Last week in our SEO (search engine optimization) top tips, we covered site maintenance and how you need to update your website regularly. And while site maintenance can be its own thing, it typically falls under the jurisdiction of…
The
WEBMASTER.
Now look, we all know that being a Jedi master is not a real job. But when you think about what a webmaster does, you can think of it like your favorite Jedis: Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, even Qui-Gon Jinn if you’re one of these unique people who enjoyed the prequels.
A Jedi master bestows their knowledge of the Force onto their young padawans and expands the impact of the Force’s good into the galaxy.
Just like a Jedi master, a webmaster uses SEO guidelines (the web’s version of “the Force”) to ensure that their website runs properly, contains quality content to help people, and solves problems.
So strap into the Millennium Falcon and let’s learn how to use the SEO Force and become the best Jedi webmaster in the universe!
Don’t Go to the Dark Side: Follow the Webmaster Guidelines
Just like the Force has a light side and a dark side, SEO has a light side and a dark side as well. These two parts of SEO are called white hat SEO and black hat SEO.
White hat SEO follows the guidelines outlined in Google’s Search Essentials. Black hat SEO ignores these and does whatever it takes to get the #1 spot on the search engine results page (also called SERP).
Let’s talk about the difference between these two with a topic we previously discussed: keywords.
- In white hat SEO: The webmaster curates a list of appropriate keywords that best describes the content on the page.
- In black hat SEO: The webmaster stuffs as many keywords as possible into the content and doesn’t care if it helps people or not.
Just like what Anakin learned when he hopped over to the dark side, you can find success and power in black hat SEO. However, if Google figures out what you’re doing, they’ll issue a penalty that moves your website down in the search results. If the offense is bad enough, it results in a permanent ban from Google.
So, don’t be like Anakin and keep your website on the light side of the Force using Google Search Central and Bing Webmaster Tools.
The Yoda of White Hat SEO: Google Search Central
When figuring out the ins and outs of being your own webmaster, you need to teach yourself how to run site maintenance and follow the Google rules by using Google Search Central (formerly called Google Webmasters). This is Google’s SEO hub to help your site become more discoverable with Google search.
When searching the site, there are three different modes:
- Business owner or marketer: a person without SEO experience who wants to improve their SEO results. This is most likely you.
- Developer: someone who completes code and markups for a website.
- SEO professional: an expert in SEO who can handle the minute details required for maximum effectiveness.
If you’re a business owner playing the role of webmaster, then you’ll need to read through the fundamentals of getting your website on Google.
Give Obi-Wan Some Love Too: Sign Up for Bing Webmaster Tools
While everyone in the internet universe cares the most about Yoda, that’s not the only character in the SEO/Star Wars Universe. You also have to learn from Obi-Wan, AKA Bing Webmaster Tools.
Let’s be clear: Bing is nowhere near as popular as Google. It only has 8.23% of the desktop search engine market and 2.73% of the search engine market share worldwide.
But don’t sleep on Bing. Many websites that just aren’t ranking on Google’s SERP can do well on Bing because it uses a different algorithm. Plus, Bing has increased its traffic and page views by 15.8% since February due to the Open AI integration, so people can search the internet with more conversational answers rather than links.
So if you’re tempted to go to the dark side because your Google SEO strategy isn’t going as planned, try Bing instead.
Bing also powers Yahoo’s search engine. When you add and optimize your website in Bing Webmaster Tools, it adds it to Yahoo as well. There’s no separate SEO for Yahoo.
The last aspect to consider is if your target audience would use Bing. Some facts about Bing to help you figure this out:
- 71% of users are over 35
- Cars, health, and finance make up to 40% of the search queries
- 38% of the users in the US make over 100k a year
- Half of Bing users are college graduates
If your customer base falls into these categories, then you should register for Bing Webmaster tools.
Lightsaber Safety First: Gain an SSL Certificate
So you’ve signed up for Bing and Google and are ready to become your own webmaster. But before you start swinging your lightsaber and dive into the nitty gritty of SEO, you need to gain an SSL certificate.
An SSL certificate protects data shared between a website and the person viewing it, making sure that no one else can read it.
These certificates were introduced in the 90s on Netscape to stop eavesdropping and maintain secure transactions. SSL certificates are so important that Google will warn a user before they enter a site without one because it’s so unsafe.
Data shared on a website often contains delicate information, such as credit card numbers, driver’s license info, or someone’s address. The last thing you want for your business is to compromise your customer’s personal information, a quick way to cut off your sales pipeline.
Plus, when you gain an SSL certificate, this establishes your authority with Google and makes your website trustworthy, which puts you one step closer to that #1 SERP ranking.
It’s Tough to Be a Jedi: Trust the Experts Instead
Luke didn’t become a Jedi overnight. It took three movies and the fact that his dad (spoiler alert) was Darth Vader to get the hang of things so fast.
Being your own webmaster is a ton of work. It means you’re in charge of site maintenance, SEO, and technical knowledge of Bing and Google’s SEO web rules. If you already operate your own business, don’t burn yourself out by adding another job to your plate.
Instead, trust the experts at e9digital to handle the webmaster’s duties. We’re fully-trained Jedis of the SEO Force and have professionals on staff to handle
- SEO services
- PPC (pay-per-click) services
- Data analytics and business intelligence services
- And more!
Because we have so many different experts in-house, we can match your website with the exact services needed to boost your brand on Google and Bing’s SEO pages. So, stick to becoming a Jedi in your imagination and contact us to handle your webmaster needs today.
