180+ SEO Best Practices (From Google)

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Updated: August 3, 2022.

Here are 180+ champion SEO practices based connected the Google Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Starter Guide.

If you don’t person clip to spell done the full SEO Starter Guide from Google oregon you request a refresher, you are conscionable successful the close place.

Here I americium sharing with you my notes from Google’s usher unneurotic with my ain comments and insights. I was capable to find 180+ champion SEO practices and tips!

P.S. I powerfully urge that you work and survey some the SEO Starter Guide and this article.

⚡ Make definite to cheque my list of SEO tips to marque you a amended SEO.

SEO Newsletter by #SEOSLY

How to usage these Google SEO champion practices & tips

These notes volition beryllium particularly adjuvant if:

you are a beginner SEO who wants to observe the champion practices for SEO and instrumentality them successful their processes close away,
you are an precocious SEO who wants to refresh their cognition (I learned a fewer caller things from this guide),
you privation to amended your lawsuit truthful that they amended recognize what you are doing, wherefore you are doing it, and what needs to beryllium done,
you person work the Basic SEO Guide and privation to reenforce your freshly acquired knowledge.

I divided the SEO tips into antithetic categories for your convenience.

Okay, truthful let’s leap close into my notes!

SEO indexability & crawlability champion practices

Use the site: bid to cheque if your tract is indexed by Google.
NOTE: Keep successful caput that the site: bid volition lone springiness you a unsmooth fig of pages indexed by Google. Check the full list of Google hunt operators.
Google whitethorn not scale your tract for galore reasons, specified arsenic determination are nary links pointing to your tract connected the internet, your tract is brand-new and hasn’t been crawled by Google yet, your tract is designed successful a mode that makes it intolerable for Google to crawl and render it correctly, determination were server errors erstwhile Google was trying to entree your site, oregon it is blocked from indexing.
You don’t request to taxable your tract to Google to get successful indexed. Google crawls and indexes the web automatically. However, connected the flip side, determination is nary warrant that Google volition find and scale your tract connected its own.
NOTE: If you attraction astir your site’s integrated growth, ever taxable it to Google utilizing GSC.
Google Search Console (GSC) allows you to taxable your tract to Google and show its performance. If you are an precocious user, you whitethorn privation to cheque my usher connected how to audit a tract utilizing Google Search Console.
Every caller tract proprietor should wage attraction to captious SEO aspects, specified arsenic whether their tract is indexed by Google, whether it offers prime to users, whether their section concern is listed successful GMB, whether the tract is accessible and fast, and whether it is secure.
The champion mode to assistance Google find your tract is to make and taxable an XML sitemap.
NOTE: Most contented absorption systems volition make an XML sitemap automatically. Check how to find the sitemap of a site.
Google tin besides larn astir your tract by simply pursuing links connected different websites pointing to your site.
Use robots.txt to artifact circumstantial parts of your website from crawling.
Subdomains are treated arsenic abstracted websites, truthful you request to person a abstracted robots.txt for each subdomain.
The robots.txt record needs to beryllium enactment successful the basal directory of the site.
Use the Google Search Console robots.txt Tester to trial your robots.txt file.
NOTE: Most contented absorption systems (like WordPress) let you to edit and modify robots.txt without the request to manually upload the record to the basal directory. Check my usher connected how to modify robots.txt successful WordPress.
Keep successful caput that blocked (disallowed) pages whitethorn inactive beryllium crawled by disobedient hunt engines that bash not comply with the Robots Exclusion Standard.
Anyone tin presumption your robots.txt record and spot what you are blocking, truthful this is not the spot to artifact pages containing delicate information.
To forestall pages with delicate accusation from being seen, usage password-protection oregon region those pages entirely.
You should artifact interior hunt effect pages from crawling.
Blocking a URL successful robots.txt does not forestall it from being indexed. A blocked leafage whitethorn inactive beryllium indexed if determination are links pointing to it connected the internet.
If a blocked URL gets indexed, past lone its URL volition beryllium shown successful SERPs (with nary rubric oregon meta statement being displayed).
To forestall a leafage from being indexed and shown successful Google, usage the noindex tag.
NOTE: To lone region a fixed leafage from SERPs without removing it from the index, usage the Removals instrumentality successful GSC.
The leafage should look the aforesaid some for users and hunt motor robots.
You should not artifact website resources, specified arsenic JavaScript, CSS, and images from crawling due to the fact that it whitethorn marque it hard for Google to some render and scale your site.
The Google Search Console URL Inspection Tool lets you cheque however Google sees and renders your page.

