Author Archives: J.E. Nickerson

By J.E. Nickerson
If you’ve ever heard someone say that your website’s “engine” is crucial for SEO, you might be wondering, Wait… what engine? If you think about your website as a vehicle for your voice and your vision, your site engine is what gives your website power to take your writing to people who are looking for inspiration.

Recently while taking a class in website development, the instructor began talking about the importance of site engines for SEO exposure. I immediately could imagine a powerful V8 engine driving my website. Want this imagery helped me to understand the basic premise of a site engine, I also realized that website development terms are not always as clear cut as they appear, especially if you are not a web developer.

So let’s talk about it—plainly, practically, and without any tech-speak overwhelm.

⸻

🚗 Your Site Engine Is the System That Drives Your Website

The engine of your website isn’t a single part. It’s not something you plug in, download, or even see directly. It’s how your website works under the hood—the structure behind the scenes that helps search engines like Google understand your content, and helps your visitors move around your site smoothly. It’s like an internal map of your website made up of links and an interconnected web of information.

If your site engine is working well, it means:
• People can easily find what they’re looking for
• Google can easily crawl your pages
• Your content shows up in search results more effectively

In short: a strong site engine = better visibility and better user experience.

⸻

🧱 What Counts as Your Site Engine?

You might already have more of this in place than you realize. Here’s what makes up the “engine” of your site:

✅ 1. Clear internal structure

Your website should have a logical layout. Think of it like organizing a house—each room (page) should have a clear purpose, and visitors should be able to walk from one to the next without getting lost. This is done through clearly labeling pages with categories for your content.

On my site, for example, I’ve built:
• A Help Desk with articles sorted into categories
• Series of related blog posts linked together
• Navigation menus and CTAs(calls to action) that guide readers through my content

That’s structure. That’s part of your site engine.

✅ 2. Smart internal linking

If I write an article about writing your first book, and I mention something I covered earlier (like outlining), I’ll link back to that earlier post. This not only helps readers—it tells Google: These posts are connected.

✅ 3. Consistent categories and tags

Using categories like Writing and Book Development or Web Development for Writers helps group related articles. Tags add another layer of clarity. This kind of organization strengthens your site’s engine because it tells search engines what your site is really about. Tags are part of the information that we need to include on our Wordpress sites to tell Google what snippets of information people search for will link to our articles and website.

✅ 4. Readable, clean URLs

Take a look at your web links. A good URL looks like this:

wearewisethinkers.com/2025/06/27/thought-of-the-day-june-27

It’s readable. It reflects what the post is. That’s good for people and for SEO.

✅ 5. Fast loading, mobile-friendly design

Your theme, layout, and image sizes all play a role. The lighter and faster your site is, the stronger your “engine” runs. Shrinking images, hosting some off-site, and keeping things lean to protect speed and storage, trims the fat from your website, keeping it lean and easily to load on the devices your audience uses.

⸻

🛑 What Your Site Engine Isn’t:

Just to clear this up, your site engine is not:
• Your web host (like WordPress or Wix)
• A plugin (though plugins can help support your structure)
• A single tool you install. This isn’t like dropping an engine in your car and expecting it to take you to the store.

It’s the whole system of how your site is built, linked, organized, and optimized. If you’ve already got a few of those pieces in place? Then you already have an engine—and you’re in better shape than you think.

⸻

🔧 Final Thought: You Don’t Need Fancy Tech to Build a Strong Site Engine

If you’re a writer, author, or creative building your own site—you don’t need to be a web developer. You just need to understand how structure, linking, and clarity work together.

Start with what you have.
Link your content with purpose.
Keep your categories clean.
Make it easy for people (and Google) to follow your trail.

Your voice deserves to be found—and your site engine helps make that happen.

Still not sure if your website engine is driving your vision forward? Download this free checklist to help you optimize your website so that it carries your vision to the people who want to connect with you.

Your website engine isn’t the only part of your website that affects your voice and vision. Read the article What’s Your Brand? Why Vision Matters More Than Ever

📚 And if you’re new here, I’m J.E. Nickerson — faith based author and inspirational storyteller. You can check out my books here or follow me on YouTube for more inspiration and encouragement on this writing life.