SEO is the process of optimising your website so that it ranks highly on search engines. I know that it can be a scary subject for a lot of people as there are some technical elements that can be quite hard to grasp. So, this post is just focusing on the on-page elements (bits that visitors to your website can see and that are completely up to you) and what you need to do to boost your search rankings.
- High-quality page content: choose keywords and topics that are relevant to what you offer and do some research on what search terms are used for these topics. Write for your buyer, not your business.
- Page titles: also known as title tags, these are very important for SEO and tell both the visitor and search engine what information is on the page. Include a relevant focus keyword in your titles and keep it under 70 characters so it doesn’t get cut off in search results.
- Headers: header tags help search engines distinguish what part of your content is most relevant and important. Use relevant keywords that differ from your page title.
- Meta-descriptions: these are short descriptions that appear in search results and are what entices people to click through to your site. Keep them to 120 characters (it can cut off on mobile devices after that), use relevant keywords, use compelling sentences (1 or 2) and avoid alphanumeric characters (i.e. -, & or +).
- Image alt-text: these describe what your image is about. Make it descriptive and specific, relevant to the page content, less than 125 characters and use relevant keywords sparingly.
- Page urls: these should be simple for search engines and visitors to digest. Remove unnecessary words, use only 1-2 keywords, use https where possible (secure site).
- Internal linking: this is when you have links to other pages on the website and can keep people on your site for longer (telling search engines that your site is valuable and helpful). Make sure links are relevant to the content and not just sporadic and ensure the copy for the link is representative of the page content (‘How to optimise your website’ instead of ‘click here’).
- Mobile responsiveness: this goes without saying. Google favours sites with faster mobile speeds. Ensure your website is readable and can be navigated on a mobile. It should not look like a desktop site on a mobile phone. Check out Google’s mobile-friendly test to see if your website is up to scratch.
- Site speed: page load speed counts – big time. People have no patience, and they won’t wait around for your website to load. Long load times = bad user experience and Google is all about the user experience. There is also a direct correlation between website speed and conversion. Do what you can to make it as fast as possible.
If you are not confident in addressing the elements above, enlist the help of someone who is. Try to avoid over-inflated pricing – just because it’s not your specialist subject, doesn’t mean it isn’t a quick fix.
Send me a message if you would like my help and we can book a free 15 min consultation call.