SEO Questions & Answers For New Blogs, Startup Websites

Starting With The Basics: What the heck is SEO anyway?

I'll assume that you've the basic knowledge of how web search engines work. They crawl all the information available on your website and store in their own database. Once a user performs a search, the search engine searches its own database for the keywords user has entered and then discovers the relevant information. It then ranks that information to present to the user.

SEO is all about employing ethical ways to having your content rank at the top - so that users find it and land on your website.

Unfortunately, the search engines will never tell you what all wizardry they employ to rank the information in their database. Google's said that they use 200+ different parameters to rank your information for any specific keyword. Now, if we do not know how search engines rank the information; how do we know what exactly we should do to rank our content in search engine like Google or Bing?

Answer: SEO. There are few basic things you must do right in order to have your content rank at the top and we'll discover those things through Q&A in this discussion. Feel free to ask your questions so that I can answer specifically.

Question: Should I hire SEO for my new blog or website so that it ranks well in Google or Bing?

Answer: No, you shouldn't. Almost on daily basis, the SEOs continue to contact me with a 'guarantee' to rank our website on the top. I used to ask them if they've any 'internal contacts' with Google that they are guaranteeing top rank for our website. Most of the SEOs I've encountered so far basically do what they shouldn't be doing! But they continue to do it, despite Google's numerous warnings, because it 'may' show short-term increase in the website traffic.

These SEOs hire workers who work for cheap to spam popular websites to add link-back to your website. This generates traffic to your website for some time, but Google knows what you're doing there! You'll get punished in the next few weeks. Period!

An advice about 'link-building': Google does encourage you to have back-links to your website. A back-link is simply a non-nofollow link that points to your website from other website or blog. But Google's smart enough to know the difference between natural link-building and 'paid' link-building. If your blog's generating several back-links in a short period of time; Google is likely to think that you are generating unnatural backlinks and will punish your blog / website by pushing down your rank.

Do not spam other blogs or website with unnecessary links to your website. Instead, write stuff that people would really love to link to and give it time. Your blog or website will get back-links over a period of time and any search engine will love that! Strict no to paid link building. Also make sure that you do not accept money to put links on your website to link to other websites.

There are simple tips, tricks and techniques that every blog or website should employ and leave the rest to Google and other search engines to figure out. They're very smart and if your content is GREAT (because 'Good' is not Good Enough!); they'll rank you at the top; because that's what they're meant to do.

Good enough? Shoot your questions!

Question: How much the structure/implementation of website affects the ranking?(For e.g use of meta tag ,keywords).

Admin Edit: In order to save space, I'll edit this post itself to add my answer below.

Answer: Good to see a 'good question' coming up early in this discussion. The structure of the site matters a lot! In fact, is one of the first things any new blogger or website owner should get right first. When defining the structure of your website, you need to think from the end-user's perspective. Can a user navigate your site effortlessly to find the content he/she is looking for? If yes, your job is half-done. Most of the popular content management systems have well defined navigation and content organisation structure in place; so you don't really have to bother much about it.

You also need to setup a proper footer with links to privacy policy, terms and conditions for using your website, link to contact and home pages etc. It's important to make your website professional in its approach towards offering content or services.

Meta Tags: Any modern CMS like WordPress would handle this for you if you let them control the output. The 'keywords' meta tag has been long deprecated. People have been overdoing and abusing the 'keywords' meta tag to fool the search engines. Google, for example now relies on its own sophisticated algorithms to discover the important keywords and the appropriate context of the usage of those keywords. That said, you'll find many websites still using the keywords meta tag. That's okay; but don't give them much importance.

Other regular and important meta tags like 'title', 'description' matter a LOT. You need to have a proper description and an appropriate title for your article or any content. For example, if you're using images - do not forget to write a proper meta description for that image so that Google can easily figure out what the image is about. Check out what Google's Matt Cutts says about the meta tags:



Also, Google's got a dedicated page for '#-Link-Snipped-#'. Do check it out. You don't have to remember all the meta-tags. Just paying proper attention to the overall content, the title of the content as well as description will do the job.

I hope this answers your question. If you need further clarification, feel free to add your question.

Question: Should I repeat a keyword or set of keywords on my web page or blog post so as to get higher ranking for those specific keywords?

