Migrate to HTTPS
Since Google began offering a ranking incentive to sites that use secure HTTPS rather than HTTP, the number of sites becoming encrypted has grown. While Google has maintained that using HTTPS offers a very modest ranking boost, the fact is that the majority of sites on the first page of Google tend to be encrypted, and there has been anecdotal evidence shared around the SEO community showing ranking improvements after switching.
But it’s not just the chance of improved search rankings that should convince you now’s the time to switch – web browsers are also beginning to discriminate against non-secured sites.
Think mobile-first
Back in 2014, Google made changes to its algorithm that demoted non-mobile responsive sites in the search results for users on smartphones. Since then, mobile search has grown – now more searches are conducted on mobile devices every day than on a desktop or laptop.
As a result, Google is again placing increased importance on mobile sites. The Google algorithm will eventually primarily use the mobile version of a site’s content to rank pages of the site, rather than the desktop version.
Speed up your site
Site speed has been a ranking factor in Google since 2010. However potentially higher rankings are not the only benefit of a fast site – user experience and conversion rates also benefit. Nearly half of web users expect sites to load in two seconds or less, and tend to abandon a site that doesn’t load within three seconds. If your site loads in over two seconds, you could be losing a great deal of traffic, as well as missing out on extra enquiries or sales that this traffic could lead to.
Audit your backlinks
In October of last year, Google rolled out the final update to Penguin, the part of the algorithm that adjusts rankings based on their backlinks. With this update, Penguin has now become part of the core search algorithm, and updates in real-time.
The result is webmasters and SEOs need to be much more proactive when it comes to scrutinising their site’s links, and consider removing and replacing any that do not fit Google’s guidelines.
Now is the time to perform a backlink audit and review the state of your site’s links. Clear out any ‘toxic’ links and plan a link building campaign to replace these with links that meet Google’s guidelines.
Courtesy of TheDrum
