IMPROVE WEBSITE RANK USING SEO – (CHAPTER- 4) RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
4.1 Introduction
In this chapter, I will describe the research methodology used to achieve the objectives discussed in Chapter 1. The research methodology comprises four main steps: preparing the Website (pre-analysis), on-site optimisation, off-site optimisation, and comparing the results (post-analysis).
To illustrate the methodology, I will use the website 3qds.com (which I do not own). The Website was prepared in three stages. The first stage involved choosing website keywords using the Google Keyword tool. The second stage entailed creating indexes by adding the website URL to search engines/directories. Lastly, the third stage involved analysing SEO factors using a free online SEO website review tool.
Throughout this chapter, I will thoroughly explain each step of the methodology to ensure a clear understanding of the research process.
4.2 Methodology
The steps involved in this research methodology are illustrated in Figure 4.1. SEO tasks aim to improve the rank, traffic, and visibility of the 3qds.com Website. These objectives are crucial for website owners to boost their sales and service capabilities. The researcher’s SEO tasks will be applied to the 3qds.com Website to assess their impact on CMS WPWeb sites.
- Choose 3qds.com Keywords.
- Index 3qds.com in search engines and his directories.
- Create primary 3qds.com SEO aspects Analysis (Pre-optimisation analysis).
- Optimise Your Site on-site factors by using WP modules
- Optimise Your site’s off-site factors by using WP modules.
- Calculate the results and compare them with Immediate analysis.
4.3 Preparing the “3qds.com” Web site
The Website being discussed is called “Oyun Al Quds” and is created using a CMS platform called WP. WP, is a free open-source software that is easy to install, use and customise. It has a large community of users and developers who offer extensive themes, modules and widgets. WordPress.org provides WP software with over 340 million downloads and 21,039 plugins, including over 1,000 SEO plugins that are easily installed and customisable without programming skills. Compared to SaaS-based blogs like Google’s blogger.com, edublogs.org, and WordPress.com, which offer free, share-hosting versions of WP, the SEO plugins available on WP are more user-friendly and customisable.
The website “Oyun Al Quds” is a static platform that primarily offers current news on Al Quds, Palestine, and related issues. It is registered with the hosting company “HostGator.com” and accessed via the “.com” domain extension at www.3qds.com. The Website is designed to provide timely and relevant updates to users and includes SEO-friendly features.
To gather and curate information for 3qds.com, the researcher must conduct a comprehensive keyword search utilising the WordPress theme “News Today”. A robust keyword list is essential for driving website traffic and maximising visibility.
4.4 Keyword Research
A critical aspect of optimising a website for search engines is adding relevant keywords to the web pages so that the search engines can easily find and identify them as significant. This helps the website rank well in paid-for PPC and free organic search results. When users search for specific keywords, they are presented with a list of relevant web pages, both paid and organic, as shown in Figure 4.2.
It’s essential to consider using Long Tail SEO when optimising your Website for search engines. This approach involves targeting niche-specific search keywords, typically longer phrases of two words or more. Doing so lets you capture users’ attention by searching for something particular rather than just using broad, competitive keywords. For example, instead of targeting a primary keyword like “real estate”, you might focus on a more specific phrase like “lands settlement in Alquds”. This can help increase your chances of converting visitors to your site into customers.
4.4.1 Using Google Keyword Tool to picking 3qds.com Keywords
Searches rely heavily on website text, as Google aims to match searchers with desired content. Using relevant keywords and phrases is essential for good SEO and increasing the likelihood of reaching with searchers. The researcher used Google AdWords to extract important keywords, enabling text-based ads for specific search phrases. By leveraging the power of Google AdWords, the researcher aims to improve their Website’s search performance through better web posts. This is possible because of Google’s vast data on popular keywords for each industry and Website. The researcher accessed this information through the Keyword Tool option in their Google AdWords program, as shown in Figure 4.4.
The researcher has typed a few terms related to the “Oyun Al Quds” website that he wants to learn more about, namely “Al Quds City” and “Palestine News”. Please refer to Figure 4.5.
