The SEO Crash Course: Step Three

This guide covers the third step in your SEO journey and focuses on the work you do after you build your site. If you have not read step one or step two yet, we suggest you take a look at those first. Once your site’s search engine optimisation is at a level you like, you can add a few final items. These last tasks involve adding a robots.txt file and a sitemap.xml file. These files tell search engines where to start their work and what they should ignore. After you finish these, you will be ready to submit your site for indexing.

Link and Image Details

You should include a Title Attribute in every link that you create. It is also vital to include both a Title Attribute and an Alt Attribute in every image tag you add. It does not matter what the link or image is for: do not question it, just do it! These small details make your site much easier for bots and people to read. This simple habit is a great way to help your site's search engine results in the long run.

Using a robots.txt File

The robots.txt file lives in the main folder of your website. It contains instructions that tell search engines and bots which parts of your site they can or cannot look at. For example, you can use it to block bots from seeing your admin folder or your private files. This stops backend files from showing up in public search results. There are several ways to use this file to manage how bots visit your site. It is a smart way to keep your site's digital footprint tidy and secure.

The Sitemap for Faster Indexing

A sitemap.xml file is also kept in your site's main folder. This file is exactly what it sounds like: a map of your entire website. It helps search engines by letting them know which files exist before they even start to index them. This is a huge help because it makes the whole indexing process much faster.

Inside your sitemap, you will list the location of each file and the date you last changed it. You also note how often the content changes, such as daily or weekly. You can even set a priority for each page on a scale from 0.0 to 1.0. This shows the bot which pages are the most important for your visitors to find. Using a sitemap is one of the best ways to ensure your content is found quickly.

Submit Your Site and Build Links

Once you finish these steps, you are ready to submit your site to search engines. We suggest you start with the big names like Google and Bing. You should also submit your site to other platforms like Yahoo, Ask.com, and Alexa. After these are all set up, you can start to focus on link-building. This task can feel a bit tricky at first, but you will soon get the hang of it. Building good links helps your site gain more trust and authority online. Following these steps will ensure your site is ready for new visitors and easy to find.