What SEO strategies do you use?
If you have encountered this article, you are probably feeling a little uncertain about your SEO strategy. Read this article carefully, you will definitely understand how to improve your SEO strategy and help you how to increase your search rankings.

You will understand and be able to implement the following:

• The most important SEO strategy is to enhance your marketing efforts.
• Everything that directly and indirectly affects SEO.
• Factors that have no negative impact on SEO but are worth doing.

1. Installing an SSL certificate on your site

There are different things that sometimes appear when browsing on Google Chrome such as the “key symbol” next to the URL or WARNING with an exclamation point (!) These are items that indicate whether the site is SSL-enabled or not. Also, have you ever seen the message “Communication to this site is unprotected” when searching on Google?

These different warnings mentioned above can cause users to feel somewhat uneasy. If you are currently a webmaster, it is mandatory to implement it.

What is SSL certificate?

Abbreviation of Secure Sockets Layer, it is a technology to encrypt communications on the Internet. There is a risk of being intercepted or tampered with by a third party. SSL is installed to prevent these risks. It is displayed easily at the top of search engines, and this is its most useful advantage of it.

Google will recognize that “SSL-enabled websites = highly secure websites. Therefore, websites with SSL are more likely to be displayed at the top of search engines than those without SSL. The content is highly evaluated as “reliable content that can be used with peace of mind.

As a result, it will also lead to an increase in the number of accesses. However, Google has announced that “more than 90% of websites have adopted SSL”. It is difficult to increase search rankings simply by adopting SSL.

On the flip side, the possibility of improving your search ranking is extremely small especially if you have not adopted SSL yet. Since SSL conversion is one of the most important measures, it must be implemented immediately.

Preventing users from leaving the site. “Communication to this site is not protected” or “This connection is not secure” are always encountered by users if the websites are not SSL-enabled. These appear commonly that can surely cause users to feel troubled and leave the site right away. Most users will leave immediately if a warning is displayed on the screen like entering personal information on a site that involves online payments.

2. Improving Page Speed

The 2018 Google algorithm update announced that sites with slow page speeds will be rated lower by Google. Also, it was reported by Google that:

visits decrease if it takes more than 3 seconds to load

Google research document
https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/consumer-trends/mobile-site-load-time-statistics/

The only sites where page speed affects search results are really slow pages. General page speed will not be negatively affected. The purpose of SEO is not only to “increase search inflow” but also to “increase profits for the site operator.

Page speed is determined by a number of factors, so it is up to each site to decide where improvements can be made. Why not take this opportunity to review the page speed of your site?

You can check the page speed of your site through Page Speed Insights: https://pagespeed.web.dev/

3. Develop a keyword strategy based on search volume

Search keywords are extremely important in SEO. The main reason is search keywords “represent the very concerns” of users.
Selecting keyword must be based on keywords that have the potential to rank high and bring in a large influx of visitors, otherwise even a complete SEO strategy will not produce results. So how do you go about selecting keywords?

Select long-tail keywords

Long-tail keywords are combined multiple words. Search keywords will be longer when there is a real problem to be solved. For example, if you have planned to travel to Okinawa and want to find popular tourist spots. You would search for “Okinawa tourist spots or recommended spots in Okinawa” or “Okinawa popular tourist Spots Ocean”. They would not search for a single word “Okinawa” would they? Long-tail keywords are searched based on the users’ concerns.

Choose keywords that users know in common

Not many people can instantly think of bubble wrap when they hear the word “bubble wrap”. When you hear the word “Puchi Puchi,” from children to adults, they will be able to imagine it.

The effectiveness of SEO will also change by considering “what words are being used by the general public” when selecting keywords.

Words used in searches for “means” are different, it could be “how to do,” “method,” and “way to proceed”. Thus, by selecting keywords that have the same meaning but are actually used more frequently, you can expect to maximize the effectiveness your SEO strategy.

It is important to check the keyword planner, suggestion keywords, and select “long-tail keywords and most frequently searched keywords. Therefore, the selection and countermeasure of KWs specific to Japanese language needs to be handled by experts who are well familiar with the Japanese search market. We can even do Japanese-specific SEO based on your business!

4. Have content based on search intent

Queries within a user differ depending on the user’s search intent. By having content based on search intent, you can create high quality content.
Here are some “queries”.

Navigational queries

A navigational query is a query that is intended to go to a specific site or location, such as I want to access this site or this content. It is sometimes called a “go query”.
A basic navigational query is a query to find an official site.

• Rakuten Ichiba
• Amazon.com
• Yahoo! News etc.

These are queries that have a specific page that you want to access (or go to).
This is what is called a named search.

Informational queries

Information (information-gathering) queries are queries to gather information.
The intent is “I want to know something, or I want information on how to solve a problem.
They are sometimes called “know queries” because users use “want to know” as the purpose of their search.

Basic informational queries are as follows:

• Time difference in the U.S.
• How to fix a hangover
• MacBook price
• MacBook price, etc.

These queries are searched for when the information is needed.

Transactional Query

Transactional (transactional) queries have an intent such as “I want to buy something”.
Sometimes called “do queries” because users are searching for I want to do something.
Plus, Transaction Queries include not only “I want to buy”. Plus, “I want to watch a video” or request information, and so on.