It’s essential to remember that being specific with your keywords can significantly improve the success of your research. One helpful tool is the Keyword Tool, which can suggest alternate terms to help you narrow your topic even further. Look at Figure 4.6 to better understand how this tool can be utilised.
I was going through a list of suggested terms and selecting the ones to help with my blogging efforts. I asked myself which terms could easily be worked into my article headlines or web posts. As I checked each keyword, they were automatically added to a “Saved ideas” list that I can refer to later.
When choosing keywords for your project, evaluating and prioritising them carefully is essential. A helpful way to do this is by categorising them or ranking them according to their relevance and search volume. You can also discover more successful keywords using tools like Google AdWords Keyword Planner. It’s crucial to regularly review and update your keyword strategy to stay ahead of the competition—Reference as shown in Figure 4.8.
After compiling a solid list of keywords, the researcher must implement them into their web posts. Crafting compelling headlines optimised for SEO is crucial for a successful blogging experience. For example, using the keywords above to generate headlines like:
- Confrontation between Israel and Palestine
- History of al Quds and Palestine
- Tardily news from Gaza
In the above, the researcher has said that keyword search was critical in making traffic. So, he has chosen 4 Long Tail primary keywords:
- Al Quds Palestine news
- Gaza and all cities
- Al Quds settlements competition
Note that all of the keywords include the word “al quds”. The next stage is Indexing.
3qds.com by counting it to search engines and directories.
4.5 Indexing 3qds.com by Adding it to Search Engines and Directories:
The number of your Website’s pages that appear in search engine results is called search engine-indexed pages. It’s important to note that just because a page is indexed doesn’t necessarily mean it will appear in the top search results. However, having more indexed pages increases the likelihood of driving visitors to your Website. The 3qds.com Website has no indexed pages on primary or secondary search engines or directories. Therefore, the researcher should add 3qds.com to the indexes of primary and secondary search engines and directories.
4.5.1 Submit 3qds.com to Major Systems:
Some search engines require payment for URL submission, while others offer free requests with no discernible impact on site selection. However, 3qs.com remains unpicked.
4.5.1.1 Google:
To verify your Website with Google Webmaster Tools, follow these simple steps: first, create an account by visiting https://www.google.com/Webmasters/tools/. Then, click the “ADD A SITE” button. Next, enter your Website’s URL in the text field and click the “Continue” button. This will allow you to utilise Google’s no-cost services, including submitting an XML Sitemap. Using these tools, you can view indexing status, check for crawl errors, view search queries, and more, which can improve your Website’s health and search engine optimisation.
To verify the owner of your domain name, you can follow the steps outlined in Figure 4.10. The preferred method the researcher suggests involves uploading a file to the root of your web server. You can also explore alternative methods by clicking the corresponding tab. By following these instructions, you can ensure that you are the rightful owner of your domain name.
4.5.1.2 AltaVisa:
AltaVista’s Add URL feature was used to submit 3qds.com, as shown in Figure 4.11.
4.5.1.3 AlltheWeb:
AlltheWeb URL, AlltheWeb.com: Submit Your Site dunbarfamilyfarms.com, has been seen, and the 3qds.com Website has been presented as guided in Figure.
4.5.1.4 MSN(Bing):
Bing URL, Bing – Submit your Site to Bing. It has been visited, and the 3qds.com Website has been presented, as shown in Figure 4.13.
4.5.2 Submit 3qds.com to Secondary Systems:
I highly recommend submitting your Website, 3qds.com, to smaller search engine systems with a few hundred million pages in their indexes. Although these systems may not enjoy the same level of popularity as larger ones, they still provide valuable exposure and can significantly enhance your site’s visibility. Notably, the researcher has already submitted 3qds.com to two secondary systems that merit serious consideration.
4.5.2.1 ExactSeek:
THE ExactSeek URL, which is Add Your URL: ExactSeek.com, has been visited, and the 3qds.com Web site has been presented, as shown in Figure 4.14.
