site will perform.
Thinking of placing a video on the homepage that covers half the page? Ask yourself if you really need it and whether the added value of that video is worth the cost of performance degradation. Honestly? Most visitors will be excited about the video the first time but then it will only annoy them.
HTTPS
Security has long been an integral part of the basic requirements of any site, regardless of search engines and SEO. However, just this month, a new update named page experience was released, one of whose metrics is how safe the site is to use, highlighting how crucial the HTTPS protocol is.
Mobile First
Optimal Site Hierarchy / Structure
Hierarchical Planning
Before designing a website, it’s essential to think about the types of content that will be displayed (service pages, blog articles, videos, infographics, photo galleries, etc.) and accordingly plan how each content type will be presented on the site. The ability to reach important pages or sections with a single click (three clicks being the maximum recommended) is crucial for both visitors to your site and search engine bots. This ease of access helps search engine bots understand the importance of your site’s content.
Content that can be accessed with one click from the homepage is naturally perceived as more important, just like content that is frequently linked internally (and externally) is considered valuable.
User and Bot Navigation
To facilitate navigation for users and search engine bots, use breadcrumb menus. Another way is to create an XML sitemap. However, the most important elements are the navigation menus on the site (top menu or sidebar, or both, depending on your design and functionality decisions) and internal links within texts or different sections of the site.
Example of a Good Site's Structure
A well-structured site with good navigation menus and a homepage that serves as a gateway to the rest of the site is hotjar.com. Unfortunately, it does not meet optimal loading speed criteria (around 41 on mobile, 67 on desktop), but in terms of hierarchy, it is an excellent example.
The main navigation menu (top menu), for instance, displays only four buttons and ends with a call-to-action button. Additionally, the dropdown menu under each button leading to more information, such as under “Resources,” includes no more than five items. Overloading navigation menus with links defeats the purpose of easing user navigation, even if it allows quick access to every page on the site. Too many details (buttons or links) can overwhelm visitors and often prevent them from taking the desired action.
To compensate for this, create a more comprehensive bottom menu in the footer (as detailed later).
The logos of the companies hotjar works with
and a truly awesome live demo of how a heatmap looks like
Using Structured Data
One way to improve the readability of a site is to mark its pages with structured data according to their functionality. For example, an article page can be defined as such using the following code:
