SEO changes all the time. Before, SEO was easy as effortless as adding links and short-form content to a website. But these practices are no longer enough. With the latest algorithm of Google, SEO now depends on content creation, code development, user experience, and several others. Thus, many web developers in Los Angeles are collaborating with SEO LA experts to ensure that the sites they are working on can be found by the major search engines.
What Web Developers Must Know About SEO in LA?
Web developers must focus on these things to ensure that the sites they develop are SEO-friendly.
1. Security
If the site has no SSL certificate, Google will warn the users not to proceed. And if a site has no SSL, traffic from Google and other search engines will go down. SSL protects a site. It also provides security for critical data. With the right protection, you are ensuring the site will have no vulnerabilities. Without proper security, the site can be easily hacked and it can affect user experience and trust signals, which are used by Google to rank a site.
2. Redirects
They are a vital part of the launch process. Redirects will make sure that URLs from the old site will have a 301 redirect to the most relevant topic on the site. Make sure to validate the redirects.
3. Robots.txt
It’s a vital tool that Google uses to index your site. It is shown in search results. According to Google, “A robots.txt file tells search engine crawlers which URLs the crawler can access on your site. This is used mainly to avoid overloading your site with requests; it is not a mechanism for keeping a web page out of Google.”
4. Sitemaps
They guarantee that search engines know your pages. Pages listed in sitemaps should render a 200-server code. Make sure that they are free of 404s and redirects. Otherwise, they can affect the ranking of your site and how Google sees it.
5. URLs
The key to ensuring your users and search engines understand the URL, you need to keep it simple, relevant, and compelling. You should only use words that people can understand. It means that if a visitor sees the URL, the person will have an idea of what the page is all about. For instance, if the page is about SEO in LA, the URL may appear something like website.com/seola.
6. Speed
It’s also one of the most vital things to consider if you want the site to be indexed. Site speed is a ranking factor. Pages that load slowly can hurt user experience and conversion rates. Unfortunately, there’s no single way to optimize site speed. But as a developer, you need to keep the code light. And make sure to be extra careful when using plugins. It’s also vital to compress images and minify JS and CSS.
Collaboration between SEO LA experts and web developers is vital. Web developers who work closely with an SEO expert can make the sites more efficient and can provide visitors better user experience. To know more about how SEO basics, please contact our expert here: (855) 605-7361.