4.5.2.2 Gigablast:
Gigablast URL, which is Gigablast – Add Url, has been visited, and the 3qds. Website te has been presented as displayed in Figure.
4.5.3 Submit 3qds.com to the Search Directories
When trying to increase your Website’s visibility on search engines, it’s important to note that having links to your Website is crucial. Search directories won’t be able to find your Website unless you submit it to them, so it’s essential to take that extra step. Before diving into working with directories, it’s helpful to understand what manuals are and are not.
- Directories do not actively search for sites to add but may check if the sites are still active.
- Directories do not read and save information from web pages that are part of a website.
- Directories don’t read or store information, so search results aren’t based on web page content.
- Search directories categorise and index websites rather than individual web pages. Each Website is assigned to a specific category, and the directory’s index only provides basic information such as a URL, title, and description. The result is a list of categorised websites, which is the primary function of search directories. In the past, Yahoo! heavily relied on its guide for search results.
4.5.3.1 Submitting to Yahoo! Directory
In the past, submitting a website to Yahoo! Directory was a challenging task. However, now a researcher can have their site listed within a week if certain conditions are met. These conditions include ensuring that the site is fully functional, has no broken links, is in the appropriate language, is compatible with multiple browser types, and is categorised correctly. If these conditions are met, Yahoo! will accept the submission.
These stages have been followed to submit 3qds.com to the Yahoo! Directory:
1- Yahoo! Directory link: Yahoo! Directory has been visited, as displayed in Figure 4.16.
2- A suitable category has been selected, as shown in Figure 4.17:
Regional->Countries->Israel->Jerusalem->Media and News.
3- The “Suggest a Site” link at the top of the page has been clicked, as displayed in Figure 4.18.
4- The “Standard Consideration” button, which is Free, has been clicked, as displayed in Figure 4.19
5- “Suggest form” has been refilled, as displayed in Figure 4.20.
6- The 3qds.com Web site has been submitted successfully, as shown in Figure 4.21.
4.5.3.2 Submitting to the Open Directory Project
Submitting to the Open Directory Project is simpler than submitting to Yahoo! Directory. To submit a website, a researcher must provide the home page URL, a brief title, a 25-30 word description, and an email address. Once submitted, the researcher will need to wait for the listing. Although the Open Directory Project is free and the submission process is faster, there is no assurance that the site will be included in the directory. Nonetheless, the Open Directory Project holds significant value. As an example, the 3qds.com Website has been submitted for listing.
1- Directory Project URL, which is DMOZ – the Open Directory Project has been seen as displayed in Figure 4.22.
2- A suitable category has been chosen, as displayed in Figure 4.23:
Regional->Middle East->Palestine->State of->Media and News.
3- The “Suggest URL” link at the top of the page has been clicked, as displayed in Figure 4.24.
4- The (reasonably simple) directions have been followed, as shown in Figure 4.25.
5- 3qds.com Web site has been submitted successfully, as displayed in Figure 4.26.
4.6 Primary Analysis (Pre-Optimisation Analysis):
The wWebsite3qds.com has seven categories: Alquds, local news, world news, articles, technology, videos, and photos. An icon for the Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed is located in the page’s top-left corner. All posts on the site are stored in the backend database, and a search bar can be found at the top of each page, allowing users to search for posts using keywords. The content on the site is publicly viewable, but posting and commenting are restricted to registered users to prevent spam from machine bots. Figure 4.27 displays the Home page of the 3qds.com Website.
4.6.1 On-site data:
To create a website online, developers use a programming language known as HTML. To view the HTML code used on 3qds.com, the researcher can click “View” and then select “Source” in their web browser, as shown in Figure 4.28.
This sentence opens a text file to check if the Website is optimising its “On-page Optimisation factors”. I am referring to Figure 4.29.
Based on the analysis provided by Chlooe.com’s free online SEO website review tool, there appears to be some preliminary on-site and off-site analysis of 3qds.com. The analysis results have been found, though it is now unclear what those results are. It’s great to see tools like Chlooe.com’s free online SEO website review tool being utilised to help improve website performance and search engine optimisation.
