Your site does not attract as many users as you would like? Perhaps you are wondering what can be improved so that the website appears higher in search results and so that people are more willing to stay on the site longer and return to it? You can carry out a few actions to improve how the site works.
You may already know the principles of SEO and have a few websites that do not function in the way you require. Perhaps you are not very experienced in SEO and dream of achieving perfection in this area. Once you know the basics, none of this is complicated.
It is important to realise that SEO has a huge impact on your business and your ability to be found on-line, especially since Google announced a useful content update, your ranking position may suffer if you have too much low-quality content. It is not just about using the right keyword a few times. Search engines now pay attention to the overall picture.
How do you assess the quality of your site?
It is important to determine which pages need improvement and in what order. It may be tempting to start with the first page that comes to mind. However, it is worth taking the time to find out how your pages are performing. This will help you prioritise and decide which page needs your attention first.
- 01Analyse the current stateIdentify key weaknesses.
- 02Understand audience behaviourCheck real actions.
- 03Use hard dataUse Google Analytics.
An effective diagnosis of site quality is the foundation of targeted improvements and better results.
Pay attention to the metrics
You probably know your audience to some extent, but it is unlikely that you know what they want or how they search for information on-line and move around your site. Even if you hear some rumours and get some information, check the data to make sure what people are doing on your site and where you can look for opportunities to improve. A good tool for this is Google Analytics.
Google Analytics gives you access to a wealth of data about your site. This tool can tell you how many people visit your site and where that traffic comes from. In addition, you can get information about which pages were visited most often and how long people stay on a given page. All of this helps determine the quality of your individual pages.
Watch out for duplicate content
When you run a website, especially one that is growing its traffic, it may be tempting to use the same content on other pages. Do not give in to that temptation! If identical content can be found on different pages, we are dealing with duplicate content. This significantly reduces the chances of achieving better positions in search results. Google may impose a penalty for having pages with duplicate content.
You may have duplicate content on your website without knowing it. That is why below you will find a list of the most common causes of duplicate content and solutions to this problem. Tools such as Copyscape are extremely important when checking this kind of content.
- 01Site speedBetter position in Google
- 02User experienceUsers prefer fast sites
- 03Engagement and conversionMore actions on faster sites
- 04Quality for everyoneImportant for search engines and people
A faster site is the key to better results in search engines and greater user satisfaction.
Tips for direct improvements in site quality
Once you have established the quality of your individual pages, a good idea is to make a list where you prioritise the pages you want to work on first. Then the real fun begins. Let us look at the first six suggestions for improving site quality.
1. Decide what you want to do with the page
There is a chance that you have revisited a few outdated pages that were not meant to be shown in Google, even if you want to keep them on your site. The first step is to decide what you want to do with them. On pages that you want to keep, but do not want to show in Google, you can use the “noindex” tag.
If a low-quality page still contains relevant links to other pages within your site and is also generating some traffic, partly as a result of links from other sites, you can use the “noindex” tag in the robots file. In this way, Google can find the page, follow the relevant links, but it will not appear in search results.
When it comes to pages that are no longer up to date, consider whether you can update them by making only a few changes. If so, you can move on to the second tip from our list. In the case of pages whose existence no longer makes any sense, the best solution will be to remove them.
For URLs that still generate significant traffic, redirect them to a similar page or post, or to a related category or the homepage. If the traffic is minimal or zero, simply remove the page properly and allow Google Search to find the 404 or 410 error message. Your page will disappear from search results and Google will be able to focus on your proper pages.
2. Think about search intent
If you want to improve the quality of a page, it is a good idea to take into account search intent. The concept of search intent (or user intent) refers to the purpose of an online search. More precisely, it is the reason why someone performs a particular search. Over the years, Google has worked hard to improve its algorithm so that it can determine users’ search intent. That is why you need to consider aligning your content with the search intent of the person who has landed on your page.
It is important to make sure that the page appears to users with the right search intent. When someone is looking for information, you do not need to send that person straight to a product page. Such people are probably not ready for that yet. If someone has transactional intent, you will not want that person to land on a blog post describing news, only on the relevant product or category page.
3. Create unique content
An important factor determining the quality of a page is its content. There are a few basic rules that you need to apply right away. First of all, always base your content on the right keywords by carrying out keyword research. In addition, if your low-quality page does not have much text and does not convey much information, it may be regarded as a page with weak content. Your audience and search engines are not fans of such content and it is of little value or worthless to them. This also applies to duplicate content discussed earlier. So write more in-depth on topics where you want to be found.
