How To Look After SEO With Python: Hands-On Experience From Ocean Power Developer
There are many projects in our department where SEO plays a key role. To control metrics and correct errors, we would have to hire an SEO specialist for every new project. With Python and its libraries, I managed to optimize some time-consuming SEO processes and automate the workflow. Here, I’ll share my experience, with hands-on cases and useful tools.
Why I Use Python For SEO Optimization
First off, Python is super versatile. With Python, we can whip up all sorts of tools and scripts for SEO tasks. Whether it's analyzing website data, automating repetitive tasks, or even creating cool visualizations to understand trends, Python's got our back.
Plus, Python plays well with others. We can easily integrate Python scripts with other tools and platforms so commonly used in SEO.
And let's not forget about speed. Python is lightning-fast. When we need to crunch through mountains of data or run complex algorithms, Python does the job in a flash.
How I Use Python For SEO In Ocean Power Projects
Meta Tags Checker
Meta tags—meta titles and meta descriptions—are the little signs telling search engines what your website is about. They're super important for SEO because they help search engines understand and rank your site.
Meta tags also influence how web pages are displayed in search engine results. A well-crafted title and description can attract clicks from users.
On top of that, meta tags guide search engine crawlers on how to index and interpret web pages. By analyzing meta tags, SEO specialists can ensure that important pages are properly indexed and that irrelevant or duplicate content is excluded from search engine results.
With many site moderators, we assume that someone may accidentally delete or correct a meta title or description. So, the challenge was to create a tool that could quickly scan a website, sniff out all its meta tags, and give us a clear report on what's good and what needs fixing.
How Does Meta Tags Checker Work?
With SEO specialists, we determine the pages for the meta tags checker. At this stage, we set the optimal length of Title and Description tags.
After that, with the help of Requests library, the checker crawls through the target pages and checks texts in meta tags. If a meta tag is absent, or it does not meet the length requirements, the script flags it for attention. This information helps our SEO experts fix the issue.?
Why Is Meta Tags Checker Useful?
Automation! With our Python-powered meta tags checker, we can scan multiple websites in a fraction of the time it would take to do it manually. It is like having a team of tireless SEO experts working around the clock. So, our SEO specialists can quickly raise the relevance and attractiveness of search snippets, leading to improved click-through rates and user engagement.??
Page Speed Checker
A page speed checker tackles the problem of slow-loading web pages. On the internet, users expect websites to load quickly. They simply leave if the waiting is too long. Moreover, slow page speed negatively impacts SEO performance. To address these challenges, a page speed checker was necessary.
How Does Page Speed Checker Work?
First, we establish the URLs that need to be checked. Then, I create a new Python project with Selenium library. It functions as a supplement for interacting with the browser. Plus, with PyTest, the Selenium library can valid received data.
I write a script that opens https://pagespeed.web.dev/. With the help of HTML selectors, the script finds the Page URL field. Alternately, the tool sends there the URLs of our project.
Using Implicit/Explicit waits, the script awaits the PageSpeed response. It also collects FCP, Speed Index, TTI values:?
Based on the metrics, the speed checker evaluates the performance and sends a report with recommendations: compress or resize images, remove unnecessary whitespace, set appropriate cache-control headers, optimize server configuration, async resources that block the rendering of the page, etc.
Why Is Page Speed Checker Useful?
The speed checker gives our SEO experts and website owners a clear picture of their page speed performance. Maybe it was time to optimize those bulky images or tidy up messy code – our tool pointed them in the right direction.
Consequently, the tool contributes to good ranking and helps increase conversions: users tend to complete desired actions like purchasing or filling out a form, on websites that load quickly.?
HTTPS Checker
When I worked on an HTTPS checker, my task was to make it confirm that every website was securely locked with HTTPS as the standard protocol for secure communication over the Internet.
Industry standards, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), require websites to implement secure communication protocols like HTTPS to protect sensitive user data and comply with data protection laws.
However, not all websites implement HTTPS correctly or consistently, leaving users vulnerable to security risks such as data breaches, identity theft, and phishing attacks.
