{"id":6594,"date":"2020-08-01T09:57:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-01T14:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/?p=6594"},"modified":"2020-11-23T15:05:11","modified_gmt":"2020-11-23T21:05:11","slug":"7-steps-to-proper-new-website-seo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/7-steps-to-proper-new-website-seo\/","title":{"rendered":"19 Steps to Proper New Website SEO"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-your-19-step-seo-guide-for-new-websites\">Your 19-Step SEO Guide for New Websites<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The best time to start thinking about SEO for your website is when you\u2019re just starting out. &nbsp;You can get things started on the right foot and save yourself some trouble later.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re learning <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/how-to-build-a-website\/\">how to build a website<\/a>, there are a few main steps you should take now to get your new website SEO into place.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"New Website SEO - How to Optimize Your Site in 2020\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4HYI-T0KlX0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-1-choose-your-domain-name-carefully\">1. Choose Your Domain Name Carefully.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Domain names are one of the ranking factors search engines look at to figure out what a page is about. If it\u2019s possible to choose a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/domains\">domain name<\/a> that\u2019s relevant, easy to remember, and incorporates the main keyword you want to rank for, that\u2019s ideal.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s not something you should force. For example, if your business is called Howard\u2019s Deli and the domain<\/span> <em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">www.howards-deli.com<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is available, that\u2019s probably a better pick than<\/span> <em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">www.egg-salad-sandwiches.com<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. That\u2019s likely to cause confusion when the customers that already know you try to find the site. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are a few good tools that can help you brainstorm<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/best-domain-name-suggestion-tools\/\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">domain name ideas<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> based on what\u2019s available, so you don\u2019t set your sights on a name you can\u2019t have.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"hgrp\"><h4>You might like&#8230;<\/h4><ul><li><span class=\"prod-icon\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/services\/seo\" data-element-location=\"body.post_content.related_prod_block\" data-element-type=\"button\" data-element-label=\"seo_marketing\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/SEO-marketing-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/SEO-marketing-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/SEO-marketing-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/SEO-marketing.png 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/services\/seo\" class=\"hgrp-link\" data-element-location=\"body.post_content.related_prod_block\" data-element-type=\"link\" data-element-label=\"seo_marketing\">SEO Marketing<\/a><\/li><li><span class=\"prod-icon\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/web-hosting\" data-element-location=\"body.post_content.related_prod_block\" data-element-type=\"button\" data-element-label=\"shared_hosting\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/shared-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/shared-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/shared-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/shared.png 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/web-hosting\" class=\"hgrp-link\" data-element-location=\"body.post_content.related_prod_block\" data-element-type=\"link\" data-element-label=\"shared_hosting\">Shared Hosting<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-2-select-a-reputable-web-hosting-provider\">2. Select a Reputable Web Hosting Provider.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google has been upfront about site speed being a ranking factor for SEO. Visitors are impatient and expect webpages to load within seconds (or less), so Google tries to only deliver results that will satisfy that requirement. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While you have a number of strategies you can try to <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">make your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/7-ways-to-speed-up-your-website\/\">site fast<\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&nbsp;over time, one of the best steps to take from day one is choosing a<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">web hosting provider<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that can deliver consistent speeds.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-3-perform-keyword-research\">3. Perform Keyword Research.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Knowing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/keyword-research-beginners-guide\/\">how to do keyword research<\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a big part of SEO. In order to do a lot of the other things on this list effectively, you need to first have a clear idea of the main terms and subject areas you want to focus your SEO efforts on.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.robbierichards.com\/seo\/best-keyword-research-tool\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">number of SEO tools<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> provide keyword suggestions and data on the amount of traffic and competition you can expect to deal with for each keyword. Most of them will cost you a subscription fee, but you can use<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/adwords.google.com\/home\/tools\/keyword-planner\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google\u2019s Keyword Planner<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for free to get started:&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"569\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/image3-1024x569.png\" alt=\"Google Keyword Planner\" class=\"wp-image-17169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/image3-1024x569.