Best practices for SEO titles

The <title> tag informs some users and hunt engines astir the taxable of a fixed page.
The <title> tag you specified successful a web leafage whitethorn beryllium displayed successful SERPs but whitethorn besides beryllium rewritten by Google.
Create a unsocial <title> tag for each web leafage and spot it wrong the <head> conception of the page.
Make definite your titles are some abbreviated and descriptive.
Overly agelong titles whitethorn not beryllium afloat shown successful SERPs. Google whitethorn take to amusement lone a fragment of the title.
NOTE: Recent events regarding Google’s update of titles amusement that Google does not ever amusement the astir desirable fragment of a agelong rubric tag.
The <title> tag for the homepage should see the sanction of the tract and see immoderate basal accusation astir it (e.g. the carnal location).
Do not make titles that bash not subordinate to the contented of the page.
Do not usage titles that incorporate default values similar “Home”, “Untitled” etc.
Do not usage the aforesaid rubric for a radical of akin pages.
Do not worldly keywords successful your rubric tags.

NOTE: A batch has been going connected regarding titles recently, truthful marque definite to cheque the Google Search Central Blog station astir how Google generates titles for web leafage results.

Best practices for SEO meta descriptions

The meta statement tag is expected to beryllium the summary of the contented of the web pages. It should incorporate accusation that volition fto users determine whether they tin find what they are looking for connected a fixed page.
The meta statement tag tin incorporate 1 oregon 2 sentences oregon adjacent a abbreviated paragraph.
The meta statement tag is placed wrong the <head> section.
Google whitethorn usage the statement tag arsenic snippets successful SERPs.
In galore cases though, Google generates the snippet connected its ain based connected the query typed by the user.
Adding the meta statement tag to the pages is not a request but is simply a bully SEO practice.
There is nary maximal oregon minimal recommended magnitude of the meta description. However, it’s recommended to make meta statement tags agelong capable to beryllium afloat shown successful snippets.
Do not worldly keywords into meta statement tags.
Do not usage generic descriptions, specified arsenic “This is simply a web leafage astir SEO”.
Do not constitute meta descriptions that bash not subordinate to the contented of the page.
If possible, make unsocial meta descriptions for each web pages.
If not imaginable (i.e. the tract has thousands of pages), automatically make meta descriptions based connected the contented of the page.

NOTE: Most contented absorption systems (including WordPress with an SEO plugin similar Rank Math installed) will automatically make meta statement elements based connected the archetypal sentences of text.

Best practices for headings

Use headings to bespeak important topics wrong a web page.
Headings assistance make a hierarchical operation of the contented of the web pages.
Think astir headings arsenic outlines for a ample insubstantial with main points and sub-points.
Don’t spot random substance into headings. Only spot substance that volition assistance bespeak the operation of the page.
Don’t usage headings for styling purposes. Use <em>, <b>, oregon <strong> instead.
Aim for the logical operation of headings.

NOTE: You tin usage the Chrome Web Developer plugin to cheque the operation of headings connected immoderate site. Go to Information > View papers outline. You whitethorn besides privation to cheque my full list of SEO Chrome extensions.

Best practices for structured data

Structured information is determination to assistance hunt engines amended recognize the contented of your web pages.
Thanks to structured data, hunt engines tin show your web pages successful a much charismatic mode successful SERPs, which tin promote much users to click connected your snippet.
NOTE: In different words, structured information (rich results) tin assistance summation the CTR of pages.
This enhanced practice of pages utilizing definite types of structured information is called rich results.
You tin usage a assortment of entities to people up your concern successful search. Some examples see products, concern location, videos, opening hours, recipes, and more.
The Data Highlighter and Markup Helper volition assistance you adhd the markup to the HTML codification of the pages of your site.
Use the Rich Results Test to cheque if your markup is valid and your pages tin beryllium displayed successful the signifier of affluent results.
Use the Google Search Console Rich Results reports to show and troubleshoot the pages that incorporate circumstantial types of affluent results.

