Indexing
Indexing stands out as the pivotal step in this process because content absent from the index stands no chance of being ranked. Once your page undergoes crawling, it’s then placed into the index based on the keywords and phrases identified by the crawler. Therefore, if your page’s content is deemed high-quality and relevant to a particular search query, it will be indexed under the corresponding search phrase. Consequently, when someone searches for that phrase, your page appears in the search results.
The significance lies in the quality of your keyword indexing, as higher indexing correlates with better visibility in search results. For instance, in the hotel industry, when someone searches for “Motels in Mackay,” all suggested motels within the Mackay area are displayed. However, the top-ranking motels are those that have been indexed prominently based on their crawl and whose content is deemed highly relevant and applicable to the search.
Ranking And Scoring
Your site’s overall SEO Score is determined by its performance in four key subcategories: Technical, Content, User Experience, and Mobile. Each subcategory comprises various checks with different weightings, which are aggregated to calculate a score for that specific aspect of SEO.
Technical:
This evaluates how well the technical components of a site facilitate its accessibility, crawling, and indexing by search engine bots. Proper indexing is vital for a site to be ranked by search engines; without it, even excellent on-page content and links won’t attract visitors. Therefore, technical SEO plays a crucial role in driving organic traffic.
Content:
This assesses the quality of a site’s user-facing content, focusing on its ability to engage users and align meta-content accurately with site content. Descriptive meta-content sets clear visitor expectations, and when combined with high-quality site content, reduces bounce rates, indicating relevance to Google and potentially leading to higher rankings.
User Experience:
This measures how effectively embedded information such as links and visuals enhances user experience. A well-organised link hierarchy and appropriately defined images improve a site’s usability and indexability.
Mobile-First Indexing:
This evaluates how responsive and adaptable a site is for use and display on mobile devices. Given the increasing use of mobile devices for accessing websites, having a mobile-ready site is crucial for retaining users and driving conversions.
