Technical Notes in Search Engines Optimization for Developer

Last Friday, 26th May 2023, I had the opportunity to present materials and insights about SEO for Developers at the #cmlabsclass7 event held by cmlabs. In accordance with the material that I presented in the cmlabs class session, I will explain and describe how a developer can optimize a website that is being built or made on a search engine. How to briefly guide or technical in search engine optimization for a developer.

Introduction to SEO for Developers

A developer plays a very important role in optimizing a website if the website or business you are running wants to have a good ranking and bring in high traffic on a search engine. There are lots of concepts and rules in search engine optimization that are closely related to activities within the developer team. So, many of the developers work on the optimization.

In the SEO concept itself, there are three main types that need to pay attention to in building and optimizing websites. We will discuss specifically referring to the scope of a developer. So, there will be 2 concepts of SEO that we will discuss.

According to the figure above, there are 2 types of SEO that refer to the activities of a developer. Here are the details:

Technical SEO

Technical SEO refers to how a website will perform when accessed by users, how the website will appear in a search result, and what methods or practices need to be done to help the crawling and indexing process of the search engine. In general, there are several things that need to be considered in technical SEO, including:

• Site Speed
• Mobile Friendliness
• Structured Data
• URL Optimisation
• Sitemap

On-page SEO

In this concept, we are more specific to the internal content side of a website, where optimization points really exist on each website page. Here are some points to note:

• Meta Information
• Heading Structure
• Readability
• Internal Link
• Image Optimisation

These two types of SEO will be discussed specifically in the next outline which refers to the activities of the developer team.

Advantages or Benefits When Using SEO

The first figure above shows a search result for the keyword entered by the user, and there show results that are relevant to the user’s search. All business stakeholders want their website to be at the top of search results. For example, how can several websites be in the top position? This is relevant to the main goal of SEO, which is to bring high website traffic and get a good ranking in search results. 

Why so? if your website has good quality, in accordance with SEO rules, it will also have good performance in search results. Thus, it will definitely bring in large website traffic so that your website or business will be easier to recognize by the target audience. Your business value will be increasingly recognized.

How SEO Helps Ensure Your Website

In building or creating a website, we as business people need to pay attention to many things. Starting from the technical side of a website, how it will be marketed later, to how the solutions provided to answer market needs. We as developers not only think about the right development plan for the website to be built, but also how to optimize it properly in order to achieve the SEO goals and how to make your website increasingly recognized by a larger audience.

The process of SEO and the development phase itself is the key, where in the development phase of a website the team of developers will ensure that the website is in accordance with SEO rules, the website is easy for users to use, and can appear in search results. 

In the next part of the article, we’d like to mention a few things to note according to how SEO helps ensure your website works at the business level, not just at the website development stage.

Technical Side of SEO for Website Development

There are many ways to optimize a website on the technical side that a developer can do so that it performs well, has a high ranking, and brings in high website traffic. This optimization technique is based on the types of SEO that we have discussed in the previous outline, namely On-page SEO and Technical SEO.

Site Speed

Site speed is the speed performance of a website when accessed by users. An easily accessible website means that it has optimal performance, where the content on the website can easily appear on the user’s screen without having to wait for a long time. There are several metrics in the site speed reference, such as FID, LCP, FCP, and many more.

Structured Data

Google Search works hard to understand the content of a page. You can help them by providing explicit clues about the content of a page by including structured data on the page.

The following is an example of structured data using the JSON-LD Job Posting schema,

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
 	"@context":"https://schema.org",
 	"@type":"JobPosting",
 	"title":"Business Development Executive",
 	"description":"<h2>Qualifications</h2><ol><li>Target oriented to achieve goals and bonuses.</li><li>1 year experience in direct marketing, preferably in a B2B environment.</li><li>Interested in digital marketing, preferably have basic knowledge of SEO.</li><li>Proactive individual with great written, communication, negotiation and presentation skills.</li><li>Ability to work independently and as part of a team in a fast-paced environment.</li><li>Good research, and analysis skills with high level of attention to details.</li></ol><h2>Key Responsibilities</h2><ol><li>Conduct market research and networking activities to identify potential customers.</li><li>Contact potential customers for sales pitches via calls, business visits, e-mail, attending events, or other marketing channels.</li><li>Prepare sales materials such as proposals or contracts.</li><li>Collaborate with internal departments to support business needs and requirements.</li><li>Remain knowledgeable of market trends and proactively pursue sales opportunities to achieve targets.</li><li>Build and maintain client relationships.</li></ol>","identifier":{"@type":"PropertyValue","name":"cmlabs","value":"junior-business-development-executive-140f69"},"hiringOrganization":{"@type":"Organization","name":"cmlabs","sameAs":"https://cmlabs.co/en-id"},"industry":"SEO","employmentType":"Full-time","datePosted":"2023-05-24T02:18:59.000000Z",
 	"jobLocation":
 	{
   		"@type":"Place",
   		"address":
   		{
     		"@type":"PostalAddress",
     		"streetAddress":"Jl. Seruni No.9, Lowokwaru, Kec. Lowokwaru",
     		"addressLocality":"Malang",
     		"addressRegion":"JI",
     		"postalCode":"65141",
     		"addressCountry":"ID"
   		}
 	},
 	"skills":", Communication, Market Research, Interpersonal Skills"
}
</script>