Best practices for URLs

Search engines request a unsocial URL to crawl and scale a fixed portion of content.
Different types of contented should beryllium placed connected antithetic URLs.
URLs are divided into antithetic sections, specified arsenic protocol://hostname/path/filename?querystring#fragment and connected the illustration of a existent URL this whitethorn look similar https://www.example.com/RunningShoes/Womens.htm?size=8#info.
It’s recommended to usage the https:// protocol.
The domain sanction is successful different words the hostname.
Google differentiates betwixt the www and non-www versions of URLs. It besides differentiates betwixt the http and https versions.
NOTE: Each saltation is simply a abstracted URL to Google.
Path, filename, and query drawstring find what contented tin beryllium accessed from the server.
Path, filename, and query strings are case-sensitive, which means that FILE is simply a antithetic assets than file.
The hostname and the protocol are not case-sensitive. It makes nary quality whether you benignant HTTPS://SEOSLY.COM oregon https://seosly.com.
It makes nary quality if you enactment a trailing slash aft the homepage (the hostname). Both https://seosly.com and https://seosly.com/ constituent to the aforesaid content.
It makes a quality if you enactment a trailing slash aft the way successful the URL.
If you don’t usage the trailing slash similar successful https://seosly.com/seo, past it volition awesome that this is the file.
If you usage the trailing slash similar successful https://seosly/com/seo/, past it volition awesome that this is the directory.
NOTE: Content absorption systems similar WordPress automatically adhd / astatine the extremity of URLs.
Create a elemental directory operation that organizes the contented of the tract good and allows visitors to cognize wherever they are connected the site.
You whitethorn effort utilizing the directory operation to bespeak the benignant of contented astatine a fixed URL similar /product/ oregon /article/.
Use directory names that subordinate to the contented contiguous successful a fixed directory.
Do not usage a analyzable operation of heavy nesting galore subdirectories similar seosly.com/seo/beginner/easy/guide/.
Create affable and descriptive URLs that are much utile and easy understandable.
Avoid utilizing agelong and cryptic URLs that incorporate fewer recognizable words similar successful seosly.com/fold/222/34.
Avoid utilizing generic names successful URLs similar “page”.
Use existent and meaningful words successful URLs.
Avoid keyword stuffing successful URLs similar seosly.com/seo-services-best-seo-service-seo-expert/.
Remember that URLs are displayed successful immoderate signifier successful hunt results.
Provide 1 mentation of a URL to scope a circumstantial portion of contented and notation lone to this 1 mentation successful your interior linking structure.
Having antithetic URLs for the aforesaid oregon precise akin contented tin divided the estimation betwixt these URLs.
If users are accessing the aforesaid contented done antithetic URLs, you tin instrumentality a 301 (permanent) redirect from the non-preferred to the preferred URL.
You tin besides usage the rel=”canonical” nexus constituent to bespeak the preferred mentation of a URL.
NOTE: Remember that rel=”canonical” is treated arsenic a hint by Google. 301 redirect is simply a overmuch stronger signal.

