How to SEO - an Introduction

SEO (search engine optimisation) is the method of increasing your website visibility in search engine results. With the ultimate aim being able to have your website show as high as possible to people when they type a particular term or description into the search bar.

While SEO is now considered an extension of marketing, and an essential part of your online brand perception, there are many facets of successful SEO, and here we will go over the basics, to give you an introduction to Search Engine Optimisation. 

Go here to see more about the history of Google and how it relates to SEO

On-site SEO

This refers to work that can be done on your website to help improve its visibility. This includes elements of the page, content that you provide and images and their descriptions. 

• Keywords and Key phrases
  • Key words that you are wanting to be found for should be used on your website in relevant places for search engines and users to understand what the site is about
  • Both exact matches and semantic (similar) terms

• Title Tags
  • Used to define the title of the page
  • Displayed in Search engine results
  • Should give a user an idea of what to expect on the page
  • No more than 512pixels wide

• Meta Description
  • A further description about the page
  • Displayed in Search engine results
  • Is not a ranking factor
  • Should be between 150-160 characters wide

• Alt tags and images
  • Images have the option for a description to be added, so that information still displays if the image can’t be shown
  • It’s also used when people do image searches

Off-site SEO

This refers to work that is done externally to your website to help improve its visibility. This includes link building, social media and local listings.

• Linkbuilding
  • The act of getting a link from one website to another through requests.
  • In modern SEO, with Google Penguin in mind, it is about the quality of the links rather than the quantity.
  • Links should be earned, through having high quality relevant content that people want to share and talk about

• Social Media
  • Using social media to crate interest to your website products, services or offerings through promotion on various social media streams

• Local Listings
  • Ensuring information about your company, including name, address ad phone number appears accurately in various reputable sources, like yellowpages, truelocal etc.

SEO in Action

Combining both the onsite and offsite work for your website, means you will have the greatest chance of brining your website higher in search engine rankings. While this information is a basic introduction, the actual work involved can be greatly varied, depending on the size of your site currently, the target audience you are trying to reach and your competitors who are currently ranking well in your industry. 

The aims should always be for your site to show improvements, and fore those improvements to be measured through applicable relevant information for your company.

Measuring Results

For some websites, results are measured in the amount of clicks gathered on a call to action, for others its growth in visibility, and for others it’s a lower bounce rate.

Deciding what results matter to your company will align with what your site is currently capable of doing, and how much budget you have allowed to increase those factors. If you simply want brand presence, gaining visibility in the serps (search engine page results) will be a higher priority. If you want people to interact with your site, then time on-site and return visits are of more importance. If you have an ebook you want people to download, in exchange for their email address so you can send them further offers and information, then tracking that is most important.

Once you have decided what results you are trying to achieve, and  have the appropriate elements in place to make it happen, you can effectively measure your SEO success.