Understanding and Troubleshooting SEO Basics Print

Website Ranking and SEO Fundamentals

SEO, which stands for Search Engine Optimization, refers to the process of enhancing your website to make it more visible and accessible to search engines like Google, Bing, and others. The primary goal is to achieve higher rankings in search results for relevant queries. Achieving higher rankings directly translates to increased organic traffic, leading to more potential customers, and ultimately, greater profitability for your business.

Key On-Site SEO Advice

1. **Focus on Content Quality:** Create informative, unique, and valuable content that naturally answers user questions and includes relevant keywords. Thin or duplicated content can harm your rankings.
2. **Optimize Page Speed:** Ensure your website loads quickly. Slow loading times frustrate users and negatively affect search rankings. Use cPanel tools to check server performance and optimize image sizes.
3. **Use Descriptive Titles and Descriptions:** Every page should have a unique, compelling title tag and meta description that accurately summarizes the content. This is what users see in the search results pages.
4. **Ensure Mobile Responsiveness:** Design your website to display and function correctly across all screen sizes, including phones and tablets. Search engines prioritize mobile-friendly sites.

Common SEO Troubleshooting and cPanel Checks

If your website is not ranking or has suddenly disappeared from search results, check the following points within your cPanel account or website configuration:

• **Check your Robots.txt File:** Locate this file in the cPanel File Manager in your public_html directory. Ensure that you have not accidentally blocked search engine crawlers from accessing your entire site using a "Disallow: /" rule.
• **Review URL Redirects:** If you have implemented redirects (using the Redirects tool in cPanel or via .htaccess), ensure they are set to **Permanent (301)** for pages that have moved permanently. Temporary (302) redirects do not pass link authority correctly.
• **Verify Site Indexing:** Use a tool like Google Search Console to confirm that search engines are actively crawling and indexing your pages without encountering crawl errors.
• **Examine Security (HTTPS):** Ensure your website has an active SSL certificate and forces all traffic to HTTPS. cPanel's SSL/TLS status checker can confirm this. Secure websites receive preference in search rankings.