What is SEO?

Search Engine Optimisation is the art of achieving a high search engine ranking for your website based on keywords that are important to the business and increasing the volume of traffic to your site.

When you search for something online using a search engine like Google, Bing or Yahoo, you are presented with a Search Engine Results Page (SERP).  There are only 10 results on each page.  Most people don’t go past page one and will click on the first thing that meets their criteria.  In fact, research has shown that 75% of all clicks go to the first page of Google search results.

Does my website need it?

YES! SEO is not only about search engines but good SEO practices improve the user experience and usability of a web site.

Users trust search engines and having a presence in the top positions for the keywords the user is searching, increases the web site’s trust. SEO is good for the social promotion of your web site

How can I get to the first page of a search result?

Organic Search Marketing
Otherwise known as SEO – Search Engine Optimisation. It is free purely in monetary terms, but requires a lot of expertise and time to achieve good results.

Paid Search Marketing
Otherwise known as SEM – Search Engine Marketing or PPC – Pay Per Click.  This is done through Google Ads and other platforms.  SEM can boost website traffic quickly and is highly targeted.

Time
Many factors determine how fast your search marketing efforts will start delivering results. With no business history, a new website and fresh content it could take up to six months before you see results.

High-quality content is crucial to the success of any website in order to retain visitors and have a high ranking in search engines. Naturally, the design of your website is also crucial in making a good impression on your visitors, but the content on your website is what will keep them coming back. Google states that high-quality content is important if you want to get high rankings.

The reason why site speed is a ranking factor is that it is, first and foremost, a sign of quality user experience. A fast site speed will result in a better user experience, while a slow site speed will result in a poor user experience. A user is typically staying on a site longer if the site speed is faster and they also convert better and bounce less. For those reasons, Google has made it a ranking factor.

Backlinks are especially valuable for SEO because they represent a “vote of confidence” from one site to another. In essence, backlinks to your website are a signal to search engines that others vouch for your content. If many sites link to the same webpage or website, search engines can infer that content is worth linking to, and therefore also worth surfacing on a SERP. So, earning these backlinks can have a positive effect on a site’s ranking position or search visibility.

Top 10 tips to create GREAT content :-

  • Know who your targeted audience is and create great content directed at them

  • Use good headlines to hook the readers interest.

  • Use short paragraphs, bullet points and lists to break content up.

  • Include some graphics, images or videos.

  • Do not duplicate content.

  • Make sure there are no spelling, stylistic or factual errors.

  • Use natural language rather than using forced keywords.

  • A good page title is essential as the title tag is the first thing a user will see in a search result.

  • Each page should have at least one image and this image should have a descriptive and relevant filename and alt tag when it is uploaded.

  • When writing a blog, pick a keyword that is relevant to the page and then use this keyword (if possible) in the page title, the meta title, the meta description, the URL and the first paragraph of the text and then again as often as possible. It is unnecessary to add multiple keywords that don’t relate to the page at all as Google no longer uses keyword tags as a factor for rankings.

Top 10 tips to create GREAT content :-

  • Know who your targeted audience is and create great content directed at them

  • Use good headlines to hook the readers interest.

  • Use short paragraphs, bullet points and lists to break content up.

  • Include some graphics, images or videos.

  • Do not duplicate content.

  • Make sure there are no spelling, stylistic or factual errors.

  • Use natural language rather than using forced keywords.

  • A good page title is essential as the title tag is the first thing a user will see in a search result.

  • Each page should have at least one image and this image should have a descriptive and relevant filename and alt tag when it is uploaded.

  • When writing a blog, pick a keyword that is relevant to the page and then use this keyword (if possible) in the page title, the meta title, the meta description, the URL and the first paragraph of the text and then again as often as possible. It is unnecessary to add multiple keywords that don’t relate to the page at all as Google no longer uses keyword tags as a factor for rankings.