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/image3-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/image3-768x426.png 768w, https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/image3.png 1754w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When choosing your keywords, be sure to be realistic. SEO is competitive and a brand new website isn\u2019t in a good position to compete for popular, broad terms. Get specific and find<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/understanding-long-tail-keywords\/\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">long-tail keywords<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to target. For example, something like '<em>east chicago modern art sellers<\/em>'\u009d is more attainable than just '<em>art sellers<\/em>.'\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-4-plan-out-your-site-s-architecture\">4. Plan Out Your Site&#8217;s Architecture.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re starting with a simple site that just has a few pages, this may not seem all that important right now. But it\u2019s still smart to plan out your site architecture in advance so you have a structure in place as you go.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For most websites, your site architecture should have a pyramid structure. Your homepage is at the top, with the next most important pages (typically the ones that go on your main menu) right below that. Underneath those, you\u2019ll add any subcategories and individual pages that fall within them.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"650\" height=\"353\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/best-website-architecture-for-seo.png\" alt=\"best website architecture for seo\" class=\"wp-image-19376\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/best-website-architecture-for-seo.png 650w, https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/best-website-architecture-for-seo-300x163.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you plan your site architecture in advance, you\u2019ll make sure your website is organized to give priority to the most important pages in terms of how easy they are for visitors to find, and you\u2019ll make it easier on visitors to navigate between pages on the site to find what they need.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-5-prioritize-intuitive-navigation-in-your-design\">5.&nbsp; Prioritize Intuitive Navigation in Your Design.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Your site architecture is a good step in this direction, but it\u2019s just one part of making your website intuitive for visitors. When you\u2019re building out your website, continually think about what your customers will be thinking and doing on each page they land on. You want it to be easy for them to find what they\u2019re looking for every step of the way.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That means:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Making sure your main menu lists the most important pages visitors are likely to visit on the site.<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/create-product-categories-online-store\/\">Creating categories<\/a>&nbsp;and subcategories based on the way your target audience are most likely to browse.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Making sure those category and subcategory pages employ the keywords your research shows people use when searching for the type of products or information on them.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Including links on each webpage to other, related pages that a visitor to the page may be interested in as well.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Including a clear call-to-action on each page, so it\u2019s obvious to visitors how to take the next step.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Having a search bar somewhere on each page, so that visitors who know exactly what they\u2019re looking for have a quicker way to get there than browsing between pages.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The goal in this step is to try to get inside your visitors\u2019 heads and imagine what steps they\u2019ll want to take as they move through your website, and how they\u2019d go about making them. When building the site, that requires guesswork and imagination. But you can confirm (or correct) your initial assumptions by doing&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/diy-ux-guide-website-usability-testing\/\">user testing&nbsp;<\/a>before the site launches.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-6-define-a-standard-seo-friendly-url-structure\">6. Define a Standard, SEO-friendly URL Structure.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When a search engine algorithm is trying to determine what a web page is about, one of the main places it looks is the URL. The URL is the main address for each page of your site on the web. Every URL on your site starts with your main domain name (e.g.<em>&nbsp;www.yourname.com<\/em>). For each page (other than your home page), that will be followed by additional characters unique to the page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For SEO purposes, you should always customize the URL you use for every webpage on your site based on the keywords you want that page to rank for. But beyond writing a custom URL for each page, you also want to create a larger&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/best-url-structure-seo\/\">SEO-friendly URL structure<\/a>&nbsp;for how to name URLs on your website.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Refer back to the site architecture you developed here. The categories and subcategories you defined can become a part of the URL structure you develop, which gives you a way to incorporate more relevant keywords into your URLs, keeping them useful and intuitive for visitors.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, if one of your main categories was Pets, with a subcategory of Dogs, your URL structure for each page included in that section of the website would start with&nbsp;<em>www.yourwebsite.com\/pets\/dogs<\/em>. Then you would follow that up with the main keyword for the specific page, such as&nbsp;<em>www.yourwebsite.com\/pets\/dogs\/dog-food<\/em>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That URL does the double work of telling Google that the web page is specifically about dog food, and that it also relates more generally to dogs and pets-other words the algorithm understands to be related to each other.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-7-design-for-site-speed\">7. Design for Site Speed.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Your web design is just one factor in how fast your website will be, along with your&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/web-hosting\">web hosting package<\/a>&nbsp;and the plugins you use. But many decisions you make in the design stage can affect how fast your site will load for visitors.