The SEO’s Essential Guide to Web Languages

When you are handling SEO, there are a million things you need to think about. Even for the best SEO companies, simply knowing how to optimize the content is not enough. There are various other skills they need at their fingertips, including knowing the right web development languages. 

Contrary to popular opinion, web design services are not exclusively the domain of developers. Website design companies need their SEO professionals to be adept at web languages. Technological jargon can be intimidating. So here’s every SEO’s essential guide that breaks down complex web terminology.

Do SEOs really need to know web language?

Most people mistakenly believe that SEO is not a technical job. They solely focus on knowing the tips and tricks to find the right keywords that should be used on the website.  

This approach is partially true. It is true that you don’t have to be a web language wizard to excel in your SEO efforts. As long as you master the overall Content Management System, you are in good stead. However, it wouldn’t hurt to be familiar with the basics of web languages. Knowing so can give you an edge and even help you quickly identify basic technical issues and work with the web developer to remedy them. It can also help you understand why a competitor’s website seems to be outperforming yours and provide you with necessary information about the features you need to include in your campaign to succeed. 

Keep in mind that you don’t have to be a web language whiz to succeed. All you need is to know basic coding language and have a fairly good understanding of how the front end and back end of any website work. Even without knowing any actual coding, you can still make your website shine. For instance, if you are tweaking the SEO of a WordPress website, knowing the basics of PHP can help you better understand how exactly the website function. You will find it easier to modify any section of the website using display code. 

AMP, PWA, or SPA

Don’t get intimidated by these acronyms. These are just a few of the options you have available when you are building a website.

AMP stands for Accelerated Mobile Pages. It is an open-source initiative that contains a set of HTML tags. It allows you to create pages that load almost instantaneously. It also allows you to improve the content on the website, which can go a long in improving KPIs. The biggest advantage of using AMP is delivering a great user experience. Currently, there are over 1.5 billion AMP pages across the web, and most leading analytics providers support the AMP format. 

PWA or Progressive Web Apps is another framework you can consider when constructing your web pages. Twitter is a shining example of a website that employs PWA.  It allows you to design smooth websites as if they were a native app. They store CSS and HTML files in the browser cache that can be accessed offline. 

SPA or Single Page Applications load every page requested by the user within the browser without sending page reloading requests to the servers. SPAs win big points for delivering a streamlined and smooth user experience. 

APIs

Application Programming Interfaces or APIs allow different software components to communicate among themselves. You can think of APIs as messengers who carry your request to the server and bring back relevant information. There are four ways in which APIs function:

SOAP APIs: These employ Simple Object Access Protocol where the server and client rely on XML for exchanging messages. This is not used at present.

RPC APIs: These are known as Remote Procedure Calls APIs. You can complete a request on the server, and the server provides you with the output. 

Websocket APIs: Websocket API is a modern web API development tool. It works on JSON objects and facilitates two-way communication. The server can send messages to the clients who are connected to it. It is considered more efficient than other APIs.

REST APIs: This is the most flexible API that’s in use now. You can send your requests to the server, and the server utilizes the information to perform internal functions. It then sends the output data back to you. 

Javascript

JavaScript is a scripting language. You can use it for implementing various complex functions on web pages. When you use Javascript, you can make the web page do more than simply show static icons. You can use Javascript to display interactive content and animated graphics. Apart from HTML and CSS, Javascript is an important web language to master.  Moreover,  learning Javascript means that you are in a better position to understand technologies that have a direct impact on SEO. 

For example, as an SEO professional, you may be well versed with Tag Management Systems such as Google Tag Manager or Tealium. All these systems leverage JavaScript to a large extent for inserting various codes or tags on a website. 

HTML

When you are creating the layout or structure of the website, you need HTML. It is not a programming language — it is a language that enables one to develop websites without relying on a ton of code. 

The chief advantage of using HTML is that it is compatible with any browser you can think of. You can also use it for embedding a variety of elements on your website, including videos, audio, and images. 

CSS

CSS is the most commonly used language for styling a website. Depending on how you want to present your website, you can change the language. It is used in conjunction with HTML and plays an important role in adding a variety of backgrounds, layouts, and font sizes to your website.  You can consider it a core technology for website development. 

Bear in mind that CSS is not a programing language. It is simply a skill that is handy in designing and developing high-quality websites. 

AJAX

AJAX stands for Asynchronous JavaScript And XML. AJAX can be used for sending  XMLHttpRequest to establish communication with the server. AJAX can receive and send information in a variety of formats, including HTML and JSON.  Since it is “asynchronous” in nature, it can carry out communication with the server, exchange relevant data, and carry out updates to the page without ever requiring the user to hit the refresh button. 

XML

XML stands for “Extensible Markup Language” and is similar to HMTL using tags, elements, and attributes and was designed to both store and transport data, whereas HTML is used to display data. For the purposes of SEO, the most common usage of XML is in XML Sitemap files.

Ruby 

Ruby is a general-purpose programming language developed by Yukihiro Matsumoto. It is dynamic, object-oriented, and can be embedded into HTML. This language is useful for processing data, developing static websites, desktop applications, and DevOps. The flexibility offered by Ruby makes it a popular choice for web developers. You can use Ruby when you want to code less but get maximum results. Ruby gets better with Ruby on Rails which is an open-source web framework and comes with pre-written Ruby code. 

There are several useful tools offered by Rails that can boost SEO. For instance, you can try Breadcrumbs on Rails which is an SEO plugin. It helps users to set up simple navigation elements. True to its name, breadcrumb follows a UI pattern and creates a trail of events to let you know how your website can be navigated. This helps you improve the site structure, which is essential for good SEO.

Python

Python is yet another open-source programing language that can help you automate SEO tasks. You can use it for extracting data and setting up machine learning algorithms. The core strength of a language like Python lies in extracting useful information such as snippets and URLs for any keyword. You can use this intel to tweak your SEO efforts and improve your content. 

Server log files 

Though technically not a web language, it is nevertheless essential for SEO professionals to be familiar with “log files.” These files hold records of the server act as a response to the requests received by a web page. It is possible that you may have to configure a few web pages for the same. Don’t forget that these files represent what is going on with the website in real-time and contain vital information such as what is being requested by the user and when it is being requested. Knowing how to parse through the log files can be immensely helpful for SEOs.

Final Words

Whether you need a web developer to spruce up your online presence or an SEO expert to take your website to the next level, you don’t have to do anything alone.  To step up your game, get in touch with SPINX Digital, web development and digital agency based in Los Angeles. Our team of experts is here to fulfill all your needs, no matter which industry you belong to or what is the scale of your business.