Its effect on search results will bring up specific information on user searches. Here’s how it looks:

cmlabs provides SEO tools that will assist you in setting up a structured data schema. You can try the JSON-LD Schema Generator for free.

Website Responsive dan Mobile-friendly

Responsive web/Responsive Web Design is a method to a website design system that provides an optimal experience for users on a desktop, tablet, and mobile devices. This aims to provide a convenient user experience in accessing the website on any device because the website will adapt according to the device screen.

Almost the same as the definition of a responsive website before, a mobile-friendly website is a website that is designed and optimized to display well on smaller screens (tablets/mobile). Referring to the previous explanation, the website can adapt to various screen sizes of the user’s device.

Having a responsive website will make the website mobile friendly and the website will be able to respond optimally when users access it from any device. Thus, it can get a high ranking because Google prefers the website to be mobile-friendly.

There are 3 techniques how to make a responsive website, including:

• Create a responsive website manually by the frontend team, using CSS styling and layout.
• Create a responsive website using a CMS (Content Management Platform) platform like WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, etc.
• Create responsive websites using website themes/templates.

Multiregional and Multilingual Website

A multilingual website is any website that offers content in more than one language.

A multi-regional website is one that explicitly targets users in different countries.

There are several tips on how to set and help both users and search engine to find the right page based on the user locations or region:

• Use different URLs for different language versions and tell Google about it
• Let the user switch the page language and region
• Use language-specific and locale-specific URLs

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-id" href="https://cmlabs.co/en-id" />

Google recommends using a different URL for each language version of the page, instead of using cookies or browser settings to adjust the language of the content. If you use different URLs for each language, use the href lang annotation so that Google search results link to the correct language version of the page.

Sitemap

A sitemap is a file where you provide information about the pages, videos, and other files on your site, and the relationships between them. Search engines like Google read this file to crawl your site more efficiently.

E.g. cmlabs Website Sitemap

<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
 <url>
   <loc>https://cmlabs.co/en-id/</loc>
   <lastmod>2023-05-22</lastmod>
 </url>
</urlset>

Image Optimization

Always check the image quality and alternate text (Alt Text) attributes for images, and use the normal quality of the images. You also need to double-check the layouts of images on desktop and mobile versions.

Don’t forget to add an alt attribute for images that have meaningful text. Use the next generation of image format (WEBP, etc.)

<img src="/assets/images/image.webp" alt="This Alternate Text" loading="lazy" />

Don’t load the main content slowly after user interaction. Avoid the lazy-loading on your main content based on user interactions (like swiping, clicking, or typing), because Googlebot won’t trigger these user interactions.

Heading Structure

Use the appropriate heading structure on your content or website page. Make sure that each page can only have one heading 1.

Meta Information

Use the appropriate meta title and meta description format for your website page.

cmlabs provides tools that will help you check whether the meta information you create is good enough or not. Try the Title and Meta Description Checker  for free. 

URL Optimisation

Use the appropriate URL scheme and use an URL that represents what the website contains. By doing this, both the user and the search engine can read it more easily.

Conclusion

In conclusion, understanding the technical aspects of search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial for developers aiming to enhance their website's visibility and increase organic traffic. By implementing effective strategies, such as optimizing website speed, improving mobile responsiveness, and utilizing structured data, developers can improve their search engine rankings and provide a better user experience.

To further deepen your knowledge and master the art of SEO, I encourage you to join the upcoming cmlabs class event, where experts will share valuable insights and practical tips. Don't miss this opportunity to level up your SEO skills and take your websites to new heights.