SEO – Search Engine Optimisation
SEO is increasing the visibility of your website to Google, organically.
When planning to optimise your website for the search engines you have technical and creative issues to think about. Everything from the way your website is built, to the words and images you use on the website.
Why is SEO important?
You want to ensure that your website is easy for Google to understand so it will appear high on the SERP (search engine results page). This is important to ensure the website gets the maximum number of visitors. User experience is important when it comes to ranking well in search. If the human likes the website content and flow, then it usually follows that the search engines do.
The Right Keywords
Including the right keywords is important. These are the words or phrases typed into a search query that will trigger the results. You would use a mix of popular keywords and phrases along with some more specific phrases known as longtail phrases. The keywords on your page will be sprinkled naturally throughout your site and should make sense in context within the content.
Compiling a list of keywords will take some research. You will use industry terms and include the words and descriptions your customers normally use. Check out your competitors’ sites to ensure you are including all the important ones. You could also use resources such as Google search console, Google trends, Google analytics, Google Keyword Tool Planner and Related Search terms in Google for inspiration. Use the keywords within your text, as part of the url, in your headings, page titles, alt tags and metadescriptions.
Google uses over 200 different factors to determine relevance, content and keywords are only part of the equation. Other factors include the website’s structure and internal links, the searcher’s geographical location, mobile optimisation, loading times, server accessibility and social signals.
What not to do with SEO
‘Black Hat’ tactics will only serve to damage your website. Doing the wrong thing can get your website banned, you do not want to breach the search engines terms. To test this ask yourself – Are the actions here designed to add value to the user experience OR am I doing this solely for the search engines and not benefit the user? That will give you the answer you need. There are no short cuts or back doors with SEO, good optimisation involves effort and following best practice.
Remember SEO is not all about the Search Engines. It is about improving the experience for the user, which in turn is reflected in the search engine results page.
