SEO Q&A: questions from LinkedIn in 2020
This page preserves the community questions from VSA’s 2020 LinkedIn Q&A. The answers address the underlying decisions and link to current search and accessibility guidance.
Use the historical context when reading questions about named updates, older interfaces and the tools discussed at the time.
Questions and answers
Question 1
Testing Markets With SEO?
Pierre Maynial
Question 5
How Important Is Photo/Image SEO?
Elena Markin
Question 9
How To Incorporate SEO on Social Media?
Suzzette Patten
Question 2
How Has BERT Affected SEO?
Pierre Maynial
Question 6
What Tools Can Test Page Optimization?
Elena Markin
Question 10
Baby Steps SEO Guide.
Anonymous
Question 3
How Do You Get Featured Site links?
Elena Markin
Question 7
Ways To Compile SEO Analytics?
Monte Stewart
Question 11
What Google Looks For Specifically?
Sandy Chernoff
Question 4
How Important Is A Sitemap?
Elena Markin
Question 8
How To Stay On First Page Of Google?
Alex Sapong
Question 12
Can SEO Benefit The Creative Industry?
Allison Pehleman
Question 1: Testing markets with SEO
“Right now, I’m launching different websites & landing pages all at once to test specific market segments and specific product offerings.
So, to get quick results, I promote those landing pages via Ads + Google.
Is there any recommended “fast” SEO strategy, that could enhance the success of this market validation strategy? Or Does SEO take too much time and is more adapted to promote a website on the long run?” – Pierre Maynial
Start with the decision you want to test
A landing-page test can investigate an offer, audience or enquiry route. Define the outcome, source of visitors, budget and test conditions first. Check that a recorded form action corresponds to a received message or order.
Compare paid and organic search
Paid search can be used to bring eligible traffic to a defined offer when the campaign and destination are ready. SEO concerns the website’s longer-term discoverability and usefulness. Neither channel guarantees a suitable customer or a profitable result.
Choose a scope from business timing, capacity and evidence. A search-ad result is not a direct forecast of organic search performance.
Question 2: How has BERT affected SEO?
“How has BERT affected SEO?” – Pierre Maynial
Read the update question in its historical context
The question reflects the discussion of language understanding in 2020. A named algorithm update is not a useful substitute for examining the reader’s question and the page’s actual content.
Write a clear answer for the reader
Use the words that accurately explain the topic, make important relationships clear and provide appropriate evidence. Google’s SEO Starter Guide does not prescribe a magic word-count target. Repeating a query or expanding an article without useful information does not make the answer better.
Question 3: How do I get sitelinks?
“Some websites I come across, such as one of my competitors, show up on a Google search nicely organized.
All the sections have a title and a bit of info under.
How do I get Google to do this for my website?“
-Elena Markin
Understand automated sitelinks
Sitelinks are additional links Google may show beneath a result when they help the searcher reach useful sections of a site. Their appearance is automated and depends on the query and the site.
Improve the structure Google and readers can follow
Use informative page titles and headings, a logical site structure and relevant internal links. Make important pages reachable, and use concise anchors that describe their destinations.
Structured data can describe supported content, but adding schema is not a method for ordering sitelinks. A sitemap can help discovery, but it does not force this search appearance.
When can sitelinks appear?
Google decides whether sitelinks will be useful for a particular result. There is no owner-controlled switch or universal ranking-position rule that guarantees them.
Assess the real result
Review reported clicks and impressions for comparable searches and periods. Do not apply a universal click-through uplift to a sitelink appearance. Google’s sitelinks documentation explains the supported guidance.
Question 4: How important is a sitemap?
“I’ve heard about a site map.
How important it is to have this done?
I personally haven’t done it for my website…”
-Elena Markin
Use a sitemap for discovery
A sitemap lists URLs you want search engines to know about. A maintained WordPress SEO plugin can generate one. Check the actual output, canonical URLs and indexing settings rather than installing several SEO plugins for the same task.
A sitemap does not guarantee crawling, indexing or rankings. Useful internal links and accessible pages still matter.
Question 5: How important is image SEO?
This question concerns the role of images alongside the text on a page.
Choose images for the page’s task
A product photograph, a portfolio image and a decorative background have different roles. Decide what the image helps a visitor understand before treating image discovery as a business objective.
Provide the right text alternative
Use descriptive alt text for meaningful images, an empty alt attribute for purely decorative images and an accessible action or destination for a functional image. A detailed chart also needs its important information in text or an accessible table.
A title attribute is not a replacement for alt text. Avoid inserting a list of service keywords into every field. See the image SEO guide for examples.
Question 6: How can I check a page?
“…Are there any tools for me to check how well my page is optimized?
As to know, where should I put more work and attention to?“
-Elena Markin
Match the diagnostic to the question
Check content, crawlability, indexing settings, links, mobile use and the action a visitor needs to complete. Different tools inspect different parts of that work.
Treat a tool score as a diagnostic
A third-party score reflects that supplier’s rules and data. It is not Google’s ranking score. Inspect the underlying finding and decide whether it represents a real problem for this page before making a change.
Check the visitor experience
Use available field evidence and repeatable lab diagnostics to investigate loading, responsiveness and layout stability. Test the real mobile and keyboard journey, especially forms and other important controls.
The GTmetrix and Dareboost references in the original discussion were tool examples from 2020. Check current availability and scope before relying on a historical recommendation. A lab result does not establish every visitor’s experience.
Question 7: How can I compile SEO analytics?
“…I’d be interested in learning about easy ways to compile SEO analytics.” -Monte Stewart
Keep each report’s scope clear
Search Console reports search exposure and clicks for your property under the selected filters. Website analytics reports the visits and interactions its implementation collects. An enquiry record establishes what the business actually received.
