WebPresso SEO for Web Developers 2024: What You Need to Know About SEO

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Recently, I had the opportunity to attend the WebPresso event on the topic “SEO for Web Developers,” which was organized by THAI WEBMASTER AND ONLINE MEDIA ASSOCIATION held on June 30, 2024, at Siam Paragon SCBX NEXT TECH. The event featured expert speakers K.Title, Head of Priceza Money, who grew the site from its inception to attracting ten thousand visitors daily, and K.Tan from Livetube X, who manages a renowned news website. Their focus was on development and technical strategies to improve SEO.

The Meaning and Core of SEO

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the process of improving a website to rank higher on search engines like Google and Bing. Over 90% of search engine users come from Google. The core of SEO is creating content that meets the needs and queries of searchers. Unlike advertising, where you seek out users, SEO focuses on attracting users to you. This involves analyzing keywords that are genuinely being searched for using tools like Keyword Planner, and crafting content that resonates with consumers, rather than simply stuffing in keywords you want to rank for.

Why Priceza Money Needs to Do SEO

Creating a car insurance comparison website initially involved various methods to attract user attention, such as advertising. However, the cost of ads kept rising, eventually reaching a 50% increase. In contrast, SEO allows us to gain free customers from organic search. The advantage for Priceza Money is that there are relatively few competitors in the SEO space for car insurance.

The challenge with keyword research is that everyone ends up with similar keywords because most use popular tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush. However, gathering information from other sources like Pantip and Facebook groups provides deeper insights into real problems people face, such as issues with buying car insurance or making claims. This information helps us create content that addresses and solves user problems more effectively.

Focusing on content that solves user problems rather than just targeting keywords will attract more interest to our website and can lead to higher revenue from car insurance sales.

Content Strategy

People who truly know the subject often struggle with communication, while those who are good at communication often don’t know the subject well.
K.Title said

This is an insight into the car insurance industry: translating complex terms into language that the general public can understand is crucial. For example, the term “claim settlement” might confuse many people. Explaining it as “compensation payment in case of an accident” makes it easier for everyone to understand.

Additionally, by studying content from others or competitors to see what they’ve already done, we can gather information from various sources and analyze it to provide even better answers. By adding new elements, we can create fresh and improved content.

Using Press Releases = Backlinks

Title provided an example of leveraging news about EV car insurance by gathering deep insights from participating in various Facebook groups. This approach allowed us to gain insights before others and write news articles ahead of the competition. The result was that both TV and online news outlets took an interest in our story, providing us with free backlinks from reputable news websites, which have long-established domain authority. This significantly boosted our SEO ranking.

Being truly knowledgeable and an expert in the field opens opportunities to connect with journalists and create valuable content for the future. This also increases the chances of our content being widely shared. Providing useful information about EV car insurance enhances search visibility and supports other parts of the website while also building brand awareness.

From Rising to Falling: What to Do?

Recently, Google updated its algorithm, causing significant drops in traffic for many well-established websites. Relying on a single revenue stream is risky, just like putting all your eggs in one basket. Diversifying income sources through channels like Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, or hosting events helps spread the risk. If Google changes its algorithm, traffic from other sources can compensate.

SEO isn’t just about articles; it’s about creating content that can be presented in various formats. This includes making videos on YouTube, short clips on TikTok, or hosting events. The same content can be repurposed in different ways—transforming written content into spoken words and videos.

Content presentation should vary across platforms. For instance, on Facebook, use infographics as users prefer not to read long articles. On TikTok, tell a brief story; if viewers are interested, they can watch longer videos on YouTube.

Tan emphasized not to over-optimize if the existing website is already performing well. Instead, focus on improving problematic areas. For example, if the page speed is lacking, prioritize enhancing it. An example of this is updating content from last year’s Songkran festival by adding new locations in the following year, which is a technique to make content more appealing to SEO.

If the SEO Ranking Is Already Good, Should We Do More?

One news organization allocates their work time by spending 30% on updating old content and 70% on creating new articles. This approach ensures the website has fresh content while maintaining and consistently updating the quality of older content.

Making the Most of Google Search Console

Using Google Search Console helps Google’s bots index your website. If there are issues like 404 errors or “no index” tags, they should be fixed. Another important aspect is the Core Web Vitals, which include:

LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): Measures the loading speed of the main content on the page.
CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): Measures the stability of the page layout during content loading. The layout should remain stable.
FID (First Input Delay): Now replaced by INP (Interaction to Next Paint), measures the responsiveness when a user interacts with the page. If the response time is too long, the score will be low. Improving response time is essential.