Basic transaction queries are as follows:

• iPhone 12 case
• YouTube Comedy
• Programming Request for information

These are queries are most searched for when you want to do something or need something.

5. Optimization of Title tag and Meta description

The SEO benefits of title tag optimization

The title tag is important when Google evaluates a site to determine its search ranking. Consequently, optimizing them may improve search rankings. If you do not set an inappropriate TITLE or TITLE tag, you are losing very much in terms of SEO. The setting of the title tag is also an important setting that is related to CTR which means click through rate.

These are five points should be considered for the title tag. Reviewing them can greatly improve search rankings and CTR.

• At most, it should be about 30 characters long.
• Include keywords to be addressed
• Give each page a unique title
• Check to see if it has been rewritten by Google
• Make the title eye-catching for users

The effect of meta description on SEO

Meta descriptions are text sentences that describe the contents of a page in HTML to . In other words, it is the text that appears as a site description. It has almost no direct impact on search rankings, but it is very important in terms of improving CTR.
Users are more likely to click on sites that have the keywords they searched for in the title and Meta description.

This is because they can determine that the site is close to solving their problem, and if the keyword they searched for is in the Meta description. Plus, the keyword will appear noticeably. It is better to set and optimize the title tag and Meta description as a set.

6. Setting internal links

Internal link establishment between pages

Internal links are links that connect pages within your site. It is very important to set up internal links not only to improve the reputation of the pages only but also to improve the reputation of the site as a whole.

There are three SEO benefits of establishing internal links

• Can increase the reputation of the site from Google
• Increase the time users spend on the site
• Crawlers will be able to patrol the site more easily

Internal links can improve your site’s reputation with Google.

Connecting highly related pages, it becomes easier for users to solve their problems.
It is also possible to increase the rating of the linked pages. The ability to solve users’ problems is high-quality content, which may lead to an increase in Google’s assessment of your site.

Increase the time spent by users

By placing highly relevant internal links, users can easily find the information they want to know. If users can finish reading the first page and also visit the sites of the internal links that have been placed. They can significantly increase the time spent on your site.
This will also increase the chances that users will see the content you have created and help you prevent them from being lost.

Make it easier for crawlers to visit your site

Google’s crawlers use internal links to patrol the site and index pages.
Placing internal links, you are making it easier for Google’s crawlers to visit the pages on your site. In addition, making it easier for Google crawlers to visit your site, you can prevent lost opportunities such as not showing up in search results.

Setting up a breadcrumb list

Setting up a breadcrumb list is a very important measure to improve user convenience.
This is because it makes it clear to the user where they are in the site. Basically, the list should look something like “Home > Products > Sneakers > Nike”. The benefit is that it makes it effortlessly for users to understand where they are and find the information they are looking for. Breadcrumbs make it easier for crawlers to understand the structure of the site and enable quick indexing. As a result, SEO benefits can be expected.

7. Set Alt text

In a nutshell, the Alt attribute is text information that takes the place of images.
It is said that it is difficult for search engines to fully understand the content of an image based on the image alone. Therefore, it is necessary to set the Alt attribute to convey the exact content of the image.

It also has the advantage that the content of the Alt attribute is displayed when the image loads slowly or does not load properly, making it easier to convey the image content to the user.

Setting the Alt attribute does not significantly increase search rankings or lower SEO ratings simply because the attribute is not set. However, it is an essential setting for creating a site that is easy to understand for search engines. If you set the Alt attribute when using image links, you can get the same effect as anchor text, so please be sure to set the Alt attribute.
In a nutshell, the Alt attribute is text information that takes the place of images.
It is said that it is difficult for search engines to fully understand the content of an image based on the image alone. Therefore, it is necessary to set the Alt attribute to convey the exact content of the image.

It also has the advantage that the content of the Alt attribute is displayed when the image loads slowly or does not load properly, making it easier to convey the image content to the user.

Setting the Alt attribute does not significantly increase search rankings or lower SEO ratings simply because the attribute is not set. However, it is an essential setting for creating a site that is easy to understand for search engines. If you set the Alt attribute when using image links, you can get the same effect as anchor text, so please be sure to set the Alt attribute.

8. In-site UX Improvements

UX (User Experience) is a measure of user experience.
It is an element that describes the experience or feeling a user has after reading a site.
Specifically, UX is influenced by the following elements.

• I was impressed by the beautiful design.
• The website is highly convenient.
• I want to tell someone about it because it contains useful information.

UX is essential for providing users with valuable content.
By improving UX, we can expect effects such as increased CVR and time spent on the site.

As mentioned earlier, improving UX is essential for providing valuable content.
A valuable site is one that is easy to view, easy to use, and provides the accurate information the user wants. If the site is valuable to the user, abandonment will be kept to a minimum, and the possibility of acquiring even a CV, which is the purpose of the site, will increase. Therefore, improving the UX will have a significant impact on SEO.

Summary of SEO measures

How did we do?
This article has explained the 8 things you must do to improve SEO. SEO is the most important element to enhance your marketing efforts. If you can implement the eight things we have discussed so far, your site can be expected a high rating from Google, and you can increase your site’s search rankings.

Let’s create a site that users will consider “valuable content”.