If you’ve built a directory website and not seeing the rankings and traffic you expected, then you might’ve just missed some SEO basics.
So, I’m giving you a quick blueprint for on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and technical SEO to boost your directory site.
In case you don’t know, on-page SEO tends to refer to things like title tags, headings, and keywords. Whereas technical SEO tends to refer to things like site load times, site architecture , schema, etc. And off-page SEO usually focuses on backlinks, but is not limited to that.
Start With Keywords
Before you can go crazy with SEO-ing your website, you gotta do your keyword research to know what you’re targeting.
In addition to your main keyword, you’ll want to know the secondary keywords that you’ll sprinkle in some of the subheadings and other places.
The keywords need to go in the highest value places:
- title tag
- headings
- meta description
- image alt tags
- URL slug
You’ll also want to make sure that your homepage doesn’t have the title tag of “Home.” In fact, you can have a different title tag from your H1 tag on every page if you want.
Optimize All The Things
Good SEO optimization is really just about optimizing the hell out of all the things. Once you’ve finished up with the keywords, you’ve got other things to focus on.
Here’s the quick rundown:
Images → compress
You want those images to not be super-sized, so get a plugin that compresses them and ideally displays them in webp format.
Site speed → good host + caching
You need a webhost that is fast without costing you a fortune. The best bang for the buck right now is Hostinger.
Combine that with a good caching plugin and a free Cloudflare plan and your site speed is sorted.
Schema markup → SEO plugin (WordPress)
I use the default settings in the free version of the Rank Math SEO plugin. Can you do more? Yeah.
But that default shit works just fine for me. And it’s free!
Site architecture → don’t waste crawl budget
Keep a nice and tidy house. By that I mean keep all pages no more than 3 clicks deep.
This is ideal for Google and doesn’t waste that crawl budget.
Good internal links
Only link internally when it makes sense. And optimize your anchor text when you do.
Sitemap
I get my sitemap from the free RankMath SEO plugin. It does exactly what I need it to do.
Just don’t forget to give Google your sitemap in Search Console.
GSC for errors
Watch for those pesky errors that can harm your site in Search Console. You can also use it to force index troublesome pages that Google has missed.
Backlinks, backlinks, backlinks
I recommend starting this ASAP and focusing on niche relevance first. Then work on high authority backlinks.
If you’re not building backlinks, then you’ll get a competitor like me who will smoke your ass in the SERPs.
HARO-style backlinks remain the best bang for the buck when it comes to high authority backlinks at scale. My agency does this MUCH cheaper than most places. Three months of this service and you’ll have a nice looking backlink profile.
Also, see this post on backlinks for directory sites.
Hey, I’m Shawna. I make a living working from my laptop in places like London, Sydney, Dubai, Rome, Oslo, Bangkok, Las Vegas, Barcelona, and Amsterdam. I share how I do some of that on this website.