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2025/04/04 2025/04/04

How important are business citations when improving a business’s SEO?

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What are citations? How can these be used to improve a business’s search engine optimisation?

 

 

Introduction

You may have paid a significant amount to have a brand-new company website designed. You might be pleased with the final design and now want to proceed with starting work on improving the business’s search engine optimisation?

Now, a crucial, fundamental part of local search engine optimisation is citation building.

Without building business citations, such as business listings, you could be significantly held back, and businesses on page 3 of Google and may never be found through the Google My Business results.

Therefore, you do need to be busy-bee and start building business citations.

However, a word to the wise: as with everything in search engine optimisation, there is a right way and a wrong way to complete this work.

Of course, we will only ever advocate the right way here at Ryan C Walsh.

Therefore, we will proceed by showing you how to build business citations the right way.

Create a picture:

How to give your business a boost in Google’s organic results?

SEO is multifaceted, meaning that you shouldn’t overly focus on one aspect of local search engine optimisation and neglect other aspects of SEO.

You do need to take a rounded view and a rounded marketing strategy.

Therefore, building business citations is just one of the key building blocks you need to implement to improve your business’s local search engine optimisation (SEO).

What are citations?

They sound pretty complicated, don’t they?

NAP listings, what on earth does this mean?

All this means is NAP, which stands for the name, address, and phone number of a business.

It’s as simple as that.

However, things can become a bit more complex when we explain it this way: Googlebot, the bot used by Google’s algorithm to crawl and index the web, is designed to find numerous business citations related to your business.

All of these business citations should be on quality websites, plus they should all match.

Business citations that match exactly should, therefore, be structured in a way that they all convey the same precise message. The name, address and phone number of a business should all match. The citation should also have a URL that redirects back to your website so that Google bot recognises your business is being mentioned.

 

Which are the best types of business citations to build?

The best type of citation to build, is a business citation from a quality website related to your business. So, if you are a hotshot lawyer in your city, you will want a business citation, from a website to with solicitors.

You want these to be quality websites, websites that you recognise are leading publications, well-known brands, or businesses that obtain industry information in regards to your business sector.

 

Another example:

If it’s a construction company, you would want your business to be mentioned on a website that offers awards and qualifications for excellence in the construction industry.

Build your nap listings carefully, ensuring that they are all completed and identical to one another.

Add a little bit of supplementary text.

This is to describe the business.

Yes, we highly recommend creating NAP listings, and what you should do is also write a unique business description for each page.

You might be scratching your bonce; thinking that’s a lot of work writing a few paragraphs of text for every single business citation.

The answer will be yes, but with local SEO and national SEO, you do need to put back into it if you want to see results.

 

Avoid spam business directories like the plague

You will always have businesses that want to cut corners.

Sadly, even in 2025, you still have SEO agencies which deploy spam methods.

However, avoid using spammy SEO methods, as they can take your business’s rankings on a rollercoaster.

Plus if you use spam methods you obtain a Google penalty.

Receiving a Google penalty can be a nightmare, to say the least; it can significantly impact visibility and the amount of customers you receive, and the whole situation becomes a real headache to fix. So don’t use spam methods, just use white hat methods.

How exactly should citation look?

Let’s walk you through the process of building a business citation.

First, locate a quality business directory related to your business.

Again, if you are a lawyer, find business directories that specialise in offering directory listings from lawyers. Still, the website must have a high domain authority (DA, use Moz Pro to check this) and the business citation/link needs to come from a widely and highly regarded website.

After that, fill in the details, ensuring that all NAPs, including the address and phone number, all match.

Write a unique business description for that page.

On some pages, why not add a picture of your company director’s mugshot?

Add URL to the homepage.

Should we create many business citations all in one go?

No,

The short answer is no, you shouldn’t.

As with all things related to organic local search engine optimisation, it is best to take your time and do it right.

Don’t rush building many at once because the Googlebot will index massive citations simultaneously, which appears spammy, rather than building quality citations over an extended period.
For example, build one a month and avoid overdoing it as you don’t want your SEO efforts to look spammy.

Why is consistency important in the building business Citations?

Consistency is key when it comes to building business citations.

