What is SEO?

In today’s digital age, establishing a strong online presence is invaluable for any business striving to enhance visibility and boost credibility. SEO is a critical part of strategically optimising your website to ascend higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). Encompassing a multitude of techniques and best practices, SEO is all about making your website more appealing to search engines like Google. The ultimate goal? To increase visibility and draw in organic traffic without direct payment for placement.

1. Why is SEO important to business?

2. What does Google favour when it comes to SEO?

3. The Crucial Elements of SEO

a. Keywords

b. On-Page SEO

c. Technical SEO

d. Off-Page SEO

e. Local SEO

4. Checklist: SEO Foundations Every Website Needs

Why is SEO important to business?

Ultimately, a solid SEO foundation connects businesses with their intended audience online. It makes your website more visible, and that means more traffic and more opportunities to convert prospects into customers. If you’re not on the search engine results page with your competitors, you may have just lost a new customer while another business gained one. In the vast expanse of the internet, being visible is half the battle for businesses. SEO helps to boost your brand visibility, bringing your website to the forefront of search results so that potential customers can easily discover your products or services when needed. This leads to an increase in FREE higher-quality organic traffic; and a competitive edge by being more visible in the fiercely competitive digital arena. The beauty of optimizing a website for SEO lies in its measurability for tracking website performance and understanding user behavior to continually improve your overall business strategy. It also contributes to the credibility and trust of your brand, with websites securing the top spots in search results perceived as more reliable to both potential customers and search engines.

What does Google favour when it comes to SEO? 

At it’s core, Google’s goal is to provide users with the most relevant and high quality search results for their queries and to keep users coming back. It promotes and relies heavily on SEO to achieve their mission of organising the vast online information of the world to make it universally accessible and useful. Understanding what Google favours in a website is key to elevating your online presence.

• Relevant and high quality content – As the kingpin of search engines, Google loves websites that answer users’ queries, solve problems, and provide valuable information. Crafting content that aligns with user intent and relevant keywords is the first step in winning Google’s favor.
• Enjoyable user experience – Google’s success is deeply tied to user satisfaction. Websites that prioritize a seamless and enjoyable user experience, encompassing mobile responsiveness, fast-loading pages, clear navigation, user-friendly layouts, and minimalistic designs not only benefit users but also reflect positively on Google.
• User security and safety – With the continuing rise of cybercrime, security is another pivotal factor in Google’s gaze. Websites that prioritize user safety through HTTPS encryption are viewed positively for their credibility and trustworthiness.
• Fresh content – Websites that consistently provide fresh and updated content, signals to Google that the information is current and reflective of industry developments making it relevant and valuable.

Let’s peel back the layers and delve into the key elements of SEO:

• Keywords
• On-page SEO
• Technical SEO
• Off-page SEO
• Local SEO

The Crucial Elements of SEO

Keywords Matter: How To Conduct Keyword Research for SEO

Keywords are the words or phrases customers input into Google Search when they’re seeking information, services, or products online. The search engine then gives relevant results on anything related to the searched keywords, based on popular search queries for that term. The search engine then ranks the results in order depending on what it feels you were most interested in and what would provide the best answer to your query. While no longer the sole focus of SEO, keywords are the foundation of a successful SEO strategy. Search engines like Google aim to understand user queries and provide the most fitting results, meaning keywords play a pivotal role in determining rankings. Understanding the language of your audience is vital; it’s the bridge connecting what they’re searching for with the products, services and content you offer. This is where keyword research comes into play. It involves researching and brainstorming phrases and terms that not only resonate with your target audience but that they are actively using when searching online. By identifying and targeting the right keywords, you ensure that your website is seen by the people most likely to be interested in what you offer for higher-quality traffic more likely to convert into customers.

Tips for Conducting Keyword Research

1. Start by brainstorming a list of potential keywords relevant to your website’s theme, products, or services.
2. Build on that list with related terms by using free keyword research tools such as KeywordTool.io, Google Ads Keyword Planner and ChatGPT.
3. Leverage tools like Google Ads Keyword Planner or SEMrush Keywrd Magic Tool for insights into search volumes and competition levels.
4. Include long-tail keywords – longer and more specific phrases e.g. pink and silver sequin mini dress – in your keyword list as they often exhibit higher conversion rates and lower competition.
5. If you want to be visible in a specific location/geographic area, add location specific keywords e.g. residential roof plumber melbourne.
6. Consider the searcher’s intent behind each keyword. Are they seeking information, looking to make a purchase, or simply browsing? Tailoring your content to match this intent.
7. Create high-quality, informative, and engaging content that aligns with your chosen keywords.
8. A word of caution – avoid keyword stuffing and prioritise user experience. The excessive use of keywords can harm your rankings and deter visitors. Ensure your keywords are integrated into your content naturally.
9. Regularly review and adapt your keyword strategy to ensure ongoing relevance and maximum impact. Trends, seasons, and user behaviors influence the popularity and relevance of keywords.

Once you’ve unraveled the phrases and terms of your target customer, you’ll then strategically infuse them into your website by using the following on-page, technical, off-page and local SEO techniques.

What Is On-page SEO?