Answer: At its base, Google does rely on keywords on your page. In the past people would repeat keywords multiple times or a phrase within their articles in order to make Google think that the page is actually very relevant to what's being searched for. Trust me, this did work in the past! You'd see people stuffing in a ton of keywords in their article to a limit it'd get irritating to read the article itself. Google quickly realised that people were using 'keyword stuffing' to cheat and took steps. I'm quite sure it's not easy to fool any modern search engine with repetition of keywords.

The simple and effective advice for dealing with the keywords in your article is this: keep it natural! Don't repeat the keywords or phrases in your article for the sake of having multiple instances of it. I've noticed that Google and other leading search engines now employ context in determining the worth of any article or web page per se. How do they do it?

It's simple! Google knows a ton of things about your website. What exactly is your website's main topic? Are most of the articles relevant to the topic of your website. What are the other articles you are linking through your page? What content are other websites linking on your website and so on. Google can make up for the context of any web page and determine its value to calculate the overall worth and ranking of the page for any search terms.

The best thing you should do for optimum SEO is to write the stuff for the end-users. Adding depth to your article would definitely be a big plus. That tells Google that any reader landing on your website would find lot of relevant information that he or she is looking for.

Keep in mind that the search engine algorithms are evolving on daily basis. Therefore, adapting to Google's algorithms is not at all possible. What you should be focused on is to let Google adapt to what's sane, logical and ethical. If anyone wants more clarification on this answer, let me know.

Question: How much does the age of domain matter in SEO? For a great start, should I buy an older domain to start my blog or website?

Answer: Age of the domain is the duration from the day it was created with domain registrar and today. It's natural to think that an old domain would typically get a higher value (from SEO perspective) than a relatively newer one. My observation for this signal is that Google does not pay 'much' attention to the age of the domain; but when it can't determine the rank based on other signals it'd definitely add more weightage to an older domain. But take this advice with a pinch of salt. Why? Let's find out!

The age of a domain is a double edged sword. If the domain has had lot of quality backlinks (let's call it 'backlink profile') for the subject it was created - then it's going to be in your favour. For example, if the domain is about 'SEO Ranking Techniques' - and if you intend to use it for SEO related publication - then it's going to act in your favour. But if you use it for a non-relevant topic; the worth will typically go down. I think you got the point I'm making.

Think from Google's or any other search engine's perspective: What's the primary job? To point you to the most useful web resource in its index for the search terms you have entered. If a new website has better content than an older one - why would it point you to the old one? Does it really matter? No!

Between the age of the domain and quality of content - users or search engines would always prefer the quality of content. If you are offering high quality content to your users, the age of your domain does not matter. The top combination however would be an old domain offering high quality content. I hope this answers the question with clarity. For further explanation, discussion, post your doubts / queries below.

Question: Should I include keywords in the domain name for better SEO score? Is it important to have keywords in the domain name?

Answer: This one is extremely important question because a lot of new bloggers or startup websites that want Google traffic face this question right at the start. For example, if you are planning to start a new blog that's about Android or Java Programming; you'd typically think of names like (and the following are just random examples) 'AndroidTalk', 'AboutAndroid', 'AndroidAndYou', 'GoAndroid' and so on. I've seen people resort to the new .co, .io domains to get the perfect keyword combination in their domain name thinking that Google will rank them at the top for those keywords.

...and the problem is that Google's inclining more and more towards not paying much attention to keywords based domain name. Don't get me wrong here - I'm NOT saying that keywords in domain are not important. In fact you will see a ton of websites and blogs out there that rank very well in Google and Bing with all the keywords in the domain.

The Problem: Now understand the problem with having keyword based domain. The chances are that there already are a hundred other domains out there that have similar sounding names. It can get the users confused and even Google won't be able to differentiate much based on the keywords. What I'm saying is - how'd one know the difference between AndroidTalk vs. AndroidDiscussion? This may not directly hurt your traffic from Google or search engines; but you ultimately need to build something that people will remember.

The Solution: Solving the keywords in domain name problem has to be dealt with 'creativity'. Can you come up with a name that revolves around the keyword of your choice is also easy to remember or catchy? Don't go hunting for the 'perfect' keyword-based domain if you are not easily able to find it. Again, what's going to be more important for your long time success is how much value does your website provide to the end-user and do people want to linkback to your website?

Even if you manage to buy a domain name that is keyword rich, it won't naturally rank in Google. You'll still have to spend a lot of time building up high-quality content, implement ethical SEO techniques and patiently keep waiting for Google love to come your way.