So, what we mean by this is that sometimes a business change their address, and then, they may starts building business citations for their the new address.

That’s all fine and good, but often, some of the business citations still mention your old address.

This causes a conflicting business citations, which confuses Googlebot and also confuses your customers.

You don’t want conflicting business citations, for example, your old address and your new address. Instead all business citations should match perfectly.

 

How many business citations are needed?

The thing is, in regards to business citations for SEO, there will always be a business out there; that want to rank higher, than your business and obtain more customers.

It’s a race that never stops improving your business’s SEO.

So you can never have enough quality backlinks; therefore, you can never have enough quality business citations.

However, you need to refer to your point about link velocity, which also relates to business citations.

You don’t want to build a bunch of business citations all at once; this looks spammy.

Please take your time building; it’s a long process.

Are building business citations key to skyrocketing to the top of Google’s page 1 results?

We don’t want to disappoint you, but, lets say you grab an espresso, and build 10 business citations for your business in Cardiff to help it rank on page 1 of Google.

However this is likely to be a drop in the ocean in terms of how much work is needed.

A considerable amount of effort is required to improve multiple ranking factors over a sustained period.

The SEO company, therefore, needs to be busy bees, building quality backlinks, writing high-quality content marketing and improving the technical SEO. So, all of these factors can come together; over a long period of time, you can get your business onto page one of Google.

 

 

Come to the SEO experts.

We have accrued over 10 years of knowledge to improve your business’s local SEO.

Therefore, we one of the best agencies in this area improve your search engine optimisation. If you would like a no-obligation quotation, why 

not talk to us today?

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2025/03/31 2025/03/31

Does Blogging Help SEO?

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Does blogging help improve a business’s SEO?

 

In short, to secure a business on the first page of Google’s SERPs, the company must produce high-quality, well-written content marketing. This is, therefore, essential.

The reason is the written word, whether it is in the form of blog posts, main pages, or evergreen content marketing; Google needs to “crawl and index this work.”

It’s only when Google can crawl and index the work that Google will gain an understanding of what the page is about.

Then, Google uses EEAT, which, for those unfamiliar, stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.

This is then used to decipher how good that page is in terms of how helpful the written work is.

Does the page have a lot of good links pointing to it? Additionally, is the author of the work an expert on the subject being discussed?

 

Can publishing regular blog posts help improve my business’s organic traffic?

The short answer is yes.

Yet, it also depends solely and ultimately on the quality of that content marketing.

If the work is superior to the competitor’s content marketing, it will rank higher. If it’s not that good, run-of-the-mill, Google may not even index it. This means it may never appear in Google’s results, even on page 10. So, in essence, it is a complete waste of time.

In short, the work must be well-written and authored by an expert. Just be excellent quality.

 

Therefore, whether it is a blog post or a main page, it needs to be a well-written, high-quality page to improve the business’s organic traffic.

To gain organic traffic in the first place, the page must be indexed and, therefore, appear in Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs).

The page or blog post needs to have a high Google EEAT score to be indexed close to the first page of Google. It’s only when a business is on page one that you start to see that page earning organic traffic.

 

Start with keyword research.

What are shoppers typing to find the products and services that your business sells?

What keywords are shoppers using to find your company?

This may sound pretty obvious to some businesses; for example, an employment law practice might say, ‘ Well, indeed, it’s just employment lawyers, right? ‘

Typically, a business can appear on the first page of Google for hundreds of different keywords, collectively helping to draw in customers.

Therefore, it’s up to the SEO agency to determine which keywords are most important for that business and then create a content marketing strategy that enables you to improve your ranking on Google for those keywords.

So, let’s say you run an online shop selling luxury dog food. If you want to sell more luxury, organic dog food, then you are likely to start writing content marketing that offers advice about this area.

Google EEAT how you can improve domain authority and trustworthiness

 

When you have a quick chat with the best SEO minds in the business, they will say, ‘ Yes, you need to improve your SEO ranking factors. Yet, the overarching aim is to concentrate on Google EEAT, ensuring your website indicates that you are an expert in the products or services you sell. Your experience should be clear; you possess a vast amount of knowledge in your field.

Then there’s authority; if many other businesses link to you and the links are of good quality, it means you will improve the authority of your website.