Try to be critical of your writing and become a source of information for people instead of copying it from other sources. Of course, it is good to pay attention to the competition and its content, but the final word should always be yours. If you write unique, insightful, useful content, people will be more likely to read and share your content on social media or link to it. Google will certainly include such content in its index.
4. Demonstrate expertise and trustworthiness
Today anyone can have their own website. This is a great option because it makes the web accessible to everyone. However, this development of the internet has led to trust issues when it comes to websites you have not familiarised yourself with. That is why it is important to show readers and search engines that you are trustworthy and an authority in your industry. Not only will this help your pages rank highly in search results, but it will also allow users to reach the level of trust needed to do business with you online.
Show your credibility and expertise through your website and its content. You can do this by using references, being honest about your business and writing content that demonstrates your expertise. All of this will improve the quality of your pages while also helping to build a solid online brand.
5. Work on your site’s reputation
Another factor closely linked to trustworthiness is your website’s reputation. This is also taken into account by search engines when determining the quality of the pages on your site. But how do they determine your reputation?
They do this by analysing what others say about you online. For example, user reviews about your website and how positive they are matter. Other experts or established websites mentioning your business themselves or sharing other information about your business are also important.
6. Link to and from your site
In order for people and search engines to find your page, you need to have links leading to it. They should come from other pages that are related to your business. So work on your internal linking and content.
Nevertheless, it is important not to overdo it and link to every page you have from a single post. Always keep the user in mind. So make sure you link to pages or posts that are relevant and that you would naturally click through to yourself.
Tips for improving site performance
We still have 4 tips left, and all of them are related to the performance of your website. Implementing some of them takes a bit of time, but such aspects are important if you want to improve the quality of your pages. This quality improvement is not only relevant to search engines, but also to users.
7. Improve your website speed
The speed of your website determines whether you will rank well in Google and whether the site’s importance will increase. Faster sites are processed more easily by search engines. What’s more, search engines know that users do not like slow sites.
Users buy less on slower sites and read and engage less compared with sites with excellent performance speed. So work on improving your site’s speed. Since May 2021, user experience has become even more important for Google’s algorithms.
8. Take user experience into account
User experience, also known as UX, covers the experiences a user has when they come into contact with a website or product. UX should be part of your SEO strategy, because search engines want to deliver the best results that answer users’ queries. The best result means not only the best answer, but also the best experience. Even if an excellent answer has been written in the post, but the site is slow or disorganised, Google will not consider your post the best answer.
Think about the purpose of your website and its individual pages. What are visitors meant to do on your site? Buy products? Read your articles? Your site design and content should support that goal. Having a clear goal will also allow you to prioritise website improvements. This is linked to the search intent of a specific page, but you should also consider whether the design and site structure support its purpose. It is also important that the site works properly on mobile devices.
9. Do not forget about accessibility!
The last sentence of the previous paragraph is not without reason about the mobile version of the site. Mobile devices are now part of many people’s lives, so having a well-functioning mobile site is not a luxury, but a standard. Make sure your site works properly on different devices and in different browsers to take care of every visitor.
10. Ensure your site works properly and is appropriately secure
The security and proper functioning of your site are important for its visibility and for your business. So check how secure your site is and make the necessary improvements so that it functions properly.
Time to improve the quality of your site!
All of the advice mentioned above will improve the quality of your pages. Give Google a site that genuinely helps its visitors and simply answers their questions. If you have removed low-quality content and low-quality pages from Google, then you have taken another important step on the way to better rankings.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How should you assess which pages on a site need improvement first?
First check how individual pages are performing in the data, rather than starting with the first one you come across. This helps you prioritise and focus on the ones that need attention most.
Can Google Analytics help assess the quality of individual pages?
Yes, the tool shows, among other things, how many users visit a page, where the traffic comes from, which subpages are viewed most often and how long people stay on them. This information helps identify areas for improvement.
Why does duplicate content harm a site’s visibility in search?
If identical content appears on different pages, the chances of achieving better rankings in search results fall. Google may also impose a penalty for duplicate content.
How do you match content to a user’s search intent?
You need to check why someone is searching for information and direct them to the right type of page. People looking for information should not land straight on a product page, and a user with transactional intent should not end up on a blog post alone.
When is it worth using noindex, a redirect or removing a page?
If a page is to stay on the site but should not appear in Google, you can use noindex. When a page is out of date, it is worth updating it, redirecting it to a similar subpage, or removing it and letting the search engine see a 404 or 410 error.
Which elements have the biggest impact on page quality beyond content?
The article highlights credibility, site reputation, linking, page speed, UX, mobile accessibility and security, among other things. All these factors affect how a page is judged by users and search engines.