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A fast loading time creates a better user experience and is one of the ranking factors the search engine algorithms take into account. When designing your website, consider ways to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/improve-site-speed-performance\/\">improve site speed<\/a>, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Minimizing features that slow down loading time, like animation or large, high-resolution images<\/li><li>Shrinking any JavaScript and CSS elements you use<\/li><li>Reducing the number of http requests you have on each page<\/li><li>Only using necessary widgets, to keep external scripts to a minimum<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes design elements that seem really cool can bog down your website, inadvertently causing slower load times and a worse experience. Be thoughtful about everything you include on the site and measure how its effect on loading times balances against whatever value it offers.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-8-use-a-responsive-and-mobile-friendly-design\">8. Use a Responsive and Mobile-Friendly Design.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>More than half of all website visits now come from people browsing the web on their mobile phones. Where it was natural just a few years ago to assume most of your visitors would be viewing your website on a full-size computer, now the majority of people who find you will do so on the small screen of a smartphone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the sake of both your mobile visitors and the search engines that care about their experience, your web design should aim to work&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/how-make-website-mobile-friendly\/\">just as well on mobile devices&nbsp;<\/a>as on desktops. That usually means<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/what-is-responsive-web-design\/\">&nbsp;designing a responsive website<\/a>&nbsp;that avoids flash, and has big enough buttons for people to easily select them on a touchscreen. Using a responsive web design will ensure that everyone in your target audience can have an enjoyable experience while visiting your site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/IGTxv6065e7yA-rBN4CWx_2OOwahuxMuo8AA4P-3y6skJD24NCb6R-1mVCevRfotILuPzNhZOUpUNufSOgZEBfKT108av7i4AeDYf4jhBiNYfG_1WXulhxm-iMyZwJlzQpam-gli\" alt=\"seo friendly web design is mobile friendly\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-9-consider-visual-hierarchy-for-every-page\">9. Consider Visual Hierarchy for Every Page.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>What people see when they land on a webpage on your site depends on how large their screen and browser window are. In other words, a lot of users will only see a small portion of the whole page. When you\u2019re designing each page, think carefully of what you want them to see in the first seconds they\u2019re on the page<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To ensure your visitors get what they need and, hopefully, stick around past the first few seconds, design your pages so that the most important information is high up so all visitors see it faster.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-10-focus-on-indexable-content\">10. Focus on Indexable Content.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the challenges of SEO web design is that a lot of the visual components of design don\u2019t translate well to how search engine algorithms read a website. For example, the algorithm can\u2019t translate the information inside an image or an animation, even though it may communicate something clear to a human visitor. That doesn\u2019t mean you shouldn\u2019t use visuals in your web design, just that you should think about how to make sure they can be indexed by search engines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For any design elements that are visual rather than textual, you need to tell Google what they are. That means:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>You should skip using flash animation entirely, since it\u2019s not indexable and not supported on all devices.<\/li><li>If you use&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/cognitiveseo.com\/blog\/17758\/javascript-seo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Javascript<\/a>, you should use a recommended framework like&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.brombone.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Brombone<\/a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/prerender.io\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Prerender<\/a>&nbsp;to optimize it for SEO.&nbsp;<\/li><li>If you include videos on your website, fill in all available metadata with your target keyword, including the title and description. And include a transcript on the site.<\/li><li>For all images on your website, fill in the metadata with your keyword (more on that in the next step)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Web design necessarily includes visuals. You can\u2019t get around it. And you wouldn\u2019t want to, they add to the experience your visitors have on the site. But for the parts of the site the search engines can\u2019t see, you want to do your best to tell them what they\u2019re missing and take those extra opportunities to include relevant keywords.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-11-target-primary-keywords-for-each-page\">11. Target Primary Keywords for Each Page.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your initial keyword research can help you gain an overall picture of the language to use when building your website, but it\u2019s also good practice to choose a target keyword (or a couple) for each individual web page on your site. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To avoid competing against yourself, choose unique ones for each page.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-12-optimize-title-tags\">12. Optimize Title Tags.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/write-title-tags-seo\/\">title tag<\/a> is part part of the website Google looks at to learn what the page is about, which makes it another good spot to use your target keyword. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Try to keep your title tag short   Google will only display 50-60 characters on the search engine results page and even less of the title tag will show up in the tab at the top of your browser. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And don\u2019t keyword stuff here. Using your primary keyword once should do the trick.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-13-optimize-images\">13. Optimize Images.