Trustworthiness works similarly; what it means is that you need to ensure the content marketing is well-written and accurate. Additionally, Google reviews and positive reviews, in general, can help improve a business’s SEO.

 

What are long tail keywords?

So, long-tail keywords are descriptions of the products or services your business sells, yet they don’t get searched for as often.

For example, let’s say the main keyword is “Builders + area” where your business is located.

Yet, an example of a long-tail keyword is “builders who are loft conversion specialists.”

So, it’s much more exact, which is good because it usually means the customer knows exactly what they want. What services they are looking for?

It is also much easier to get a business on page one for long-tail keywords because the competition is much less.

The downside is the amount of organic traffic for long-tail keywords is usually much less.

So this means fewer enquiries and sales; however, they are still an essential part of a business’s success.

 

So, do blog posts directly help improve a business’s SEO?

 

So there’s a few things to say here:

Content, thin pages, or pages where the author has spent little to no effort writing will damage your SEO and put things in reverse gear.

On the other hand, if it is crystal clear that the author knows what they are talking about and considerable effort has gone into creating a piece of work, then Google will index it, which can help improve your organic SEO.

However, the work must be helpful.

Ever since the Google Helpful Content Update, this means the Google algorithm is determining how helpful that piece of work is.

 

Is it helpful to the customer?

For example, is the dwell time so high the shopper is spending a long time on the website?

If so, this can help improve your SEO.

 

How do you see if your blog posts are helping improve a business’s SEO

 

User Engagement

Monitoring user engagement is key. Just as you wouldn’t have dinner in a restaurant without asking, ‘ How’s the food? ‘

You shouldn’t publish content marketing without periodically checking the user engagement metrics to ensure they are satisfactory.  

 

Does blogging help improve a business’s SEO

We answer whether adding blog posts to a company’s website can help improve the company’s SEO or not.

 

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2025/03/28 2025/03/28

Are backlinks still an important part of the SEO process?

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Written by: Ryan

 

Table of contents:

What is the difference between internal and external backlinks?

How do Google algorithms use external links to assess the strength of a business’s search engine optimisation?

Why is it important to lower a company’s bounce rate?

What is user experience?

What does anchor text mean? Why is it important not to optimise this text?

How our expert team can help?

 

To put it in a nutshell, to improve a business’s search engine optimisation, the company must have a strong backlink profile. Ever since the days of Google’s PageRank, Google has viewed backlinks as a key indicator of a business’s search engine optimisation strength. If companies have numerous powerful links (high DA), they will have much stronger domain authority, resulting in more organic traffic.

If you are scratching your head, wondering what “Google PageRank” means, do not be overly concerned about this term at the moment, as it’s just a description of one of the many algorithms that Google uses.

Google’s algorithm has become significantly more sophisticated; it now utilises numerous additional ranking factors to calculate and measure the strength of your business’s search engine optimisation.

However, a long time ago, Google relied almost entirely on backlinks to assess the strength of a business’s organic search engine optimisation (SEO). However, when you speak with any of the top SEO experts in the world, they will agree that there are now over 200 different ranking factors that Google utilises.

 

Can you please explain the difference between external and internal backlinks?

 

Internal links are simply links from pages or blog posts within the same domain name. You might be scratching your head, wondering what the point of that is. Let us explain a little further.

You will begin to understand how internal links are helpful for both shoppers and when improving a business search engine optimisation.

Let’s say you’re busy reading a particularly long blog post, which is over 3,000 words in total.

Therefore, it’s often the case that the business has written previous articles about similar topics that are discussed in that article.

Let’s say you’re reading an article about how high-performance engine oil. The company might link to other products sold, such as filters, air filters and perhaps other products, even car waxes. Therefore, these internal links direct shoppers to other product pages, providing access to additional helpful information.

Therefore, remember that internal links direct shoppers to different pages on the same website.

 

What are external links?

External links can decipher whether an SEO campaign wins or fails.

If a business has many strong, and powerful links then this improves its website’s domain authority, and the website is likely to rank higher on Google.

However, if your backlinks are low quality and have been purchased on mas, which means that the business SEO will undoubtedly fail. Companies may incur a Google penalty, (Google Penguin Penalty) and as a result, it can sometimes take many years to recover from a link penalty.

