Search Engine Optimisation

Written By Marianne Dulnuan

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the process of optimising your website to increase its visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) to drive more organic (non-paid) traffic to your site. It involves a range of techniques aimed at improving the ranking of a website or webpage in search engine results, such as Google, Bing, or Yahoo.

SEO can be divided into three main pillars: On-page SEO, Off-page SEO, and Technical SEO.

1. On-page SEO

On-page SEO refers to the strategies and practices implemented directly within the website to improve its position in search rankings. This includes:

  • Keyword Research: Identifying the right keywords or phrases that potential visitors are likely to search for.

  • Content Optimisation: Creating high-quality, relevant content that satisfies user intent and incorporates the targeted keywords naturally.

  • Meta Tags: Crafting compelling title tags, meta descriptions, and header tags (H1, H2, etc.) with relevant keywords.

  • Internal Linking: Using internal links to help search engines discover other important pages on the website and provide a better user experience.

  • Image Optimisation: Optimising images by reducing file sizes, using descriptive file names, and adding alt text.

  • URL Structure: Having clean, descriptive, and keyword-rich URLs.

  • User Experience (UX): Ensuring the website is easy to navigate, visually appealing, and provides a positive experience for users.

2. Off-page SEO

Off-page SEO refers to actions taken outside of your website to improve its search rankings. The focus here is on building the website’s reputation and authority.

  • Backlink Building: Acquiring backlinks (links from other websites to yours) is one of the most important factors in off-page SEO. High-quality backlinks from authoritative sources help to establish credibility and trust.

  • Social Media Marketing: While social signals (likes, shares, and comments) aren’t direct ranking factors, promoting content through social media can help drive traffic and generate backlinks.

  • Guest Blogging & Influencer Outreach: Writing guest posts for reputable websites in your industry or collaborating with influencers to promote your content can help boost off-page SEO.

  • Brand Mentions: Mentions of your brand across the web, even without direct links, can positively influence your SEO efforts.

3. Technical SEO

Technical SEO focuses on improving the technical aspects of your website that affect search engine crawling and indexing.

  • Site Speed: Faster websites tend to rank better because they provide a better user experience. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to identify and fix performance issues.

  • Mobile Friendliness: With mobile-first indexing, Google prioritises mobile-optimised websites. Ensure your site is responsive or has a dedicated mobile version.

  • XML Sitemap: An XML sitemap helps search engines crawl and index your site more efficiently by providing a structured map of all the pages.

  • Structured Data (Schema Markup): Adding schema markup helps search engines understand the content of your site better, which can lead to rich snippets in search results.

  • Canonicalisation: Avoid duplicate content issues by using canonical tags to indicate the preferred version of a page.

  • HTTPS Security: Websites with HTTPS encryption are preferred by search engines. It also helps to build trust with users.

4. Local SEO

Local SEO optimizes your website to rank well for geographically specific searches (for example, "best pizza in Chicago"). Techniques for local SEO include:

  • Google My Business: Setting up and optimising a Google My Business profile is essential for local visibility.

  • Local Citations: Ensuring your business is listed accurately in local online directories.

  • Location-Based Keywords: Using keywords related to your location, such as "best coffee shop in [city]."

  • Customer Reviews: Encouraging customers to leave reviews can boost your local SEO.

5. SEO Analytics and Monitoring

Measuring and monitoring the performance of your SEO efforts is crucial. Use tools like:

  • Google Analytics: To track website traffic, user behavior, and conversions.

  • Google Search Console: To monitor how your site is performing in search, identify crawl issues, and optimize for better indexing.

  • SEO Tools: Tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, Moz, and Ubersuggest can help track keyword rankings, backlinks, and competitor analysis.

6. SEO Best Practices

  • E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness): Google values high-quality, trustworthy content. Ensuring your website and content have high E-A-T will help you rank higher.

  • User Intent: Understanding the searcher’s intent (informational, navigational, transactional) and delivering the most relevant content is key.

  • Content Freshness: Regularly updating and adding new content signals to search engines that your site is active and relevant.

  • Avoid Black Hat SEO: Techniques like keyword stuffing, cloaking, and buying links can result in penalties from search engines.

Key Metrics to Track in SEO:

  • Organic Traffic: The number of visitors coming from search engines.

  • Bounce Rate: The percentage of visitors who leave after viewing only one page.

  • Click-Through Rate (CTR): The percentage of people who click your link after seeing it in search results.

  • Keyword Rankings: The positions your target keywords are ranking for.

  • Backlink Profile: The quantity and quality of backlinks pointing to your site.

Conclusion

SEO is an ongoing process that requires continuous optimisation and monitoring. By implementing effective SEO strategies across on-page, off-page, and technical aspects, you can improve your website's visibility, attract more traffic, and ultimately achieve business goals such as higher conversions or sales.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.

Marianne Dulnuan
Next

Marketing Plan