SEO Guidelines PART 5 - SEO TASKS WRAP UP WEB COMPLETE

5.1 SEO tasks Wrap up Web will complete the following tasks to further improve SE ranking

5.1.1 - Ensure your urls are Search Engine friendly

Search Engine Friendly URLs ensure a Search Engine can further interpret/understand your website pages.

Example of unfriendly url

liverpoolbuildingservices.co.uk/trgdvv63gv-_ID=5_you_no_sense/

Example of friendly url

liverpoolbuildingservices.co.uk/services/building/extensions

We turn on SEF Urls by default so you dont have to.

Furthermore we use redirects and aliases to ensure urls are not broken and/or go somewhere they should not.

5.1.2 - Deal with any Soft 404 Errors

Soft 404s are fairly common errors that Google sometimes throws up for web pages. They’re a strange error because soft 404s are a hybrid of 404 and normal pages, and what exactly is causing this error for a particular page might not always be clear.

For example you may have a page that is a display of other Pages or Articles but you do not need each individual page to be indexed by Google eg Testimonials.

These type of errors are displayed in Google Search Console so check GSC and find out of they are present.

To get rid of them you need to tell Google not to index them.

Joomla - Set the Article Publishing Robots value from 'Use Global' to 'No Index, follow'

Wordpress - Set the Page Yoast setting to 'No Index, follow'

Further Reading

https://wp-rocket.me/blog/google-soft-404-errors-fix/

5.1.3 - Joomla only - Install Breezing Forms Cache Control Plugin

This corrects Form Non send issues if applicable

5.1.4 - Joomla only - Clear any leftover Joomla Global Meta Data if using SH404SEF

This ensures Joomla Global Meta Data does not override SH404SEF Global MetaData

Global Configuration/Site/Ensure Site Meta Description & Keywords are blank

5.1.5 - Cloak your website page email addresses

Prevent autobots from Reading/Cloaking/Harvesting your email addresses on your websites and sending you spam

Joomla

Ensure you have the plugin extension called 'Regular Labs - Email protector'

• Extensions/Plugins/
• Ensure (if installed) the extension called ‘Content - Email Cloaking’ is disabled
• Search for 'Email Protector' (this should already be installed, if not please contact us)
• Listed as ‘System - Regular Labs - Email Protector’ 
• Ensure it is enabled
• Ensure it is updated

WordPress

• The Plugin 'Email Address Encoder' will protect any emails from being harvested

5.1.6 - Activate Open Graph Facebook and Twitter Images

When users share website content with Facebook or Twitter the social media platforms will do their best to find a suitable image to be associated with that content. However without direction the Social Media Platform could use any of several images on that page. Activating Open Graph tries to point the Social Media platforms in the direction of a suitable/relevant image to be associated with that shared content/page.

Joomla

• Components/sh404SEF/Configuration/Social SEO/Social Networking/
• Enable on all pages 'Yes'
• Automatic image detection 'Use first image in content
• Click the Twitter Cards tab and select 'Yes'
• Press 'Save & Close'

WordPress

• Yoast SEO Plugin includes this feature by default
  

5.1.7 - Enable Google recaptcha on all Forms

This checks if you are a human or Auto bot. By default we ensure any Form on all websites use Google Recaptcha or another method to prevent autobots from completing website forms.

5.1.8 - Add GDPR/Data Protection Cookie Pop up/Privacy Policy

A GDPR website complies with the latest standards for user Data Privacy/Access and further enhances to security aspect of your website which in turn increases the reputation of your website.

Click here to learn more about GDPR and how we apply it to websites

Joomla

Install and configure Extension GDPR

WordPress

Install and configure Plugin GDPR

5.1.9 - Other tweaks Wrap up Web carry out to help improve SEO

• Ensure all website Extensions/Plugins are up to date
• Check websites against a list of other known issues

5.2 SEO Design tasks Wrap up Web will complete to further improve ranking

5.2.1 - Ensure your site design is fully responsive and design works on all devices 

Google now prioritises a mobile website over a desktop site when it comes to ranking. As part of our service we ensure

• Any template based images relevant to content have an Alt Image Tag
• The Styling of any Headings are constant across the website
• Functionality is still working across all devices

5.2.2 - Embed AddThis Social Media Sharing Script

This provides the facility for users to share your pages across multiple Social Media platforms therefore increasing your backlink presence.