Improving these aspects can significantly boost your SEO. Using a heatmap to analyze user scrolling behavior and improving UX can help retain users. If users leave the page quickly, investigate the cause and make necessary adjustments.

For websites older than 8 years, consider a revamp. Older websites might not account for Core Web Vitals, which are crucial for current quality assessments. If a revamp isn’t feasible, using WordPress plugins like WP Rocket can help improve performance, although not as effectively as a full revamp.

Case Study Resulting from Multiple Websites

Handling Gambling Links: Some websites face traffic issues due to gambling links being inserted into their sites. Keywords related to gambling might be entered in the website’s search bar. To address this, set the search pages to no-index to prevent Google from indexing these pages. The downside is losing links from search pages indexed by Google.
Managing Old Links: When switching to a new theme, some old links might disappear. Remember to set up redirection to reuse old links and prevent traffic loss.
Creating a Sitemap: Use plugins to create a sitemap, making it easier for Google to index your website.
Updating Plugins and Themes (WordPress): Regularly update plugins and themes to prevent vulnerabilities that older versions might have.
Updating PHP: Use the latest PHP versions to prevent potential attacks that could exploit vulnerabilities in older versions.
Using CDN and Firewall: Use a CDN to improve load speed and provide protection. Additionally, a firewall can offer another layer of security against attacks.
Domain Rating (DR): While Domain Rating is a factor in website ranking, it’s not the most important one. Quality content can outperform websites with higher DR. Focus on UX (User Experience), such as page load speed, as it directly impacts users
Content and Load Speed: If your content is good but loads slowly, consider improving load speed, especially when facing competitors. Google considers multiple factors in its ranking algorithm.
Video vs. Articles Although detailed information is best conveyed through articles, sometimes people prefer short videos for a quick overview. Don’t rely solely on articles; presenting content in various formats can better meet customer needs.

Misconceptions About SEO

Many people believe that stuffing keywords will help rank higher on Google, but focusing on a single topic is more effective. If there are multiple topics, it’s better to create separate content for each.
Ranking high in SEO doesn’t guarantee a permanent position; rankings can drop at any time.
Some prioritize quantity over quality, such as publishing 100 articles a day. However, writing high-quality content is better in the long run.
Having too many links on a website isn’t beneficial. However, if the links are genuinely useful, they can improve your SEO score. It’s like talking a lot without substance; it’s better to include valuable and relevant links.

What to Do If Your Ranking Drops

Using Google Search Console helps to check and fix certain issues. For example, if links disappear after creating a new website, you should set up redirection to the new site.
Check Google bot accessibility. If the Google bot cannot crawl your site, you need to investigate and resolve the issue.
Using tools like Ahrefs can help analyze data and identify why your rankings have dropped. This information can then be used to fix and improve your website.

Is Having a Website Still Necessary in 2024?

While AI can provide quick and useful information and recommendations, having a website remains highly important for several reasons:

Accuracy and Credibility: AI can deliver fast responses, but sometimes these might lack accuracy or completeness. A website with accurate and detailed information enhances credibility.
Sales Conversion: A website is a crucial tool for closing sales. It can comprehensively present product and service information, guiding visitors towards making a purchase.
Reducing Advertising Costs: A strong website with good SEO reduces the need to buy ads or keywords on other platforms, saving on advertising costs and reducing reliance on third-party platforms.
Brand and Customer Experience Control: A website allows better control over the customer experience, from presenting information to providing customer service and creating a lasting impression.
Creating Valuable and Sustainable Content: A website enables the creation of valuable and sustainable content, such as in-depth articles, instructional videos, or user guides, fostering long-term customer engagement.

Things You Shouldn’t Do with SEO

Quality Over Quantity: Focus on creating high-quality, useful content with accurate information rather than producing a large volume of content.
Avoid Copying Content: Copying content from others not only harms credibility but also risks penalties from Google. Gather information and create new content, giving proper credit to sources.
Minimize Popups: Too many popups can annoy users. Use sliders instead to present important information.
Limit Banners: Excessive banners can clutter the webpage and make users uncomfortable. Keep banners to a minimum.
Reduce Carousels: Use heatmaps to check if users interact with carousels. If not, consider reducing their number.
Optimize Image Sizes: Use appropriately sized images to avoid slow loading times.
Limit Third-Party Scripts: Too many third-party scripts, like ads, can slow down the page. Regularly check and limit their use.
Minimize Embeds: Instead of embedding a lot of content on a single page, use images or text with links to additional content. This approach helps improve page load speed.

Key Takeaways Before Wrapping Up

validator.schema.org can help us check what improvements we should make to our website and build credibility for it.
K.Title said

validator.schema.org can help us check what improvements we should make to our website and build credibility for it.
K.Tan said