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Every image you use on a web page provides a few additional opportunities for optimizing your page for your main keywords. When <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/how-to-optimize-images-for-seo\/\">naming images for SEO<\/a> it&#8217;s important to include the keyword you\u2019re targeting (e.g. primarykeyword.jpg) and update the alt text on the page with your keyword as well.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you have a WordPress site, then you can easily update the alt text in the media editor when you load the image:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"504\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/image1-1024x504.png\" alt=\"how to add image alt text in wordpress\" class=\"wp-image-19391\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/image1-1024x504.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/image1-300x148.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/image1-768x378.png 768w, https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/image1.png 1842w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If not, you can update the alt text in the html of the page. The html should look something like&nbsp;<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&lt;img src='\u009dprimarykeyword.jpg'\u009d alt='\u009dprimary keyword'\u009d&gt;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-14-optimize-headings\">14. Optimize Headings.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When writing for the web, headings are a good tool to better organize your copy so that it\u2019s easy to read and scannable for your visits. As an added bonus, your headings are another signal to Google on what your page is about. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Strategically include your target keywords in the headings on your web page   but only where it makes intuitive sense to do so. You don\u2019t want to force words in if they sound strange to the reader, but if you can use the keywords in a way that makes sense, do so. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-15-optimize-text-on-the-page\">15. Optimize text on the page.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When it comes to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/online-copywriting-tips-improve-website\/\">website copywriting tips<\/a>, the most important one to remember is to avoid keyword stuffing. Search engines notice keyword stuffing and your website can be penalized for it. But as long as you only use your target keywords (and relevant synonyms) in contexts where they make sense then it\u2019s a good practice to incorporate them into the text on the page. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In most cases, as long as you\u2019ve chosen target keywords that are relevant to what the page is about (which is important!), then this part should come naturally.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-16-write-unique-meta-descriptions\">16. Write Unique Meta Descriptions.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/write-best-meta-descriptions\/\">meta descriptions<\/a> don\u2019t directly influence rankings, they do play a role in your click-through rates from the search results. When a person sees your web page in the search results, they\u2019ll see your meta description below the page title:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"170\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/example-of-search-result-with-meta-description-1024x170.png\" alt=\"example of search result with meta description\" class=\"wp-image-19313\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/example-of-search-result-with-meta-description-1024x170.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/example-of-search-result-with-meta-description-300x50.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/example-of-search-result-with-meta-description-768x128.png 768w, https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/example-of-search-result-with-meta-description.png 1286w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Any words in your description that match the terms they searched will be in bold, helping draw their attention to your result. Since they\u2019re trying to decide which of the results to choose, you can use this text to make a case for why your page is worth the click.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Always write a relevant meta description for every page on your website. Try to incorporate your keyword(s) for the page naturally in the description to hopefully end up with some bolded text on the search results page (as with &#8220;<em>cloud hosting<\/em>&#8221; in the example above), and use the space to provide a brief description about what\u2019s valuable on the page.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-17-link-to-other-pages-on-your-website\">17. Link to Other Pages on Your Website.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Internal linking gives you a way to signal to Google what your page is about through the anchor text you use. If you\u2019re not familiar with the term, the anchor text refers to the words that are hyperlinked. Google sees the words used each time there\u2019s a link to a web page and takes that as information about what\u2019s on the page.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Internal links also give you a way to show the search engines how your different pages are connected and drive traffic from one page on the website to another. You ideally want your visitors to stick around to avoid a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/reduce-website-bounce-rate\/\">high bounce rate<\/a> on your website, providing helpful internal links is a good way to make that happen.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-18-submit-your-sitemap-to-google\">18. Submit Your Sitemap to Google.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before your web pages can show up on the search engine results page, Google has to crawl your website. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Usually Google\u2019s crawlers will make their way to your website over time even if you don\u2019t do anything, but you can speed things up by submitting your sitemap through<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/google-search-console-guide\/\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google Search Console<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. You can directly communicate to Google that your website exists and tell them all the specific pages on it.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-19-create-an-seo-plan-for-the-future\">19. Create an SEO Plan for the Future.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If everything on this list already sounds like a lot, you\u2019ll have to get used to it because you\u2019re just getting started. SEO is a long-term, ongoing process. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To show up in the search engines when people are looking for the information or products you provide, you have to put some real work into providing consistent value on your website and building authority around the web.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Start on your plan for long-term SEO sooner rather than later. Consider if you can learn the ropes and do the work on your own, or if you need <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/services\/seo\">SEO optimization services<\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&nbsp;to help. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whichever route you choose, it\u2019s important that you decide to make it a priority and take the long view on making progress. SEO is slow and the sooner you start, the better off you\u2019ll be.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<p>[adrotate group=&#8221;4&#8243;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Your 19-Step SEO Guide for New Websites The best time to start thinking about SEO for your website is when&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":20069,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[123,120,122],"class_list":["post-6594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-web-and-hosting-tips","tag-seo-marketing","tag-shared-hosting","tag-website-builder"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v23.2 (Yoast SEO v23.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>19 Steps to Proper New Website SEO - HostGator<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The best time to start thinking about SEO for your website is when you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re just starting out. If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in the early stages of building a website, follow these tips.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/7-steps-to-proper-new-website-seo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"19 Steps to Proper New Website SEO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The best time to start thinking about SEO for your website is when you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re just starting out. If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in the early stages of building a website, follow these tips.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/7-steps-to-proper-new-website-seo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"HostGator\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HostGator\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-08-01T14:57:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-11-23T21:05:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/\/uploads\/2018\/06\/new-website-seo-guide-step-by-step.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"629\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kristen Hicks\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/atxcopywriter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@HostGator\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kristen Hicks\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"14 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/7-steps-to-proper-new-website-seo\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/7-steps-to-proper-new-website-seo\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kristen Hicks\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9ab81f8120a12dcfbd7d2ab946dab0a5\"},\"headline\":\"19 Steps to Proper New Website SEO\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-01T14:57:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-11-23T21:05:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/7-steps-to-proper-new-website-seo\/\"},\"wordCount\":2847,\"commentCount\":5,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/7-steps-to-proper-new-website-seo\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/new-website-seo-guide-step-by-step.png\",\"keywords\":[\"SEO Marketing\",\"Shared Hosting\",\"Website Builder\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Web Hosting Tips\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/7-steps-to-proper-new-website-seo\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/7-steps-to-proper-new-website-seo\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/7-steps-to-proper-new-website-seo\/\",\"name\":\"19 Steps to Proper New Website SEO - HostGator\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/7-steps-to-proper-new-website-seo\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/7-steps-to-proper-new-website-seo\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/new-website-seo-guide-step-by-step.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-01T14:57:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-11-23T21:05:11+00:00\",\"description\":\"The best time to start thinking about SEO for your website is when you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re just starting out. If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in the early stages of building a website, follow these tips.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/7-steps-to-proper-new-website-seo\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/7-steps-to-proper-new-website-seo\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/7-steps-to-proper-new-website-seo\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/new-website-seo-guide-step-by-step.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/new-website-seo-guide-step-by-step.png\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":629,\"caption\":\"new website seo guide step by step\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/7-steps-to-proper-new-website-seo\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"19 Steps to Proper New Website SEO\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"HostGtaor\",\"description\":\"Web Hosting and Marketing Tips for Entrepreneurs\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"HostGtaor\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/cropped-HG-Logo_default-default.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/cropped-HG-Logo_default-default.png\",\"width\":1092,\"height\":215,\"caption\":\"HostGtaor\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HostGator\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/HostGator\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/hostgator\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/hostgator-com\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/hostgator\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/hostgator\"],\"email\":\"support@gator.com\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9ab81f8120a12dcfbd7d2ab946dab0a5\",\"name\":\"Kristen Hicks\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/457ef8a7379a7f4f39d7810b58ef0a0f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/457ef8a7379a7f4f39d7810b58ef0a0f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kristen Hicks\"},\"description\":\"Kristen Hicks is an Austin-based freelance content writer and lifelong learner with an ongoing curiosity to learn new things. She uses that curiosity, combined with her experience as a freelance business owner, to write about subjects valuable to small business owners on the HostGator blog. You can find her on Twitter at @atxcopywriter.