Therefore, when it comes to external links, quality is the key.

Only build quality backlinks.

 

 

Can you explain why backlinks are so crucial to the SEO process?

 

Google uses back links as a key ranking

You might be wondering what SEO ranking factors mean; well Google uses over 200 to decipher and determine precisely how good a business’s organic and local SEO is. Out of all ranking factors, when you ask any SEO expert, they will tell you that backlinks are right at the top of the tree in terms of importance. This means that if you establish powerful links, such as those from a reputable business, you can significantly improve your company’s ranking.

With a single powerful backlink from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the business could go from page 3 to page 1.

 

Using links to lower the company’s bounce rate

Have you ever visited a well-written website that is so engaging that you want to continue reading the helpful and valuable information it provides? It could be a blog post or a piece of evergreen content marketing that has kept you reading the page for over say over 7 minutes.

You may have clicked on several internal links and, consequently, transitioned from reading one blog post to perhaps three.

You may have spent a considerable amount of time on the website, but this can have a substantial beneficial effect on the business’s SEO.

SEO agencies refer to this as “dwell time”, thats the amount of time the shopper spends reading and digesting the information.

Dwell times are considerably high, lets say anything is five minutes; it shows the reader is interested in the work and wants to sit and read the information because of its quality.

This sends a clear message to Google’s algorithms that the information, that page is of high quality, indicating that the business offers helpful and reliable advice. Therefore this is why the bounce rate is low and the dwell time is high.

On the other hand, if the shopper fails to click on another internal link, the bounce rate could substantial, possibly reaching up to 70%. This, on the other hand, indicates that the shopper’s disinterest in the business and this is reflected in a high bounce rate.

Internal links can also help crawlers, such as Google bots, crawl and index different pages more efficiently.

 

Improve user experience

Consider a significant business for which you regularly make purchases from. This is probably a well-known e-commerce store with a multi-million-pound turnover.

What you often find is that such businesses will have often gone to considerable lengths to improve website navigation. There will be breadcrumb navigation, a good page structure, well designed drop-down menu, well designed main menus, and internal links.

What the business wants you to do is navigate between pages as simply as possible so you spend more time on the website and buy more products.

The last thing they want is for you not to find the product page you want, and leave the website without making a purchase? As this will result in a higher bounce rate.

Well-written anchor text

The anchor text, for those unfamiliar, refers to the clickable text that is clicked to follow the link.

However, Google also uses the anchor text as a way of deciphering what the page is about.

 

How our agency can help

Working with our agency can help you develop a winning SEO strategy for your business.

Whatever your business needs in terms of technical SEO, whether it’s links or content marketing, we can help.

It’s important to remember that there are marketing agencies, then there are marketing agencies. What we mean by that statement is that we have a consistent track record of helping businesses increase their sales numbers. Some SEO companies often take shortcuts and pursue quick wins, which can result in numerous penalties from Google.

Instead, we use some of the best methods, as recommended by Google. This can help to get your business to the top of Google’s search results.

If your business is seeking to enhance its SEO then please get in touch with us today.

 

 

 

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2024/07/29 2024/07/29

Comprehensive SEO content strategy to elevate your rankings

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Ciao, my friend! Let me tell you, a robust SEO content creation process is like the secret sauce in Mamma’s spaghetti. It’s essential for increasing brand visibility, engaging visitors at every stage of their journey, and driving those qualified leads into your sales funnel. But listen, it’s not just about creating great content but mixing those SEO best practices to dominate Google’s SERP rankings. So, grab your espresso, sit back, and let’s craft an SEO content strategy that aligns perfectly with your business objectives and capisce.

 

By: Ryan Walsh

Date: 29/07/2024

 

Content Advice, Keyword Research, Marketing Strategies

 

Introduction to SEO Content Strategy

 

Ah, my dear friend, understanding SEO content goes far beyond producing high-quality content. While quality is crucial, you must invest time in incorporating SEO best practices to improve Google’s SERP rankings. This guide provides an SEO content checklist to help you demonstrate your content’s quality, relevance, and authority, ensuring it reaches your target audience effectively. Andiamo, let’s dive into this beautiful world of SEO and make your content shine!