Best practices for tract navigation & sitemaps

Navigation is important some for users and hunt motor robots.
Navigation tin assistance some users and hunt engines recognize the astir important contented connected the website.
Google pays attraction to the tract navigation to amended recognize the relation a fixed leafage plays successful the wide operation of the site.
The homepage is usually the astir important and the astir often visited web leafage of the tract and is the starting spot of navigation for some users and hunt motor robots.
Unless your tract has fewer pages, you should deliberation astir wherever the homepage directs users and hunt motor robots.
The homepage usually should nexus to the much circumstantial web pages and/or groups of circumstantial pages (e.g. class pages).
Breadcrumbs are a large mode to assistance users rapidly navigate to the erstwhile conception oregon the homepage.
Breadcrumbs person the astir wide web leafage (the homepage) usually placed arsenic the archetypal (the leftmost link) and the astir circumstantial 1 arsenic the past (the rightmost link).
It’s recommended to usage breadcrumb structured information for breadcrumbs.
Create a navigational leafage for users, an HTML sitemap that would amusement the full operation of the website and assistance users amended recognize the hierarchy of the website and the topics it covers.
Create a navigational leafage for hunt engines, an XML sitemap to assistance hunt engines observe caller and updated contented connected your site.
An XML sitemap should database each applicable URLs of the tract unneurotic with the past modification dates.
Make definite that navigational pages (whether it beryllium an XML sitemap oregon an HTML sitemap) bash not incorporate breached links.
You should make a people flowing hierarchy successful which users tin navigate from much wide contented to much circumstantial content. To execute this, you should make navigation pages and marque usage of interior links.
All the pages of the tract should beryllium accessible done interior links.
It is simply a bully thought to nexus to related pages wherever it makes sense.
Avoid creating overtly analyzable navigational structures wherever each leafage connected the tract links to each different leafage oregon wherever pages are 5+ clicks distant from the homepage.
Make definite to usage substance links for navigation. It makes it easier for hunt engines to crawl and recognize the site.
Avoid gathering navigation based connected images only.
For JavaScript-based pages, ever usage <a> elements with URLs arsenic href values and make paper items connected leafage load.
Make definite your tract has a customized 404 leafage that guides users backmost to a moving leafage oregon the homepage and is successful enactment with the plan of the site. You whitethorn adhd links to fashionable oregon akin pages connected your customized 404 page.
Don’t let 404 pages to beryllium indexed.
Make definite the server gives a 404 HTTP presumption codification erstwhile a non-existent leafage is requested. JavaScript-based sites should person the noindex tag added for non-existent pages.
Don’t artifact 404 pages successful robots.txt.

Best practices for contented optimization

Create compelling and utile content.
Use the Google Ads Keyword Planner to observe the keywords your users whitethorn usage erstwhile looking for the contented your tract offers and larn their approximate hunt volumes.
Write easy-to-read and easy-to-follow content.
Avoid penning sloppy substance with spelling and grammatical errors.
Don’t embed substance successful images and videos successful the lawsuit of textual content. Search engines cannot work this signifier of text.
Clearly signifier the topics you cover.
Break up agelong contented into logical chunks oregon slug points (like this one) to marque it easier for users to find the contented they are funny in.
Create caller and unsocial contented connected a regular basis.
Avoid having duplicate oregon near-duplicate versions of your contented crossed your site.
Create contented for users but besides marque definite it’s accessible to hunt engines.
Don’t insert unnecessary keywords lone aimed astatine hunt engines.
Don’t adhd predominant misspellings of keywords to your contented with the intent of ranking for those keywords!
Don’t fell substance from users portion showing it to hunt motor robots.
NOTE: And vice versa.

Best practices for E-A-T & YMYL

Aim astatine providing expertise and trustworthiness successful your circumstantial niche.
Provide accusation astir who is down the site, who writes its content, and what the goals of the tract are.
For e-commerce oregon fiscal transaction websites, ever supply wide and satisfying lawsuit work information.
For a quality site, supply accusation connected who is liable for the contented of the site.
Use a unafraid connection.
Make definite that your tract and its contented are created and edited by experts connected a fixed topic.
Avoid representing topics and conclusions that spell against the established technological consensus.
Make definite the contented you supply is factually accurate, comprehensive, and clear.
Avoid utilizing distracting ads that marque it hard to entree the main contented of the site.

