Search engine optimisation is a broad term that describes the process of making your website display more effectively on search engine listings. You’ve probably received and email or a phone call from some unknown ‘expert’ promising to get your website on the ‘first page of Google’. But for what search term and why would that be relevant for your business?
Not every business wants to be on the first page of a search engine but for the purposes of this post let’s assume you’d like to perform better. There are a number of areas that fall under the umbrella of search engine optimisation (SEO). Technical SEO, local SEO, keyword research, link building and more.
On-page search engine optimisation
One of the most important in what is know as ‘on-page SEO’. The optimisation of the specific content on a page can have a huge impact on search engine ranking. The good news about on-page SEO is that it is one the easier things to control.
Content is king
In the world of on-page SEO content is king. To search engines, like Google, links are the ultimate currency. It is critical that your content is linkable in order to appear in search results. It can’t be hidden behind a login form for instance.
Be useful
Google looks for content that satisfies what it considers to be the intent of its users. For more information on search quality click here.
The important thing to take away from this is that your content is relevant to your users. The content on your website should be well written, original and and have enough depth.
Structure
Search engines also look for a well structured page. A page title should tell search engines about the topic that is being covered. Headings on a page should have a hierarchy. The main title should have a tag known as a h1 tag. There should be only one heading with a h1 tag on any page. Below this there can be heading with other tags such as h2, h3 and h4.
Content length and keywords
Pages with at least 300 words are considered the minimum but longer content tends to perform better in search engines. Keywords should be at the start of the page and feature throughout the page. Be warned that too much density of keywords within a page could have negative effect. You can use synonyms instead of overloading keywords. Also consider how you might break the text up into paragraphs with subheading that introduce subtopics.
Visuals
These could be images, infographics and videos. The inclusion of these on a page are a sign of quality from a search engine perspective. They should increase the time users spend on your website which Google considers a key metric for engagement. Images should be optimised for web delivery. That means that they don’t have a negative impact on page load speeds. Web images can be a lower resolution than print images. Adding keywords, alt tags and captions can also be beneficial for search engine optimisation.
Links
While it is important that you have inbound links to your website it is also critical to link pages within your own website. Internal links are used by search engines to understand the structure and relative importance of pages on your website. You can also link to external ‘authority’ websites. These links show the type of brand you associate yourself with and help to clarify the topic for the search engine.
Page load speed
How fast a web page loads is also an important factor in search engine optimisation. The server your website is hosted could be something that might be hindering page load speeds. Keeping your website’s software up to date could also help.
Mobile friendliness
Mobile users make up the majority of internet users and search engines know this. If your website doesn’t perform well on mobile it will damage your search engine ranking. The best way to check this is to do your own testing on mobile devices.
Social media
Social networks are similar to search engines in that they are a source for people looking for information. Search engines are aware of social media interaction with your website. If people share your pages after reading this will improve your ranking. Be sure to include social sharing options on pages.
Search engine optimisation is well within the reach of most website owners and administrators and hopefully this article offers some advice on some simple things that could improve your search engine ranking performance.
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