In the world of content marketing, SEO stands as the linchpin, ensuring you secure the top spots on search engine result pages (SERPs). Yet, as more businesses leverage these strategies, separating yourself from the competition can be challenging.
That’s when SEO coding swoops in as a game-changer. While not an essential skill for SEO, coding knowledge can help you stay ahead in the digital race.
In this article, we’ll explore SEO coding. From securing websites to outshining competitors, keep reading for all the details!
Table of Contents
Does SEO Require Coding?
The short answer is that it depends. Generally, you don’t need coding skills to become an SEO specialist.
However, understanding these languages can help you enhance your search engine optimization strategy.
That’s especially true if you want to implement advanced SEO techniques, like website auditing. It can also help troubleshoot and fix technical issues, which can impact your search engine ranking.
The good news is that you don’t need to code from scratch to leverage this method. Having basic knowledge can help you make the most of SEO techniques.
Technical SEO and Programming
As you might know, search engines like Google consider many factors when ranking websites. These include technical elements like website speed, security, and more.
For that reason, implementing technical SEO techniques can help improve your website’s ranking and increase your organic traffic.
The problem is that this SEO strategy involves different coding elements. Knowing its components and the programming skills needed can help you troubleshoot and fix technical issues quickly. Consequently, you improve your website’s performance.
Let’s discuss how coding influences technical SEO in further detail!
1. Secure Your Website
Securing your website is a primary aspect of technical SEO. That’s because 84% of users are likely to abandon a platform if it’s unsafe.
Not only does having a non-secure page lower your ranking, but search engines like Google can even penalize your website.
To avoid this hassle, you need to implement HTTPS, a security protocol that safeguards data exchange between users’ browsers and your website.
Generally, having an SSL certificate is essential to enabling HTTPS on your server. You can get this digital item from a Certificate Authority (CA), a trusted third party. Of course, they’ll charge you a fee.
Aside from that, the process involves generating a Certificate Signing Request (CSR), sharing it with the CA, and activating the certificate on your website.
As you might have guessed, you need basic coding knowledge to do these steps.
2. Website Load Speed
Who doesn’t prefer a website that takes seconds to load? Google prioritizes the user experience. For that reason, search engines consider it one of the ranking factors.
Generally, you should aim for a loading time of one to three seconds. Anything longer than that can increase the bounce rate by 32%. Not only does this put your SEO efforts in vain, but it also lowers your ranking.
Technical SEO ensures you optimize your page’s loading speed, providing an optimal user experience.
Some of the techniques you can use to do that include removing render-blocking JavaScript and minimizing CSS files to make the page load faster. Of course, you can’t fix these issues without programming knowledge.
3. Create XML Sitemaps
XML sitemaps are another technical factor that can improve your website’s ranking on SERPs. For those wondering, XML sitemaps are files that contain XML code. These files list your website’s essential pages. So, they’re used to store and transport data.
Why is that important? Well, that’s because it helps search engine crawlers navigate and understand your content better. Of course, not all sitemaps are equal. To optimize these files, you must follow some best practices, like limiting their size.
Now, many tools can help you automate XML sitemaps. Not only that, but browsers like Google Chrome will tell you if there’s an error in your files. So, why do you need XML coding knowledge?
The short answer is to review and fix these errors. Additionally, you need to have programming skills to create and customize these files for better SEO.
4. Canonical Tags
Whether you’re new to SEO or an expert, you’re probably familiar with HTML tags. These elements organize your web page, making them understandable for search engines.
Among the crucial HTML elements for SEO are canonical tags. For those wondering, this code helps you define your primary page from duplicate content. Why is that important?
Well, that’s because repetitive pages can hurt your website’s crawlability. As a result, search engine algorithms exclude your content when providing the best result for a search query.
To tackle this issue, you can use canonical tags to separate your primary page from similar content on your website. Of course, you’ll need to update your XML sitemap with the tag since Google considers all URLs as canonicals.
Why You Need SEO Coding
Now that you understand the importance of coding for SEO, let’s discuss how you can leverage your skills to improve your visibility on search engines.
1. Optimize HTML Tags
HTML, or HyperText Markup Language, is essential code that structures your web content. Think of it as a blueprint for a house, defining its components such as doors, roofs, and floors.
When it comes to web pages, HTML tags help make search engines understand your content better.
Among the crucial elements are title tags, meta descriptions, headings, and image alt text. Each of these components has unique coding elements. For instance, the title tag would be between <title> and </title> HTML code.
Misplaced code, such as putting body elements into the title section, confuses the search engine. As a result, they fail to index your webpage properly. Of course, this impacts your ranking on SERP.
2. Troubleshoot Technical Problems
Aside from inserting code in the wrong HTML section, you can still have plenty of coding errors.
The problem is that these technical problems aren’t easy to figure out. For instance, omitting a closing bracket (>) results in an error.
Additionally, using non-standard characters, like straight quotation marks, can also result in a faulty code.
Generally, such problems are easy to fix. However, if you copy a sizable code section with non-standard characters, the search engine won’t understand your webpage.
Unfortunately, these types of technical issues are hard to detect using auditing tools. However, with programming knowledge and visual inspection, you can spot and fix them quickly. As a result, you ensure your SEO efforts are successful!
3. Separate You From Competitors
Coding isn’t always about troubleshooting and fixing technical problems. You can use it to stay on top of the SEO game.
As you know, digital marketing is a competitive landscape. With technology evolving, most businesses leverage SEO best practices and tools to land a top spot on SERPs.
For instance, to have a successful content marketing plan, you need to conduct keyword research, use optimization tools, build a solid backlink profile, and more. The problem is that your competitors are likely following these steps like you.
So, how can you have a clear advantage?
The answer is your coding skills. Instead of using a page template from a website builder, you can customize the design using the CSS language to make it more user-friendly. You can even create or edit existing plugins.
Likewise, you can leverage HTML and CSS languages to create responsive web designs. These pages ensure smooth performance on different devices.
All these elements give you an edge over competitors using the same tools. As a result, you rank higher since you provide a better user experience.
4. Detected Hacked Sites
At first glance, you might think SEO isn’t tied to website security. However, that’s far from the truth. Hacked websites lose their top spots on SERP and disappear over time.
The problem is that this issue can go undetected for a while. Sure, Google Search Console will notify you of this unpleasant news. Still, it won’t fix the problem.
Understanding coding can help you unravel this mystery quickly. Now, several methods can help hackers steal your page. These include exploiting PHP codes to bypass authentication mechanisms and injecting JavaScript files.
With a solid knowledge of PHP, JavaScript, and HTML, you can troubleshoot and detect hacking attempts. That way, you ensure your website remains secure and search engine-friendly.
FAQs
What languages does SEO use?
Where to start learning SEO coding?
Wrapping Up
As you can see, SEO coding is a powerful tool that can elevate your digital marketing strategy.
From securing your website to improving search engine crawlability and troubleshooting issues, coding is valuable for your SEO strategy. To enjoy these benefits, learn languages like HTML, CSS, PHP, JavaScript, and Python.
That way, you can stay ahead of your competitors, improving your online visibility and business success!
Published on: 2024-01-10
Updated on: 2024-01-27
