SEO, or Search Engine Optimisation, is the practice of improving your website’s visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs). It’s a complex process that involves a combination of technical, content, and link-building strategies. Let’s delve into the fundamentals:
The Core Principles of SEO
There’s several core principles that combine in order to achieve a successful SEO strategy. Any business or individual that embarks on the process of search engine optimisation should be aware of the following:
Keyword Research
Keyword research will help you to identify the search terms users are searching for when looking for specific products or services. Conducting keyword research is an incredibly valuable aspect of search engine optimisation and is one of the first steps you should take when working on the optimisation of your website.
> How to research your keywords:
- To begin we would suggest making a list of the keywords you think are relevant to your business and website. For example, a dress designer would consider words and phrases such as designer dresses, evening gowns, handmade dresses etc.
- There are several tools you can use to identify important keywords for your business and your market. These tools will show you information about these keywords such as search volume, competition level and related keyphrases and search queries. These tools are great to use when you want to know which keywords to optimise for and other information about what users are searching for.
On-Page Optimisation
- Once you have identified your focus keywords, another step in your SEO strategy is to optimise your web pages for these keywords. Considering features of your web pages such as meta tags, titles, headings, and content.
> How to optimise your web pages for SEO:
- Optimise your titles and meta descriptions to include your main keywords.
- Use header tags (H1, H2, H3) strategically to structure your content and highlight key points.
- Implement high-quality, relevant internal and external links to boost your site’s authority.
- Regularly update your content to keep it fresh and relevant.
Technical SEO
There are technical aspects of your website that can directly hinder your SEO performance if not inputted correctly. A quality SEO strategy would cover the important technical aspects of SEO as well as the on-page.
Technical SEO will include:
- Website speed optimisation
- Mobile-friendliness
- Secure sockets layer (SSL) security
- Structured data markup
- XML sitemaps
- Canonical URLs
- Error page management
Although you can ensure they are managed in the first instance, it’s important to continue work on the technical aspects of your website each month or quarterly.
Content Creation
A very important aspect of search engine optimisation is the creation of quality content. Search engines now place a high value on content that is written for audiences with the purpose to educate, inform and build trust.
Google’s E-E-A-T Principles:
EEAT is the acronym created by Google, standing for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. These principles guide Google’s quality raters in assessing whether search results deliver relevant, high-quality information. They are important to consider when publishing content to your website and can help drive quality content creation. Whether this is across your blog, news page or service/product pages of your website.
Link Building
Acquire backlinks from other reputable websites to enhance your website’s authority. Not only do backlinks support the rankings of your website across SERPS, they help to build trust and grow the visibility of your brand online.
How to acquire backlinks
- Guest blogging
- Create infographics
- Write quality content that is linkable
Additional Considerations
- Local SEO
- E-commerce SEO
- Video SEO
- Social Media
- Analytics
Remember: SEO is an ongoing process. It requires continuous monitoring, analysis, and adaptation to stay ahead of the competition.
Working With An SEO Marketing Agency
One way to ensure you are ticking all the SEO boxes is to work with a professional digital marketing agency, specialising in search engine optimisation. With the technical resources, knowledge and experience, alongside creatives and writers who can support the development and growth of your website, an agency is a great option for businesses of all sizes where knowledge of SEO may be limited.
What can an agency do?
The most important thing an agency can do for your business is to develop a robust SEO strategy that covers the core principles and more to ensure your requirements are met. From optimising your site for your focus keywords to tracking the SEO performance of your site weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually with in-depth reports and reviews.
It’s important to remember that SEO takes time and so investing into this process will ensure the best results for your website and your business over the long term. Handing over the technical tasks and the ongoing maintenance work of your website to an SEO agency allows you to continue to work on the day-to-day running of your business, supporting its growth.
