Optimizing For Yandex –What Are The Essential SEO Strategies To Know?

When it comes to Search Engine Optimization (SEO), most website owners tend to follow the Google search algorithms. However, if you are targeting a Russian-speaking audience, Yandex is the search engine you must pay attention to. 

Besides Russia, Yandex is a popular search engine in Belarus and Kazakhstan. Though Google has a presence in these countries, Yandex is the most popular search engine. Note that the search engine algorithms of Yandex are different than Google. So, you must craft a dedicated Yandex SEO strategy with the help of an expert. 

What is Yandex and How it Works?

Yandex is a popular search engine and web portal in Russia. Based on the market share, Yandex is more famous than Google in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Yandex LLC, the company that supervises Yandex, has a suite of related products, much like Google. Besides consulting a Yandex SEO expert, you must know its working mechanism. 

The primary components of the search architecture of Yandex comprise the following. 

• Index 

It is the database of terms and their locations related to the search engine. The main crawler creates and saves a copy of every webpage it comes across. 

• Search Servers 

The search servers of Yandex are responsible for providing users with accurate results. Yandex splits its search database across primary search servers. 

• Metasearch System 

It is an integral component of Yandex that processes incoming search queries and checks if it can generate results for users. 

• MatrixNet

Metasearch uses MatrixNet to rank the search results before displaying them to the user. MatrixNet is Yandex’s machine-learning algorithm. 

The Essential SEO Strategies to Rank in Yandex 

It is worth mentioning that local search plays a much more significant role on Yandex than Google. For instance, if you want to target audiences in Siberia and are not focusing on local SEO, your competitors will outrank you. Here are some essential SEO strategies for ranking in Yandex. 

Geo-Targeting 

Geo-targeting is one of the few strategies that you must consider to rank your website on Yandex. In this search engine, the search queries are divided into geo-dependent and geo-independent. So, Yandex is the perfect search engine if you want to attract local traffic to your website or store. 

The Importance of Boosting User Engagement

To measure user engagement while ranking on Google, we commonly use Google Analytics. However, if you want to rank on Yandex, you must use Yandex Metrica. Much like Google’s SEO policies, you should create quality content and a responsive website to boost user engagement. 

Mobile-Friendliness of Your Website 

Like other popular search engines like Google, Yandex will rank your website higher if it has a mobile-friendly design. Furthermore, Yandex states that websites with a dynamic page layout will be rewarded with higher rankings. You can connect your website to Yandex Webmaster to use its built-in tool to analyze its mobile-friendliness. 

Optimizing your website for Yandex requires a unique approach that can be challenging for first-time website owners. To ensure that your website ranks higher in this Russian search engine, reach out to the experts at Yandovskiy SEO.