 

Identifying valuable topics in your niche

Effective topic ideation and validation

 

Selecting suitable topics is the cornerstone of effective SEO content, my friend. It’s essential to understand your audience and what they seek.

Your content should address their needs within your core expertise area. Imagine you’re a chef and need to know what your diners crave to create a menu that keeps them coming back for more.

 

Topic Brainstorming Checklist:

 

To start, identify your audience’s pain points and create content that provides solutions.

Use keyword research tools to explore relevant topics. Consult your customer service teams to understand common inquiries. Analyse web analytics to identify high-performing content.  Stay updated with industry trends. Monitor social media to understand your audience’s concerns. Share case studies and original research to add credibility.

 

Did you know, my friend, that according to HubSpot, businesses that blog generate 67% more monthly leads than those that don’t?

 

Conducting comprehensive keyword research

Building your content around keywords

 

Does SEO content revolve around keywords and capisce? Google uses these keywords to match web pages to user queries. Conducting thorough keyword research is crucial for this process. Think of keywords as the spices in your recipe – without them, your dish would be bland and forgettable.

 

Keyword Research checklist:

 

Generate general topics related to your business (these are your seed keywords).

Use tools like Semrush or Ahrefs to find related search terms for each theme. Evaluate keywords for traffic potential and competition. Aim for a mix of short-tail and long-tail keywords with varying volumes of search interest and keyword difficulties. Organise keywords into topic clusters and plan content to meet the search intent behind the keywords.

 

Here’s a spicy fact: 50% of search queries are four words or longer. Long-tail keywords are the linguine to your SEO Alfredo! Those long, specific phrases can help you capture niche markets and highly interested audiences.

In-Depth content research

 

With over 30 billion indexed web pages, matching search intent while creating engaging content is vital.

Research is not just about providing accurate information; it’s about understanding people-first content. Think of it like preparing a dish – you must know the ingredients and the best way to combine them to satisfy your guests.

 

 

Crafting new and engaging content

Strategic Content Creation

 

Understanding why someone might search for your keywords helps determine where they are in the buyer’s journey.

Use this insight to choose the correct content format—articles, FAQs, how-tos, or reviews—and create engaging SEO content. It’s like choosing the suitable dish for the right occasion; you need to know what will delight your guests.

 

Content Creation Checklist:

 

Define your topic and its purpose

Develop an organised outline with SEO-optimised headers and supporting points for each section. Write compelling, focused content using your expertise and authoritative sources. Follow the outline to keep your article focused. Use an appropriate tone for the piece and make the article easy to consume and compelling to read.

SEO content tools can help with readability and flow.

 

Businesses prioritising blogging are 13 times more likely to achieve a positive ROI.

That’s like getting a free dessert with your meal! It’s all about providing value, keeping your audience engaged, and coming back for more.

Prioritising Reader Value

 

Google’s helpful content system prioritises original, valuable content.

Aim to provide information that readers can apply directly to their situations. It’s like giving them a secret family recipe – helpful, something they can use and appreciate.

 

Helpful Content SEO Checklist:

 

Offer comprehensive answers and detailed solutions.

Provide downloadable guides and templates. Share real-life examples, original research, and unique viewpoints. Identify and fill topic gaps in top-ranking pages. Enhance your content with videos, charts, and graphs.

 

Did you know?

Visual content is 40 times more likely to be shared on social media. It’s like the tiramisu of your content strategy—everyone wants a piece! Ensure your content is informative, visually appealing, and shareable.

Adhering to EEAT Principles

 

Google’s human raters assess content based on experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (EEAT). It’s like a judge in a cooking competition – they’re looking for the best of the best.

 

EEAT Checklist:

 

Highlight personal knowledge and industry achievements to demonstrate experience. Showcase certifications, accreditations, and relevant credentials to meet the expertise guidelines. Establish your business as a respected source to demonstrate authoritativeness. Ensure your website is secure and professional to build trustworthiness.

 

Remember, 85% of consumers conduct online research before making a purchase.