Question: How many times should I update my blog for better rankings? Does frequency of blog posts matter when it comes to SEO?

Answer: In my opinion, majority of the new blogs (I'd say about 90%) start with a bang, sometimes even with multiple authors or many times with just one, enthusiastic blogger. But the enthusiasm dies down in a week or two and the blog lies dormant. Most of the bloggers would take all the efforts and pain to write great content and try to put all their knowledge in the first few posts. But then, the blog does not receive the traffic, just as much the blogger would expect, and then - everything goes downhill.

Keeping your blog updated is one of the key things to ensure that you keep getting attention from Google and other search engines. There's no clear information from Google whether frequency of posts on your blog matters for better SEO; but common sense would definitely indicate that Google would love listing information that is up to date and comes from a source (website) that is frequently updated. It also may act as a hint to Google that the website is actively maintained and is likely to provide more up to date information on any topic.

How frequently should you update your blog?

Totally depends on the niche of your blog. Generally speaking, any serious blogger should update his/her blog once every day or at least 2-3 times a week. But don't get me wrong. Do not update your blog with junk. If you do not have solid, worthy, value-adding content - it's better not to update your blog until you have it. Posting junk to your website would go against you in the longer run.

Build an editorial calendar or plan your content. That will help you avoid the writer's block. Also, ensure that your content offers something new to the readers that they aren't likely to find anywhere else. I'm aware that this could be extremely difficult. But if you can't find something unique - ensure that you enrich your content by adding your own views, perspectives, references. You may even link to other useful information available on the Internet. Be informed that the websites you link to also is an important factor in ranking your web pages.

I must also mention that you should typically start a blog about subject that you are very interested in so that you won't have to struggle to find out information to write on your blog. It helps to define a mission for your blog as well - I mean, there has to be a very strong purpose behind the existence of your blog. If this basic requirement is missing, your potential readers will not have a compelling reason to visit your website.

Question: Should I put advertisements on my new blog? Will it affect SEO ranking?

Answer: It's not wrong to expect your blog to generate money for you, at least enough to pay for its own server bills at first. Money has been a motivator for many bloggers but it's also a big trap that has killed several new blogs. It's important to understand how the system works and how you should play the game of making money from your blog.

If you run a blog and are thinking about monetising it, I'd expect you to have heard about Google Adsense. It's one of the most popular way to earn money from your blog, and already employed by millions of bloggers all over the world. However, in order to stop the abuse of the program and protect the interest of the advertisers, Google's made it difficult to get into Google Adsense. Also if, for some reason, you get banned from Adsense, getting back into the program is extremely difficult.

Right Approach To Making Money From Blog, While Taking Care Of SEO

Until now, we haven't talked about how advertisements can affect the SEO. Any blogger or webmaster should be aware that putting too many advertisements on your blog may lead to lowering your SEO score. If Google's web crawlers detect that you have a lot of advertisements on your site that affect the visitor's experience of browsing your website, it will rank your website lower despite having good content. There are following tips to play your games safe -

Follow These Tips :

• Do not put advertisements on your new blog. You heard it right. Why? Because you won't make any money from it anyway. The right time to put advertisements on your blog would be when it gets about 500 visitors on daily basis. That means your blog is getting some traction and is ready to serve advertisements. I'd guess a website with existing traffic would find it easier to get into Google's Adsense program.
• Avoid putting 'paid' links on your blog. Yeah! Many times you will get approached by link-builders who will be ready to pay you to put a link back to your website or in article. Don't fall into this trap. It's very tempting when you get offered anywhere between $4.99 to $49.99 to put links on your website - avoid it like plague. Google has warned webmaster against paid linking and it's just plain foolish to ignore what the big daddy of search has said.
• If you get a good offer to post advertisement on your website, do it through a ad server. You may use Google DFP or other open source ad-servers to do the job. Most of the advertisements you'd find on CrazyEngineers are served through Google DoubleClick. It's free to use and follows standards.
• If you are an established blog, do not put too many advertisements above the fold. That is, limit the number of advertisements that show up above the main content. If you're putting too many ads that push the main content below and ads are the first thing that visitors see on your website - you are likely to face Google Wrath. Trust me, it's extremely difficult to get your site's glory back after you get punished by Google's Algorithms. There's no one there to listen to your complaints and even if you set things right - Google takes its own sweet time to restore things (and that too, at its own will). Better be safe.

