Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Starter Guide

4 mins read -
November 7, 2022

Being visible on search engines is one of the most important requirements for competing online. There is a secret to success: you do not have to be an expert in everything. If you follow these simple steps, you will soon be able to understand the search engine optimisation process.

 

What Is SEO?

SEO stands for search engine optimisation, which is organically increasing a search engine's visibility to a website without having to pay for advertising. With the help of SEO and partnering with an SEO expert in the UK, you will be able to improve your website's search engine rankings in a way that makes it easier for search engines to find and rank your website.

 

Why SEO Is Important for Every Business

Search engine optimisation has become an integral part of any business's marketing strategy in the digital age. SEO benefits businesses by allowing them to reach a broader audience online, increase leads and sales and brand themselves more effectively.

 

Every business should include SEO in its marketing strategy since it is a powerful tool for attracting more customers online. If you don't take advantage of SEO best practices or partner with a reliable SEO agency in the UK, you are losing out on a great chance of growing your business.

 

Fundamentals of SEOFundamentals of SEO

Keyword Research

Keyword research consists of finding and analysing keywords people enter into search engines.

 

Best practices

Identify broad topics related to your topic: Create a spreadsheet containing general categories or buckets for your keywords. These could be related to product categories or anything you believe would interest your target audience. List topics in a concise manner, no more than 5 to 10.

Add phrases your customers use to each topic: Once you've identified a few topic buckets, choose keywords that belong there. These keyword phrases are the ones you think will rank well in the SERPs since your target customer is likely to search for them.

Search for related terms: Adding keywords to your list can be done in many ways. For instance, you can enter a keyword phrase into Google and scroll down, revealing a list of related search terms.

Use keyword research tools: Keyword research or SEO tools are the easiest ways to determine the strength of your keywords. When doing your analysis, be sure your keywords match people's exact search terms. You should also consider the search volume, meaning you shouldn't structure a strategy around a keyword phrase if few people use it. And lastly, you want a keyword that gets more search traffic and has lower organic competition.

A professional SEO company can help you discern the best keywords to maximise visibility.

 

Technical SEO

Technical SEO ensures a website's technical requirements are met to improve organic rankings.

 

Best practices

Secure your website with SSL: Secure Sockets Layer, or SSL, provides an encrypted connection between a browser and a web server. Websites with SSL certificates appear higher in search results than those without.

Optimise your site for mobile: Search engines consider responsiveness in a site to be a very important ranking signal. Therefore, your website should be fully responsive and optimised for mobile, tablet and desktop devices.

Boost your site's speed: Sites that load quickly are preferred by search engines. You can speed up your site in several ways, such as choosing a fast hosting service or compressing your images.

Check for duplicate content: Duplicate content can be avoided by ensuring that your CMS does not publish multiple versions of a page for the same content or by utilising canonical links to indicate to search engines where your main content is located.

Make an XML sitemap: An XML sitemap aids search engines in crawling your website. It provides important details about your site's pages, including their last modification date and priority.

Enhance your website with structured data markup: You can add structured data markup to your website to make it easier for search engines to understand its content. Search engines can use this data to index your site more efficiently and deliver relevant results.

On-page SEO

On-page SEO involves modifying a page's content, internal links and tags to rank better in searches and attract more visitors.

 

Some best practices include:

Put a strong emphasis on readability. Make your content scannable so that users can find information quickly.

The first 100 words of your article should contain your target keyword.

Keywords shouldn't be overused.

Link externally. Search engines use external links to determine the topic of your page. Your page will also appear to Google as a hub of quality information if it contains well-placed external links.

Optimise your images by adding SEO-friendly alt tags and selecting the correct format and file size.

Link Building and Outreach

    • Link building is a process in which other websites link to your website, and the services of trustworthy search engine optimisation consultants are available to help you with this process. There are many reasons why business owners and marketers should build links to their websites so that they can generate traffic and boost their website's authority.

 

Best practices

Make linkable assets: Linkable assets aim to attract links. Infographics are an example of linkable assets. Infographics tend to be read more than full articles, so creating links with accompanying infographics will appeal to readers who do not want to read the full article.

Engage in social media: Posting your content on social media is easy to build backlinks. Regularly share brand news and updates, reply to comments from your audience, acknowledge brand mentions, and participate in niche-specific social media discussions.

Reclaim backlinks: While you should always look for new opportunities to build links, it is also helpful to identify and reclaim lost backlinks you earned in the past.

Take Your SEO to the Next Level

    • SEO can be beneficial to businesses if they invest in it. Increasing search engine ranking increases website traffic and visibility, leading to more conversions and customers. At Smarter Media, we can help you with

SEO

    •  and Facebook in Swindon.

Contact our team today.

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