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What IS SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) now?
Updated Jan 2023
Outdated SEO techniques CAN hurt your business on Google.
Hubspot recently stated this :
When asked to explain what SEO is, I often choose to call it a strategy to ensure that when someone Googles your product or service category, they find your website.
But this simplifies the discipline a bit.
There are a ton of ways to improve the SEO of your site pages. Search engines look for elements including title tags, keywords, image tags, internal link structure, and inbound links (also known as backlinks).
Search engines also look at site structure and design, visitor behaviour, and other external, off-site factors to determine how highly ranked your site should be in their SERPs.
With all of these factors taken into account, SEO primarily drives two things — rankings and visibility.
Here is a handy Checklist list of ‘Must Do’s” from Google themselves on the subject.
Correct SEO :
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- Create unique, accurate Page titles
- Make use of the “description” Meta tag
- Improve your Site Structure
- Improve the structure of your URLs
- Make your site easier to navigate
- Optimise your Content ( eg articles, videos, images)
- Offer quality content and services
- Write better ‘anchor text’
- Optimize your use of images ( Do you know what ‘Alt Text’ is?)
- Use Heading tags appropriately
- Dealing with Crawlers
- Make effective use of robots.txt
- Be aware of rel=”nofollow” for links
- SEO for Mobile Phones (It’s DIFFERENT)
- Notify Google of mobile sites
- Guide mobile users accurately
- Promotions and Analysis
- Promote your website in the right ways
- Make use of free webmaster tools ( now called ‘Search Console’
- Be VERY careful with Linking!
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Top 20 Search Engine Optimisation Basics for Websites:
Here are 20 essential Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) basics for websites:
Keyword research: Conduct thorough keyword research to identify relevant keywords and phrases that your target (niche) audience is searching for.
Monitor analytics: Use tools like Google Analytics to monitor and analyse your website’s performance, traffic sources, user behavior and conversion metrics.
Your DATA is everything!
On-page optimisation: Optimise your website’s title tags, meta descriptions, headings and content with targeted keywords to improve search engine visibility.
High-quality content: Create unique, valuable and engaging content that satisfies user intent and provides answers to their queries.
User-friendly URLs: Use descriptive and user-friendly URLs for your Posts and Pages, that include relevant keywords and make it easy for search engines (and users) to understand the page’s content.
Mobile optimisation: Ensure your website is fully optimised for mobile devices, as mobile-friendliness is a crucial ranking factor for Google
Page loading speed: Improve page loading speed by optimising image sizes, minimizing code, using caching techniques and leveraging content delivery networks (CDNs)
People will click back to Google if your site/ page does not load QUICKLY
Meta tags: Use descriptive and persuasive meta tags (title tags and meta descriptions) to entice users to click on your search listings.
Image optimisation: Optimise images by reducing file sizes, using descriptive alt tags( alt text is a must do) and including relevant keywords in the file names.
Internal linking: Add internal links to connect related pages within your website, enhancing site navigation and spreading link authority.
Internal linking is foundational SEO practice.
External linking: Link to reputable external websites that provide valuable and relevant information that will support your content and improve its credibility.
Schema markup: Implement structured data using schema markup to help search engines understand and display your content in richer search results.
XML sitemap: Create and submit an XML sitemap to search engines, to ensure all your website’s pages are crawled and indexed.
Robots.txt: Optimise your robots.txt file to guide search engine crawlers on which pages to crawl and which to exclude from indexing.
Local SEO: If your business has a physical location, optimise for local SEO by including your address, phone number, and business hours on your website.
Don’t forget a GBPP ( Google Business Profile Page)- we can help with this!
Social media integration: Integrate social sharing buttons on your website to encourage users to share your content, potentially increasing its visibility and reach.
SSL certificate: Secure your website with an SSL (Secure Socket Layer) Certificate to ensure data encryption, build user trust and potentially improve search rankings.
(No SSL Cert means Google will show a ” Warning ” screen before people CAN reach your site- Not good)
Backlink building: Earn high-quality backlinks from reputable and relevant websites to boost your website’s authority and improve search rankings.
Social signals: Leverage social media to amplify your content’s reach and engagement, potentially influencing search engine rankings.
Regular updates: Continuously update and optimise your website’s content, keeping it fresh, relevant, and aligned with the latest search trends and user needs.
There is NO “Set and Forget” here!
Remember that SEO is an ongoing process and it’s important to stay updated with industry trends, algorithm changes and best practices, to maintain and improve your website’s search engine visibility.
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