How Does HTTPS Checker Work?
After an SEO professional inputs the URL into the checker, it establishes a secure HTTPS connection with the specified URL. The tool verifies the SSL/TLS certificate presented by the website's server to make sure it’s valid and issued by a trusted certificate authority (CA). It checks certificate expiration, revocation status, and correct domain validation.
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The tool audits any mixed content issues, where secure HTTPS pages contain insecure HTTP resources (e.g., images, scripts, stylesheets). Mixed content can tamper with the security of HTTPS connections and trigger browser warnings.
Above all, this checker examines if the website has implemented HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) and whether it is eligible for inclusion in browser preload lists. HSTS ensures that browsers always use HTTPS to access the website. This helps cut the risk of downgrade attacks.
During the investigation, the HTTPS checker scrutinizes the presence and configuration of security headers such as Content Security Policy (CSP), X-Content-Type-Options, X-Frame-Options, and X-XSS-Protection. These headers lessen security vulnerabilities and add to the overall security of the website.
After the analysis, the tool delivers a report stating security issues or misconfigurations. The report may include details such as the validity of SSL/TLS certificates, supported encryption protocols, the presence of mixed content, and recommendations for improvement.
Why Is HTTPS Checker Useful?
HTTPS is not only a matter of security but also a ranking factor. That is why we dedicate lots of attention to correctly configuring HTTPS in our projects. The HTTPS checker helps combat security issues and confirm compliance with search engine guidelines.
Even more than that, it’s about user trust. Users expect quality websites to put a premium on their security and privacy. The padlock icon and https:// in the address bar instill confidence and show that a website is trustworthy.
Crawl404 Checker
The crawl404 checker was designed to hunt down pesky 404 links and set them right. Let me break it down. 404 links are like dead ends – they lead users to pages that don't exist. You must have seen those infamous 404 Not Found error messages. Disappointing, right??
And it’s not only user experience that hurts. Search engines don't like dead ends either. When they crawl a website and encounter too many 404 pages, it negatively influences the site's rankings.
How Does Crawl404 Checker Work?
A crawl404 checker scans the target website in a quest for 404 links. It does so by sending HTTP requests to each link and checking the response status code. A 200 status code indicates that the link is valid, and the page exists; a 404 status code indicates that the page is not found.
Whenever the tool detects a link leading to a 404 error page, it flags it as a broken link. Once crawling is complete, the checker produces a report with all broken links, their URL, the page where it was found, and any additional metadata. This instrument also gives recommendations to fix the links, like updating, redirecting, or removing them.
Why Is Crawl404 Checker Useful??
With the crawl404 checker, our OceanPowerLTD SEO specialists don’t need to manually comb through websites for broken links. The tool helps them locate and fix broken links quickly. This yields a better user experience. Plus, every 404 page is a missed opportunity. Neither we nor our clients want to miss opportunities.
Popular Python Libraries For SEO Automation
Requests
This library is like your messenger, allowing Python to send HTTP requests to web servers and fetch data from websites. It's great for retrieving web pages, making API calls, and interacting with online resources. In SEO automation, Requests is good for:
Urllib2
Similar to Requests, Urllib2 is another library for handling HTTP requests in Python. It's a bit more low-level compared to Requests, granting more control over request handling and customization. While it's not as user-friendly as Requests, Urllib2 is still useful for:
BeautifulSoup4 (BS4)
Ever wish you had a magic wand to parse HTML and extract data from web pages? Well, that's where BS4 comes in. This library makes it easy to work with HTML documents. BS4 is invaluable for:?
Selenium
Sometimes, you need more than just HTML parsing – you need to interact with web pages dynamically, like a real user. That's where Selenium shines. It's like a virtual web browser, allowing Python to automate interactions with web pages, fill out forms, click buttons, and perform various actions. Choose Selenium for:
Tips For Effective SEO Automation
From my experience, these basic tips can help make friends with SEO automation. With these in mind, you can increase efficiency, upgrade your efforts, and reach nice results in optimizing the workflow of SEO departments.