SEO was mostly about coding in its early days. Technical SEO involved the optimization, often manipulation even, of code, metadata, and link profiles, for the sake of achieving better results.
And that hasn’t changed all that much. But today’s article by 411 Locals is dedicated to a more balanced approach between the technical and non-technical ways of website optimization.
Since manipulation and black hat tactics have become dangerous and less effective, they are also less popular right now. This is how the more creative and non-technical SEO tactics came to be. They are designed with the value and relevance of content in mind.
Technical and non-technical tactics should work in harmony since both are important for the excellent condition of your site and the success of your campaigns. The technical part is the framework on which to build great content.
Here are 4 tips that will help you find a good balance between creative and technical:
1. Know the part that technical SEO plays in your organization
In most organizations today, technical SEO is completely separated from development. The departments SEOs work with are:
- The IT team managing the storage and reception of important data;
- Web development team;
- Non-technical SEOs (like link builders and content marketers).
Technical SEOs are kind of mediators among these fundamentally different teams. However, there is a second part of their job, and that is the implementation and adding structure and optimization which help the engines retrieve, index, and rank content.
For all these reasons, it is important that a technical SEO plays a role in the process of planning. SEO and content teams have to work together to set shared goals, be a cohesive unit, measure, analyze and adapt continually.
2. Balance your on-page & off-page optimization
On and off-site optimization uses strategies that are usually quite different in the benefits they offer. Nevertheless, they both affect the content performance in dramatic ways.
On-page:
- Your site’s structure, design and hierarchy
- Title tags and meta descriptions
- Coding errors
- Crawl- and index-ability
- Internal linking
- Sitemaps
- Page content
- Site speed
- Mobile-friendliness
Off-page:
- Social content and sharing
- Influencer content
- Articles and guest blogs
- Inbound links
3. Define the tasks of each kind of SEO
For most responsibilities, it is obvious to which team they belong. However, there are such tasks that can cause confusion or even get missed entirely if you don’t define who will be responsible for their completion. This may end up in site problems of a devastating impact on the experience of the users, and therefore – on your sales. Organic search drives on average fully 60% of website traffic, and chances are that it’s your largest channel. It is, therefore, worth it to get it right.
In the combined effort of technical and non-technical, scientific and creative lies the key to success. This holistic approach is trending and it is the solution to many issues.
4. Work SEO into your content workflow
How to optimize images? Which types of sources to approve as citations and for external linking, and which to avoid? When and how should H1, H2 and H3 headings be used? Who creates title tags, and what are the rules for doing this? Who are your readers, and what do you assume is their knowledge of your industry? (This can help keyword selection.)
Document all this to ensure a quick reference baseline for the creators of your content. This will provide your creative team with a resource that is created with the help of technical SEO and will instruct the process of content creation. When this optimized content is placed into a framework that is technically sound and managed by your technical SEO team, it will be ready to be promoted by your content marketers. An unbeatable combination.
Find your SEO balance
In conclusion, we can say that even though technical and non-technical SEO strategies and tactics are quite different, it is very important that the different teams that handle them find a way to work together.
SERPs are increasingly competitive, and the consumers are increasingly intelligent and informed. Therefore, your content also has to be intelligent, which can be achieved by the marriage of technical SEO and the content marketing.
SEO, however, is not for everyone, be it technical or non-technical. Therefore, why don’t you leave it to the experts from 411Locals. We will be happy to come to your aid and contribute to the success of your small or medium business.