Please note – I have utilised AI to assist in the creation of some of the content.

What is SEO?

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the process of optimising a website or webpage to improve its visibility and ranking on search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. This is done by making changes to the website’s design, content, and technical infrastructure to make it more appealing to search engines and their algorithms. The goal of SEO is to increase organic traffic to a website by improving its visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs). It is an ongoing process that requires ongoing effort to maintain and improve a website’s ranking.

What does SEO include?

SEO includes a variety of techniques and practices that are used to improve a website’s visibility and ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs). Some of the most common SEO practices include:
• Keyword research: Identifying the keywords and phrases that people are searching for in relation to your business or industry, and incorporating them into your website’s content and meta tags.
• On-page optimisation: Optimising various elements of your website’s pages, such as headlines, images, and internal linking structure, to make them more appealing to search engines and users.
• Technical optimisation: Improving the technical infrastructure of your website, such as its code, loading speed, and mobile responsiveness, to make it more easily crawlable by search engines.
• Content creation: Producing high-quality, relevant content that addresses the needs and interests of your target audience and incorporates relevant keywords.
• Link building: Acquiring links from other websites to your own site, which can help to improve your site’s visibility and authority.
• Local SEO: Optimising your website and online presence to rank better in local search results, such as Google Maps.
• Measuring and tracking progress: Using analytics tools and metrics to track your website’s performance and identify areas for improvement.

How Do I Carry Out Keyword Research?

Keyword research is an important step in the SEO process that involves identifying the keywords and phrases that people are searching for in relation to your business or industry. Here are some steps you can take to carry out keyword research:

  1. Identify your target audience: Understand the demographics, interests, and pain points of your target audience.
  2. Make a list of relevant keywords: Create a list of relevant keywords and phrases that are related to your business or industry. You can use a keyword research tool such as Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, SEMrush, etc. to help you with this.
  3. Analyse search volume and competition: Use keyword research tools to analyse the search volume and competition for each keyword on your list. You should aim to find keywords that have a high search volume but low competition.
  4. Identify long-tail keywords: Long-tail keywords are longer, more specific phrases that are less commonly searched for. They tend to have less competition and can be a good option for targeting niche audiences.
  5. Use related keywords: Identify related keywords that are semantically connected to your main keywords.
  6. Use keywords in your content: Once you have a list of relevant keywords, you can incorporate them into your website’s content, meta tags, and other on-page elements.
  7. Monitor and update your keywords: Keyword research is an ongoing process; you should regularly monitor and update your keywords to ensure they are still relevant and aligned with the goals of your website.

How Do I Write Meta Tags?

Meta tags are HTML tags that provide information about a webpage to search engines and users. They are placed in the head section of the HTML code of a webpage and are not visible to users. Here are the most common meta tags and how to write them:

  1. Title tag: The title tag, represented by the tag, provides a brief and accurate summary of the content on the webpage and is often used as the title of the webpage in search engine results pages (SERPs). The title tag should be no more than 60 characters and should include the main keyword for the page. Example: <title>SEO Best Practices for Websites
  2. Meta description: The meta description, represented by the tag with the “description” attribute, provides a summary of the webpage’s content and is often used as the snippet of text under the webpage’s title in SERPs. The meta description should be no more than 155 characters and should include the main keyword for the page. Example:
  3. Canonical tag : The canonical tag is an HTML element that helps to prevent the problem of duplicate content on your website by specifying the “canonical” or “preferred” version of a web page. Example:
  4. Robots tag: The robots tag, represented by the tag with the “robots” attribute, is used to tell search engine crawlers whether or not to index a webpage. Example:
    It’s important to note that not all search engines use all types of meta tags and that, while meta tags can help to improve a webpage’s visibility and ranking, they are not the only factor that search engines use to determine a webpage’s relevance.

What is Technical Search Engine Optimisation and What Does it Involve?