Build great content on your website, generate organic traffic, get referrals from other high-quality blogs in your domain and then think about putting advertisements on your website. That's the right way to go about it. I'm sure you will have several questions - so ask them in this discussion and I'll try my best to answer them.

Question: Does URL structure of my website / blog affect my SEO?

Answer: It really took me several years before really getting the answer to this question. There are several sub-questions associated with this questions like-

• Should my URLs have the keywords I'm targeting?
• Does the category name of my blog posts matter (if it appears in the URL)?
• How long should be my URL?
• Can I rank well without a clean URL?

...and there are several such questions. Let's first answer the question: Do I really need a clean URL?

The answer is "no". You do not need clean URLs to rank well in search results. However, you should have clean URLs if possible. I'm not confusing you. If your web server allows you to have clean URLs (like the ones you see here on <a href="https://www.crazyengineers.com">CrazyEngineers</a>), you should definitely go for clean URLs. But if you can't you don't need to force clean URLs! Also keep in mind that -

1. If you are a new blog - you should have this structure: domain.com/categoryName/post-title-123.html. Set this up just once and forget it! DO NOT try to change your URL structure if you've already received link backs from other websites. You should set the URL structure once and just leave it undisturbed. In the past, we had to change the URL structure of all the content on CrazyEngineers and had to suffer the consequences. The Internet is full of advice that is contradictory.

2. If you are an established website with clean URLs - do not change your structure.

There's absolutely no point in changing your URL structure if you are an established website. But if you are convinced that you need a new URL structure; please ensure that your old urls properly and permanently redirect to the new ones. You should make yourself familiar with 301 permanent redirects. This is an absolute must! You're committing a hara-kiri if you are not establishing proper 301 redirects.

Let's try to answer the above mentioned questions quickly:

1. Should URLs have keywords: Yes, it's logical. But don't try to stuff keywords.
2. Does category name in URL matter? Nope, it does not. But have it if you can.
3. How long should be my URL: Keep it short, sweet and to the point.
4. Can I rank well without clean URL? Yes, Absolutely, you can!

WordPress and I'd guess all the popular blogging software lets you have complete control over the URLs, titles etc. There are SEO plugins that you can use to adjust the keywords in URL. Use them if you can but remember it's okay even if you don't.

I'll now wait for your questions on this specific topic.

Question: What are the On-Page SEO factors that are important?

Answer: I recently found an interesting article on <a href="https://www.seroundtable.com/google-seo-on-page-ranking-factors-20314.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2015 Google SEO On-Page Ranking Factor List</a> about SEO on-page ranking factors that matter the most. I think it's important that webmasters pay attention to these factors because they indeed are big contributors to your ranking in search results. Let's take a look at them one by one:-

1. User Experience Metrics: The user experience is a collection of multiple items like how quickly your website loads, is the font readable, are there too many advertisements above the fold, and so on. The more user friendly your website is, the more likely it is to appear at the top.

2. Shorter Title Tags: As we discussed above, do not try to stuff keywords in the title tags. If you can keep your title to the point, short and sweet - you are all set to rank well in Google and other search engines as well.

3. Original Content: I can't stress more about this. You've ought to write original content - something that's expressed in your own thoughts. It could be an opinion, research or collection of your findings. If you're copying stuff from other websites - you're killing your own blog. It's just as simple as that!

4. Engaging Content: Does your content provide a solution or inform the user about something they didn't know about? If yes - you're good to go. The ideal combo is that you write your own original content that is both engaging and informative.

5. Original Images: This one is difficult; but can you supplement your articles with your own photos? If yes - Google and other search engines will love you and offer a better SEO score.

6. Quality Site Design: A professional, high-quality web design will act in your favor. It's ultimately a contributor of the overall user experience. You don't always need to hire a professional to design your website. But if you are running a blog, you should invest some time in finding a high quality, good looking theme for your blog. There are several free and paid themes available for most of the popular CMS (content management systems) available in the market.

7. Descriptive Meta Description: I found this one surprising. But it's very logical. Google would let the webmasters and the content creators tell them what the content is about through meta keyword 'description'. Ultimately, Google will make its own calculations to figure out the rank of your content. But if you have the facility to write meta description - pay some more attention to it going forward.

All that said, what SEO professionals thought 'always worked' no longer works. For example, keywords, long-tail phrases, keyword density etc. aren't being paid more attention to by Google engineers. If you can serve 'fresh', 'high-quality' content to people (and of course, web crawlers) you're all set for high ranking in search results.