 

Natural Keyword Integration and Optimisation

 

Search engines now understand the context better, making keyword stuffing unnecessary. Instead, focus on natural keyword integration to enhance readability and SEO performance. It’s like adding just the right amount of seasoning – not too much, not too little.

Here’s a fact:

Websites with robust keyword strategies see a 5.66 times higher conversion rate. That’s like hitting the SEO jackpot! Proper keyword placement can significantly improve your search engine rankings and user experience.

 

Editing, Proofreading, and Internal Linking

 

Before publishing, make sure your content is polished and error-free, like a fine Italian wine. Use internal links to help Google understand your site structure and improve user experience. It’s like organising your ingredients and kitchen tools – everything needs to be in place.

 

Editing Checklist:

 

Check for spelling and grammar mistakes.

Review content for clarity and flow. Ensure formatting and stylistic consistency. Align content with brand voice and tone. Verify facts and statistics.

Optimise for on-page SEO elements like keywords, meta titles, descriptions, and structured data.

 

Internal Link Checklist:

 

Link new content to older articles.

Use primary keywords as anchor text for business-critical pages. Recommend related content to keep users engaged. This helps improve your site’s navigation and keeps visitors exploring your content.

 

Did you know?

Internal linking can boost your page views by 40%. It’s like offering more delicious courses at dinner – people can’t resist! Proper internal linking helps with SEO and enhances the user experience by guiding them through your content.

 

Calls to Action

 

External links to authoritative sources enhance credibility, while clear CTAs can boost engagement and conversions, like the perfect ending to a beautiful meal. It’s all about creating trust and guiding your visitors towards taking action.

 

External Links Checklist:

 

Choose reputable and original research sources. Use descriptive anchor text. Ensure you’re linking to recent studies and articles—open links in new windows. Use external links only when they add value to your content or back up your claims.

 

CTA Checklist:

 

Structuring content effectively

 

A well-structured page aids both readers and search engines.

Use headers, short paragraphs, and lists to make content easily digestible. It’s all about creating a seamless and enjoyable experience for your audience.

 

Content Structuring Checklist:

 

Use H2s, H3s, and H4s to organise content. Keep paragraphs concise for easy skimming. Use bulleted and numbered lists to summarise vital points. Highlight important information with visual elements like bold and italic fonts, pull quotes, and summary boxes.

 

 

Post-Launch Promotion and Maintenance

 

After publishing, promote your content to attract traffic and ensure it stays up to date, like a well-tended vineyard. It’s not enough to create great content; you need to get it in front of the right audience.

 

Post-Launch Checklist:

 

Submit pages through Google Search Console to request indexing.

Distribute content through social media and email marketing. Add internal links to your new content from your older content. Monitor performance using analytics tools like GA4.

 

Content Freshness Checklist:

 

Regularly review and audit your content inventory. Update out-of-date information. Cite newer research and studies if available. Check for broken links.

 

Here’s a spicy statistic: Fresh content can boost organic traffic by 111%. Keep it fresh like basil in your garden! Regular updates ensure that your content remains relevant and valuable to your audience.

 

Partner With an SEO Content Expert

 

Creating top-performing content requires attention to detail, from topic selection to demonstrating quality to Google. Our team can help customise your content strategy, ensuring all SEO checkboxes are ticked. Contact us today for a free consultation to learn how to create content that resonates with your audience, optimises your pages, and achieves your business goals.

 

By following this comprehensive guide, you can create an SEO content strategy that improves your search rankings and effectively engages your audience, driving meaningful results for your business. Buona fortuna, my friend!

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2024/07/18 2024/07/18

Understanding and addressing crawlability issues with your website is crucial for unleashing the full potential of your SEO strategy.

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If not resolved, indexation issues can significantly hinder Google’s (Googlebot’s) ability to crawl your pages, negatively impacting your business’s organic SEO, potentially across a few pages or even the entire website!

 

Technical SEO

Some businesses only focus on writing content marketing and building backlinks until they are blue in the face.
Now, don’t get us wrong—these are still some of the most important ranking factors out there today; however, sometimes businesses overlook the importance of their website’s crawlability.

This article will explain why Google must be able to crawl your website and address any indexation problems you may encounter.

First things first, what are crawlability problems?