On-page search engine optimization (on-page SEO) involves the meticulous crafting and fine-tuning of the content on each page of your website to elevate its visibility and relevance to both search engines and your audience. It’s all about optimizing the content, HTML source code and overall structure of the page to align with search engine algorithms and cater to the needs and preferences of your target audience. As part of on-page SEO, you’ll want to review and consider:

• Page content – At the heart of on-page SEO lies content that captures attention, answers queries, and drives traffic. You’ll want to make sure it’s high-quality, relevant, and valuable content that resonates with your audience.
• Page structure – The page as a whole must be well-structured, including headings, subheadings, paragraphs, bullet points and and lists to enhance readability and search engine understanding.
• Keywords – Here’s where the keyword research comes in! Strategically add your keywords across your website in headings, subheadings and within the body of your content. Create specific content around your keywords to avoid keyword stuffing.
• Title tags and meta descriptions – Title tags and meta descriptions are the text that appears whenever the page appears in search results, but also aid search engines in comprehending the content on a page. Elevating them with compelling and engaging copy infused with target keywords not only enhances search rankings but also prompts more clicks from search results.
• Mobile-friendliness – With mobile devices dominating online traffic, it’s crucial to ensure your website is mobile-responsive – that is a website that is capable of adapting its content based on the device it is being viewed on – for a seamless user experience. Different devices include desktop, tablet and mobile phones.
• Internal links – The significance a search engine regards a page increases with the number of internal links it receives. Enhance the user journey and elevate page authority in search results by strategically incorporating contextual internal links within the website copy and utilizing buttons to link to other pages on your website.
• Images and image optimisation – Including visuals on your page enhances audience engagement, but search engines need some extra help to understand them. Optimise your images for search engines by using descriptive filenames before uploading onto your website and resizing them appropriately for faster page loading times. Add alt text that describes what the image is, incorporating relevant keywords where it makes sense.
• Blogging – Google is all about providing quick, helpful, high-quality, and accurate information to its users that matches the intent of the individual’s search query. Your target audience likely have common questions and topics they are searching for on Google. A blog page on your website gives you the opportunity to answer questions, define terms, examine pain points, and provide solutions; helping increase your keyword rankings and overall website visibility.

What is Technical SEO?

Beneath the polished front end of a website is its technical infrastructure. Technical SEO focuses on optimizing various backend website elements to enhance search engine accessibility and user experience.

• Schema markup – a real boost to the appearance of your search results, Schema Markup is a structured data vocabulary that aids search engines in understanding the context of content. This leads to more accurate and informative rich snippets in search listings, including star ratings, business hours, address, phone number, product prices, and event dates. By providing more information directly in search results, Schema Markup can increase the likelihood of users clicking on your website.
• Page speed – In the digital age, loading speed is and mobile friendliness is critical. Ensure your image file sizes are optimized and minimize any unnecessary code.
• Mobile friendliness – mobile devices are dominating online traffic. It’s crucial to ensure your website is mobile-responsive for a seamless user experience across all devices.

What is Off-Page SEO?

Off-page SEO extends the optimisation efforts beyond the confines of your website, focusing on external factors that impact search engine rankings. Off-page SEO enhances your website’s authority, credibility, and relevance through activities such as building backlinks. It revolves around establishing trust and recognition from other websites with online mentions, strengthening your website’s reputation in the digital landscape.

• Backlinks – the most common form of off-page SEO, backlinks essentially link from one website to a page on another, serving as digital endorsements to search engines. They function as a vote of confidence from other websites, indicating to search engines the quality and relevance of your content. The significance of backlinks lies not in their quantity but in their quality. A handful of high-quality, relevant, and authoritative backlinks carry more weight in boosting your site’s ranking than a tonne of low-quality ones. Backlinks can be built through online business directories and guest blogging.
• Social signals – comprising likes, shares, and mentions across social media platforms, social signals contribute to your website’s authority and influence online. By actively engaging with your audience, sharing valuable content, and fostering social sharing, you amplify your website’s reach and impact. Although social signals from social media platforms aren’t direct SEO ranking factors, they indirectly influence search engine rankings by indicating content popularity, relevance and directing traffic to your website.
• Google My Business – a well-optimised GMB holds significant sway in augmenting your website’s visibility, credibility, and relevance within the vast expanse of search engine results. When users search for businesses or services nearby, GMB listings take center stage in Google’s search results, offering vital information like contact details, operating hours, reviews, and directions—a digital business card, so to speak.

What is Local SEO?

Google’s aim is to show the most relevant results to the searcher, including geographically relevant results to potential customers nearby. Local SEO is all about ensuring your business not only appears but stands out in the local search results of your target geographical locations.

• Google My Business (GMB) – an optimised GMB is the pinnacle of local search engine optimisation. It’s your digital business card/storefront and significantly impacts your local search visibility.
• Local citations – it’s important to ensure your business details such as your business name, address and phone number are available and consistent across online directories, profiles and platforms.
• Location specific keyword research – a huge part of local SEO success is including location-specific keywords and information on your website. This signals to Google and potential customers that your business is relevant to local searches. Conduct location specific keyword research and add your keywords throughout your website content, title tags and meta tags. Think about the phrases users in your community might use when searching for businesses like yours.

Checklist: SEO Foundations Every Website Needs

• Title tags applied to all web pages
• Meta descriptions applied to all web pages
• Image optimisation applied to all website images
• Keywords added to website headings and copy
• Setup Google Analytics and Google Search Console
• Submit sitemap to Google Search Console
• Setup optimized Google My Business Profile
• Test mobile friendliness of web pages
• Test website page load speeds
• Create backlinks in free online business directories
• Setup social media pages and link them to website

Checklist: Additional SEO Activities

• Create a blog on your website and create SEO optimized content
• Consistently post and engage on your social pages and link back to your website
• Explore guest blogging opportunities on other credible websites for backlinks
• Apply schema markup to web pages