- 3qds.com includes no Meta description on the home page; he should optimise it.
- 3qds.com includes no Meta keywords on the home page; he should optimise it.
- 3qds.com home page title is “Oyun Al Quds.” The title length is 11 characters; it is too tiny (size less than 50 chars), and he should optimise it. It is the primary keyword in the title tag “Al-Quds”, which is suitable for SEO.
- 3qds.com dos’t have Heading level 1, 4 and 6 (H1, H4 and H6) then it should optimize.
- The central aspect still references managing links between pages and external sites. The links displayed on the 3qds.com homepage will be analysed here:
- Also, External links with “no follow” : 0 links
- Total links on the home page: 225 links, Internal links: 165 links, External links: 2 links
- The robots.txt file contains many impressive features, such as controlling the site’s crawl and prohibiting certain parts of the site. It also points out the location of the Sitemap; 3qds.com holds a robots.txt, which can be seen on the URL:http://www.3qds.com/robots.txt.
- 3qds.com has 38 images, 18 with no alt, and 20 with alt: 20; the experimenter should optimise the images without alt.
- An XML sitemap lists all URLs open for crawling or viewing on the Website. Sitemaps are helpful to make sites made in non-HTML languages searchable (like Adobe Flash Website). 3qds.com holds no XML Sitemap. It is beneficial to make one to enhance the website indexation process, so the researcher should create it. Note: The URL, www.3qds.com/sitemap.xml, has been used to review it.
4.6.2 Off-site data:
Off-site optimisation refers to the techniques used outside of a website to improve its search engine performance. This includes link building, increasing the number of backlinks, and measuring website rankings using PageRank.
4.6.2.1 Google PageRank (PR):
Google search engine uses an algorithm called PR to analyse links and assign a numerical weight to each element in a set of hyperlinked documents. This helps determine the relative importance of each component within the group. To check the Google PR of 3qds.com and other websites, you must install the Google Toolbar on your browser. This toolbar is available for free at the following link: Google Toolbar. Once installed, it will appear at the top of your browser, as shown in Figure 4.30. This toolbar measures the rank of websites. Unfortunately, the PR of 3qds.com is currently 1/10, which is a poor rating. Efforts should be made to increase it.
4.6.2.2 Alexa world rank:
The Alexa ranking system determines the popularity of websites based on their navigation bar. This rank estimates the traffic a site receives, but it is based on a limited sample of Internet users, so it may not be entirely accurate. According to the Alexa ranking, 3qds.com is the most visited Website worldwide over the past three months, with a rank of 928.437. It also ranks 996929th in terms of reach.
4.6.2.3 Google Backlinks:
External links to a website or webpage are called BackLinks (BLs) or incoming links. These links serve as the foundation for measuring the popularity of a webpage or Website and are crucial in determining its PageRank (PR). Upon checking on Google, it was found that 3qds.com has no BLs, which means that the researcher must work on establishing them. It is worth noting that the term “link: 3qds.com” was used on Google to verify this information.
4.7 Summary
In this chapter, the proposed research methodology for this thesis has been discussed, with an illustration of the overall steps in Figure 4.1. The research methodology consists of four stages: preparing the wWebsite, optimising on-site factors, optimising off-site factors, and conducting post-analysis on the wWebsite. The researcher initiated the first step, organising the 3qds.com Website for optimisation processes, through three stages. Firstly, the 3qds.com keywords were searched using the Google Keyword Tool. Secondly, the 3qds.com websites are indexed by adding it to major systems such as Google, AltaVista, AllTheWeb and MSN, secondary systems such as ExactSeek and GigaBlast, and search directories including Yahoo directory and Open Directory Project. Lastly, the 3qds.com Website was pre-analysed using a free online website review tool. In the next chapter, the searcher will proceed with optimising the on-site and off-site factors of 3qds.com.