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/austin-copywriter.com\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/atxcopywriter\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/author\/khicks\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"19 Steps to Proper New Website SEO - HostGator","description":"The best time to start thinking about SEO for your website is when you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re just starting out. If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in the early stages of building a website, follow these tips.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/7-steps-to-proper-new-website-seo\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"19 Steps to Proper New Website SEO","og_description":"The best time to start thinking about SEO for your website is when you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re just starting out. If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in the early stages of building a website, follow these tips.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/7-steps-to-proper-new-website-seo\/","og_site_name":"HostGator","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HostGator","article_published_time":"2020-08-01T14:57:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-11-23T21:05:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":629,"url":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/\/uploads\/2018\/06\/new-website-seo-guide-step-by-step.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Kristen Hicks","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/atxcopywriter","twitter_site":"@HostGator","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kristen Hicks","Est. reading time":"14 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/7-steps-to-proper-new-website-seo\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/7-steps-to-proper-new-website-seo\/"},"author":{"name":"Kristen Hicks","@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9ab81f8120a12dcfbd7d2ab946dab0a5"},"headline":"19 Steps to Proper New Website SEO","datePublished":"2020-08-01T14:57:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-11-23T21:05:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/7-steps-to-proper-new-website-seo\/"},"wordCount":2847,"commentCount":5,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/7-steps-to-proper-new-website-seo\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/new-website-seo-guide-step-by-step.png","keywords":["SEO Marketing","Shared Hosting","Website Builder"],"articleSection":["Web Hosting Tips"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/7-steps-to-proper-new-website-seo\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/7-steps-to-proper-new-website-seo\/","url":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/7-steps-to-proper-new-website-seo\/","name":"19 Steps to Proper New Website SEO - HostGator","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/7-steps-to-proper-new-website-seo\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/7-steps-to-proper-new-website-seo\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/new-website-seo-guide-step-by-step.png","datePublished":"2020-08-01T14:57:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-11-23T21:05:11+00:00","description":"The best time to start thinking about SEO for your website is when you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re just starting out. If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in the early stages of building a website, follow these tips.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/7-steps-to-proper-new-website-seo\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/7-steps-to-proper-new-website-seo\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/7-steps-to-proper-new-website-seo\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/new-website-seo-guide-step-by-step.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/new-website-seo-guide-step-by-step.png","width":1200,"height":629,"caption":"new website seo guide step by step"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/7-steps-to-proper-new-website-seo\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"19 Steps to Proper New Website SEO"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/","name":"HostGtaor","description":"Web Hosting and Marketing Tips for Entrepreneurs","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"HostGtaor","url":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/cropped-HG-Logo_default-default.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/cropped-HG-Logo_default-default.png","width":1092,"height":215,"caption":"HostGtaor"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HostGator","https:\/\/x.com\/HostGator","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/hostgator","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/hostgator-com","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/hostgator\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/hostgator"],"email":"support@gator.com"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9ab81f8120a12dcfbd7d2ab946dab0a5","name":"Kristen Hicks","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/457ef8a7379a7f4f39d7810b58ef0a0f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/457ef8a7379a7f4f39d7810b58ef0a0f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kristen Hicks"},"description":"Kristen Hicks is an Austin-based freelance content writer and lifelong learner with an ongoing curiosity to learn new things. She uses that curiosity, combined with her experience as a freelance business owner, to write about subjects valuable to small business owners on the HostGator blog. You can find her on Twitter at @atxcopywriter.","sameAs":["http:\/\/austin-copywriter.com\/","https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/atxcopywriter"],"url":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/author\/khicks\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6594"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6594"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6594\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27160,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6594\/revisions\/27160"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}