Joomla

If Using Themler Template - Add script into Template Custom Scripts/Additional CSS sections

WordPress

If Using Themler Template - Add script into Template Custom Scripts/Additional CSS sections

If other Template - Install 'Insert Headers and Footers' Plugin by WPBeginner and insert script into header

5.2.3 - Add Favicon

The little image that shows on the top of browser tabs is essential in differentiating your website from all the others you are looking at and is something the search engines look for to establish a site is well built and user friendly

5.3 SEO Tasks Wrap up Web complete at the end

5.3.1 - Implement Fast/Dynamic Caching

Joomla

The Joomla Cache system takes a copy of a whole page in its first load. When the user visits it again, this copy will be displayed without reloading the same images and files all over again. You can enable the Joomla Cache system to increase the loading speed of your website.

WARNING: If you are working on the site and make changes and caching is turned on those changes are not always instant with Caching turn on so it is not recommended to turn caching on until you are no longer making changes to your site content. So we turn this on last.

To turn it on go to 

• System/Global Configuration/System Tab/
• Under 'Cache setting' Switch System Cache to “ON – Conservative caching”. 
• In ‘Cache time’, choose 15 (minutes) for a cache file to be stored before it is refreshed.
• Press 'Save & Close'

WordPress

• Settings/WP Super Cache/Advanced/Advanced/ Tick 'Enable dynamic caching.'
  
• Click 'Update Status' button

If using WP Total Cache

• Performance/General Settings/Page Cache Tick 'Enable'
  
• Click 'Save Settings & Purge Cache'

5.3.2 Optimize images

Images are essential part of every website. It is important to have them optimized. 

1. Enable Auto Smush on upload, Strip metadata and Resize
2. Run Bulk Smush to remove non important metadata on existing images

5.3.2.2 Resize existing and new image uploads

Unnecessarily large images slow sites down

Joomla

TBC

WordPress

WP Plugin SG(Siteground) Optimiser. As Wrap up Web use Siteground servers this Plugin will supply this functionality - Media Optimisation/New Images Optimisation

OR

WP Plugin 'Imsanity' by Shane Bishop. Once installed and activated this Plugin can be used to reduce the size of images uploaded to the Media Library and resize images already uploaded to the Media Library. 

Follow the instructions below to configure the plugin to resize newly uploaded images AND resize images already uploaded to the WordPress Media Library. 

Resizing images already uploaded to the WordPress Media Library will be a one off task as the plugin will resize images after activation. However, if images are uploaded manually for example directly using FTP this process can be run again if required.

1. Install and activate the Plugin
2. Settings/Imsantity
   
3. Set Max Width as required. For example 1920 Max Width 1920 Max Height (this will ensure no image is Wider than 1920 or Higher than 1920)
4. Tick Deep Scan
5. Save Changes
6. Click 'Search Images'
7. Many images that are already in your Media Library may be listed as over your required size upon first scan. To ensure firstly that Imsanity is working correctly just select just one image to resize then press the "Resize Selected Images" button. 
8. After completion press the 'Search Images' button again and check the single image you selected above is no longer listed as oversized. 
9. If it is no longer listed then tick all the images listed as oversized andc press the 'Resize Selected Images' button. Note that if a lot of images require reduction the process could take some time.
10. Upon completion you will see a prompt 'Resizing Complete'
11. Any images now uploaded to the Media Library will be resized as configured.

5.3.3 - Minify JavaScript and CSS files

Minifying your CSS and JavaScript files means that all the unnecessary data from them like double spaces, empty new lines, comments, etc. will be removed from the files lowering their size. 

Joomla

https://extensions.joomla.org/extension/jch-optimize/

WordPress

WP Plugin SG(Siteground) Optimiser. As Wrap up Web use Siteground servers this Plugin will supply this functionality - Front End Optimisation/Minify HTML Output & Minify Javascript Files & Defer Render-blocking JS

OR

If using WP Total Cache

• Performance/General Settings/Minify
• Tick 'Enable'
• Click ' I understand..'
• Click 'Save Settings & Purge Cache'

If Using WP Fast Cache or WP Super Cache

Install 'Fast Velocity Minify' Plugin

This will activate Minification of CSS and HTML speeding up the website

OR

Autoptimize Plugin by Frank Goossens (futtta)

5.3.4 - Secure your website using an SSL Certificate

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is the standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. This link ensures that all data passed between the web server and browsers remain private and integral.

From Spring 2017 Google announced it would no longer be ranking websites that were not secure above those that were. To check if your website is secure open it up in your browser and if its domain name url starts with https rather than http then is IS secure.

NOT SECURE

http:/liverpoolbuildingservices.co.uk/

SECURE

https:/liverpoolbuildingservices.co.uk/

All Wrap up Web all our websites are by default secured using the latest SSL technology

How helpful was this article to you?