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SEO Secrets Revealed: The Crucial Role of Website Code in Rankings

SEO Secrets Revealed: The Crucial Role of Website Code in Rankings

Did you know that the appearance of your website can remain the same while using different coding practices that can either help or hurt your SEO?

Optimizing your website's on-site technical SEO is crucial for ensuring your content is easily discoverable, understandable, and indexable by search engines, especially when you're working with a variety of content layouts and media types. Here are just a few items we focus on when coding our websites to help your site perform better:

  1. Loading Speed

    At PMW, we specialize in ensuring your website code maximizes SEO benefits. Our commitment to cutting-edge technology guarantees your site's speed aligns with Google's latest standards, enhancing user experience. Keeping load times efficient for all types of content is critical. We utilize tools when developing our sites to pinpoint and address performance bottlenecks, which may involve image optimization, CSS and JavaScript minification, and browser caching optimization.

    What sets us apart is our hands-on approach — we hand-code every site and utilize our internally built CMS system, granting us complete control. This ensures our code remains concise, compressed, and secure, protecting your site from potential slowdowns and security threats often associated with public platforms like WordPress or Wix. 

    Additionally, we focus a lot of our efforts on optimizing media files. 

    • Images: We implement responsive images in various sizes to ensure the correct image size is served based on the user's device. We also make sure all your images are optimized to keep page load speeds as fast as possible.
    • Videos: We recommend our clients host their videos on YouTube or Vimeo to offload server demand. We also use additional code to “lazy load” the video which essentially delays the video load time until it's about to be viewed.
  2. Mobile Friendly, Responsive Websites

    With Google's mobile-first indexing, ensuring your site is responsive across all devices and screen sizes is essential. This adaptability is key to providing a positive user experience for content presented in various layouts and media forms.

    When it comes to your web presence, nothing is more detrimental than potential clients struggling to use your website on smaller devices. A responsive website is crucial for optimal client usability and lead generation. Our web developers are adept at employing diverse coding practices, ensuring your website seamlessly adapts to all devices, from expansive desktops to the tiniest cell phones, guaranteeing an exceptional user experience across the board. A better user experience means people will spend more time on your site, thus helping your SEO. Google takes time on site very seriously when determining where they will rank your site in their search engine. 

  3. Content Hierarchy and Layout

    Clear organization and logical structuring of your content are vital. We employ important heading tags and lists to help structure your content, facilitating search engines in discerning the hierarchy and relevance of your information. Here are some additional ways these items will help your website rankings.

    • Headings: Believe it or not, this one is extremely important! Glance through our portfolio, and you'll notice a consistent trend. Strategically placing heading tags with relevant keywords on every home and services page is a game-changer for Google rankings. With over 15 years in Property Management, we've honed this technique, emphasizing not only the verbiage but also the placement, styling, and background code. This meticulous approach ensures Google recognizes and ranks your website higher during crawls. How the titles are set up and coded may not seem relevant, but proper coding of them is crucial. We will guide you in optimizing your content for maximum SEO benefits through precise title order and placement.
    • Lists: Google highly favors bulleted and numbered lists on your website! Integrating these lists not only enhances readability but also aids Google in prioritizing your content during site crawls. Our developers are specifically trained to identify opportunities within your website content, strategically incorporating lists where appropriate. This meticulous attention ensures your content receives optimal visibility and recognition from search engines, ultimately benefiting your online presence.
  4. Alt Text for Images and Media

    Providing descriptive alt text for images and media supports visually impaired users, aligns with ADA Compliance rules, and allows search engines to index and understand the media's context better. Search engines cannot necessarily see your content in the way that we can see it on our screens, so providing this descriptive text and including relevant keywords helps search engines like Google comprehend what the image is about, thus leading to better indexing and higher rankings for relevant searches.

  5. URL Structure

    We make it a point on every website to adopt SEO-friendly URLs that are descriptive and include relevant keywords, ensuring each URL accurately reflects its content's nature and site hierarchy. A clear and concise URL capturing relevant keywords makes it easier for both search engines and users to understand the content. The Property Management industry as a whole is typically focused on targeting local property owners, so including location-based keywords in the URL can enhance local SEO.

  6. Internal Linking

    Effective internal linking plays a crucial role in helping search engines uncover new pages and comprehending the connections between various pieces of content. Our templates and custom designs serve as a blueprint for clients, encouraging the use of descriptive and pertinent links that enhance the overall structure of the site. We place great emphasis on the significance of site structure and linking strategies, and we are committed to guiding you through the process to ensure your site incorporates well-crafted internal links.

  7. Structured Data Markup

    Utilizing structured data markup is a powerful way to help search engines grasp your content's context more effectively. Schema markup gives search engines explicit clues about the meaning of your page and its content, which is invaluable for content across various layouts and media types.

    • Articles/Blogs: Every website hosted on our platform comes with our internally built CMS system that will allow our clients to post blogs easily to their sites. The structure of our system automatically integrate essential article schema. This includes detailed information like the author, publication date, and the article's body. Google leverages this structured data to enhance its understanding of the content within your blogs. Consequently, this facilitates easier indexing by search engines and more accurate rankings for your pages.
    • Videos: We utilize VideoObject schema to aid search engines in understanding the content of your videos, including descriptions, durations, and thumbnails. This not only aids with search engine rankings, but also aids in accessibility for your site users and assistive technologies that rely on well-structured data to convey information to users.

By implementing these technical SEO practices, you can significantly improve search engines' ability to understand, index, and rank your content, regardless of the content layouts and media you utilize. The overarching goal is to provide a seamless, quick, and informative user experience, facilitating easier content crawling, indexing, and serving by search engines to the appropriate audience.

Partnering with PMW guarantees more than just visually appealing websites. We go beyond aesthetics, focusing on meticulous coding practices that not only enhance SEO but also elevate the overall user experience. Our commitment to excellence is reflected in our approach to web development, where every line of code is a strategic investment in your online success. Contact us today to get started!

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