Your main pages or your blog posts, which you have been writing diligently for the last day or two that appear in Google’s results, must be able to get indexed.

It’s a bit like a large store that, let’s say, that is selling furniture. For that business to sell the item to you, it must first be scanned into the warehouse and tell the infantry control software to show that item is in stock.

This is similar to how Google’s algorithm works, once the page is indexed, Googlebot displays the page within the SERP’s.

For that, the Googlebot needs to crawl the page, and there are many ways to send a page for indexation: either manually submitting it via Google Search Console or by leaving Googlebot to find it.

However, if there are indexation issues, Googlebot will not be able to crawl and index the page blog post.

Googlebot can usually crawl and index pages on its own accord

Often, you don’t need to do anything to get a page indexed; you just need to simply add a site map and submit this to Google.

Often, it’s a Googlebot that can crawl and index the page without you having to do anything.

However, indexation problems can occur because of a no-index tab being left on or the page possibly sometimes being too slow for the Googlebot to index it. For instance, if the ‘no index’ tag is mistakenly applied to a page, it will not be indexed. Similarly, if a page takes too long to load, Googlebot may not index it.

 

No index tabs being left on incorrectly

Sometimes, no index tab can be left on, so “no-index” code might be written in the website’s header section, preventing the Googlebot from crawling that page. If this occurs, that page will never appear in Google’s results.

 

Incomplete indexing

incomplete indexing is when some pages are indexed, and others are not. This can occur for a range of different reasons. However, the web developers and your SEO team must use various tools, such as Screaming Frog to find which pages are getting indexed and which are not. Then, it’s a matter of correcting the problems; it could be that they are “orphan pages”, that is, pages with no links leading to it. There can be a considerable amount of 404 errors, and there could not possibly be no-index code written into the website’s header section within the robot.txt document.

 

Unreliable hosting

It can sometimes be the case that you employ an absolutely fantastic SEO team that got that business on the first page of Google.co.uk, possibly even in the number one position. However, if the hosting is unreliable, and the website is down for a long time regularly, perhaps due to server maintenance, probably because the hosting company is unreliable, or because the server is so slow, then Google might decide to drop that page out of its index.

 

No index code is written in the robots.txt document

The robots.txt provides instructions for the Googlebot on whether to crawl and index that page. However, if you get these instructions wrong, for example you tell Google to “no-index” a critical page, such as the homepage, then can’t get indexed, massively hampering your business’s organic SEO performance.

Do use of the Google Search Console it is brilliant. It is free and can show you some of your websites indexation issues.

 

Google Search Console and indexing errors

Your SEO consultant or in-house marketing team should routinely check for any indexing errors within your Google Search Console account.

For example, it could be the case that all the pages were getting indexed up until one week ago.

Yet the website might have gone through a redesign process recently. and your web designers have written in the code which now means some pages can’t get indexed, so this needs to be fixed if you want those pages to be indexed later.

 

Many SEO agencies use Screaming Frog

A lot of SEO agencies across the globe use Screaming Frog to find things like 404-page errors, for example.
An increase number of 404-pages and 404-page errors can massively impact your business’s SEO.

For example, your SEO consultant might have spent hundreds of hours building high-quality do follow links to send link equity link juice to that specific page. Then, if you decide to delete that page all of that link, equity can be lost overnight.

There’s also the matter of creating a poor user experience.

Shoppers will likely bounce off the website immediately if a custom 404 page greets them. Therefore, you should work closely with your web design and SEO teams to correct 404-page errors.

5xx Errors

A 5xx error signals that the server couldn’t carry out a request. Googlebot must be able to crawl and index the page, so the 5xx error could prevent . Googlebot from doing its work. If this happens that page might be removed and ranked lower in Google’s index.

 

504 Gateway Timeout:

504 Gateway Timeout: if your website is timing out, then this again can cause indexation issues, as again, the bot can’t access that page to crawl and index it.

Broken internal links

Internal links are a bit like a spider’s cobweb; you can follow them, and everything is interlinked.
However, if the links become broken, that’s to say a page that links directly to a different blog post which you have just written, if that link becomes a broken internal link. This will prevent Googlebot from following the link and then crawling that page, so broken internal links can waste your business’s crawl budget.

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