Best practices for interior linking

Use substance links.
Write bully nexus substance that is descriptive and concise (a fewer words oregon a abbreviated phrase).
Remember that nexus substance (also called anchor text) informs some users and hunt engines astir the taxable of the leafage to which it points.
There are 2 types of links, interior and external. Internal links constituent to different pages connected your tract portion outer links constituent to different sites.
Use descriptive substance for substance links truthful that it conveys astatine slightest a basal thought of what the linked leafage is about.
Don’t usage generic and meaningless anchor texts similar “click here”, “read more”, etc.
Don’t usage anchor texts that are unrelated to the taxable of the linked site.
In astir cases, you don’t privation to usage the URL arsenic the anchor text.
Don’t usage full sentences oregon paragraphs arsenic anchor text.
Make definite users tin admit links easy (e.g. usage a antithetic color).
Don’t benignant links arsenic regular substance truthful that users tin accidentally click them.
Pay a batch of attraction to the anchor substance of interior links. This whitethorn assistance some users and hunt engines amended navigate and recognize your site.
Don’t overdo interior links by stuffing unnecessary keywords successful their anchor text.
By linking to different website you whitethorn confer immoderate of your site’s estimation to it.
If you don’t privation to confer your estimation to the tract you are linking to, usage the nofollow attribute.
If you are utilizing a 3rd party’s widget, marque definite that it does not incorporate links and if it does, adhd the nofollow tag to them.
Nofollowing a nexus means adding the rel=”nofollow” oregon a much circumstantial property similar “ugc” oregon “sponsored” to the nexus element.
To nofollow each links connected a page, usage the tag <meta name=”robots” content=”nofollow”>.
Add the nofollow oregon ugc tag to user-generated content. This includes the remark section, forums, impermanent books, etc.
Most contented absorption systems (WordPress including) automatically nofollow idiosyncratic comments which are prone to spam.
One of the ways to woody with automatically-generated spammy comments is to usage CATCHAs.

Best practices for images

To embed images connected your tract usage <img> and <picture> elements.
The <picture> constituent allows for specifying aggregate options for antithetic surface sizes for responsive images.
Use the loading=”lazy” property for images to marque your pages load faster.
Don’t usage CSS to show images that you privation to get indexed.
Use the alt property and a descriptive filename.
The alt property is the substance that volition beryllium shown if the representation cannot beryllium displayed.
The alt property is besides highly adjuvant for radical utilizing surface readers.
The alt substance besides acts arsenic the anchor substance for graphic links.
The alt substance besides helps hunt motor robots amended recognize the images connected your site.
Create an representation sitemap to assistance hunt engines find your images and summation their likelihood of being recovered successful Google Image search.
Use modular representation formats, specified arsenic JPEG, GIF, PNG, and WebP.

Best practices regarding mobile-friendliness

Keep successful caput that having a mobile-friendly website is captious nowadays.
The recommended mobile strategy is to usage responsive web design.
Use the Mobile-Friendly Test to cheque if the pages of your tract are mobile-friendly. You whitethorn privation to cheque my usher connected however to cheque if a tract is mobile-friendly.
Use the Google Search Console Mobile Usability report to cheque if determination are mobile-friendliness issues crossed each your web pages.
Use the meta name=”vieport” tag to instruct the browser to set the contented to the surface size of the device.
Make definite each the resources of the tract are crawlable oregon Google whitethorn not observe that your tract is mobile-friendly.
Avoid utilizing full-page interstitials and thing that whitethorn origin a mediocre idiosyncratic experience.
Make definite that the tract is afloat functional connected each devices.
Make definite that each important images and videos are accessible connected some mobile and desktop.
Make definite that structured information and different metadata are contiguous connected each versions of pages.

Best practices for promoting the site

Active promotion of your website tin assistance your tract turn faster and quicker.
In immoderate cases, offline promotion (listing your tract connected concern cards, posters, etc.) tin besides beryllium helpful.
Another mode to beforehand your concern and your products is to nonstop retired recurring newsletters to clients to pass them astir caller contented connected your site.
For section businesses, creating a Google Business Profile volition assistance scope section customers connected Google Maps and Google Search.
Use societal media to beforehand your large campaigns
Avoid promoting each and each caller portion of contented connected your tract connected each imaginable societal media channel.
Reach retired to sites that screen akin topics to yours.
Avoid spamming nexus requests to sites related to yours.
Avoid purchasing links from different sites with the intent of expanding your authority.

Best practices for analyzing your tract and users

Use Google Analytics (GA) to show and analyse the users of your site.
Use Google Search Console (GSC) to show and analyse however your tract is doing successful search.

I anticipation that acknowledgment to my notes you were capable to get adjacent much retired of the Google Basic SEO Guide. If you similar this article, delight stock it with different SEOs truthful that they tin go adjacent amended SEOs.

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