SEO is something that every web developer should be aware of. Web developers always develop pages and websites. These pages require time and effort to construct, and you don’t want to squander that time creating content that doesn’t rank high in search engines. If you don’t rank well, your time-consuming content will only reach a small audience. Developers have numerous choices for optimizing this content for SEO during the creation process, boosting the ranking, and increasing the number of readers. That’s why, in this blog, we’ll teach you why every web developer should understand and learn SEO. Let’s dive in.
- The correct use of heading tags: The headings h1, h2, and so on should be recognizable to everyone. The font size, which can be modified with CSS, is the sole visual difference. Web developers typically use h1 tags to construct headlines for search engine optimization, however, this is a no-no. h1 is the document’s overall header. h2 and additional subheadings should be utilized in the same way. h1 tag should be used on each page. Multiple instances of h2, h3, h4, and so on are possible. So learning SEO will make sure the titles are ordered in a meaningful way, not just for cosmetic reasons.
- A well-organized page: As a general guideline, all information on a website should be no more than two clicks away from the home page. It is commonly said that while reviewing a website, search engines take into account its structure, including subpages. Even without the direct rating, a decent, clear, and flat structure makes sense so that the user can find his way around and does not immediately jump off. All of this will be handled easily by a web designer with good SEO experience.
- A strong link structure: Developers should be knowledgeable in link structures. In general, URLs should be human-friendly, include keywords, and be as brief as possible. According to a major survey, the best-ranked websites on Google usually have relatively short URLs. They are human-readable, contain keywords, and are short enough to convey the content of the articles. Knowing these details will aid in site ranking.
- Mobile Optimization: Web developers should be aware of the importance of mobile device optimization. Working with device queries is one way of providing a mobile site, but the loading speed must also be considered because Google tests the site for mobile devices. One method is to utilize a mobile-first approach, in which media queries are used to provide a reasonable experience for desktop devices. However, the traffic and device types used by the majority of visitors should define how this is handled for a website. Of course, giving the majority of users the best possible experience is vital. Many web developers neglect these, but they are essential for commercial operations.
- Site Speed: Web developers should think about site speed when creating a website. Visitors will abandon your website if it takes too long to load. When a search engine crawls your site for the first time to index it, it can assess the loading time, and it prefers sites that load quickly. The bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who leave a website after arriving via search engine. The goal is to have visible material on the page as soon as possible, which is why web developers should understand SEO. Without it, the developers can end up with a website that irritates visitors.
- Knowledge of Alt-tags: The alt tags of an image element should be familiar to most people, but it is rarely utilized. It’s a good idea because it helps search engines figure out what your image is about. When you look up the first results for any phrase in Google Image Search, you’ll notice that all of the top-ranking photographs have alt tags. You should confirm that both tags can be utilized as a web developer – the actual wording is not your responsibility. If that’s the case, incorporate the keywords in a brief, readable description.
- Optimized Site Architecture: A web developer’s most crucial task is to design a functioning website architecture. Your website’s design, including how its navigation system operates and how its pages are organized and linked, is an important factor. An optimized website architecture improves the user experience and website credibility in addition to making things simpler for search engine crawlers to identify and index the website. There are some universal rules that a web developer should go by, such as site architecture, although the website architecture varies depending on the website domain and expertise.
- Knowledge of Meta Description: A brief description of a website or web page is defined by the meta description. It improves the click-through rate of the website and is frequently seen on search engine results pages. Although using a well-optimized and relevant meta description is strongly advised for better results, it is not essential, and search engines even extract it on their own from the website. Additionally, you want to use 155 to 160 characters to create a distinctive meta description. As a web developer, you should be aware of this.
Who Should Learn SEO?
The site developers and marketing team should all have a basic understanding of SEO. For small teams and projects, web developers must implement SEO strategies during the development phase. This method will save a ton of time and money for future SEO changes. Today, there are companies and individuals who specialize in providing SEO services on demand. Make sure to start the job by including Seo techniques. By doing this, the process will be a lot quicker and cheaper than if it were done after the website is launched.
Final Thoughts: Nowadays, web developers are part of the SEO team. Your skills as a web developer combined with your understanding of SEO will aid a site’s ranking. If you want to learn more about web development or SEO, you can always learn for free on youtube. There are thousands of SEO tutorials on YouTube. Use Career Ninja‘s Learn Tube chrome extension for hand-holding training on YouTube. Learn Tube organizes the results of your YouTube search into a course framework. If you want to learn “SEO tutorials” search that term on youtube and Learn Tube will show you a bunch of videos like an online course. As a beginner, you’ll click through the videos from the first to the last, as if you were taking an online course tailored specifically for you on YouTube.