Technical Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) refers to the set of practices and techniques that are used to optimise a website’s technical aspects in order to improve its visibility and ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs). Technical SEO involves making sure that a website’s technical infrastructure, such as its code and structure, is optimised for both search engines and users. It typically involves the following steps:

  1. Website Architecture: Reviewing website architecture and making sure it is easy to navigate, use and understand for both search engines and users.
  2. Crawling and Indexing: Optimising a website’s code to make it easy for search engines to crawl and index the site’s content.
  3. Mobile-Friendliness: Ensuring that the website is mobile-friendly and responsive, and that it provides a good user experience on all devices.
  4. Site Speed: Optimising a website’s load time to ensure that it loads quickly and efficiently.
  5. URL Structure: Optimising the website’s URL structure to make it easy for both search engines and users to understand the structure and hierarchy of the site.
  6. Redirects: Properly handling redirects and making sure that they are set up correctly to avoid any issues with crawling or indexing.
  7. Schema Markup: Implementing schema markup to help search engines understand the content and structure of the site.
  8. Content Duplication: Identifying and addressing any content duplication issues that may affect the site’s visibility in search results.
  9. Sitemap and Robots.txt: Creating a sitemap and a robots.txt file to help search engines understand the structure of the site and which pages should be indexed.
  10. Continuous monitoring: Continuously monitoring the website’s technical SEO and making updates as needed to ensure that it remains optimised for search engines.
    Technical SEO is an important aspect of overall SEO, as it helps to ensure that a website is technically sound and can be easily crawled and indexed by search engines. By focusing on the technical aspects of a website, businesses can improve their visibility and ranking in SERPs, and ultimately drive more traffic to their site.

Technical SEO is a vital component of SEO that aims to optimise the technical elements of a website to enhance its visibility in search engine results. Without proper technical SEO, a website may struggle to rank well in search results due to technical issues that impede search engines.

Technical SEO

Technical SEO is an element of SEO which will ensure that the technical on-site elements of your website are tweaked to maximise visibility in search engines.

if your website contains technical issues that hinder search engines, your SEO performance will suffer.

Technical Search Engine Optimisation helps develop problem-free experiences, through:

  • Crawl Analysis
  • Content indexation
  • XML sitemaps
  • Site architecture
  • Page speed
  • Structured data markup, rich snippets, schema
  • Image optimization
  • Internal link structure
  • HTTPS Check
  • Duplication and Canonicalisation
  • Mobile performance
  • Accessibility

What are SEO Best Practices?

Creating high-quality, relevant content is an important aspect of SEO. Here are some best practices for creating webpage content that is optimised for search engines:

  • Conduct keyword research: Use keyword research tools to identify the keywords and phrases that people are searching for in relation to your business or industry. Incorporate these keywords into your content in a natural way.
  • Use headings and subheadings: Use H1, H2, and H3 tags to structure your content and make it easy for users and search engines to understand the main topics covered on the page.
  • Optimise images: Optimise images by compressing them and using descriptive, keyword-rich file names and alt tags.
  • Use internal linking: Link to other relevant pages on your website, to help search engines understand the structure of your site and to keep users on your site longer.
  • Use external linking: Link to other reputable, relevant sites to show search engines that your site is a credible source of information and to provide additional resources to users.
  • Use meta tags: Use title tags and meta descriptions to provide a summary of the content on the page and to include relevant keywords.
  • Create high-quality content: Create high-quality, relevant content that addresses the needs and interests of your target audience. Make sure the content is informative and engaging, and avoid keyword stuffing.
  • Optimise for mobile: Make sure your website is mobile-friendly, as more and more users are accessing the web on their smartphones.
  • Measure and track progress: Use analytics tools and metrics to track your website’s performance and identify areas for improvement.
  • Check the website’s design: Look at the overall design of the website and consider whether it is visually appealing, easy to navigate, and user-friendly.
  • Evaluate the website’s content: Look at the website’s content and consider whether it is informative, relevant, and engaging. Consider whether the content is well-written and easy to read.
  • Check the website’s speed: Use tools such as Google’s PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to check the website’s loading speed and identify any issues that may be slowing it down.
  • Check for mobile responsiveness: Use a tool such as Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test or Responsive Design Checker to see how the website looks and functions on different devices and screen sizes.
  • Check for broken links: Use a tool such as Ahrefs or SEMrush to check for broken links on the website. Broken links can be frustrating for users and can negatively impact the website’s search engine rankings.
  • Check for security issues: Use a tool such as Qualys SSL Labs to check for any security vulnerabilities on the website.
  • Check for SEO best practices: Look at the website’s use of meta tags, headings, images, and internal and external links to see whether it is following best practices for SEO.
  • Analyse the website’s analytics: Use tools such as Google Analytics to analyse the website’s traffic, bounce rates, and conversion rates to identify any issues that may be impacting the website’s performance.
  • By following these best practices, you can create content that is optimised for both search engines and users, which can help to improve your website’s visibility and ranking on search engine results pages.