Record the property, page, country, device, search type and period where relevant. Do not add clicks, sessions and form events into one total.
Use current account and product settings
The original screenshots and connection instructions reflect the products available in 2020. Use the current property types, permissions and GA4 controls. A connection between tools does not make their populations and definitions identical.
Keep ownership and access with the business, and verify any configuration through the current product documentation.
Semrush as a historical tool example
The original Q&A mentioned Semrush for research and diagnostics. Its current plans, limits and datasets need checking before a purchase. Tool estimates and backlink indexes are not complete records of Google’s data or a business’s outcomes.
Ahrefs as a historical tool example
The original Q&A also mentioned Ahrefs. Do not infer that one supplier is universally more accurate from an old opinion. Compare the actual question, available coverage, access needs and current terms.
Build a useful reporting set
Keep search visibility, visits, received enquiries and qualification as separate measures. A reporting dashboard should show source and period, with unknown values left visible. It cannot correct missing or incorrectly collected events.
Question 8: How do I stay on the first page?
“…I think what every company with a website wants to know is:
how to stay on the first page on search engines“
-Alex Sapong
Maintain useful pages without promising a position
No maintenance plan guarantees that a website will stay on the first page. Review the actual search task, relevant competing pages, technical problems and the business’s current offer.
Earn relevant references
Promote material that another publisher has a reason to share. Link volume, a regular link schedule or a third-party score does not establish ranking causation. Buying or manufacturing links to manipulate rankings can conflict with Google’s spam policies.
Keep the page accurate and usable
Update material facts, repair broken journeys and check content, titles, headings and links. Do not rank SEO tasks through a universal first- and second-most-important formula.
Create content when it serves a task
Publish an explanation, example or guide when it adds useful information for a real audience. More posts or more frequent date changes are not an outcome in themselves.
Question 9: How does SEO relate to social media?
“…I’ve always wanted to know how you can incorporate SEO on Instagram/ social media platforms.” – Suzzette Patten
Separate platform discovery from website search
A social profile can help people discover information and contact a business. Search within a social platform and a website’s visibility in Google are different systems and need different evidence.
Describe the account and content clearly
For a platform such as Instagram, keep the profile accurate, make the content understandable and provide an appropriate next step. Check current platform controls before following a 2020 interface example. Avoid assuming that a hashtag or engagement tactic will produce qualified enquiries.
Maintain truthful business information
On Facebook or another business profile, use the real name, current details and a working destination. Explain the actual service without keyword-heavy naming or invented location claims. Review the resulting visits and contacts separately from reactions and follower counts.
Question 10: Where should I start with SEO?
Anonymous asked for a graduated tips sheet that starts with small steps and builds momentum from the results.
Begin with an observable problem
Check whether a useful existing page can be found, understood and used. Prioritise a broken enquiry, missing service information or indexing mistake over a cosmetic score.
Write accurate titles and descriptions
Describe each page’s actual purpose. Google can select title links and snippets from several sources, so metadata does not guarantee the exact displayed result. Avoid fixed keyword placement or density rules.
Build genuine service and location information
Map pages to actual offers and distinct reader tasks. A service area is not an office. Do not create many near-identical location pages solely to capture minor search variations.
Choose useful business listings
Correct profiles and use relevant directories where they help customers verify or find the business. Low-quality directory submissions made primarily for ranking links are not a substitute for useful content or a legitimate business presence.
Question 11: What does Google look for?
“…What does Google look for specifically?” – Sandy Chernoff
Review the whole task
Google uses many systems and signals. No single backlink count, tool score, heading pattern or content length explains every ranking. Its SEO Starter Guide focuses on accessible, useful and understandable content.
Give publishers a useful reason to refer readers
A relevant resource, substantiated example or real relationship can justify a reference. Keep advertising and sponsorship transparent, qualify paid links and avoid large link exchanges or manufactured endorsements.
Question 12: How can SEO support creative work?
“…how SEO can benefit the creative industries, like painters, performers, etc.
SEO for the “creatives” that you produce, for example, a painting, a dance, etc?”
– Allison Pehleman
Define the creative business’s goal
A creative service, a portfolio and a piece offered for sale have different discovery and conversion tasks. Choose the intended audience and useful outcome before deciding which pages to build.
Explain an actual creative service
Describe the service, suitability, area served, process and enquiry step. Use permitted examples and make the scope clear. A gallery alone may not answer a buyer’s practical questions.
Make the work understandable and accessible
Provide relevant titles, descriptions, image alternatives and practical details such as availability or licensing where applicable. Use only images and claims you have permission to publish. Measure visits, enquiries or sales using the matching definitions rather than assuming exposure establishes demand.
Question 13: What connects social media and SEO?
“…Hi, I would love to know more about the linkage between social and SEO and how the key things to consider.
Thanks!” – Diane Bures
Do not treat social reactions as ranking proof
Sharing can expose work to people who may visit it, discuss it or choose to link to it. A count of likes, followers or shares does not establish a causal improvement in Google rankings or qualified enquiries.
Review discovery and outcomes separately
Share useful material in a suitable context and inspect the referrals and contacts that can actually be observed. Avoid engagement bait and promises of a search benefit from a social activity count.
Use the questions to define the next step
The questions above cover different decisions, from page structure to choosing a measurement scope. Use the relevant service or guide for the task you need to resolve, rather than applying every tactic to every website.
Sources
Images courtesy of Backlinko
Contributors to the original 2020 Q&A
Braeden Schwark
The original article identified Braeden as VSA’s co-founder, COO and lead designer.
Linden Schwark
The original article identified Linden as VSA’s co-founder, CEO and lead SEO strategist.
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