Onsite SEO

Onsite SEO describes the practice of optimising a webpage / website to improve listings on search engines as well as increasing targeted traffic to a website. This involves optimising both the content and coding of a page to make it as easy as possible for users and search engines to navigate.

What Onsite SEO involves assessing

  • Content- Content within the website;
  • Navigation- How information is broken down;
  • Meta tags – Non-visible elements of a web page to help with search engine indexation;
  • ALT tags – Alternative text that can be displayed instead of an image;
  • Semantic HTML – H1, H2 and H3 elements within a website that breaks up information;
  • Duplicate Content- Having the same content on two or more URLs;
  • Robots.txt- A text file that is used to direct web robots on how to crawl;
  • Robots meta directives – Provides more firm direction on how to crawl;
  • Structured data markup- Code to help search engines better understand the content;
  • HTTP status codes- Server response to a browser’s request;
  • Page Speed- How long it takes for your webpage to be ready;
  • XML sitemap – To help search engines crawl a website.

Onsite SEO Marketing

Onsite SEO describes the practice of optimising a webpage / website to improve listings on search engines as well as increasing targeted traffic to a website. This involves optimising both the content and coding of a page to make it as easy as possible for users and search engines to navigate.

What Onsite SEO Assesses

  • Content- Content within the website;
  • Navigation- How information is broken down;
  • Meta tags – Non-visible elements of a web page to help with search engine indexation;
  • ALT tags – Alternative text that can be displayed instead of an image;
  • Semantic HTML – H1, H2 and H3 elements within a website that breaks up information;
  • Duplicate Content- Having the same content on two or more URLs;
  • Robots.txt- A text file that is used to direct web robots on how to crawl;
  • Robots meta directives – Provides more firm direction on how to crawl;
  • Structured data markup- Code to help search engines better understand the content;
  • HTTP status codes- Server response to a browser’s request;
  • Page Speed- How long it takes for your webpage to be ready;
  • XML sitemap – To help search engines crawl a website.

Offsite SEO

Offsite SEO covers work carried out independently of a website to help increase website rankings. This could be through:

  • Social media marketing
  • Videos and infographics
  • PR articles
  • Blogging
  • Quality backlinks

Optimising a website off-page SEO means improving the credibility, authority, popularity and relevance of your website utilising a mix of different strategies to drive referral traffic and increase overall rankings.

Local Search Engine Optimisation

With 46% of searches having local intent, Local SEO is about making your business visible within a specific geographic location.  What this means in essence is that it is imperative to optimise your online presence utilising Google Apps and good quality, relevant web directories. Essentially local SEO is SEO but on a smaller scale.  This is achieved by: 

  • Utilising social media, inbound links 
  • Increase presence in the local market through GMB and Google Review optimisation 
  • Creating Location specific landing pages 
  • Onpage local SEO 
  • Citations- where your business info appears – NAPW 
  • Quality relevant back links from Newspapers, Business associations, Chamber of Commerce, business improvement districts, licensing bureaus, trade associations, resellers, vendors, and/or manufacturers and other affiliates
  • Mobile optimisation
  • Structured data markup

Business Listings for Local SEO

When deciding which businesses to show for geo-targeted searches (searches that contains phrases such as ‘near me’), Google & Bing will take data into account that they find across a variety of sources. As well as utilising the information they will find on a website, search engines will also assess local citation sites for relevant information.

With more and more people using mobile phones to find out about local business services, businesses should ensure all their listings online are accurate and uniform.

Moz has created a nifty little tool to help you find out where you are listed locally- moz.com/checkout/local/check

Websites that help build authority…